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MGR/Twiggy « ESP Ltd F-204 »
Published on 08/25/04 at 15:00I 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 The F-204 has been replaced by the Neck-thru, Alder(?)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 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 The F-204 has been replaced by the Neck-thru, Alder(?)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