ESP M1

Made in Japan in the late 80`s, NY neck plate so it could have been assembled in the states. The esp m1 has the glow in the dark skulls with black strat like body. Maple neck with the straightest grain i have ever seen on any guitar. Has one volume and one tone control only one humbucker in the bridge position and that???s all it needs. This guitar screams, has an endless supply of harmonics and tone. Pick up looks like a SD huge and fat sounding, maple neck older ESP head stock shape. Tuners have ESP engraved as do the saddles, strat two point style trem, and huge block. Case was made in japan, vintage style tolex still going strong. 30 year old guitar almost mint.

The M1 sounds amazing! Best guitar i have had recorded or live. No noise just so good, thanks ESP

the guitar is 30 years old and in almost mint condition, neck pocket is tight, no flaws at all.

the two point trem is the best i have had in any guitar, including PRS, fender, Jackson etc. Its light and stays in tune. Has no pitting or rust, not bad for a 30 year old guitar

I have had two emails from ESP regarding the build date, great stuff considering the age of the guitar.

This is the most resonant best sounding guitar i have ever played. I feel honoured owning it, when you consider what people are collecting these days, it seems like the old esp guitars are slipping by unknown, unnoticed completely under the radar. I would take this guitar over any PRS, Gibson or Fender. It???s just so damn good! I don???t want to change it in any way, even though it only has one humbucker , this must influence the tone of this guitar and it staying that way

Made in 80's, NY/USA. Serial number is only 3 digits :) Usual Lynch M1 shape without tiger stripes. It is black. Tuners and vintage style bridge saddles stamped ESP. Guitar is old but previous owner took good care of it, there are only a few scratches.

Body is a little heavy, I think it is not alder, maybe mahogany (or maybe a different kind of alder, I am not sure). Neck is maple w/ rosewood fingerboard, 22 frets, dot inlays. Frets are in 8/10 condition. Headstock is typical ESP headstock (not pointy). 1 volume 1 tone knob + 2 humbuckers. Pots need to be changed, very noisy.. but it is a 20$ job anyways.

This is a typical 80's rock guitar, one of those "super strat" models. I really liked the looks of it, plus it was only 200$, so I grabbed it fast. You can't even buy a shitty Chinese guitar for this price. I paid 65$ for the shipment from Ohio to Istanbul. No tax for this baby since it is more than 20 years old and marked as gift.. :)

What?? Everybody does that! :)

Not impressive. Humbuckers are not noisy but they are weak. I am not sure these are the originals but I can easily say neck hummy sucks. Doesn't have any depth, very treble. Bridge humbucker is fine, my guess is around 8K something. Not enough for heavy stuff 'though.

Overall sustain is not bad for a bolted guitar.

It looks very standard. Dark satin finish, bolt on neck, 22 frets.. I know this was a monster back in 80's but for today it is one of those standard guitars. Overall quality and workmanship is good but not even close to latest ESP models.

It reminds me Mexican Fenders at it's best.

Very solid. Guitar strangely stays in tune for days, I think these tuners are really amazing. Very dependable.

no idea

Playin' since 1993, I have 11 guitars, 4 bands, 2 girlfriends plus a big rack of Boss pedals :) My main amp is Marshall JCM800. I also use Ibanez W10 wah pedal.

ESP M1 is a nice, decent guitar. It doesn't have the perfect looks but it plays well + stays in tune for days. Does the job for me. It will be a good backup guitar. I will not worry about any possible damage to the body, I bought it to use as a back up instrument only. This usually means fun.. I will probably feel very comfortable with this guitar on stage.

I compared this M1 to some Mexican Fender's, Korean Schecter's and Squier's. Definitely a better guitar. Just don't except me to compare this to Japanese ESP guitars.

200$ was a fantastic value, I am not sure if you can grab one of these babies for this price. But under any circumstances, I wouldn't give more than 300$-350$ for this, it is a nice guitar but not that nice.

