1990 ESP Queensryche The Empire-W GUITAR

 
 

ESP Queensryche The Empire-W Guitar

Very Few Michael Wilton Empire-W Guitars were manufactured

Queensryche endorsed by ESP in 1990 had custom guitars built. This is the guitar Michael Wilton designed with ESP in Japan and this model he used on The Empire tour 1990-1991.

Very few of these guitars have surfaced over the decades leading us to believe that very few were made by hand at ESP. Unlike other ESP signature models, The Empire-W was manufactured in very very small numbers for a very very short time.

The ESP Custom Empire-W had the factory ESP pickups and includes a factory installed Original Floyd Rose which is stamped "Original" under the Floyd Logo.  The body is made of solid maple and is quarter-sawn. The neck is quarter-sawn and has the Golden Era ESP Logo with the word Custom designating it as the highest end model from the time. 

During this period the ESP Guitar company was gaining momentum not just in Japan but worldwide. The quality level of guitar being turned out was ultra-high. The headstock on this guitar was custom ESP design and decades later we saw ESP reviving this headstock.