Given the recent spike in costs leading to big price increases, this whole thing feels like the "new guy" salesperson at ESP saw an opportunity to cancel a load of orders they were no longer going to make any profit on to boost his sales stats compared to the previous guy.

@abowla7187

Жыл бұрын

That's what I figured.....

@bimscutney1242

Жыл бұрын

Ooh. I didn’t think of that. Most likely. 👍

@jeffreymorreale7223

Жыл бұрын

That was my first thought when i was watching.

@AndrewAHayes

Жыл бұрын

But they said they would fulfil the orders through another dealer, I think he's trying to pocket the sakes commision somehow

@stallionstudios

Жыл бұрын

@@abowla7187 Same thinking

Cool to see you pick up this story. Randall and Chondro were the absolute cream of the crop. I haven’t had the income to buy any gear in a few years but if ever I were to buy a high end guitar or gear it would have been through them. The snake pit was an awesome environment and was always full of people expressing gratitude for Chondro going above and beyond. I see no reason to doubt Randall’s account of the facts. He’s proven himself to be a straight shooter, owned his mistakes and been very transparent on a public forum for years. Can any major company say the same? Didn’t think so.

@Chad_Fuckhammer

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, Randall's inventory was absolute baller

It’s hard to imagine how ESP could not be at fault here. My guess would be that they don’t want to sell the guitars at 2 year old prices when inflation has been so crazy.

@paullee3660

Жыл бұрын

@@RezaMatix well that wasn’t an official statement and why would you trust them anyway when they have already failed to honour the deal with the shop?

@paullee3660

Жыл бұрын

@@RezaMatix wow you must be a really special guy. You’re in with the in crowd. Who really know who is telling the truth? Are you telling the truth?

@redcloudband

Жыл бұрын

Two words: Dealer Agreement. Dealer closes retail store, all done, bye bye.

@michaelmenkes8085

Жыл бұрын

my price from my August 2021 order was frozen when it was delivered 2 weeks ago. I bet one person just made a mistake they now need to backpedal from.

@paullee3660

Жыл бұрын

@@michaelmenkes8085 that’s good news.I am glad you got your guitar ok after such a long wait. I think the orders from years ago i that they have made yet might be bothering them a bit. They stand to lose a lot of money due to this ridiculous inflation. Who knows what is going on though. Could be nothing to do with inflation and something personal between the two parties.

This blows! Never bought a guitar from them, but those guys at Chondro are SOLID. I'm an LA transplant to Milwaukee that owns a Bogner Uberschall that went south. Unfortunately I've dealt with more than a few fast talkers and scammers in my years. No shops or "experts" out here could figure out what was wrong with it (and I took it to several!) but I then found Chondro and took it to Randall and Jon, and they figured out the problem and repaired it within a day! They knew the backstory and really could have taken advantage of me but instead told me that it was a simple bias and tube replacement fix, and really only charged me for the parts! I was so impressed by their honesty and commitment to being a stand up operation. Hopefully things turn out well for these guys and their customers. Good luck Randall ! \,,/, ,\,,/

@heavymetal9330

Жыл бұрын

Reinhold or his team didn't help you? Why?

@thewurm9177

Жыл бұрын

@@heavymetal9330 They actually offered to. I phoned them after dealing with the first several shops out here that couldn't or wouldn't take it, and they were willing to help if I shipped the head to them. They were surprised that an experienced tech couldn't (or wouldn't) take on the task. One of these local amp "gurus" blamed it on boutique manufacturers not wanting to share their specs. Shortly after the call to Bogner I found the Chondro guys and they took care of it within a few hours. My guess is that the shops I initially went to in Milwaukee weren't experienced with high gain heads such as my Uberschall.

As an ESP owner - 1997 Viper, I love my ESP. It was sort of a dream to always own one. Growing up in the 80s and 90s I lusted after an ESP, but where I lived they just couldn't be found. ESP however has really made some moves over the past years that put a bad taste in everyone's mouth. From this situation, to the ridiculous E-II naming of the ESP Standard guitars made in the Japan facilities, to the stupid pricing on the newer LTD. Imagine buying a Gibson non-custom and it saying G-II on the headstock. They really need to pull their heads out of their asses. I'm sure some people will blindly defend them for some reason.

@RowdyAF

Жыл бұрын

I also am not a fan of the naming convention with shit like the E2s not to mention that LTDs have become so expensive that the ESPs are like those stupid collectors Gibsons

@MaestroJericho

Жыл бұрын

@@RowdyAF haha I was browsing around E-IIs (even just 2 years ago you'd see em for like $2200ish and like $1300 used and I see Snappers go for over $3k. Ridiculous.

@scottgillespie2690

Жыл бұрын

Vintage plus strat owner here, was considering an ESP recently and the fact that it says E-II on the headstock instead of ESP is keeping me from buying anything from the Japan shop. I don’t want the USA made one. It’s not an American brand. They really are smoking crack at ESP corporate - the decision makers are never impacted by this nonsense, it’s always the tradespeople, the consumers and retailers who get the shaft.

@mattisixx1699

Жыл бұрын

I don't like there business practices either, but if you want a cool guitar and have it play amazingly, you're pretty much left with either esp or ibanez(I'm a V guy so it's esp for me)

@wadeguidry6675

Жыл бұрын

I hate the name E-II. I love ESP guitars but you're right about that name fiasco.

So chondro got boned by ESP. ESP of all people?! Chondro is a solid shop, they’re good people and they didn’t deserve what they got.

@dannygray-mi3xn

Жыл бұрын

ESP must stand for Especially Stupid People

Ouch. Come on, ESP. You are better than this . . . or so we thought. Please make this right with Chondro and their customers. Do it the way you agreed to. Uphold your end.