When I think about these 80's guitars I feel kinda funny 'though. Think about it, this was about 2000$ in 1987 (some catalogues say 2300$!). I bought for 200$ in 2007 :)

I think my M1 Custom was made in the late 80's. I need to contact ESP and find out for sure. I'm not sure of where it was made either but i'11 be finding out soon. The body i think is made of alder with a neck-thru design and the neck is probably made of the same material. The body is a thinline strat style with a cutaway for easy fast access to the 24th fret and shaved at the top rear corner and top of the back. It has a Floyd Rose, one knob for volume and one for tone with a 3-way switch. The pickups are active EMG's, 1 humbucker and a single coil at the neck. The neck is a fat thin U with a cutaway heal at the base, an ebony fretboard and jumbo frets and thin block inlays at the top with the ESP logo at the 12th fret, also has creme colored bindings on the front of the neck and headstock. The headstock has a reverse pointed style and a good degree of angle to it. Locking nut and non-locking ESP tuning keys. The body and neck finish are a brilliant metallic blue displaying the ESP logo painted in gold and M-1 Custom in white on the headstock, 100% original finish. All of the hardware is black. Original ESP case and Came with the neckbolt adjustment tool.

My M1 Custom has the quality sound and tone variety available for me to play clean acoustic styles or metal that make playing rythme or lead clear with out frustration. I use a 120 watt crate amp- randall 4x12 cabinet with celestians and wah pedal. There is no unwanted noise at all from the knobs or switch. It provides every sound that i've needed, low deep crunch, full rich leads, incredible harmonics, squalls and lists goes on. I loves the way my guitar sounds and plays and have absolutely no dislike at all. The neck is easy and fast and extremely comfortable to, it is second to none!

I bought the guitar used 9yrs ago so I cant comment on the factory set-up or pickup adjustments. when I bought the guitar it needed some minor work so I took it to a well known guitar shop that I used, had the frets crowned and polished, scoped and setup up. I did notice the Tremelo would rock forward to its full extent but would rock backward fully, the tremelo was hitting the body underneath of it. I had the guy router it out a little so it wouldnt hit anymore and rock back fully when I pulled up on the whammy bar. I havent had a problem since and it plays like no other. I do have the same thing on the top of the body behind the tremelo as one of the M1 Custom owners described. There are Slightly Raised lines where it looks like the neck was glued in. You can barely see them so it doesnt bother me.

I've played live with my guitar for years, once the guitar is tuned it stays tuned day after day. The only problem I had with the hardware was the little blocks in the Floyd Rose that fasten the strings in place were cracked so I replaced them, that was 9yrs ago. No problems yet with anythings else and all hardware works like new. The finish is outstanding. Truely a dependable work of art. Allways have a backup guitar.

I've never dealt with ESP yet. I do plan to for information on my ESP.

I've beeen playing for 9yrs. I have had numerous guitars over the years and after seeing and especially playing my M1 Custom I didnt need to ask questions. If it was ever stolen I would have to buy something else until I could get my hands on another one or wait for one to be custom built for me. I love this guitar because every time I play it I cant seems to get enough and its a pleasure to play. This guitar has nothing to hate. My favorite feature is the sound. I'm allways in guitar stores and there is no compairison. I wish I had 5 of them!!!

I've got the red version with the neck - hum config, and the super-retro clear pickguard. Not alot of features but thats just how i like it. Two knobs, three-way selector, two pickups. Still you can get alot of sounds if you work it right. The neck is smooth and fast... good for all styles. The guitar seems of good quality materials, a maple neck and is well put together. ESP gurus say I was lucky to find one as these babies are no longer made and would be considered $$$ custom shop because of the materials. Its funny, I go into guitar stores now and turn my nose up at the fender Clapton strats and most of the expensive stuff I find in the high end room. This guitar is truely amazing, stays in tune very well for a guitar without a floyd and has sustain for days.... no... weeks actually.

I play pretty much everything with my band. We're mainly grunge but throw in a bit of indy and some metal. This guitar smokes it all.
The hum pickup i'm told is a semour duncan and it flat out rocks. Great for Alice in Chains, and whatever metal you want to throw at it.
Some people think you've got to have a floyd to play metal, M-1's got the same crunch and much more sustain. This guitar also has the best harmonics of any guitar i've played. Output is massive on the hum so you've really got to learn to harness the feedback or you'll end up blowing alot of amps. Some guitar players spend their whole lives trying to find an axe that feeds back like this, i'm glad i found mine early. The neck pickup is completely opposite, buttery smooth and bluesy, think Mike McCready on Yellow Ledbetter. The middle switch works well for everything in between, GNR, STP, Zep, Radiohead, Pearl jam, Creed, Floyd, Hendrix, Nirvana, etc. The main thing about this guitar is that the sound is full, and has alot of body and color oozing out of it, not wirey, like some high-output metal guitars i've played. I run all vintage effects, marshall shredmaster, proco rat, dist+, vox wah, boss od, ds-1, chorus, EH small clone, through a variety of shitty solid state amps and this guitar sounds great. I once played this rig though an actual tube amp... and wow... i gotta get a tube amp!!

