Mick Thompson with ESP now?

[crushingpetal]

oh no i mispelled his last name, I should commit sudoku

No, don't do it! It's really boring.

 

[TheInvisibleHand]

That thing looks clean as fuck and they should have done it here.

New sig/proto looks like ass, but I'm diggin on the sparkly H with the Hipshot on the OPs pic.

im pretty sure thats just a "stock" ESP original MII in titan metal.

M-II CTM NT /E | ESP GUITARS

スルーネック／エボニー指板／EMG PU／ダイレクトマウント／ヒップショットフィクスド 仕様のM-II CTM

espguitars.co.jp

 

[Steinmetzify]

im pretty sure thats just a "stock" ESP original MII in titan metal.

M-II CTM NT /E | ESP GUITARS

スルーネック／エボニー指板／EMG PU／ダイレクトマウント／ヒップショットフィクスド 仕様のM-II CTM

espguitars.co.jp

Hey good lookin out man, thanks!

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Yeah all the guitars he played onstage are just off-the-shelf ESP Originals and E-II. Probably swapped the pickups but otherwise they're production models.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Also judging by what his tech is implying, he wasn't very happy with his Jacksons.

 

[NoodleFace]

Ive only ever had a few Jackson's and they were pieces of shit so makes sense

 

[SalsaWood]

This thread is giving me GAS for a K-7. It's not a locked trem, it uses a "U bar", but still kind of a neat idea. There's another Meshuggah(?) guitar that's just a built-as locked Floyd, which seems the right way to do it.

TBF I wish we saw more locking nuts on string through guitars.

 

[Thesius]

I didn't even know he left Ibanez lmao

 

[Church2224]

Good for him. ESP imho is a better product and line up. Jackson's Custom Shop has been all over the place in recent years

 

[groverj3]

Dude has a stash of custom/production guitars from like 4 companies at this point. Probably a whole storage unit full. None of his models have done anything for me. But that's just me.

I admit that I have not heard a Slipknot song since about 2004, but he's a big enough draw that all the companies will fight over him. I remember seeing posters at Guitar Center in high school of him playing B.C. Rich back in the day.

 

[Vyn]

Also judging by what his tech is implying, he wasn't very happy with his Jacksons.

View attachment 123329

I distinctly remember Nick from Axe Palace sending more than one of the USA ones back because of horrible QC issues. Additionally, Jackson's QC as a whole has been beyond dogshit lately. I know this is happening to a lot of brands at the moment however it seems like it's worse with Jackson than other manufacturers.

 

[works0fheart]

This guy has been doing the exact same guitar in three companies already

I mean, kinda. The soloist shape is kinda typical of a lot of players. The non soloist shapes are pretty wildly different though.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

I don't know guys, four brands over like 20 something years doesn't seem that outrageous.

Especially since he mostly left BCR because they were becoming insolvent again.

 

[groverj3]

Sometimes guitarists are as bad as gamers when it comes to the brand fanboy thing.

 

[Kyle Jordan]

I distinctly remember Nick from Axe Palace sending more than one of the USA ones back because of horrible QC issues. Additionally, Jackson's QC as a whole has been beyond dogshit lately. I know this is happening to a lot of brands at the moment however it seems like it's worse with Jackson than other manufacturers.

Beyond the Korean and some of the Mexican guitars, a lot of what FMIC has been putting out lately has been subpar. I thought people saying it were kinda full of shit, but the last few times I’ve been in local dealers in the past few months, there have been many of their products that had issues.

 

[Mathemagician]

Recessed TOM mainstream let’s goooo

 

[p88]

I think this may actually be true. His wife posted a red guitar with a recessed locking Tun-O-Matic on 2/26 that I think may just be a new prototype.

The red guitar is apparently one of the final Jackson’s he got.

I think Jamie Slays said that in his video covering this, but I’m not sure what his source is. To be fair, it does look like a hard tail version of the red Dinky he’s been playing for this album cycle.

I also see a truss rod cut out at the end of the fretboard which is typically a Jackson thing - but ofc not exclusively a Jackson feature…so this might mean nothing.

Additionally, this photo was posted a while back whilst he was still actively playing Jackson, so I think it would have been a bit risky to tease an ESP prototype back then.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

The red guitar is apparently one of the final Jackson’s he got.

I think Jamie Slays said that in his video covering this, but I’m not sure what his source is. To be fair, it does look like a hard tail version of the red Dinky he’s been playing for this album cycle.

I also see a truss rod cut out at the end of the fretboard which is typically a Jackson thing - but ofc not exclusively a Jackson feature…so this might mean nothing.

Additionally, this photo was posted a while back whilst he was still actively playing Jackson, so I think it would have been a bit risky to tease an ESP prototype back then.

Yeah it's kinda why I'm skeptical about it being an ESP. If he was already getting prototype ESPs I feel like he'd be playing them by now, but as stated earlier he's playing off-the-shelf ESP/E-II guitars.
But yeah I watched that video and he was told it was actually a Jackson. I guess he wasn't happy with the Jackson custom hardtail and was trying to find an easier-to-source replacement?
But FWIW you CAN see an ESP in that picture. Just very blurry. Feel like there was a subtle hint to it lol.

 

[yan12]

He buys guitars from Jason at DCGL.

They are good friends....he purchased a couple of ESPs recently. Probably waiting for his sig.

 

[Sermo Lupi]

At Mick's level, it very well could be just business. Jackson was making a push to refresh their artist roster the last few years. Looking at their artist page, the biggest names in their proverbial logo soup are all relatively recent endorsees: Jeff Loomis, Mick Thomson, Brandon Ellis, Marty Friedman (reprise), Gus G, and so on.

It's recent enough that it makes me wonder whether the contract was due for renewal and he just said no for whatever reason. Aside from the pandemic and production bottlenecks, it could simply be that the endorsement deal wasn't as lucrative as was hoped, and now Mick's on to greener pastures.

ESP is currently pushing their made in USA stuff, right? Hard to name a bigger band in the American metal scene than Slipknot. Maybe ESP was incentivised enough to toss Mick an offer he couldn't refuse.