@vorpalblades

Жыл бұрын

Maybe Chondro shouldn't take orders they could not fulfill. Would you continue manufacturing products for a company that no longer exists? I wouldn't.

@inevitableveganfuture3915

Жыл бұрын

@vorpal You don’t seem to understand how any of this works.

@Squall6575

Жыл бұрын

@@vorpalblades they placed the orders when they were still in business, smartass

@redcloudband

Жыл бұрын

@@inevitableveganfuture3915 maybe it's you, guy? contracts much?

@OiHereticX

Жыл бұрын

@@vorpalblades He could fulfill them though, both ESP sales reps assured them they could be fulfilled and everything was good until they pulled the rug out from under him and their customers on the 2+ year wait list. This isn't on Chondro whatsoever. Chondro already did his part, he got ESP their customers, helped them spec out their guitars, put in their orders and got payment secured. This is on ESP 100% reneging on their agreement.

These custom shop wait times are crazy to me. Back in the day when Carvin was Carvin i got 2 bulds in 6 months.

@user-pl7lr5dn8q

Жыл бұрын

yea but thats the thing its a Carvin

@OmarBhoo

Жыл бұрын

@@thatoneguybones8036 I'm not privy to their hiring or workforce, just stating my experience with a custom shop.

@OmarBhoo

Жыл бұрын

@@user-pl7lr5dn8q yeah, they are great guitars. I enjoy my 2 customs and a 3rd I got off ebay.

@bolland83

Жыл бұрын

Carvin Guitars (now Kiesel) is not a full custom shop though, they are a production shop with a range of options they offer on a set number of models. Semi-custom built to order and factory direct sales are what set them apart from every other builder, and that's why their build times are so much shorter than other shops. They're great at what they do and they build great guitars, but comparing them to any other custom shop is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison.

@TheCivicsiep3

Жыл бұрын

@@bolland83 and esp isnt? or jackson? or any big brand? every custom esp is as model they already make made to the specs you want. exactly the same as kiesel. its not like you goto esp and say i want a guitar made out of a microwave and they just figure it out. its i want a horizon with a flame maple fingerboard and poplar burl top finished in see through hot pink with fishmans. thats exactly what kiesel is rly

So ESP are trying to cut out the middle man and take all the profit for themselves.

@TheWaveGoodbye-Music

Жыл бұрын

Free markets gonna free

@smelltheglove2038

Жыл бұрын

Dang, it’s almost like companies exist to make money! I wonder what is going to happen with ESP fans who hate Gibson and claim gibsons greed is the reason why.

@plantain.1739

Жыл бұрын

​@@smelltheglove2038 I mean, Gibson is still greedy as shit, ESP making a heel turn doesn't invalidate that.

@timwhite5562

Жыл бұрын

This has nothing to do with that.. if the order gets cancelled,, there's no profit to be made.

@PastelComGini

Жыл бұрын

I don't think they'd do something as this for even 100k, they're big.

A few comments, since I ordered a custom shop ESP guitar from Japan in 2018! - The wait time back then was 9 months, of which 4 was the guitar getting stuck in customs because the wood in the guitar needed to be certified. The price was 5600 euro at the time. - Re: 4:25 back then at least, they very much knew who I as the buyer was. My name was on the spec sheet they returned. - The company president (Makoto Suzuki at the time) handled communication with the dealer directly in working out the specs, and every email was answered within a work day.

@PerpetuallyTiredMusician

Жыл бұрын

I haven't order from ESP but I have had the same experience with fender custom shop as you did with your ESP order. The design guide/form I filled in with the dealer wanted both my phone nr, address and email as well as the dealers and the sales persons name, from order to delivery here in Sweden it was like 10 months and a lot of it was customs being customs not the custom shop being iffy. I doubt esp have changed theirs either, it's standard boiler plate shit. So yeah they most likely have the customers info with the order number. Peace

@NeuronicPlague

Жыл бұрын

@@PerpetuallyTiredMusician I'm swedish too. Jordbruksverket, right?

@PerpetuallyTiredMusician

Жыл бұрын

Har ingen aning om vad du menar med det men visst, jordburksverket 😅 Den där säljaren verkar skum, ena sekunden vill han bara hjälpa sina kunder nästa är det för att få ersättning för utfört arbete. Weird Ha det bäst

@ChristopherBuenviaje

Жыл бұрын

Hmmm, I wonder if it was ESP Usa who pulled that move. I doubt the ESP Jaoan would do that because they are very good to deal with.

@musicman9901

Жыл бұрын

@@ChristopherBuenviaje @2:25 You can see that it is ESP USA because they mention moving within California. Can't comment on working with the custom shop but I love my Tokyo-made ESP Forest GT.

Chondro rules... not only did he have all the USA customs, he had the cream of the crop. Always had the absolute sweetest USA Jacksons. And times and prices have changed... in 2020 My USA KV2 was $3k and took 6 months (they originally told me a year). Now they're at least $4k and takes who knows how long, depending on who you order through.

Great video. Sucks for these people. So mental

if there's drama in the guitar world, you can bet KDH is all over it.

I appreciate you covering this stuff because I probably wouldn't have heard about it otherwise.

It's complicated with ESP... I live in France, and I ordered a high end LTD M-1000 Snow White in a french shop in June 30th 2020.... and I got it in July 2021 (a year and a week later...). But the deal was crazy, I paid it only 820€ brand new instead of 1200€ at that time. But it was worth the wait, I got the early 2021's model stock with Stainless Steel Frets. A very cool guitar! And ESP responds to my message on their website, saying that was due to the Covid, etc ..., which was legit at that time in 2020! But no explain during the year! At the end, I was waiting, but I got a nice guitar with a nice discount !!!