Best feeling guitar i've played so far. I keep putting my hands on everything i can find in the music stores expecting to find a better feel but something about this is just right. Action is good on this guitar and allows fast playing. The only neck I've played that seems faster is the wizard II ibanez neck. The M1 is more of a strat style guitar with an ibanez sound. The feel of a strat but the crunch of a hard rock/metal guitar. It's a good compromise.

I should probably take better care of this baby than I do. It gets banged around a bit and I usually leave strings on it until they disintegrate. Regardless it seems to hold up pretty well. (4 band practices per week @ 5 hours per session) I wouldn't drop it from too high up. Seems less sturdy than a fender (body and neck are lighter/thinner) more sturdy than an ibanez.
If you get one take better care of it than I do, this is a guitar you'll want to last. Note to all: never gig without a backup, regardless of what you play.

ESP is sort of defunct now or so it seems. It appears that they spend more time creating their website than they do making guitars. All you can find nowadays are LTDs and they're all crap!!! I think they still make a few higher end, real ESPs but i've never actually seen one in a store, other than the lynch tiger model, which plays like a combination between a really bad kramer and a jackson. I've never had to contact the company and probably wouldn't. Trust you're local guitar repair shop or a professional musician, not someone who stamps LTD on a piece of firewood...

I've been playing guitar a little over two years, and with a band a little over a year. We do alot of recording and thats when you see the true tone of your axes. This is probably the third guitar i've gone through, had a mex-strat and a gibson LP dc studio. This is by far the best sounding and playing guitar i've owned. My buddy in the band has a $1500 custom shop strat and cringes cause he can't get the harmonics or output I get from my M1. The guitar can be very dark or very bright depending on the tone knobs and pickup selection, which makes it quite valuable. Other axes I keep in stock are my prized usa tele and an A/E Takamine. both good buys for the $$. Sort of wish this M1 had a floyd just so i could use a whammy bar and stay in tune, but then I'd lose the crazy sustain, so i'm afraid to modify it. I'll probably try and get one of those discontinued G&l rampages (*Mr Cantrell's fav) so I can detune and bang the hell out of it.
I'd be pretty depressed if my M1 got stolen because they're getting harder to find. If you can get hands on this model do it. You won't be disappointed. (R.I.P. Layne Staley, your legacy lives on!)

I bought this axe at ebay this year, and I truely love this instrument! It is a ESP M1 Custom. That's not a handcrafted custom shop guitar but thats the name of it. I wanted to own exactly this axe for years but first there was not enough mony and later ESP stopped to built it! Finally I got one and I can't explain my feelings about this ESP.
O.K. it's a neck through construction and the neck seems to be made out of three pices (lengthways). I think the neck is completly made out of maple and has a 25,5" scale. There are 24 jumbo frets (high ones) on it which are superb to play.PERFECT! The fingerboard is rosewood with little block inlays at the upper side of the fingerboard. On the 12th fret is the traditional ESP block inlay. The neck and the headstock (regular pointed one whith "ESP M1 CUSTOM" on it /it has the same shape as Jackson does) do have white bindings. I can't identify the material of the body -> the whole instrument is painted metallic blue (I guess it's alder). The finish is nice, but you can see the spots where the neck and the bodyparts are glued together. Even the three part's of the neck could be identified (only on the body, on the neckside the finish is perfect!!)! I think ESP is doing a mutch better job today! But overall the finish top's the most other guitarfinishes. The shape of the body is similar to the modern strat's out there (it's exactly the shape of 2002's JEFF HENNAMANN's signature model)
The complete Hardware on the axe is made by ESP itselve :-). And believe me it couldn't be better! My Instrument is about 10-12 years old and there is no rust anywhere! I think no other hardwaremanufacurer can stand that! I'm very sad that ESP don't built hardware no more -> they are working very fine. There are six tuners and an ESP-FloydRose with locking nuts. Everthing in chrome! The floyd is one of the best working ones out there. This instrument is keeping in tune for weeks! PERFECT!
There is only one Humbucker with one volume knob and a swith at the bridge position. The switch activates a booster thing inside. First I have to say, that the sound of the humbucker (without booster) is very cool. But when you play on stage with high gain and high volume there is no way to get rid of the feedback you get. I looked at the humbucker and there is no manufacturer on it but it seems to be waxed enough. The volume knob works even after 10 years without noises and it feels like heaven! PERFECT! The booster is crap! It sounds as bad as bad can :-(. that's not what I supposed from an "ESP". Finally to get rid of the feedback and the booster I replaced the original humbucker by an EMG 85 one. Actually I don't like the sound of EMG's but I had one free and with the incedible tone the guitar produces even the EMG sounds great! I'm looking for a Semior or a DiMarzio at the time.
With the guitar I got an original ESP case. It looks like it was hand built and it fit's 100%. PERFECT!
there is not very much on it but everything you need so there are 9.

