The worlds most dangerous Thunderbird

[Highlander]

Got it ta... don't remember the bass... only time I saw Utopia was Knebworth (ledzep) and iirc, Kasim was using a P ...

[Lightyear]

FUGLY!!!  But, I really like the jack setup and location - straight connector almost in a perfect line with the strap pin - brilliant!

[mc2NY]

Yeah......zombie thread. I know.

But I just ran across it and figured I'd correct some assumtions on this ESP/Edwards TBird.

Edwards is one of ESP's brands it uses mainly for the Japan market for mainly mid-level instruments.
This particular Edwards model is a bolt-on version of the ESP Custom Shop signature basses that a bass player named Ryugi Kosaka used, in the Japanese "visual kei" band (Jap version of glam rock) Fanatic Crisis. Those guys had a dozen albums out between 1992-2005 and around 30 singles.

So, yeah, the bass is a bit "odd" but IMO very dead on for the image and type of music that band played. It is commonly referred to as a "Ryugi Bass" in Japan. I've seen four of the Edwards ones for sale used over the last few years, all bolt-ons. Plus I saw one of Ryugi's personal ESP Custom Shop ones on Ishabishi or one of those other sites around a year back. I'm not sure if his are set neck or neck thru. I'm thinking setneck because of how long the headstock is and a neck thru blank would be crazy long.

Anyway....I have two other ESP Custom Shop TBirds in my collection, both with rare Gibson "lawsuit" headstocks. So, I was tempted to buy the Ryugi one on Ishabishi but hesitated long enough for someone else to grab it. It was sort of the same burst color as the Edwards ones but non bolt-on. So, when THIS all-silver one (fretboard too!) popped up FS, that was cool enough for me to go for it.

So yeah, the headstock and odd control layput isn't for everyone. But if you consider it is designed for a wacky Japanese glam rock band, you sort of can relate to the design. Plus I'm a fan of fingerboards painted the same color as the body/neck, like Ric sometimes did. ESP's top end Custom Shop builds are actually quite nice. My black TBird was ordered by guitarist Charlie Sexton, thru his endorser account, back in the 80s for his then bassist. It's very 70s Gibson-ish, except for the slightly wider nut width. I have a blue circa 2000 one that is a near exact copy of a Gibson TBird, with the same 1.5" nut width....but the 60s big headstock has a unique, very cool 3D "beak" on the tip.

Anyway....that's the scoop on these weird looking ESP Ryugi TBirds...Pic of the silver one I recently bought.