Ive been on the hunt for an ESP Jeff Hanneman for years. I remember when they were starting out new at 1999.99 a pop. Then Jeff died, and the absolutely stunning human beings at ESP immediately moved all ESP Jeff Hanneman guitars to the custom shop order only status, and changed the price from 1999.99 to 6999.99 - pre covid. Not a custom shop guitar, actually a pretty brand wide spec guitar. Lots of cnc already on the books for that guitar, at every price range. But hey, why not make some extra cash after a guy dies. This type of behavior isnt really new by ESP at all.

@craigflynn22

Жыл бұрын

That’s disgusting

@DizzyDez613

Жыл бұрын

Jeff Hanneman rip

@NPC-fl3gq

Жыл бұрын

That they want to profit off Jeff that way is filthy. Wonder what KFK and Tom would think!?

@aviranc

Жыл бұрын

Mate, are you sure its not custom? The signature line is custom made, from what I understand they simply removed the lower tier guitars and have higher tier guitar only, like KH2 Vintage, etc. I am 99.999% sure the 7k guitars are hand made. I honestly don't believe its not, no way. You have it written exactly its not hand made? Keep in mind 2k guitar can have the same spec as 5k+ guitar, but have difference whether its hand made or "machine made"

@Wargasm54

Жыл бұрын

I can’t even find an LTD Hanneman model (eclipse) Been looking for years. If anyone has one, let me know?

That sucks. I just heard of chonro guitars going out of business myself and I got hooked up on a Killer KSR Colossus H-100 and a Mayones Duvell Elite 6 for $5500 for both brand new and shipped. They were really fast to ship and everything came beautifully. To bad they're closing shop, I would have kept buying from them.

What a ass hat move by ESP. Randall from Chondro is a stand up guy who always has put his customers first. What a horrible situation

@stallionstudios

Жыл бұрын

Nice to see even with closing up shop he is still putting customers first. speaks a lot about him. He totally deserves his cut from ESP.

@benburnett8109

Жыл бұрын

All Chondro had to do was not "quit." If he TRULY PUT HIS CUSTOMERS FIRST, he would have stopped taking future orders, fulfilled all his exitng orders (or offered refunds) and quit after the last guitar was delivered. Turns out large companies like ESP don't want to work with quitters. Turns out you can't get paid if you quit. How in the hell is this hard for everyone to understand. And just because other companies humour his follies does not mean ESP should. I'd bet other companies follow the lead ESP has established. ESP is not a dumb company.

@sigma2653

Жыл бұрын

@@benburnett8109 What colour Kool-Aid did you drink? They said they would do the orders even after the store closed, so that argument is invalid immediately. ESP is a horrible company. All of the other companies had NO problem with this. To say ESP is not a dumb company is to call the others dumb. Which I'm sure some of those companies were Fender, Gibson, Schecter you name it. Braindead comment.

@jonyq

Жыл бұрын

@@benburnett8109 I think you’re alone in having this view.

@benburnett8109

Жыл бұрын

@@jonyq That does not make my "view" wrong. Hopefully Chondro will sue. Then "Discovery" will tell the whole story.

I live in Japan, and had a very bad experience with them. I went to their main store in Tokyo to buy a replacement part. When I realized when I got home that it was the wrong part, so I called to exchange it, and left a message for the sales rep to call me back. Never heard from them, so I went back to shop with the part and receipt, and they gas lit me and told me I'd given them the wrong number.

If ESP had a legitimate reason, they would've made it public...lol

@daveduffy2823

Жыл бұрын

Not if they are a private company.

@TheChikyChiky

Жыл бұрын

I’m struggling to find if ESP is a publicly traded business or not, and my lack of understanding on how Japanese businesses operate does not help. However, I do agree with Bryon to some extent. When situations like this begin to blow up, at the very least a representative for sales in North America will begin attempting damage control, be it bringing to light a deteriorating relationship, or that an error was made by one or both parties. For me it’s concerning yet not surprising that ESP is not releasing a statement. If they are going to, they want to have everything set up to mitigate as much recourse for them as possible.

out of all the brands ESP was the last one I would've thought pull something like this. shame.

I'm so glad I play PRS. PRS Private Stock is set up so that I can get a direct email response or phone call from a specific person should I have any questions/issues. Hell, when I wanted something custom before PRS PS shop existed, I spoke directly with Paul & Joe Knaggs! THAT kind of stuff earned my loyalty. Well, that & their amazing instruments.

@misteress3840

Жыл бұрын

Nice!

@jaycha4983

Жыл бұрын

Prs really is a step up from all companies it terms of quality and service. I’ve never had a problem and if there was any inkling if one, they took care of it. Love them!

@misteress3840

Жыл бұрын

PRS seems to be really honorable. It’s good to have the founder so involved who really cares about the brand. Hope to get a Vela soon. Enjoy how PRS sounds and feels but find their standard designs too bulbous.

@jaycha4983

Жыл бұрын

@Post & Ghost Sounds more like a dealer issue than PRS tbh. But still, that sucks.

@Joe-mz6dc

Жыл бұрын

PRS is class.

KDH, just want to tell you how much I love these videos about guitar brands, guitar news, guitar lawsuits. I really appreciate and enjoy your solid research, your hard work to present as objectively as possible, and how you make it interesting without being vicious... I'm actually a college professor who teaches graduate level research and writing, and happens to be guitar gear obsessed, so love these. Kudos! Keep it up. Also, I'd love to see a single video showcasing your guitar collection, just saying. ;)

@Trahzy

Жыл бұрын

When you aren't good enough to get anywhere with your playing, it's time to become a drama queen and gear nerd lmao. How many of this guy's videos is he even playing anything? Dudes like the Kim Kardashian of guitar.

