shape is rly sweet

Great video! I agree with what you said, I'm lucky enough to own quite a lot of ESPs (3 Edwards, 1 E-II, 5 SS ESPs and 1 OS Horizon as well as a KH602). Honestly my OS Horizon which I got used is definitely the best guitar I've ever owned and it's absolutely perfectly built. However the law of diminishing returns is definitely a thing: A well setup 1000/600 series will be a pro instrument, and actually you see more pros playing them than E-IIs let alone CS/OS ESPs. I've played in front of 3000 people with my KH602 no problem. I would never tour with the OS, I would be terrified to damage it or for it to get stolen and I'd have a terrible time. I currently tour with my modded Edwards Scythe as a main and my 602 as a backup and I've also toured with SS ESPs and it's the sweet spot for me. I'd be sad for them to get damaged or lost but they're replaceable and don't cost batshit crazy amounts of money, and they play honestly 95% as well as anything else after I've done mods and setups. And at least after the shows I can enjoy my time without being in constant fear. I'm still incredibly happy I own the OS, I might use it for a local gig one day for fun and again it's the absolute perfection but yeah, nobody really needs that objectively speaking

Great video! I completely understand the hesitation. You can spend an obscene amount of money on a high-end guitar, get something that is basically flawless, and then realize that…it’s still a guitar. It doesn’t magically give you an “edge” or make you play better. I own a Custom Shop ESP M-II DX, and it’s genuinely phenomenal. The craftsmanship is top-tier, no corners are cut, and it’s one of those guitars I never get tired of playing or even looking at. But ESP’s pricing has gotten ridiculous. If you want a brand-new guitar with an actual ESP logo on the headstock, you’re basically looking at €4,000 as the entry point. Want a Custom Shop order? €6k+ is completely normal now. At that point, ESP isn’t just selling premium guitars anymore; they’re deliberately positioning the ESP name as a luxury product. And then you look at the supposedly more “affordable” tiers. E-II models are pushing €3,700. Some LTD Deluxes are around €2,500. €2,500 for an LTD! Once you’re charging that kind of money, QC issues should be virtually nonexistent, yet you still hear about them on LTDs and even LTD Deluxes.

What bothers me most is how much the goalposts have moved. Not that long ago, €1,000–1,500 could get you a seriously good, premium-feeling guitar with solid QC straight out of the box. Now it increasingly feels like you need to spend €2–3k just to get what used to be considered a properly finished premium instrument, and €4k+ if you want the “real” flagship brand on the headstock. And ESP is hardly alone here. This seems to be happening across the guitar industry. I absolutely love ESP guitars, but when €4,000 has effectively become the price of admission just to have “ESP” written on the headstock, something has gone seriously wrong with the pricing.

awesome guitar dude! so simply yet so fantastic

Great review like always!!!
And you can play her so long how you want, I don’t need her that fast back😉🤘

Hey Chris
I used to listen to your metal version of  Theme of Laura (Reprise)  from Silent Hill 2 all the time
The video is private now, and I really miss it

That video was genuinely a part of my life
If you could, please consider making it public again I’d really appreciate it😢