ESP Vintage Four Review

[twiz]

So first a little background so you know where I am coming from. I've played guitar and bass for about 20 years -- some years more seriously than others. In the past decade, I've focused mostly on instruments as being tools -- so I ended up with a Soundgear Ibanez strung with flatwounds as a fine predictable work horse instrument. The bass has served me well in hundreds of gigs without a backup -- never any issues and surprising compliments from crowds on my tone.

I've always kept it simple -- straight into a Promethean Combo or stack for rock/blues/commercial music or into an Acoustic Image Combo for jazz (a Polytone preceeded this setup, but that's another story).

Anyway, for quite some time I've been slowly looking for an upgrade/change of pace and I really wanted to check out something a bit more 'traditional' looking. I was never a huge fan of the jazz body style, so that left me with the p-shape.

I've played a ton of Fenders and knock offs over the years before settling on the ESP Vintage Four. I tried really hard to make things work with a Sadowsky and a few others, but we never really bonded. To my ears, some of the really high end pickups sound very electronic to me. Anyway, to my ears and fingers, the ESP vintage four bass offers a PREMIUM combination of playability and weight. The pickups are outstanding, the neck carve is outstanding and there is a huge range of tones available.

My bass is now set up with Thomastik Flats and it has performed consistently well on a variety of gigs. The pickups are potent and it's a huge bonus to not be constantly swapping batteries (they're passive).

My favorite tone is all neck with about 80% on the tone knob. I can get that classic 60's era tone with a flat curve on the amp. Just outstanding.

The bass already feels like an old friend -- now, the buyer beware part. The bass does have some 'cheesy' relicing and of course, an ESP has no resale compared to American Fenders and some of the boutique basses.

Pics to follow shortly!

[parsons]

I've tried a few of these and they are great. I would buy one in a heartbeat if they offered it without the horrible relic job. Cheesy as hell!

[KUETSUM]

did you tried a ESP Vintage 5J?
I am considering..

[Mikio]

Originally Posted by parsons

(...) I would buy one in a heartbeat if they offered it without the horrible relic job. Cheesy as hell!

Same.

I've never tried one of those, but ESP is outstanding quality anyways.

Cool topic, cause I've been looking for a review on this basses and never got anything, could you expand?? D: