ESP

[47VevetS]

Whoa. Sweet find! And you're right, the changing of names, lines, and brands over the years is really, really confusing, even for those of us who love ESP's instruments.

I also think the "E-II" name is a bad choice. To me, it makes the line sound second-rate...

Yeah I agree.

 

[kevink]

Whoa. Sweet find! And you're right, the changing of names, lines, and brands over the years is really, really confusing, even for those of us who love ESP's instruments.

I also think the "E-II" name is a bad choice. To me, it makes the line sound second-rate...

I agree with you on that one.

 

[kevink]

Although, in thinking about it, is it better to call them all ESP's ala Fender, and have the consumer have to look at the headstock to figure out if it's Japanese or Korean/Indonesian (American vs Mexican)? I believe the E-II's and LTD Elite line are built in Japan.

 

[47VevetS]

The E-IIs are basically the standard series ESPs under a different name, they are factory-made in Japan. The instruments with the ESP name are handmade in Japan or from the shop in Cali. Im kinda glad I have one of the Surveyors with the ESP tag because now they dont make them anymore..it has the ESP circle on the back that says standard series...another giveaway is the battery case, the ones from Japan have the metal flip-around ESP battery case.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I do think their new organization of different lines is totally goofy. You'll see a bass you like but then you have no options of color for example because they have the same shape in so many different lines the finishes are severely limited. Prime example. I'd buy a ltd deluxe/1000 series stream 5 string but they only offer a natural finish. Why should I have to pay $750 more to get the white E-2 5 string? Or even more than that on an ESP series just to get a different color?

But also because these new logos often just look cheap. For example not many people know what e-2 or tombstone are. They know what ESP is. If I'm going to pay $2k for a made in Japan ESP I want it to say ESP on the freaking headstock.

 

[Nikol4ik]

ESP makes great instruments and LTD stuff is very competitive at the price points they offer. The problem with ESP is that the majority of what they -and their related brands- offer is not available in the USA. Also, here in the states they seem to concentrate mostly on the more "metal" and "aggressive" designs, so that they have gotten a pushed a bit into a certain niche.

In my experience my LTD Vintage 214 (a P clone in P/J config) fretless is one of my favorite instruments. Well made, looks good, sounds good and sounds great now that I've installed a set of EMG Geezers. It was MIM quality in almost every way except electronics at just over half the price. Unfortunately they have just discontinued the "Vintage" and now they only make the sort of compromise (p/ j setup with smaller P-ish body and J neck) AP series which is of exactly no interest to me. The Vintage 214 and Vintage 204 series' are defintitely worth keeping an eye out for on the used market though.

Still, if you're looking for a new bass and there's an attractive LTD in your price range you'd be doing yourself a favor by checking it out.

What's your opinion for the ESP LTD AP-204 looks and sounds great?

 

[Eilif]

What's your opinion for the ESP LTD AP-204 looks and sounds great?

I've not seen it in person. It might sound good, and the color is nice but the pointy horns and y tuners ruin the look for me. Maybe the Vintage-214 wasn't selling well enough and they felt they had to replace it, but the 214 never had much of a presence in USA stores to begin with. The Vintage 214 and the earlier faux-relic'ed 204 were strait P-bass copies that felt and souded great.

The AP-204 looks like a bucket of compromises to me.