The ESP Mighty Vise is a mysterious FRT-3 style variant only seen in the 1983 ESP Export Catalog.

This model was short-lived, and there are theories that the ESP Mighty Vise may have been a result of a highly experimental prototype made by Floyd D. Rose before he made the very first vertical fine tuning (FRT-4V) prototype.

In this interview with Eddie Van Halen, Eddie seems to be yelling at Mr. Rose for making a tremolo with fine tuners at the nut when Eddie wanted them to be on the bridge (as seen today).  Keep in mind, we are only getting Eddie’s side of the story, and Mr. Rose has his own story regarding the invention of fine tuners.  Below is an interview by Music Radar asking Eddie about the first Floyd Rose designs:

“Okay, this is a funny story – very true. Three tours in a row, every time we’d play Seattle – I can’t remember if it was ’79, ’80 and ’81 – it had to be ’79 because I never put it in the black and white guitar. So, in ’79, somebody goes ‘Hey, there’s a guy here named Floyd Rose and he wants to show you something’.“He comes in and goes [with cupped hands], ‘You wanna try this?’ [see FRT-1] and I say, ‘Sure, what the fuck, why not!?’ So I gave him one of my guitars and asked him to put it in because I didn’t know how to do it. It was different to the Fender tailpiece and it wasn’t a direct swap.

“So I tried it, once it was ready to go and… it was a pain in the ass! For one, the Allen screws on the neck were very small, and in order to torque it down you’d either strip the Allen key or the screw would strip. But more importantly, when you’re playing the guitar, things bend and they move and the neck shifts a little bit.

“Depending on the temperature of the gig from the beginning to the end, the temperature fluctuates. So between every, fucking, song I had to unclamp and tune! And then Dave and the rest of the guys would be going, ‘Is he ready yet?!’ It was just a pain in the ass. So first I told him, ‘Beef the thing up!’ because I kept snapping shit.

“So he comes back the next year with a beefed-up model. [see FRT-3] But there was still the problem of having to tune between every song, so I told him, ‘Put some fine-tuners on it. I played a little cello and violin when I was in elementary school and those instruments have finger adjustable fine-tuners. Okay?’ So that’s what I meant.

“Then the third year he comes along and goes [cupped hands] ‘I did it!’ and I go ‘No! You fucking numbnut!’ Because now you needed a wrench to fine-tune it! So now instead of three, you’ve got nine, you know? I’m going ‘No, you idiot, I meant fucking finger tuners! You’ve seen ’em before!’ Then he patents the fucking thing behind my back. Pissed me off… whatever!”