I'm hoping that ESP makes a statement about this BS and that they make it right. ESP has always been incredibly solid and fairly consistent with quality, and I'd hate to see them lose their reputation.

@dannygray-mi3xn

Жыл бұрын

They need to remember that the customer is always right.

@cIappo896

Жыл бұрын

The saying is "customer is always right about their tastes"*. Customer is rarely right about anything else

@alexnuzzi4780

9 ай бұрын

@@dannygray-mi3xnas the manager of the fashionable male once said “the customer is always an asshole!”

@dannygray-mi3xn

9 ай бұрын

@@alexnuzzi4780 Unfortunately, they are necessary ass holes. If ya wanna succeed anyway

When I worked for ESP dealer the custom shop mark up was 40-50% depending on customer.

@michaelgrahamwongacutemadness

Жыл бұрын

what do you mean depending on the customer

I shopped at Chondro on the weekly there, bought two guitars from them, they have always been top notch and have always taken care of me. They even got me my Jackson after announcing that they were closing.

KDH, enjoy your videos and you’re a pretty wicked player, too. Hope you get to come out to the next NAMM. Best from San Diego!

Your money, your choice. But even if I had money just falling out of my pockets, I don’t think I could ever justify ANY guitar over a few thousand dollars.

@strumminronin

Жыл бұрын

Same here. If it was for MAKING money, and the price tag reflects the improvement in performance, then I might go for something of the sort. Diminishing returns. For about 3-4K there are independent luthiers that can do a very fine job in making a quality instrument. Buying from them puts food on their tables.

@roddangerson2046

Жыл бұрын

You’ve obviously never played an esp,

@ambrooks5

Жыл бұрын

Totally agree. I’ve played $2k-3k guitars and I have a few $600 guitars and honestly they play just as well.

@juanvaldez4043

Жыл бұрын

@@roddangerson2046 I have, and it was very nice. Even the model I played was only a $700 model, so even within the brand a few thousand is pricey.

@guitoorbenchi

Жыл бұрын

I have a few ESP custom shops. For me, it's because of the unique body designs. I find the copies of the classic shapes boring. If I want a Les Paul body, I'll play a Gibson or Epiphone. If I want a Strat body, I'll play a Fender. ESPs tend to be unique.

The price increases SPECIFICALLY for ESP has been absolutely ridiculous. I bought my ESP E2 Horizon NT2 for $1,800... they are now being sold for $2,500!!!! A $700 increase?! Listen I know inflation has affected us all but a $700 increase seems a little too much. As much as I LOVE my Horizon, I would never throw down $2,500+ for one. What is even far worse is the fact that they have LTD's now in the $2,200+ price range. I was going to buy Head's signature LTD but as soon as I saw that $2,100 price tag it was a HUGE no from me... I'll never throw over 2 grand down on a Korean built guitar. I know they can still be quite nice but it's the principal. Forcing the consumer to pay Japanese built prices on a production line mass produced Korean built instrument is just disgusting. ESP seems to be the worst culprit with how far they are taking their inflated prices. They are obviously trying to squeeze out every extra penny they can from the consumer and using inflation as an excuse to do so. Once again I know and realize inflation is real, but ESP seems to be "inflating" their prices farrrr more often then any other brand is at this point in time. I'm happy I bought my E2 when I did because at this rate I'll never be able to afford another one again.

@countzero5150

Жыл бұрын

When I put in my pre-order for an LTD Alexi Hexed they were 1299. The price jumped to 1649 and they hadn't even started shipping them yet.

@MaestroJericho

Жыл бұрын

I was checking out a Used E-II Snapper and tried to offer the dude $1400 since that's about how they'd go for used. He said that's too low so I check out prices and lo and behold they're like $3200 now and they're known for using veneers anyway. I remember $3200 would be the ESP sig models and I believe ESP Custom Shop were the ones who made the sig models.

@rickychau7687

Жыл бұрын

The street price for a E-II Horizon NT2 is about $1939 USD in Japan. I just checked and saw a used one for $1239 USD in Japan. The export prices has gone up significantly but the domestic Japanese price has not.

@JohnDoeWasntTaken

Жыл бұрын

Just avoid ESP USA. This seems to be a USA exclusive phenomenon. Gee it sure is nice living here, ain't it? Anyway, if you can deal with import nonsense, then Japanese ESPs are far cheaper. You can get Japanese ESPs at some insanely cheap prices. So it's a bit annoying that everyone is lumping ESP USA and Japan together and just calling ESP USA "ESP". The USA branch, scummy and overpriced. The Japanese branch, still one of the best guitar companies in the world.

@countzero5150

Жыл бұрын

@@JohnDoeWasntTaken I've all but stopped buying esp in the US. The last two I bought were both from shops in Japan. Even with shipping fees, duty and tax, it was still cheaper than buying them from US retailers. Add in that the edwards variants of ltd are both mode and Japan and a good $300 to $400 less, it just doesn't make sense to buy here anymore.

The guitar business in general is very strange.

And the "Made in Japan" EII/E2 lines are definitely not. Their assembly is simply finished in Japan. No custom shop? Not fully Made in Japan. Such shady business practice by ESP. Look into the trade agreement between Japan/China/Korea and it'll become abundantly clear. Then, just send ESP an email and ask, specifically, is the E2 series fully manufactured in Japan, from raw wood to finished product. They dance around it. Then watch the Anderton's NAMM video from 2017 or 2018, I believe, where Lee asks if the E2 lineup is still made in Japan, and the rep says "Yes..... (long, awkward pause) fit and finished in Japan." Not a fan of ESP, since I learned this and now this excellent reporting just firms up my opinion.

