ESP Edwards Forest help

[Apatheosis]

Hey guys, first post! I've been lurking here for about three years now but decided that it's better late than never to start posting!

So, I've been GASing for an ESP Forest for ages and ages and was about to give up hope when I stumbled upon an ESP Edwards Forest on eBay with some interesting specs

RARE Edwards by ESP E-FR-130GT Forest Hypercharged Ultimate Metal Guitar - SHRED | eBay

The fellow is selling it pretty hard as most eBayers do, but my questions are:


-What is the general consensus on Edwards quality-wise, in comparison with, say, the Japanese ESP Forest?


-Is this a good price for what he's offering, or should I just save my money and keep saving for the ESP Forest?


I think it may be important to note that I'm after the Forest because I love it aesthetically, I'm not in dire need of a six at the moment. Pure lust, you could say.

I think that if the price is good and the quality is still solid this may be a more feasible choice than the ESP model to satiate my Forest craving.

Thanks in advance all!

 

[CrushingAnvil]

Edwards are the business, dude.

They're basically just ESP guitars

You're not getting a hell of a lot less than you are with an ESP standard series.

Edit: Yes, it has a case and looks to be in good condition. I'd jump on it.

 

[Apatheosis]

Thanks for the info, I think I very well might jump on it; I do love me some Japanese guitars...

I'll hold out for a bit longer for a second or third opinion before organising finances I think.

 

[JohnIce]

This might be a dumb post, but I'm just checking that you know you want the japanese Forest shape and not the export version. They have slightly different cuts, the Jap being sleeker and the export a bit edgier:

 

[purpledc]

and another thing is that the edwards are great guitars and are on the same quality level as ESP's by most peoples standards but the edwards have only the final assembly, set up and QC done in japan. All the woodwork and finishing is done in the ESP china factory then they ship them to japan for the final little details. But it is an esp owned factory with ESP quality control. But they are cheaper than ESP guitars for a reason.

 

[Church2224]

But they are cheaper than ESP guitars for a reason.

This is very true. Edwards are made in China and assembled in Japan while the Standard Series are made in Japan from start to finish. For this reason Edwards if loosing some popularity, at least that is what my Japanese friend on this forum said to me. Why buy an Edwards when you can get a real Japanese ESP for a little bit more? Edwards quality is between an LTD Deluxe and Japanese made ESPs I would say. Edwards lack OFRs and have FRT-1000s trems plus from what I have seen on the Guitars@bmusic boards people say that the Edwards are hit and miss.

They us good woods though from my understanding.

 

[Doombreed]

Why buy an Edwards when you can get a real Japanese ESP for a little bit more?

In Europe the ESP standard models retail for around 50-100% more than the same Edwards models, so I am not sure I would call that a little bit more.

My advice would be to jump on it and figure out if you like the shape and so on. If you find a standard model later you could always flip the Edwards.

 

[element256]

I've seen these go for £600 in the UK sales quite often ($962). Just a reference in pricing.

 

[Church2224]

In Europe the ESP standard models retail for around 50-100% more than the same Edwards models, so I am not sure I would call that a little bit more.

My advice would be to jump on it and figure out if you like the shape and so on. If you find a standard model later you could always flip the Edwards.

I was thinking the Ebay prices us US guys have to pay for, so I could be very wrong for the rest of the world.

 

[Apatheosis]

Hey all, thanks for the responses. This guitar may very well become my backup six! Which is wonderful news, I love the Forest shape.

Next up - acquisition...

The nice fellow selling this guitar has specified on eBay that he is not open to international sales. A few honeyed words later and he has now agreed to consider shipping to Australia if I were to cover shipping costs.

However,

As other Australian members here may be aware, our Government has pretty aggressive taxes on items over $1000, so much so that being the poor student I am this guitar might escape me if I can't bypass the tax.

The plan as it stands seems to be: ask the seller if we can host this transaction privately, off of eBay using the Paypal gift feature for payments.

This way I could present my customs friends with a receipt that details a $900 AUD transaction for the guitar being shipped to Aus and pay the Seller the rest of the agreed price including the shipping in a seperate Paypal gift.

With this being my third post feel free to reprimand me if this sort of talk is frowned upon here, I'm just being a bit open because I'm still relatively new to international sales and wanna hear how you guys would handle this sort of situation.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Big Rich]

edwards are not esp quality

they are the equivalent to the LTD's we have, at that price id look for a used MII.

 

[Advv]

Price is too high once you add shipping IMO. Have you had a look on Ishibashi Ubox? Digimart? Make sure you have a look around first. Shipping will be 200-300 through USPS and 300-350 through Fedex/UPS.

You can do the dodgy paypal thing you mentioned but as long as he declares the value as less than $1000, they don't normally care for used guitars. Make sure that the total price declared (INCLUDING shipping) is less than $1000. E.g. 700 for the guitar + 250 for shipping.

Still, I don't know if it's worth it. $1400 for that guitar... Shane from Bmusic sold a brand new ESP Forest GT for $1700 last year.

Good luck.

Hey all, thanks for the responses. This guitar may very well become my backup six! Which is wonderful news, I love the Forest shape.

Next up - acquisition...

The nice fellow selling this guitar has specified on eBay that he is not open to international sales. A few honeyed words later and he has now agreed to consider shipping to Australia if I were to cover shipping costs.

However,

As other Australian members here may be aware, our Government has pretty aggressive taxes on items over $1000, so much so that being the poor student I am this guitar might escape me if I can't bypass the tax.

The plan as it stands seems to be: ask the seller if we can host this transaction privately, off of eBay using the Paypal gift feature for payments.

This way I could present my customs friends with a receipt that details a $900 AUD transaction for the guitar being shipped to Aus and pay the Seller the rest of the agreed price including the shipping in a seperate Paypal gift.

With this being my third post feel free to reprimand me if this sort of talk is frowned upon here, I'm just being a bit open because I'm still relatively new to international sales and wanna hear how you guys would handle this sort of situation.

Thanks in advance!