ESP Vintage Plus Tele

by **cribdog** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 9:09 am

I have contacted ESP in the US and in Japan concerning the origin, specifications, and mfg date for my ESP and have gotten nowhere. I can supply pictures and all details on the instrument. Maybe it's in a catalog somewhere... any help anyone?

by **Michael Ambrose** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 4:14 am

go for it. Post 'em!

by **cribdog** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 7:57 am

Thanks for the response... this is a really nice guitar and I'd like to know the mfg date and origin if possible.

The pics are on Ebay #320006608283 or you can click the link at the bottom.

Some Details:

1- Serial Number: 22797

2- Trapezoidal neckplate with “ESP” engraved and four screws

3- ESP custom guitars within circle on back of headstock

4- “Made in Japan” small rectangular sticker near tuning key backs

5- Tuning keys like vintage Klusons with “DELUXE” on back

6- Single string tree on front of headstock

7- “ESP” in black with gold outline on front of headstock

8- “ESP” in black block letters within pearl rectangle at 12th fret

9- Case has a 3.5” X 6” silver plate with black “ESP” on the lid side

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... %26fvi%3D1

by **VintAxe** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 10:33 am

Hi Cribdog,

The Vintage Plus Tele is listed in the 1997 ESP catalog I have in the Catalog section. They list "see thru red" as a finish option so I bet yours was made right around 97. I'm not sure how long the series lasted. sb

by **cribdog** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 2:28 pm

The catalogs are great. I could waste a lot of time there! I guess 2-27-97 is logical for the date of mfg, however they're not too logical at ESP! What is logical is this guitar plays and sounds great with fit and finish to die for. I've played the same standard Tele for over 30 yrs so this is a pleasant change... wanted something a little different. Best to you.

by **VintAxe** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 2:38 pm

Hi cribdog,

I've found a couple of more things that might interest you concerning your Vintage Plus. I decided to look through my unposted ESP catalogs to get some idea of how long the Vintage Plus series was in production. From what I can tell, they first show up in the 1995 catalog. They also appear in the 96, 97, 98 and 99 catalogs. Unfortunately, I don't have the 2000, but the Vintage Plus Series does not appear in the 2001. The only Tele in the 2001 is the Ron Wood Signature Series. I'll keep an eye out for the 2000 catalog when I sift through my unsorted catalog bins to see if the Vintage Series made it out of the 1990's.

I also discovered a retail price list for the 1997 catalog I already have posted. I have added this sheet to the 97 catalog so you may want to take another look to get a feel for prices. It looks like that see thru finish added another $100 to the base price of the guitar.

Glad to hear you are enjoying the catalogs, I'll get another 90's ESP catalog listing your guitar uploaded this month.

Thanks for supporting the catalog library,

sb

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