@heavymetal9330

Жыл бұрын

You nailed it!

Just to clarify. ESP USA, is NOT a custom shop.

They noticed that there long list of back orders wasnt, in light of higher inflation, going make them nearly as much profit as forecast. So what's the best way to remove orders from the list (and pin it on someone else)? I would be interested see what come of the unoffical invite from esp to take the orders. For example, will they raise the price? Are they going to keep the retail markup for themselves to improve profit margin on the custom back orders list?

No guitar is worth waiting multiple years for, these companies and customers are both mental

@michaelgrahamwongacutemadness

Жыл бұрын

The problem is that taste in specs could change so I think it’s best that pros get customs i mean they usually get discounted right

I haven’t regretted swapping to FGN from ESP one bit. And at least I get FGN on the headstock, instead of F-II 😛

Can't understand why people are paying that kind of money for big brands when there are so many great custom builders who love working with customers to build them a great guitar for a fraction of the price, and in many cases moreso hand-made. So many "custom shop" guitars are coming from the same CNCs as their more standard guitars. Sad that Chandro went down, that shop was about 2 miles from me.

@carnovector6396

Жыл бұрын

Thats a great point you make there, i thought the same thing until i got robbed of around 2000$ sometime during 2021 and last year

@sole__doubt

Жыл бұрын

Rich guitar players arent known for making smart guitar purchases thats for sure

@aforabiishk

Жыл бұрын

Custom guitar from big brands is just a glorified stock guitar, there is nothing custom about it.

@onetakehoovie5955

Жыл бұрын

For real. There's a great Luther near me who has done some amazing pieces for a reasonable price (considering its a one man shop taking mo ths of his time).

@drconflict629

Жыл бұрын

Fraction of the price? Where you going to get a custom guitar for 1 grand exactly?

I hate to be the voice disagreeing with Chondro, but as someone whose works with many small businesses, what Randall did was technically wrong. I get he wanted out, for whatever reason, but a business is only a business if it continues. If Chondro's business license ended, ESP continuing to do business with a technical consumer is actually problematic as it breaches contract with other businesses. While his original esp rep said it was ok, I wonder if that was truly cleared via esp's upper management. I don't know the full story, but if I'm in contract with someone to finish a construction job and I decide to cancel my license, I'm legally not allowed to continue, and all my subs i owe money too, as well as the client I owe service to would be pissed and seek legal action if not fulfilled.

@vorpalblades

Жыл бұрын

Finally, someone who knows what they're talking about.

@ShroudedInfinity

Жыл бұрын

As said in the video, when Randall started his business in his basement he was approved to become an ESP dealer. Why is this different? Whether he gave up his business license or not is unknown but he is still being allowed to fulfill existing orders with other companies (Jackson, Mayones, etc) despite relocating to his basement. I can’t comment on license requirements for running a business in Wisconsin or anywhere but if he needed one to begin selling when he started I imagine he will maintain that license until the existing orders are fulfilled.

To your point about lead times for custom shops, I have a Fender custom shop special run I ordered in fall of 2021 that arrived earlier this month.

Randall's shop was where all the ESP LTD Sammy Duet SD-1's were sold.

ESP USA I assume. As confusing as the guitar market can be, it should be clarified that this kinda of soulless corpo behaviour is typical of US corporations and not of the ESP japan company, who were actually so "on the ball" with custom orders (including my own) that most of the communication between ESP Japan and customers or dealers doing custom shop stuff is handled by the company president. It's a wholly different experience.

@ileutur6863

Жыл бұрын

American corporate culture has gotten so incredibly greedy over the past decade that its hard to fathom. Plus the amount of "you're just lazy" propaganda they've been putting out into the world...

@therideneverends1697

Жыл бұрын

There should be a saying for this "MIJ- A-OK, USA? Run Away!"

Never could understand how ESP could copy so many guitar bodies and not get in trouble. They have copies of just about every guitar made with just slight differences.

So, I was considering getting a Custom shop and, since this video is pretty recent, how are things going there atm? Is it still an issue to order? Has anyone ordered recently (in the last year) who has recieved their guitar and how was it?

Friendship ended with ESP guitars, used 90's RG's are my new best friend.

@JohnWiku

Жыл бұрын

Japanese 90s RG's are simply the best guitars in the world!

As a Chicagoan, imagine this is how you learn Chondro is closing! I only recently learned about them and visited my first time in February. Really cool dudes. I was saving up for a second, more serious visit as I discovered them passing through town for work on my 1st visit. One of my top considerations was an ESP! Both those plans appears to be cancelled today.

I didn't even know that the words 'ESP' and 'Drama' were compatible.

Feels like an ESP USA problem I’ve never had an issue with ESP Japan.

I can't imagine ESP Japan behaving like this! Surely we're talking about ESP USA right... since their restructuring, it might have been worth clarifying

I think the reason they made the Chris Degarmo signature replica $12,000 is because they don't want to sell them. ESP said... "How do we get around paying some of our artists?", "Oh! I know. Let's make the guitar a ridiculous price that no sane person would buy."

@B.V.Luminous

Жыл бұрын

It makes no sense that a company that makes money by selling guitars would price a guitar so high that nobody would want to buy it.... So your assumption makes more sense than it really should. It's difficult to sell an EVH, let alone some new dudes guitar.

@KevinSparksatx

Жыл бұрын

Is Chris DeGarmo a new dude? 😂

I started working in music stores and selling guitars in the 80's. I consider that time the tail-end of the glory days. I remember companies being so easy to deal with and customer service at most of the big name companies were still really good for the most part. Usually, if there were an issue, all I had to do was pick up the phone (yes, actual humans answered the phone back then) and one person would usually handle the whole issue and were polite about it............then came the days of companies selling out and new leadership taking over....blah blah blah..... it wasn't long before it all went to hell. I finally quit working MI retail in early 2000. I couldn't do it anymore.

