Huge ESP Guitars Drama 

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.

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.

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.

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 ! \,,/, ,\,,/

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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 !!!

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

Great video. Sucks for these people. So mental

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

The guitar business in general is very strange.

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

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?

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.

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

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.

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

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. ;)

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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."

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

Not even guitar channels are free from the "Huge x drama" virus lol

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.

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.

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

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

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

This whole “custom shop “ thing is totally a load of bull. These guitars are no better then off the rack. The bottom line is guitar players are stupid.

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

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.

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 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 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.

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?

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.

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

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 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

My theory? Someone in ESP saw an opportunity to bin off a load of orders that were made pre cost of living crisis. They can now all re-order at current prices

Thank you for making this video! Shame on ESP!

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

So, basically, don't trust ESP for anything!!! Literally lied to Chondro.

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

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

As an ex ESP endorsed artist all I can say is this company certainly hasn’t been the company I once loved.

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

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

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.

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.

I just removed 3 ESP guitars from my Sweetwater wishlist. Can't reward rude behavior.

Glad to see kdh is slowly turning into pyrolive.

Great information man! Investigative guitar journalism isuch appreciated man. It gives us better idea of where and how to spend our hard earned $. American of partial Irish descent btw. Most were from Cork so... Cheers!!

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.

It’s pretty clear what’s going on. ESP had people either leave or step down that we’re working with Randall and Chondro & new people came in that don’t really know Randall and so were more than willing to basically steal from Chondro. Super scummy.

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.

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.

Those wait times are unacceptable

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.

has esp stated why it's taking so long to fulfill orders? understaffed? material shortages?

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..

This is nothing to get mad over. He closed. They canceled the remaining orders. Maybe he shouldn't have closed until those orders were fulfilled.

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.

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.

The Truth lies in the middle

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.

In terms of this getting litigious, this seems to be a pretty open-and-shut case. If Chondro is an official licensed dealer with ESP, then presumably they'd have some sort of contract with them, showing the details of this agreement. In which case, if Chondro has several guitars on order for their customers and ESP chooses to not to fulfil said orders, this would likely constitute a breach of contract on ESP's part. Whether or not Chondro is winding down business in preparation for shutdown would only be relevant if there is reason to believe Chondro would not be able to fulfil said orders, but they'd already come out to say they're committed to fulfilling them before the shutdown. Randall's demand for a public statement showing no wrongdoing on his or his company's part is probably not legally enforceable though. The First Amendment in the US would presumably prevent the legal system from compelling a company to any speech that they themselves disagree with. This is why, in similar cases, when a company loses a big lawsuit like this, they'll respond with a statement saying they're "disappointed with the outcome of the lawsuit", rather than admit wrongdoing and strive to do better. However, if Chondro does choose to pursue legal action here, and they win, then the fact that they won the lawsuit should itself show that they were in the right. So yeah, if Chondro does decide to sue ESP over this, I'm not sure how exactly ESP could possibly defend their actions in court...

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?

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

This really sucks. ESP makes my favorite guitars, from the custom shop down to the lowest priced import LTDs, and Randall at Chondro Guitars has been such a straight shooter and basically the reason Sammy from Goatwhore got a signature guitar.

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

The bottom line is always about money. By bypassing Chondra ESP gets to keep the hypothetical $40,000. To somebody at ESP, that seemed like a good idea.