ESP Navigator Esparto (ca. 1975–1980)

The Esparto model was produced roughly between 1975 and 1980.

ESP itself began in 1975 as a small garage-style workshop and professional shop in Shibuya, Tokyo.
Through Hidetoshi Shiino’s book, “Bokura ga Tsukutta Guitar no Meiki” (The Legendary Guitars We Built), we can catch a glimpse of what those early, formative years were like.
After finally obtaining several catalogs from that era, I feel I can now offer at least a partially coherent overview — though many details still remain unclear compared with other Japanese brands.

Shiino, one of ESP’s founding members, left around 1978, and after 1980 the company’s shift toward commercial expansion became clear.
ESP’s official website now archives catalogs from that later period onward.
However, information from the company’s first five years (1975–1980) is still scarce.
It was, after all, an experimental and unstable phase — model names and specifications were not yet standardized.
I have managed to acquire what appears to be a 1976 catalog, but the years between that and 1980 remain largely undocumented.

From what I’ve confirmed so far, the large-head Esparto appeared in several different configurations:

• Headstock: Large / Small

• Fingerboard: Maple / Rosewood

• Finish: Opaque / See-through

• Neck plate: 63 × 45 mm (early type) / 63 × 50 mm (later type)

• Pole-piece spacing: 10.0 mm (early type) / 10.05 mm (later type)

• Truss rod adjustment: Phillips-head / Hexagonal

The example shown here features a see-through finish, an early 63 × 45 mm neck plate, and early 10.0 mm-pitch pickups.
Covers on these early pickups are known to yellow easily with age.
In the outdoor photographs, the bridge pickup has been replaced with a DiMarzio FS-1.

Information on the Esparto remains limited, and much about this model is still unknown.
See-through finish. Weight: 3.28 kg (including strings).
(Updated August 25, 2016)