@danield00d

11 ай бұрын

Once you got the musicians out of the industry and the greedy ass mongrels with enough lawyers to bury anything, the music industry went to shit. Round 2011-2012 fender either got bought out or managed by the same company that owns J Crew clothing line. The guy I dealt with for 10 years was let go basically overnight and the sales rep that replaced him had no idea about anything in the music world. Our relationship with fender lasted 9 months with new management. Orders weren’t delivered, orders that were delivered were either wrongly packaged, not on our order, or inadequately packaged so they arrived damaged. Getting ahold of someone to fix problems was an even bigger headache. The rep that we were given wouldn’t answer the phone nor emails to help but sure wouldn’t hesitate to call and ask for another order.

@YesuAiNimen

11 ай бұрын

@@danield00d That sucks. I think the industry went to shit long before that timeframe though.

Super random question , what picks are on the guitars in the back , i have a ton of green jazz 3 picks everywhere so its funny to see them in the background ahah

ESP went from being my favorite guitar brand to me never wanting to buy one again with this. Their sales have to be plummeting hard after the ridiculous price increases and now this.

@Unchainedmaple888

Жыл бұрын

Same, except for me it was when they got rid of ESP Standard Series for E-II. At that time, I was a poor student but I could eventually scrap up enough to get a Standard Series with ESP on the headstock. Then they went to E-II and I lost all respect for them. Admittedly, I still bought a few ESP Edwards guitars because they play almost 95% as good as an ESP Custom Shop and about the same as ESP Standard Series but for a fraction of the cost. Edwards as a brand name also sounds a lot less stupid than E-II.

@michaelgrahamwongacutemadness

Жыл бұрын

@@Unchainedmaple888who is edwards grassroots or navigator idk what they mean but the issue is their greed

I wonder if Randall might have said one too many words in regards of money/debts/orders - thus causing them to just pull the plug.

I began buying ESP's back in the 90's the Japanese models were the same price as Les Paul Studios then, maybe a little less, I think I paid $1400.00. When they came out with the LTD line early 2000's I bought a lot of the Deluxe models, some were even prototypes, you just couldn't beat the price for what you got in an instrument, of coarse when they came out they around $600.00-$700.00 new. Seeing the amount they are charging now is insane just for the LTD's, their as much as my ESP standards when I bought them knew, and the standards (EII) line are more than I will spend now, same with the LTD's , but good thing is on the back end if I decide to sell anything I can get the money I put in to them back out plus some extra change, time to start buying LP's again, used the are around a grand all day long.

Not sure why anybody would pay ESP prices anyway with how long the wait times are and how many other great guitars are out there. I just bought a Mirage Deluxe from the 80's and it's the nicest guitar I own but it didn't cost 4k+ and I didn't have to wait two years and deal with price increases on a product I already ordered.

I bought an ESP used while I was deployed... paid 150 for it... found out a few months after, that I bought a $1700 guitar for under 200 XD

There are several reasons I could image... E.g. Chandro not being credit worthy anymore, so that ESP was afraid, that they would not get their bills payed... This would be clearly something, they would not want to talk about in public. Or: ESP not wanting costumers to left with a guitar, that they cannot get any service for by the dealer, since the shop would close directly after they have been delivered. Chandro wanting the benefit from selling the guitar, without any risk and effort for the service and support, is kinda cheesy.

I'm kind of ashamed to be an ESP Custom owner right now. A shame that the maker of my favorite guitars is doing this.

Great Journalism Bro!!! Why does everything seem like it's going psycho? Like all corporations & brands have just stepped of the edge of the Earth, for no apparent reason that can be seen at this time 😳

Recently bought a 1990s custom shop ESP for $2500, the most I have ever spent on a guitar. Had a guitar store owner (big store in Maryland) tell me that I was lucky I got it for the price I got it at because custom shop dealers are on back order for the next 2+ years and that new guitars were ungodly expensive. I’m glad ESP is honoring the prices established at the time of order as they’ve apparently gone from around $3k to $4.5k just in the last year. Crazy times

@moderndaygrinch

Жыл бұрын

Did it happen to be from Bills, Atomic, or Chuck Levin's? Those are my go to MD stores

@Blesstheautmn

Жыл бұрын

@@moderndaygrinch could have been from one of those stores 🤫

@JohnDoeWasntTaken

Жыл бұрын

Man I see all y'all ESP fans buying USA guitars and I'm just wondering how none of y'all seem to be aware that ESP Japan exists. Not dogging on ya, just weird to me since ESP Japan is like 5x the size of ESP USA and has a selection that eclipses anything USA offers. While the USA prices are shooting up, the Japanese customs (because yen fell in exchange rate to USD) have literally gone on what I can only call a blowout sale. I watched as they went from $5k to $3.5k within only a few months. And Japanese stores never raised their prices. I used that opportunity to get my dream ESP custom that I've been wanting for years, $1k less than list price. When you go ESP Japan you have to deal with import BS, yes, but it's worth it to get a better quality guitar at a better price than what scummy ESP USA is charging. Continuing my tactic of plugging my ears and just taking my money somewhere else if a company marks up prices because of "inflation" or some other BS. COVID is over and has been over for a while now, there's no excuse for the price gouging bullshit that's going on everywhere across the country. Don't even get me started on the shit car/truck dealers are getting away with.

