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ESP basses


Dapper Bandit
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Never previously been one to past pictures of basses (never thought my gear was worthy of comment) but acquired these two fellas over the course of the past year and am pretty darn pleased with them to be honest!

First up, an ESP Vintage Four:
[URL=http://s208.photobucket.com/user/dapper_bandit/media/Gear/20151112_071038.jpg.html][IMG]http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/dapper_bandit/Gear/20151112_071038.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://s208.photobucket.com/user/dapper_bandit/media/Gear/20151112_071113.jpg.html][IMG]http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/dapper_bandit/Gear/20151112_071113.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://s208.photobucket.com/user/dapper_bandit/media/Gear/20151112_071051.jpg.html][IMG]http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/dapper_bandit/Gear/20151112_071051.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://s208.photobucket.com/user/dapper_bandit/media/Gear/20151112_071132.jpg.html][IMG]http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/dapper_bandit/Gear/20151112_071132.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Came with Seymour Duncan Antiquities and a D-Tuner as upgrades. Lovely vintage tone as one would expect from the pickups. Best Precision I've played, just nudging out my '82 Ibanez Blazer.

Secondly, an ESP Amaze:
[URL=http://s208.photobucket.com/user/dapper_bandit/media/Gear/20151112_071155.jpg.html][IMG]http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/dapper_bandit/Gear/20151112_071155.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://s208.photobucket.com/user/dapper_bandit/media/Gear/20151112_071204.jpg.html][IMG]http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/dapper_bandit/Gear/20151112_071204.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://s208.photobucket.com/user/dapper_bandit/media/Gear/20151112_071216.jpg.html][IMG]http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/dapper_bandit/Gear/20151112_071216.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://s208.photobucket.com/user/dapper_bandit/media/Gear/20151112_071228.jpg.html][IMG]http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/dapper_bandit/Gear/20151112_071228.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Beautiful neck, was a bit of a punt as I only ever played a (really) cheap jazz a few years ago that I absolutely butchered (frets ripped out, old nut exploded so tried to fashion one out of some old plastic) as a teenager. This completely eliminated any hesitation I had about Jazzes.

The proper MIJ ESP is massively underrated, I would happily put it up against any of the big names and in my experience these have bested MIA Fenders and Musicman.

Just to finish off this post I will include a family shot including a couple of skinny stringers (PS those aren't my shoes next to the rack!)

[URL=http://s208.photobucket.com/user/dapper_bandit/media/Gear/20151109_201744.jpg.html][IMG]http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb248/dapper_bandit/Gear/20151109_201744.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

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[quote name='Fisheth' timestamp='1447335530' post='2906798']
Never seen an ESP bass for sale sadly, I love my ESP Alexi though.
[/quote]

ESP Japan basses turn up [i]very[/i] rarely in Europe, as far as I've seen. Guitars more often, had an LTD Alexi which was very nice, the fullblooded one must be lovely.

Fretmeister, was it the blood crack one with the hockeystick headstock? If so, colour me jealous!

The tuners on the Amaze are cool, you see them on quite a few Japanese basses, especially Bacchus and the like, no idea of the make mind but a lot nicer than the elephant ears we are normally subjected too...

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The first bass I ever played, 24 years ago, was an ESP Jazz. :)

I love the new Bunny Brunel bass - it's way better than the Carvins he used to play. Quite tempted to get a fretted and fretless pair. And my metal side is quite fond of the F-series basses. :D They do make some brilliant stuff, but very little of it makes it over here. The Japan-only Edwards basses are fantastic, and I love the woods on the Stream series - take a look:



Some of the Japanese basses have rather amusing names though, the Halibut and the Bottom Bump, for starters... :D

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[quote name='Doctor J' timestamp='1447412130' post='2907424']
They're Gotoh GB11W tuners. Lovely collection of ESPs there, the guitars too. I've had an ESP J since the early 90's. Many have come and go in that time, the likes of Fender, Sadowsky and their ilk, but the ESP is still the best J bass I've ever played.
[/quote]

Thanks Doc! Just had a look on the Gotoh site, funny, they look quite three dimensional in the photos, but in the diagram they're perfectly flat. Still like them, nice to see something a little different.

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Hi. Actually I was clening this acrylic pickuard and when I was screwing the screws by machine then it broked badly. My luthier friend did new one to it but it costs 80€. God I done stupid thing to screwing the screws by machine. I have to take news pictures of it, because there is now front pickup cover in it. Looks quite good with that:) . One question. Is this common model? I havent seen many of these.

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  • 2 years later...
On 13/11/2015 at 20:53, Mikkoantt said:

Hi. I just got this ESP Amaze 5 back. I sold it few months ago and now I traded it back. Just one word of this Amazing:)

What's the history / current status on the 'Amaze' ?.... just sourced this one but it's really hard to find any information and ESP USA don't even list them. There are a few of them on ebay from 'japanretroshop' (?) :-

esp3.jpg

esp5.jpg

esp6.jpg

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On 13/11/2015 at 11:18, Russ said:

The first bass I ever played, 24 years ago, was an ESP Jazz. :)

I love the new Bunny Brunel bass - it's way better than the Carvins he used to play. Quite tempted to get a fretted and fretless pair. And my metal side is quite fond of the F-series basses. :D They do make some brilliant stuff, but very little of it makes it over here. The Japan-only Edwards basses are fantastic, and I love the woods on the Stream series - take a look:

stream-24ntb_bubinga.jpg&key=b7d176fe63401b0719c5193f5011bb9960285ba2fdbb762ad4eb377a72c67ddb

Some of the Japanese basses have rather amusing names though, the Halibut and the Bottom Bump, for starters... :D

Made a big search for this bass in that lovely finish and drew one big blank.

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The more basic LTD Stream basses are cheaper than the pretty tops - and are actually rather nice. I think I've reviewed one at some point. It seemed to balance a little better than a 'Bird. As much as I loved it to look at, I just don't know if I will ever end up getting on with the "wing" getting in the way of my right arm when I am sat down with the bass.

 

@eubassix I am intrigued by the example you are showing though.

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On 12/10/2018 at 17:38, Dood said:

 

@eubassix I am intrigued by the example you are showing though.

Thanks Dood - it's a 2010 instrument (from the series first introduced 2003 - thanks to Dapper Bandit for this and other info!) but could pass for new (even has the ESP fret protect strip (I assume) which is shown in the first photo above. Case is also 'brand'-new. Here are some additional photos and basic specs (can add to these later when I've had time to measure etc.): 35" scale; Seymour Duncan Custom sj5 pickups; Cinnamon ESP pre-amp w 3 band EQ; Ash body c/w exceptional Quilt Maple top; Gotoh Chrome Hardware :-

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53 minutes ago, eubassix said:

Thanks Dood - it's a 2010 instrument (from the series first introduced 2003 - thanks to Dapper Bandit for this and other info!) but could pass for new (even has the ESP fret protect strip (I assume) which is shown in the first photo above. Case is also 'brand'-new. Here are some additional photos and basic specs (can add to these later when I've had time to measure etc.): 35" scale; Seymour Duncan Custom sj5 pickups; Cinnamon ESP pre-amp w 3 band EQ; Ash body c/w exceptional Quilt Maple top; Gotoh Chrome Hardware :-

 

It's quite the looker! Wow!

Any idea regarding the weight? I can't quite gauge the string spacing. 18mm? Possibly 17mm? That quilt looks lovely. 

Yeah I'd like to try one of these. Interesting!

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