In 1975, Hisatake Shibuya opened a shop called Electric Sound Products (ESP) in Tokyo, Japan, which provided custom replacement parts for guitars.

[citation needed] ESP replacement parts were first introduced into the US in 1983 and began crafting custom instruments for local New York artists between 1984 and 1985.

Among these artists were Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Vinnie Vincent and Bruce Kulick (KISS), Sid McGinnis of Late Night with David Letterman and Ronnie Wood (The Rolling Stones).

ESP tooled up for Tom Anderson's shaved bolt on neck heel on the Schecter bodies and this has since become a feature of their house brand.

[citation needed] At this time, ESP based its headquarters in a loft in downtown New York City on 19th Street.

The US replacement parts business was discontinued in order to focus solely on their guitar and bass line, as well as the Custom Shop series.

Soon after the introduction of the Korean and Indonesian-made LTD lines, ESP stopped selling the majority of its Japanese-made flagship guitars in the United States, due to the high prices involved in exporting to the Americas.

The Explorer model, (known as the EXP/MX), shot to fame when avid ESP user James Hetfield's band Metallica rose to popularity in the late 80s/early 90s.

Models similar to Hetfield's black ESP even today sell for thousands of dollars beyond the original retail price.

[citation needed] This is largely due to the Fender buyout of Jackson Guitars, who ESP had struggled to compete with throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Some of these artists who left Jackson for ESP included Dave Mustaine (Megadeth, now using Gibson Guitars), as well as Adam Darski (Behemoth), Alexi Laiho and Roope Latvala (Children of Bodom), Jeff Hanneman (Slayer), Galder and Silenoz (Dimmu Borgir).

Additionally, ESP has two separate Japan-only lines of guitars, the Grassroots (lower end) and Edwards (Mid-range).

The ESP USA line doesn't include the Strat-like Snapper, the Forest GT, as well as some of the Japanese rock artist models but their custom line has been known to produce some of the most unusual designs such as a Gundam Beam-rifle replica guitar, as well as the "ESP Machinegun" used by the Japanese band Alfee.

[4] The bass signatures by J, founder of Luna Sea, are one of the most influential models manufactured by ESP, with over 50,000 copies sold.

The ESP Navigator Series on the other hand is a line which produces mainly replicas of Gibson and Fender guitars and basses, to a very high standard.

In 2016, E-II receives many new and first-time models, including Eclipse guitars with a sculpted neck joint similar to Gibson's Axcess heel to improve playability.

Generally speaking custom guitars cost as much, or even more than Navigators depending on the choices of the consumer and are considered to cater for the top-end of the market.