Figured-wood guitars and B-Stock are an interesting combination. On a satin-finished mahogany body, a small handling mark is easy to spot, easy to ignore, and easy to price. On a burled maple top with a Nebula Black Burst — where the grain itself does unpredictable things and the finish is designed to look dramatic — the calculus is different. A blemish might be invisible in the figure. Or it might land right where the burst pools and be all you can see.

The ESP E-II Arrow Burl Maple Nebula Black Burst is listed at $2,439.20 on B-Stock — $609.80 below the $3,049.00 MAP. That's a meaningful discount on a Japan-made instrument with Fishman pickups, a Floyd Rose Original, and an ebony board. Whether it's the right buy depends on what you find when you look at the actual listing photos. Here's how to do that.

View the ESP E-II ARROW BURL MAPLE NEBULA BLK BURST Guitar Product Page

What You're Starting With

This is an ESP E-II — made at the ESP factory in Japan, not a licensed offshore build. That matters for fit, finish consistency, and long-term reliability. The Arrow body shape is a sharpened, asymmetrical V with a neck-thru-body construction — the neck runs the full length of the guitar rather than bolting or gluing at the heel. That affects both sustain and upper-fret access in ways a bolt-on can't match.

Key specs:

• Scale: 25.5" (648mm), neck-thru construction
• Neck: Three-piece maple, satin finish on the back
• Body: Alder with burled maple top and matching burled maple headstock
• Fingerboard: Ebony, 305mm (12") radius, 42mm nut width, 24 extra-jumbo stainless steel frets with triangular pearloid inlays
• Bridge: Floyd Rose Original with stainless steel screws
• Tuners: Gotoh locking tuners, plus ESP strap locks
• Pickups: Fishman Modern Humbuckers (direct-mount, black covers) with push-push voicing selector
• Weight: approximately 7.4 lbs (3.36 kg)

The stainless steel frets are worth calling out specifically: they're harder than nickel, they wear more slowly, and they feel noticeably slick under your fingers. On a guitar at this price point, they're expected — but they're still a genuine long-term value because you likely won't need a refret.

The Finish — and Why It Changes the B-Stock Equation

The Nebula Black Burst is a fade from black at the edges into the figured grain at the center of the body. Burl maple isn't uniform — it has eyes, voids, and clusters of tight grain that catch light differently depending on the angle. That's the whole point of the top.

Here's what that means for B-Stock evaluation:

Where Blemishes Hide Well

In the high-contrast areas of dense burl figure, small scratches or handling marks can effectively disappear into the grain pattern. If a nick lands in a cluster of eyes or a tight swirl, you may not see it even when you're looking for it. This works in your favor more often than you'd expect on a figured-wood instrument.

Where Blemishes Show Badly

The burst transition — particularly where the black fades toward the figured center — is the most visually exposed zone on this guitar. A scratch in the black lacquer edge catches light cleanly and won't blend into figure. Same goes for the matching burled maple headstock: it's a focal point, it's small, and there's nowhere to hide a mark on it.

The satin neck back is more forgiving. Satin finishes are already slightly textured, so a handling mark reads as less severe than it would on a gloss neck.

What to Do With This Information

Pull the B-Stock listing photos before anything else. Zoom into the burst transition on the body, the face of the headstock, and the area around the bridge (Floyd Rose hardware can scuff the top during shipping more than a fixed bridge would). If the noted blemish is in the figure-heavy center zone, it's probably a non-issue. If it's in the burst edge or on the headstock face, decide whether that's something you can live with at the counter price.

The Fishman Modern Humbuckers: What the Push-Push Does

Fishman's Modern Humbuckers are active pickups with a push-push pot that toggles between two voicings — a fuller, warmer output and a tighter, more scooped response. This is not the same as a coil-split. You're not going single-coil; you're shifting the EQ and compression character of the humbucker itself. For high-gain playing, the tighter voicing cleans up the low end and sits better in a dense mix. For cleaner or mid-heavy tones, the fuller voicing adds body.

It's a practical system and it works. The main thing to know is that Fishman Moderns run on a 9V battery (internal), so check that the battery compartment opens cleanly and the contacts look undamaged when you inspect a B-Stock unit.

The Floyd Rose: One Thing to Check

The Floyd Rose Original with stainless steel screws is a quality starting point — the stainless saddle screws are a genuine upgrade over the standard zinc versions, which can strip over time. But any Floyd Rose shipped as B-Stock should be checked for block seating and spring tension before you assume the setup is intact. Shipping can shift the claw, and a unit that sat in a warehouse may have gone out of balance. This isn't a defect — it's just the reality of selling a floating-bridge guitar — and any tech can reset it in under an hour.

How the $610 Discount Lands in Practice

$609.80 off a $3,049.00 instrument is roughly a 20% reduction. On a Japan-made ESP with a figured top, that's not a rounding-error discount — it's real money. The comparable new-in-box price for this instrument reflects the full cost of the burled maple top (figured wood adds material cost at every step), the Japan labor, the Floyd Rose Original, and the Fishman electronics. You're getting all of those on the B-Stock unit. What you're giving up is the certainty of an unblemished finish.

If the specific blemish documented on your unit is in the body figure and not on the headstock or burst edge, the discount is almost certainly worth it. If it's somewhere visible and prominent, that's still a judgment call — but it's a judgment call at $2,439, not $3,049.

Who Should Buy It, and Who Should Wait

Buy the B-Stock if you're a working guitarist who cares about how the instrument plays, sounds, and holds tune — and you're not building a display collection. The neck-thru construction, ebony board, stainless frets, and Floyd Rose Original are all there regardless of what's on the body surface.

Wait for new if the figured maple top is the reason you want this guitar specifically. If part of the appeal is owning an unblemished piece of dramatic burl maple — and you'll notice the blemish every time you look at the headstock — pay the difference. That's a legitimate reason, and it's worth naming.

View the ESP E-II ARROW BURL MAPLE NEBULA BLK BURST Guitar Product Page

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the most common B-Stock issue on a figured-wood guitar like this?

Usually a handling mark or small scratch during shipping or quality inspection — not a structural issue. On a burled maple top, whether that's visible depends heavily on where it falls in the grain. Always review the listing photos closely, particularly around the headstock and the burst transition on the body edge.

Does the B-Stock unit still have a warranty?

B-Stock instruments sold through authorized dealers like us carry the same ESP manufacturer warranty as new units. The B-Stock designation is a cosmetic classification, not a warranty waiver. Confirm the warranty registration process when you purchase.

Is the Floyd Rose on this model the full Original or a licensed version?

It's the Floyd Rose Original — not a licensed copy. The unit on this guitar also uses stainless steel saddle screws rather than the standard zinc hardware, which is a durability upgrade worth noting.

How heavy is this guitar for extended live use?

The E-II Arrow Burl Maple comes in at approximately 7.4 lbs (3.36 kg), which is on the lighter side for a neck-thru guitar with an alder body and maple top. It's not a lightweight instrument, but it's manageable for a full set — and the neck-thru balance point tends to sit comfortably against the body.