ESP today is what Jackson was yesterday...

[varador]

Hey guys...

Is it just me, or does it seem like everyone who used to play Jackson moved on to ESP? Case in point:

Jeff Hanneman (Slayer)
Kirk Hammett (Metallica)
Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom)
Dave Mustaine (ok, he's with Dean now)
Michael Paget (Bullet for My Valentine)
Ralph Santolla (former Deicide)
Willie Adler (Lamb of God, I bet Mark Morton is gonna leave Jackson soon too...)
Rob Flynn (Machine Head)


Not sure, but I suspect the following bands to have done the same:

Emperor
Dimmu Borgir (demon burger xD)
Behemoth
Arch Enemy
Nile


... why is this happening? I've read posts about this on the JCF forum and I feel like the Fender buyout has royally ****ed Jackson over...

..Which pisses me off because the Jackson headstock & logo are the ones that I'd be proudest to sport and play for on a guitar. Followed by BC Rich. Followed by Ibanez. But ESP? I mean, I have respect for that company now, it's obviously doing well, but their guitars have never made my dick hard. And what kind of a name for a guitar company is "ESP"??? Electronic sound products? It's a guitar, not a CD player. Oh dear. Grover Jackson must either be ****ting himself with rage or rolling around laughing in a lot of money.

Thoughts?

[newbieguitarmaker]

Idk I've always thought the ESP's ive played were a better quality than any Jackson I've played, except the PC1 jackson since that is the greatest guitar >_<

[djohns74]

I don't know, let's not forget that endorsement deals are going to be a huge part of major acts changing manufacturers, so it's tough to judge quality issues based on that. And desirability is, as always, purely in the eye of the beholder.

[varador]

To be fair, I've never looked for or tried a good (500+ Euros) ESP guitar, so I'm not one to judge if they're good guitars. I'd love to try tho... They have a massive range of guitars, I'll give em that...

[Dan_H]

I think Jackson had already lost a lot of big name endorsees before the Fender buyout as thrash metal and glam metal's popularity waned. Having said that, they seem to be having a resurgence - they're in a lot more shops over in the UK this year.

As for ESP, you hardly saw them in the UK for years, but now the LTDs are appearing in a large chain called Dawsons (along with Jacksons.)

It seems to be Ibanez that are disappearing over this side of the pond, unfortunately. They'll always be popular with shredders (and me), but hopefully new names like Dragonforce will increase the brand's popularity again, plus the solid line-up announced at Namm 08.

[Scali]

I suppose the difference between Ibanez and brands like ESP/Jackson is that Ibanez has a very well-balanced product lineup, where the others pretty much only cater to metalheads/shredders.
Ibanez has the typical Jem, RG, S, and all that... but they also have the SA, the Artist, and a great collection of archtops and acoustics for example.

However, Dean and ESP seem to be the hottest 'metal' guitars at the moment, both Ibanez and Jackson probably lose a lot of sales to them now.
Here in Holland, Bo-El is quite popular aswell. I know quite a few former Ibanez players that play Bo-El now. I don't know if Bo-El is actually sold outside of Holland though.

[EL-CeeDee]

Bo-el must be a local thing, no bo-el to be seen anywhere around here.

[brothersnowgone]

Yeah, haven't heard of them before now

[540s]

Originally Posted by varador

... why is this happening?

I suspect it has more to do with ESP possibly getting a lot more agressive with incentives for artits to join thier roster more than anything to do with the instruments themselves.


Also some of those artists mentioned have not been associated wiht Jackson for a real long time:

Hammet: ESP user for well over a decade
Jeff Hanneman has only owned one Jackson in his entire life & paid full price for it at a music store.
Mustaine will go with whoever gives him the best deal & put his mug in magazine ad's... even if he is still under contract wiht another company

[newbieguitarmaker]

I wish ESP would sell all the same models around the world

http://www.espguitars.co.jp/original/index.html

I really like the vintage series actually and I wish they would do away with the LTD's or raise the quality a little bit because I think it gives them a bad name.
Edwards is the lowest ill go to from ESP

http://www.espguitars.co.jp/edwards/index.html

for Jackson I think they need a winder range like Scali said, ESP has a wide range but most of it is only in Japan >_> but it isn't stopping me from wanting to buy a Jackson

[Scali]

Bo-El is the brandname of Huub Boel, a luthier from Zutphen. See www.huubboel.nl
Some 'famous' guitarists that use his guitar are Marcel Coenen (signature models), Gordon Groothedde (signature model), Dany Lademacher (signature model), Joop Wolters, Frank Schiphorst, Conrad Hultermans, guys from Delain...
Especially Marcel Coenen is sort of 'famous' on the worldwide guitar forums I suppose... Many Dutch shredders now use his line of 6 and 7 string signature models. Marcel was a Jem/UV player before getting his Bo-EL signature (some of his signatures even have the vine inlay).
If you don't know him, the guy *shreds*, catch some of his clips on www.marcelcoenen.com or youtube.

[andy7jem]

But what will it be tomorrow?????

[wildchild247]

Jackson suck

I was going to order a custom guitar from them basically a randy rhodes model with floyd rose, 24 frets, Seymour Duncans, and black with white pinstripes and everything else was standard

I got quoted €4000 thats euros so in dollars its 6,074.94 USD

I said no thanks and got myself a reliable Ibanez instead

less damage to the brain and wallet

[skrewflanders]

I just thing its weird that Ron Wood plays ESP's, doesn't really fit in the line up...

[legend]

i know alexi laiho went to ESP becuase his guitars were stolen and jackson couldn't make the guitars in time and esp could, thats about it .