LTD Bass Guitars

I played bass for over 20 years now. I bought this bass cuz it felt good when i tried it and sounded good through the amp. I only like the way it looks. I dont like the fact that the ESP pick ups are very weak. I use a traben bass and when i switch guitars i have to turn my volume down about 4 or 5 notches. i think the construction is very poor. my knobs werent tightened when built at the factory i guess. and the tuning keys were loose and needed tightened as well. the neck is weak. i used a heavier guage string due to all the drop tuning songs we do and it bowed my neck in so far i had to readjust everything. For a beginner there are cheaper basses out there but if your willing to put alot of time in setting this bass up and putting money into new pick ups then go for it. now i got mine all fixed up im gonna keep it cuz i do like it now. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased the F-204 (rather stupidly) online without trying it out, at the handy price of approx. $500, rrp $699. As well as this, with the extra money taken off for the USD to GBP conversion, the end price was about GBP£400. I purchased from http://www.worldmusicsupply.com, and the only problem with the bass was a relatively low action (soon fixed). This bass is starting to get a little rare now. The F-204 has been replaced by the Neck-thru, Alder(?) body F-254. IMO, this bolt-on is much superior in tone and playability. The neck is very very smooth, and an even gliss is easy to pull off. The frets are even and well-polished, and the rosewood fretboard is of an excellent quality. The finish is easily smudged; however, this adds to the image of the bass as a dirty rock-stars bass. Not one person can look at this bass and say that its crap. The pickups are well matched with the mahogany body, and the B64 Eq. is very versatile. Almost any tone can be coaxed out of the bass, and I've managed to get a deep double-bass like sound out of it. Not much in this area really. The factory set-up was a off-put slightly during transit, and the GHS Boomer strings that were stock on the bass got dirty very very quickly and lost their sound. Granted, I did use them for 8 months, but the dirt accumulated over about a month. I changed the strings to Rotosound Solo Bass .45-.105 and the tone has improved to an almost fretless, thick growl. There also seems to be a lack of sustain at the 7th-8th fret, but this may be due to my current set up (I use a relatively high action) The neck join is a dream; although its bolt-on, you'd be forgiven for thinking its the newer F-254 which is neck-thru. My only slight gripe at the construction is the quality of the cavity; it's not shielded properly, and the screws strip the threads with ease. Sorry for any jargon I've added in here. I would recommend this bass to intermediate level bassists; there are better basses, but this is excellent as an upgrade or live situation bass. Its reasonably cheap, and adds class to a bassists collection. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

This is my first bass guitar, and it was given to me as a Christmas present last year. Two years before, I made the decision between playing guitar, or bass and after a year of learning guitar, began longing for a bass. It cost £379. My hands are not terribly big, (though not much smaller than most boys) so I one of my worries about buying a 5-string was that the neck and frets would be too big, but this was never a problem. The colour (see through black) is rather unusual because has a different colour to it in different lights, which is attractive. The tone is great, and can be adjusted by the knobs on the bass. The pickups are nice and big, which I find easier to play with, and I notice the difference when I play my friends' Fender! The only problem I have with this bass is that the battery in the input had to be replaced, which of course was not expensive and was easy to do, but other than that I have no complaints. The bass is quite light weight, but is very sturdy. It doesn't scratch easy, and I;m sure that it would take alot to damage this bass. The quality of it was perfect, the strings, everything. This bass was one of my 'dream' basses, and I had wanted for a long time, and I wasn't disappointed with it. I would definately reccomend this to anyone; a beginner like me, or a more advanced bassist. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this bass off the internet from music123.com. I bought it because i wanted a second bass, it was a good price and i wanted a fretless. It was 200$ on sale. I liked First the fact that it was fretless.You can really get some good riffs with it. Second, the neck is fast. Third the pickups are really good.And it is easy to play fingure style with, which i do. Easy to tune.And you can use it for any style. The best thing about it was the price. It is a really good value for the money you pay. There are very few things i dont like about this bass, but this one is the major beef.On most fretless versions the bass doesnt sound as warm or as edgy as the fretted ones. But on this guitar it is really unedgy. I wanted the deep tone, and the warm edgy tone the fretless version, but lets face it that will never happen. This Unit is very light wieght. which is good sometimes, but also means not as durable. But as long as you dont kick it drop it or throw it you'll be ok. Ok this might not be the best fretless bass ever, but for 200$ it is the best value i have seen.So if you are just starting fretless this bass is good for you. