ESP Guitars was founded by Hisatake Shibuya during 1975 in Tokyo, Japan. By 1981 he had expanded to New York, and in 1983 to Germany. In 1985, George Lynch of Dokken had custom ESP guitars built, and this was soon followed by other Artist custom models.
ESP is a high end brand produced in Japan. To widen their market ESP offers the lower cost LTD line, and these models are built in modern factories in various countries throughout Asia.
