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Are LTD’s sleepers?

#41
EdO. said:
Not sure why some dog the electronics, I think it sounds perfectly fine with lots of tonal range. Different strokes I suppose.
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I mentioned it because in my case, it was a secondhand bass I'd bought and it was my first bass guitar (a B-50 with passive volume, blend, and tone). It had scratchy pots and bad wiring, and the input jack was loose and wiggly. The pickup foam.had deteriorated and so I'd stuck pieces of paper between the body and the pickup cavities to wedge the pickups in place so they wouldn't clak around when I moved the bass. I don't mean to say that all LTDs suck in this aspect - but mine certainly did, and that's likely because someone cannibalized the original electronics.

Still loved that bass though.
 
#42
i bought a ltd b4-e in 2018. the "thin u" neck is the best shaped neck i have ever played. i get the headstock hate but that neck! the problem i had with it was g string roll off. i tried adjusting my technique to keep the g string from falling off the end of the frets but to no avail. none of my other basses have this problem so i assume the frets just tapered/rolled off to soon. this made it unplayable for me. still the best feeling neck ever. although the bass is on the small side it was heavy for the size.
 
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#45
I really love ESP stuff. I want to get a Viper bass and a streamline. But I find some LTDs can be bad. Another problem I feel not so much a problem but ESP at least from what I seen hasn't really push a lot of product to the US or SA, they seem to have a bigger market in Europe. They are much more Japanese focus obviously that's where they started. But when you do find cool models here it's an awesome feeling. I love their basses a lot!
 
#47
I picked up this LTD J-1005 Deluxe for a steal… I threw a few bucks into it by replacing the stock EMG PJ5 set with EMG DC and CS pickups. I also threw in a EMG BQC Pre. I absolutely adore this bass. It’s solid as as a rock and the neck feels great. The relief is almost dead flat and action gets super low. I too have considered the AP5 on multiple occasions as my J-1005 DLX is strung E-C and I’d like a second fiver strung B-G. The AP5 could end up being the one.
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#48
I have 2 LTD AP-5's, they are amazing. Ebony fingerboard, Babicz bridge, original recipe EMG (as found in Spectors, etc) also has EMG circuitry (not readily advertised) but can be seen marked as such when you open the control plate. They sound amazing and play like a dream.

As for the sleeper aspect (as other have stated), I think ESP is doing themselves a disservice by associating themselves as a "metal" company and their instruments as such. Which is a shame, because with the specs most of their models are sporting, they'll excel in any genre.
 
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#49
I've been playing my LTD F-204 since around 2000, my F-4e and F-414FM since 2009 and the B-4Z since around 2016. Not sure on that one.

I've been on a Stingray HH and Jazz Bass kick the last year, but I still very much like my LTD's. They deserve a little break after so many years of trouble free use.

I do have to admit that I much prefer the older electronics and EMG pickups compared to the newer ESP ones. That's why the B-4Z and TA-204 are long gone.

I sometimes miss the B-4Z a little bit and I never got along with the TA-204. But the F series are definitely keepers, obviously after all these years.
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#53
I don't know if this was discussed before, but I think another reason why ESP/LTD basses are kinda slept on is that ESP/LTD is primarily seen as a "guitar" brand and they definitely put the majority of their R&D and marketing muscle behind their guitars, since their biggest brand ambassadors are all guitar players.

As far as bassists go, ESP/LTD has, like, one major brand ambassador and though he's a genre legend he's not exactly an "it" bassist among bassists. Then again, even having a bass legend like Rocco Prestia on their artist roster for a spell didn't boost their appeal among bassists, even though the now-discontinued LTD Rocco Prestia RB model basses had design features that would appeal to many TBers.

However, as we've seen in this thread and in the ESP Club, ESP/LTD does make some killer basses. Sure their bass lineup isn't as extensive as their guitar lineup, but there's still something for everyone from traditionalists to wild metallers, and that the basses themselves can sound good in most any genre. My current musical project runs the gamut from folk music to Satriani style rock, and my LTDs can cover it all. Heck, when playing for my students, I was playing pop, rock, country, funk/R&B, and various other genres with my LTDs.

So, yeah, it kinda feels like ESP/LTD hasn't quite figured out how best to market their basses.
 
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#56
The LTD a Sleeper? Sure that is why they used so many as police interceptors. Fast for their day and reliable. But good luck finding one in good shape, sadly most of them were doomed to die in demo derbys.
 
#57
I've got an LTD FB208 and it's a great instrument for the money........ now.

When I bought it the nut was the worst nut I've seen on any instrument at any price.... the nut slot heights were OK but the nut itself was about 3 times taller than it needed to be and had edges that drew blood when I bumped my hand on it.
There were three or more high frets...
The bridge was on the deck and still too high...
and the side dots were invisible in low light.

I had a good luthier fix all these at a reasonable price and it is now a great playing and brilliant sounding 8 string that I'll probably never replace unless I win the lottery. As he said, it is a decently built bass but they didn't do the last 10% of work to make it really good.

For a total outlay of $1300 NZd including the luthier work (about $850 USd) I think it's pretty good value.

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#58
bigdaddybass12 said:
Are LTD’s sleepers? Funny how some ‘clubs’ have zillions of posts and you really don’t hear much about LTD’s. I have a older Korean made B205 that has been great. Looking at another B204. You never hear much bad about LTD’s ,,,thoughts?
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I own an LTD B-204 fretless and I think it's quite nice.I love the neck and overall it's a pretty bass that seems well made.Pups and guts may not be everybody's cup of tea,but one can always do an upgrade.I'd say they might be sleepers.
 
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#59
Big ESP/LTD fan here. Currently I have 3 LTD basses and 2 LTD guitars.

The basses are a C-304, a C-304 fretless and a newer Surveyor '87. The fretless is a conversion and I replaced the stock EMG-HZ pickups with active EMGs in both of the C-304s. The only changes I made to the Surveyor was to replace the 1-ply black pickguard with a 3-ply BWB and I put chrome knobs on it.

Great basses, all of them.
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