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I specail ordered it through my local music store, Alto Music. I paid $464 dollars on the bass. Well whats not to like. For starters, i love the fact its light weight. Its really light, I think the lightest i've ever held. Next we got the sound. Usually when i play my other bass, i get a really annoying buzzing sound when the tone is on, but with this baby, the sound comes through crystal clear. The extra-jumbo frets are also nice, but sometimes can get you caught when you slide. The then of this guitar is simply amazing. At the top its nice and slim, and at the bottom, still slim. The pick-ups on this guitar are sick. totally sick. Like i said, the extra-jumbo frets may be my only complaint. Its hard to slide with them, but after a while, you get kinda used to it. The construction on this bass is nice. Its a string through body, which is awsome, an the pick-ups are simply amazing. The bottom line is, if your planning on getting a 5-string bass guitar, this is the master of them all. Pick one up an play it next time you see one. You will soon become in love with it. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased the ESP LTD B-204 at Mars Music in Atlants, GA for $380. I bought this guitar because of it's ?. In the price range of this guitar, I had choices between Ibanez's Soundgear and Fender's Jazz Bass and other choices, but I compared all the basses, and the ESP outwitted the others in many different ways. As I walked through Mars Music in Atlanta in the Bass section, the very first guitar that caught my eye was the B-204, it just stood out because of its nautral mahogany finish. I mean it was just the most beautiful bass you have ever seen in your life. I picked it up, and it is extremly light, which is a plus during those long gigs. Right away I saw that it was loaded with 2 EMG 35-HZ humbuckers, and the sound you get out of them when you slap on that bass is just amazing for the price. It also has a EMG B64 active EQ, which gives one of the most smoothest, richest bass sound you'll ever hear. The slick feel of the neck enables you to play songs alot faster than say on a Jazz bass, because the action is set alot lower on the neck and is easier to reach from string to string at high speeds. It has 24 extra jumbo frets, which is great when you want more of a variety of different notes during those bass lead breaks. Also on the 12th fret contains the model number of the bass engraved in a pearl enlay, which is really cool. ( On the rest of the frets it has the normal dots )The B-204 doesn't get out of tune very easily. This guitar sounds good in alot of different types of music, but this bass kicks !@# in rock bands! But, like everything there are some things that could be better. The neck could be slimmer. It is slimmer at the higher end of the neck compared to alot of basses, but down by the first fret I do wish it was slimmer. Like I mentioned earlier, it does have extra jumbo frets, which could help some people out or hender some people. I like the normal size frets, because I can move faster and more efficiantly with smaller frets. For some people, it may be completly oppisite. That is really something thats with opinion. The ESP LTD B-204 is extremly great in quality. All the hardware is black chrome, and i've owned my bass for 2 years now and only one screw in one of the tuning keys has gotten loose. That is really nothing compared to alot of basses. The fretboard is a 5 piece Maple and Walnut/Rosewood, which is guarenteed to last a long time. The neck is a bolt-on, which is the only difference between it's big brother, the B-304, which is a neck thru. Everything on this bass is very proffesionaly installed and put together. ESP has always had top of the line quality in their products. If you like bands like Slayer, Metallica, or Static X, or like the old southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd or the Allman Brothers, the ESP LTD B-204 can do it all. I HIGHLY recomend this product to any bass player who has a beginner bass and is looking for a step up, or who just wants a really great bass that comes with a really affordable price. If your looking for a new bass, go with the B-204, you definatly wont be disapointed. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The ESP LTD F-104 is a bass made for those who cannot afford the higher level LTD or ESP basses. The guitar is really marketed towards those who are just starting out and are into the whole nu-metal/visual kei kinda thing. The bass features a basswood body with a bolt-on maple neck and rosewood fretboard, 24 extra jumbo frets, a hardtail bridge, ESP SB-4 pickups and the ESP ABQ-2 2-Band Active EQ. UTILIZATION The frets on this model are really bad. There are sharp edges that really slice your hand up. They definitely need to be filed down to truly enjoy this instrument. The actual leveling of the frets wasn't too bad, but that could just be because I like higher action on bass than I do on guitar. The neck itself felt kinda bad though. I don't know if it was the finish or what, but it just didn't feel like a normal LTD finish usually does. It could have been one of those "off" guitars. SOUNDS I should start off by saying that I'm more of a guitarist than a bassist, so keep that in mind. The pickups in this thing sounded overly muddy for anything worthwhile. When played clean, they sounded dull and lacked the spank that I like basses to have for metal music. After all, this guitar is geared towards metal music. The active EQ didn't seem to help too much when it came towards dialing in a good tone. When distorted, it wasn't too bad, but I couldn't help but think that the basswood is holding it back. I like high quality basswood in guitars, but for basses, I prefer something like ash or alder. OVERALL OPINION If you're looking for a cheap, beginner bass and you have some sort of bizarre image to uphold, you might want to consider this instrument. However, there are so many better basses out there for the money, so I can't really recommend this. Try to find a higher quality LTD and buy used. That way you can get all the benefits of the higher quality guitar without the price tag.