ESP vs LTD vs Edwards?

[mr.mow]

Rumor has it that Edwards are made in China now if that makes any difference.. Those Dir En Grey Tetsuya 'RD' basses are just Jazzes from memory, with large covers to make the pickups look like humbuckers.

Ive had a bunch of Edwards 6 string Les Pauls, good guitars, a step above Epiphone, but not Gibson quality.

 

[bass-shy]

I have a couple LTD basses. They are, IMHO, grossly under-rated instruments. Both of mine were made in Korea and I'd dare to go as far as claiming they are in the same league as the Lakland Skylines.

The Japanese ESP's are better yet and I've heard them compared to USA Lakland and Sadowsky (maybe Metro?) quality.

The upper end LTD basses are excellent, while the lower end are comparable to just about everything else in their price range.

 

[onlydead]

guys...about ESP
ESp have 3 series(from higher to low):Custom,Original and Standart.
LTD Have also 3 serieseluxe,400 and casual.
So ESP Standart is equal to LTD Deluxe.Very often deluxe(old) better than Standart.
Edwards is for japanese.The most expensive model equal ESP Original,not more.

As to me, i likes F series.I want 5 string ESP Forest bass for 2 years...Still lookin'...

 

[db-13]

While this is absolutely right for guitars, the bass side of ESP/LTD is more complicated than that.

As of now (reference: their website + some quick Thomann lookups), there are only three ESP bass series: the Vintage 4 (passive, 4-string P-bass with Seymour Duncan Basslines PJ pickups), the Surveyor (a more modern take on a P shape, with active electronics and P-MM EMG pickups, available in 4 and 5-string models) and the Phoenix II (a Thunderbird with EMGs). Now all three are high-end, Japan-made instruments that retail for around 1500 euros (and I sure wouldn't mind owning a Surveyor 5 if I was in the market for a modern-sounding instrument -- aesthetically, it has a nice, understated, dare I say Lakland-like quality).

LTDs, on the other hand, are made in Korea (I think -- it may have changed recently) and thus cheaper, but you'll notice that they offer a much wider range of instruments: 10 different series (including the aforementioned 3), at prices that scale from less than 200 euros to around 1000-1200. The looks also scale from trying-too-hard-to-be-metal (I'm a metalhead, but I just can't stand the look of pointy, clearly-impossible to play sitting down instruments), to all-around gorgeous (the spalted maple finish on the B41x's is yum!). Also, ESP/LTD's only 6-string basses are LTDs (the B and D series are available as 4, 5 and 6ers).

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So make no mistake -- although "ESP" is a foolproof mark of price and/or quality, just because a bass says LTD on the headstock is in no way indicative of cheapness or crappiness. In that regard, I think ESP is closer to Ibanez than Fender or Warwick: ESP-branded basses are the equivalent of the Ibanez Prestige line (always top-notch and Japan-made, but which currently features only SRs, and ATKs starting this NAMM) and LTD is everything else from the entry-level meh to the higher-end of the middle-end, with a lot of possible "sidegrades" and series/options not available in the flagship line.

 

[The Ethanator]

I have an LTD D6 which I had defretted, threw a set of EMG TWX pickups in, and upgraded to a string-through Hipshot A bridge - I'm honestly surprised they don't offer these basses fretless as a stock option, but that's not my business. The weakest point in the mid-range ($4-900) LTD basses really seems to be the electronics and the hardware, the construction on every LTD I've played has been on the high end of sturdiness as far as most east-Asian made basses are concerned. Fortunately the use of flat-top body shapes and the EMG pickup routing allow for a wide range of compatible components