Angeles, on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. In 1995, the LTD series was created to produce ESP's high-quality products at a more affordable price. Soon after the introduction of the Korean and Indonesian-made LTD lines, ESP stopped selling the majority of its Japanese-made flagship guitars in the United States, due to the high prices involved in exporting to the Americas. The lone exception was ESP's artist signature series, which remained ESP (rather than LTD) models. In the early 2000s (decade), ESP resumed exporting the standard Japanese-made lines to the United States (where they are popular among heavy metal and hard rock players), though at greatly increased prices compared to the early 1990s. Similarly to Ibanez, ESP's chief competitor in Japan, ESP was initially known for making high-quality and customized replicas of famous American guitars, including hot rodded Strats and Teles, as well as Gibson Explorers. The Explorer model, (known as the EXP/MX), shot to fame when avid ESP user James Hetfield's band Metallica rose to popularity in the late 80s/early 90s. Models similar to Hetfield's black ESP even today sell for thousands of dollars beyond the original retail price. However, just like with Ibanez, when the Gibson company realized the extent to which ESP was denting into sales of its own guitars, it filed a suit to prevent sales of these guitars in the Americas. ESP redesigned its lines to be less similar to the American models. In 2002, ESP was ranked among the music industry's fastest-growing companies. This is largely due to the Fender buyout of Jackson Guitars, who ESP had struggled to compete with throughout the 1980s and 1990s. After the buyout, many Jackson endorsers switched over to ESP (this has ignited a feud between players, with Jackson players pointing out that ESP became known for copying popular instruments, including Jackson's Soloist and Gibson's Explorer models famously used by Jeff Hanneman and James Hetfield respectively, while ESP players cite the Fender buyout as casting a shadow on Jackson's metal image and hail ESP as the new king). Some of these artists who left Jackson for ESP included Dave Mustaine (Megadeth, now using Dean Guitars, who at one point had expressed interest in buying out Jackson), as well as Adam Darski (Behemoth), Alexi Laiho and Roope Latvala (Children of Bodom), Jeff Hanneman (Slayer), Galder and Silenoz (Dimmu Borgir). ESP introduced its Xtone line, beginning with the semi-hollow Paramount Series. In