Like I said before this axe only do have one humbucker! So it's dedicated to the harder section of musicians. If you are playing without amplification this instrument produces a load, great tone with very very very long sustain. The whole guitar is vibrating like hell. Best basics to get a great sound! I usually play heavy things and the guitar fits perfect to this! But if you want there are superb clean or crunchy sounds possible. You can play any humbucker-friendly musicstyle with this baby! I was absolutley shocked what you can do with only one humbucker and one volume knob. Phantastic! With the EMG 85 the guitar produces a warm harmonic and ritch sound with a perfect sustain. It's a pleasure to listen to! I'm truely enthusiastic about the incredible tone the guitar is producing!!!
I tested it on varius amps and it sounds great on every single one! Personally I use an ENGL savage 60 through an marshall JCM800 4x12 cabinet. Thats a killer metal sound! Everyone loves it.
In this catgory there is no other rating possible!!!
Absolute perfect!!!

The playability of the M1 is the best one I ever had the pleasure to play. There is nothing I can say about this!
As I said above the hardware is absolutley perfect And the only not 100%thing is the finish of the axe and the electronics! But the rest of it is what you expect from an ESP! PERFECT craftmenship.
Thanks to the finish and the electronics there are only 7 points here.

This guitar rocks! I use it every day and every gig. I can absolutley count on it. Like I said above, the hardware is perfect -> no rust since 10-12 years! that's what I want! The finish has the same durability. No better guitar out there at this point!
Full points: 10

I never had to use it? No rating.

This is the guitar of my live! If I ever lose it I will be totally destroyed. I love this instrument and it gives me everything I need for guitarplaying. Thank you ESP ;-) too bad it's not produced anymore :-(

As far as features goes, this guitar is a little spartan!! There's not alot of knobs, buttons or switches to play with and that is reason I give it a five rating. It has your basic single humbucker, one volume knob and a coil split switch for the humbucker. What it lacks in gadgetry it more than makes up for in tone, sustain and playability!! This is an authentic ESP custom shop one-off guitar, no serial number to be found anywhere on this baby, I talked to the ESP custom shop after I purchased this guitar and confirmed my information, they told me it was made in the late 80's up until around 1990. It has no serial number because when ESP makes a one-off custom for an individual, it is considered a prototype and does not recieve a serial number, this particular guitar is painted in the now very recognizable George Lynch "Tiger" pattern, it is hand painted and it is evident in the brush strokes and overall imperfections that can only be attributed to a hand made guitar such as paint on the neck joint where it meets the top of the body, only there because the brush touched it. Don't get me wrong, the overall craftsmanship of this guitar is superb, as you would expect from a custom guitar. This is a neck-thru guitar with a 24 fret neck, rosewood fingerboard, the body style of this guitar has been described as similar to a Jackson Soloist and the headstock which is reversed (pointed up instead of down) has the Jackson look to it. It has an ESP double locking tremolo, licensed under Floyd Rose patents, of course, and stays in tune about as good as any guitar I've ever owned, I've tuned it once since I got it and haven't had to touch it since. The neck is mid-way between regular and thin, not as thin as say, an Ibanez Wizard but nowhere near as thick as an older style Kramer. Of all the guitars I have owned ( Ibanez, Kramer, Strats, Les Pauls, ETC...) I would be most devastated if I were to lose this one!! ESP says it would cost $3500.00 to build this guitar today, I didn't pay near that for it and consider myself very lucky!!!