@Blesstheautmn

Жыл бұрын

@@JohnDoeWasntTaken to be fair, I believed I was being told about the MIJ ESP prices and wait times, I don’t know anything about esp USA. My custom shop is a MIJ and I love it

@JohnDoeWasntTaken

Жыл бұрын

@@Blesstheautmn Strange because if anything they dropped nearly $2k across the board last year due to exchange rate weirdness. The only price increases were happening with US guitars (because the US is so awesome /s). Sounds like you were being told about ESP USA because they certainly have been jacking up the prices and also falling behind on their orders. My custom shop is a MIJ too and it's amazing, I wouldn't touch a MIA guitar with a 10 foot pole though. They're all overpriced in my experience, not nearly the same quality fit and finish as MIJ guitars.

Issue aside, I love watching your videos! your voice makes it so calm as if there were no issue at all with ESP 😀

Great work as always KDH 🤘🏽🤘🏽

This is why I love this channel...a very interesting situation presented clearly...so far,ESP isn't looking very good

If you want a custom guitar - find a luthier in your area. There's loads of them out there, and they're probably cheaper, and you'll be supporting small business. For $4000 - anybody who's handy with a bandsaw and plunge-router will gladly make you the guitar of your dreams, if only to give them something to do. And their customer service is more accessible.

@strumminronin

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for saying this, absolutely agree with you.

@michaelgrahamwongacutemadness

Жыл бұрын

they generally don’t take as long and there’s one near me that only charges $3000+ and it used to be less than 1000+ but it’s wood cost thanks to biden and other shit

At the moment you cannot order a guitar from the Jackson Custom shop in Europe. In the USA the only menu they have is the Custom Select,not the full Custom Shop facility. Probably applies to Charvel as well.

It's obviously a tactic to dodge the original prices with rising production costs.

It’s not the cutting out the middle man that’s shit. It’s that ESP broke an existing agreement with one of their dealers to finish outstanding orders. By not only not fulfilling those orders, but contradicting a previous reassurance that they would, they have severely damaged their reputation. It’s not the going in for themselves that’s shit, it’s the broken promise.

I own 2 custom ESP from the early 2000s. I looked at getting another last year through the same dealer. The response from the dealer was that he dropped ESP entirely because in recent years they have become complete f*ckwits and impossible to work with. This is a dealer that was earning ESP awards year after year and he was dealing directly with Japan's custom shop. He recommended another dealer if I really wanted one but I decided against it because I know that if my guy says they have become f*ckwits after so many years of working with them and getting so many awards, there is some serious risk involved. I can't say was surprised by this story. People focus on the dealer but the ESP customers got screwed big time also.

ESP has been jacking prices up so hard to. Very dissapointed in their business practices lately.

Contracts like this happen in the real world every day. Especially in design/build projects where you're building a project 2+ years into the future. If you do not include language to protect yourself from price increases, and you do not write these costs into your original contract, that is your prerogative and your risk. Over the course of two years, prices could have gone the other way, would ESP have returned the cost difference to the customer?

What a shame.. I hate it for the people that purchased the guitars.. and for the dealer.. ESP stepped in it I would say.. I bet in their cooperate world someone made a quick decision to not ship on the spur of the moment and they thought nothing would happen and the dealer would say ok because he's closing, but I don't know.. Maybe they have a good reason, but if they do, it would behove them to share it.. I realize as you said if it's be litigated that maybe they can't according to their attorney's request, but I would anyway, because they need to get in front of this thing.. I like ESP guitars, but that's not a good thing what they are doing with the dealer unless as you stated they have some overwhelming reason that they aren't mentioning. Great video man. Thanks..

Hi KDH, nice video. Just wondering wheter these hi-end custom shop guitars made by ESP USA or ESP Japan? Also, for anyone who don't read Japanese characters, the characters “神風” on the awarded guitar body at 8:34 was the well known (or infamous) "kamikaze" suicide foo fighters during WWII. That actually added some extra ironical drama to this story: the orders just never come back, like the foo fighters.

As soon as you started talking about custom guitars, I started thinking about chondro guitars. Theyre about 5 miles from me, and my god did they have beautiful guitars. I also immediately started thinking about an ESP he had that was so killer. I always windered how the hell a place like that could stay in business. I love guitars, but I couldnt get one of those in my wildest dreams. So who the hell else around here could? Couldnt beleive it when you actually brought their name up, and then also answered my question of how they stay in business...they cant😢. If I was a rich mother fucker, I would have spent alot of time there.

OK, wtf. It almost sounds like ESP are pulling a fast one. For what reason, I can't imagine.

I was affected by this. Lost my order and my custom shop esp. Its been a whirwind of emotions and $.

I used to tell friends that ESP was a really good brand to check out. Perhaps not anymore.

Thank you for making this video! Shame on ESP!

I've never bought a custom guitar so don't really know how it works properly but this sounds like they want to cancel the orders so then the customers have to reorder directly through them at the now inflated prices? Or am I completely wrong?

@colinmcguigan4630

Жыл бұрын

The dealers listed in the video claimed that ESP would honor the original price with orders transferred to them

@metalcadude2

Жыл бұрын

@@colinmcguigan4630 I see, thank you.

I wonder If I could get a ESP buccaneer V. Recessed floyd and sustainiac with emg 78 bridge...

They used to have an ESP custom dealer here in Oz before the Sars-Cov pandemic hit and the prices where $17,000 AUD! $17K - the guitars looked great, but, at that price it ain't ever gonna happen. There are true custom builders who don't charge anywhere near that money.

Biggest concern, are ESP refunding the individual customers that ordered and their orders were cancelled? I imagine they payed up front or at the very least a deposit. If ESP is walking away with customer money thats gross, really gross.

Damm, I was going to order a ESP USA model online…but not now.

This seems like someone at ESP is handling things like this extremely poorly. There seems to be no structured methodology for dealing fairly with back-orders handled from businesses that are closing down. It could easily have been handled by using procedures as simple as asking the guys at Chondro to hand out contact forms to their customers on back-order that could then be sent to ESP in order to allow ESP to send the customers their guitars directly.