Sounds!!! Oh my, can you get sounds out of this baby!! I'm mostly a "heavy" player, guitar tuned down 1/2 step is normal tuning for me. I am a pick harmonic freak, and this guitar can do it in it's sleep, I was told it has a Seymour Duncan Screamin Demon in it, I can't say for sure as it dosen't say Seymour Duncan on it, but it is one hot humbucker, currently I'm playing it through a Peavey Ultra 120 Amp head and a 2x12 cabinet enclosure. It's not the greatest setup in the world, it no Marshall stack, but I would put this guitar and Amp combo up against any of them. The guitar has that early Dokken (George Lynch) sound to it, kind of a mid-range punch that is hard to describe, if you want to hear it, listen to some Dokken CD's, that would be pretty close.

Fit and finish are excellent, except for the aforementioned imperfections in the paintwork, I wouldn't really call it a flaw as just the things that happen with a hand crafted instrument, I think things like this give it a personality. Extremely low action with no fret buzz, sustains for days, bends with the greatest of ease. This guitar is real pleasure to play. The electronics all fuction properly and with no noise.

I haven't had the guitar long enough to have an opinion about reliability, although it is very well made and in speaking with ESP, I think they would take care of business, they were very curteous and generous with information about this guitar.

Never had to use it!!!!

Like I said, I love this guitar!! I'd hate to lose it as no two guitars play the same. It would probably be irreplacable, to me anyway!!

The guitar was made in New York sometime in the 80's. It has 22 frets and a humbucker as well as two singles. It is strat shaped with a tiger finish. It is equipped with a floyd rose, 1volume, 1 tone, and a 5-way selector. The neck is maple and the fretboard is rosewood. It also came with a quality hardshell case.

I play a lot of different styles, and it always gets the job done. It has a very powerfull sound due to the pickups.It can go from bell-like fender tones to spine crushing les paul sounds with the greatest of ease. It is a very versatile guitar.

The pickups were adjusted perfectly when I got it, but the action was too high. The finish is perfect as well as everything else.

It has never failed me, and is built like a tank.

It is a wonderful guitar. ESP has a reputation for being expensive, but I believe that it is worth the money. It constantly competes and often surpasses my other guitars including my gibsons.

One of the first 2000 ESP's ever made from the early 80's. Has "Made in Japan" sticker on the back of the headstock but I believe the neck and bodies were made in Japan and assembled in NYC (when ESP was based out of NYC before moving to CA). 22 jumbo frets, one piece maple neck with only a tung oil finish, Strat style body with one high output humbucker, vintage style ESP trem, volume knob, tone knob. The body wood appears to be alder finished in Candy Apple Red. This is basically the same guitar that turned into the ESP George Lynch Tiger M-1 except that the current Signature model has a Floyd Rose and a maple body. The rating I've given is only an indication of lack of features... not lack of quality.

This guitar is a one trick pony but does that one thing extremely well. It was made in the 80's when one humbucker guitars were the craze and this guitar stands up to anything from that era of guitars including the highly prized early San Dimas Charvel's. If you want straight ahead rock/metal tones, this guitar absolutely kills. Because it has a vintage style trem instead of a Floyd Rose, the tone doesn't suffer and has sustain for days.

This guitar is of Custom Shop quality. The early ESP's are every bit as good as San Dimas Charvel guitars in quality of fit and finish. The neck is probably the most comfortable I've ever played including those from Anderson, Suhr, Grosh, current ESP's, PRS's, etc... It's very similar to the shape on the Ernie Ball Axis/EVH guitars except that this neck has been played to death that it has a worn in feel. The lack of a finish on the neck also adds to the playability of this guitar. I've played the current ESP George Lynch Tiger M-1 and there is absolutely no comparison. My older M-1 not only sounds fuller and richer but also has a much nicer feeling neck.

The guitar has withstood over 15 years of constant playing. Aside from a few dings, scratches, fret wear, and normal wear and tear from playing the guitar is still 100% intact. The guitar feels better now than it did when it was new. Solid as a rock!

Never had the need to deal with their customer support.

I've been playing about 18 years and I would be devastated if this guitar was lost or stolen. I'm sure I could find another one but this one's like an old broken in pair of shoes that feels just right. The only thing I wish it had was a neck pickup due to my playing style and technique these days. I keep hesitating to have my luthier route the guitar for a neck pickup since I don't want to lose the killer tone it has now. It's not a versatile guitar but if I want to get a straight ahead great rock/metal tone, this is the first guitar I grab.