Eastman of China n California. I had good customer service with them even though I had to wait awhile for my order cos of the pandemic/shop closures in Bejing. They kept the dealer updated. Never bs’d us. Met the distributor at NAMM and he was so apologetic. It was an amazing guitar (Romeo LA) and worth the wait. Not a “custom order,” but a hand made guitar.

Yer right, we won’t see “influencers” like Rhett Shill covering stuff like this cuz he doesn’t wanna risk getting freebies from ESP or other brands in the future lol. Keep up the good work KDH

@IridiumZero

Жыл бұрын

Still waiting for Rhett Shill to crack a smile one day, the miserable f***

@TheChicagoTodd

Жыл бұрын

This is not in Rhett Shull's wheelhouse anyway.....he's not really a hard rock/metal guy.

@honjon666

Жыл бұрын

Rhett schull is a tool

@GregSturmon

Жыл бұрын

And watch, those “influencer” guys, they’ll find some ESP model 8 months down the road, and be like, this thing is such a diamond in the rough……and the market will go nuts and prices will blow through the roof…….that’s obviously a nutty scenario…….right?? 🤷‍♂️

@brandoshreds

Жыл бұрын

I played a gig with Rhett last year and we chatted about gear all afternoon. Dude is just passionate about getting good tone. He's not beholden to any brands.

Ordered an ltd xtone in vintage black as soon as they were announced in 2020... 2.5 years later they send me an obvious b-stock at full price. Admit to a QC failure and now... 3 plus years later still waiting on my guitar 😢 Substantial drop in quality these past few years on another xtone I ordered too. Since 2020 have had good success with sterling by ebmm orders. Rapid delivery, no QC problems. Not surprised to see so many metal players etc moving over to Jackson/fender... At this point idk if i will be buying another esp/ltd when other brands are just killing it.

@michaelgrahamwongacutemadness

Жыл бұрын

I wonder why mick thomson switched to esp

Holy shit, I live in waukesha and love Chondro. I was wondering why they werent open. Btw they are great people, really awesome, and they specialize in metal shredders and good customer service

Those wait times are unacceptable

Looks like he should have kept his shop closing under wraps until all of the orders were fulfilled. By canceling him as a dealer, ESP can make the extra margin that Chondro would have made.

Glad ive got some original OG ESP Standard’s (Horizon and an Export Eclipse). No idea why esp decided to ditch the ESP Standard line and rename it to E-ii?

I tried to buy an ESP custom shop last year and could not. There is no way to buy an ESP custon shop

6:55 I remember seeing a comment of Randall's where he mentioned he had to dish out 40k in refunds for deposits, and lost out on 52k profit. A lot of the threads on the topic ended up getting deleted unfortunately. Also, the CH in Chondro is pronounced like CHasm, not like in CHart.

@PaulyDDownunder

Жыл бұрын

Sounds like it’s now going to be pronounced, Gonebro or Gonezo 😂

@deadinsidemcgee411

Жыл бұрын

Their shop is named after the scientific name for Amazon Tree Boas. Just a fun fact.

@jerrysgotapewpew

Жыл бұрын

That's absolutely insane. I will never buy an ESP guitar. I really wanted one of those burl LPs with the turquoise grain filler, not anymore.

It took us a year to get a Javier JR 608 from ESP. It is a fantastic guitar though...

I placed my custom ESP order in winter 2019. It still hasn't arrived, and I've heard multiple heads and VPs of the ESP custom department have been fired over this fiasco.

Never wait years for a guitar. They only do that to make them more desirable. If it takes 2 years then it must be good. That's the trick. You could build a sky scraper in 2 years.

I am a former ESP/LTD dealer. I found them fairly easy to work with… until they weren’t… I had to close my shop in late 2008,(can anyone say recession), but they had already put me on a COD program. This was one of the main reasons I called it quits. I have always thought their guitars were a bit better quality (especially in the LTD line), compared to other brands. The thing is, I found it hard to sell them ,They’re not really a “traditional “ design, but they are a quality instrument manufacturer. I’m not really surprised that Randall had this problem, ESP are very shrewd business people when they have to be.

As a complete outsider, I guess they are avoiding potential loss during the closure. The reason and circumstance of the closure is not eluded to here, could liquidation be an issue?

This touches on an ethical concept that can exist in other industries as well. For example, in commercial construction subcontractors are baited along by general contractors to continue pricing a job long after they have already awarded the work to someone else. We call that "free construction services" (as opposed to the fair practice, preconstruction services). There really isn't any way for a subcontractor to leverage an abusive general contractor from a legal standpoint other than simply the refusal to bid any future work with them. Subcontractors always cynically joke about sending abusive general contractors a bill for their wasted time but of course that never happens. Seems like this case has a similar parallel to that where work was done, should be compensated, but wasn't, and there probably isn't much legal precedence for a civil suit to get compensated.

yikes.. im planning on buying an esp, not too sure about that now

From personal experience with ordering expensive Custom Shop guitars i can understand how both the dealers and his customers are feeling towards ESP. Most of my custom orders went without any issues, but two of them were a disaster and in both cases it was the brands that caused the problems not the dealers. My advice to the buyers that placed the orders is to take legal advice, they could be losing a lot of money if they don't have their deposits returned, all of this is going to hit Chandro and ESP hard.

I think Japan is having a hard time getting guitars out of the country. I ordered an Ibanez they told me 3 months, I payed for it I can wait 3 months. Then the 3 months passed they told me maybe 6 more months. I couldn’t wait 9 months for a production guitar. I can find one later. As always great video.