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Going from traben to esp, need advice

zachreh

zachreh

Mar 7, 2008
229
14
south florida
#1
Ok im in a sticky situation. In 2009 I purchased my 2ed bass, a 5 string traben array obsession made in Vietnam. At first I thought a made a smart choice because I went from an Ibanez starter bass to a 5 string neck through bass with active pickups. Don’t get me wrong, this traben sounded pretty amazing because of its quality woods and decent rockfield pickups but when I started to jam with friends and really use the bass, major quality problems started to occur.
First, the chrome finish started to peel and flake off because of my right hand picking technique. The lower left hand of my palm would rest on the huge traben bridge and I suppose that was enough to cause the damage to its finish. The bass’s knobs would constantly fall off. The tuners would snap and pop over time. So I ordered new tuners and a new bridge to save the quality of the bass.
A few months ago, I decided to upgrade the basses pickups to SD basslines and their 3 band preamp which made an amazing difference in tone as shown here
Recently however, more tuners started to break and the quality issues with this bass are really pushing me to look for a new one. I’m still keeping the bass to play shows with my band and I think it sounds very nice with a sansamp and the type of music I play
Finally, my question to everyone is would upgrading to an ESP Phoenix-II bass be a wise purchase? A big factor is reliability and “road worthiness” and it seems ESP makes a great product http://www.theperfectbass.com/ESP-Standard-Series-Phoenix-II-SS0940607.htm Sorry for the long post I just had to let everything out and thank you so much for you time and opinions
 
#2
Whilst the ESP is indeed a quality product for $1800 you could get a lot of bass from another maker. I'd go to the nearest 'decent' store you have for bass guitars and spend all day playing different basses from different makers to get an idea of what works for you.
 
#6
I always hate hearing stories like this one. The original USA made trabens were exceptionally well built. The early Korean models were excellent basses, for the money... Hanser music really destroyed a good thing. Now the Vietnamese and Chinese made trabens are absolute junk

I have three early trabens. One a custom shop bass (US made, with no serial number), the other two have serial numbers below 300. I really enjoy playing them...but I would not take a new one if it was given to me
 
#8
It wouldn't be a wise investment, because if you were to sell that bass one day, you'd have a real hard time getting back even a fraction of your money spent. Don't get me wrong, it's probably an extremely nice bass along with all the ESP basses I've tried, but you can use that money towards a bass with equal or better quality at that price. In the type of music you are playing, I'd suggest looking for a used EBMM Stingray or Sterling bass. Brands that are generally much more known to the public will have higher resale value than say ESP/LTDs.
 
#10
Lee H said:
I always hate hearing stories like this one. The original USA made trabens were exceptionally well built. The early Korean models were excellent basses, for the money... Hanser music really destroyed a good thing. Now the Vietnamese and Chinese made trabens are absolute junk

I have three early trabens. One a custom shop bass (US made, with no serial number), the other two have serial numbers below 300. I really enjoy playing them...but I would not take a new one if it was given to me
Click to expand...

I wish my traben was made in the U.S
 
#14
Never heard a Tbird in a hardcore setting. I have heard them in punk and they cut through quite nicely. As for the 'ray I always hear people say its a 1 trick ponies. I say the jazz and precision are one trick ponies. Now i know that is going to upset people but hear me out. Any time a jazz is played no matter what it will sound like a jazz. sure it can be made to sound more vintage or modern or boomy or just about anything. but in the end it will always sound like a jazz. the same thing is present with a 'ray it will always sound like a ray but you cna make it sound vintage, modrern, boomy, slappy anything you want.
 
#15
I agree. That can be said about many and most basses. The ESP t bird has a neck through body with active emg's so I don't think it will sound like a typical t bird. I'm just looking for a solid bass that's built well with a great tone for the music I play
 
#16
Soverntear said:
As for the 'ray I always hear people say its a 1 trick ponies. I say the jazz and precision are one trick ponies. Now i know that is going to upset people but hear me out. Any time a jazz is played no matter what it will sound like a jazz. sure it can be made to sound more vintage or modern or boomy or just about anything. but in the end it will always sound like a jazz. the same thing is present with a 'ray it will always sound like a ray but you cna make it sound vintage, modrern, boomy, slappy anything you want.
Click to expand...

agreed, with the addition that i think it's a really good trick. you only really need the one trick if it's good enough. a stingray, p bass, or jazz cuts through (and sounds good) in practically every situation
 
#17
Soverntear said:
Never heard a Tbird in a hardcore setting. I have heard them in punk and they cut through quite nicely. As for the 'ray I always hear people say its a 1 trick ponies. I say the jazz and precision are one trick ponies. Now i know that is going to upset people but hear me out. Any time a jazz is played no matter what it will sound like a jazz. sure it can be made to sound more vintage or modern or boomy or just about anything. but in the end it will always sound like a jazz. the same thing is present with a 'ray it will always sound like a ray but you cna make it sound vintage, modrern, boomy, slappy anything you want.
Click to expand...

Well, I don't agree that P's and J's are one trick ponies, but I do agree that the Stingray is anything BUT a one trick pony. Having owned both H and HH versions, I wouldn't bother with the HH. I think the front pickup is too thin sounding. I don't slap much, but if I did I would be bothered by the neck pickup. I think it cuts about as well as any bass out there too...
 
#20
fisticuffs said:
You don't need a pointy bass to play metal. Just keep the strings fresh. Go play a bunch of them. You might be surprised what you end up liking. I'd think a 5-string PBass with some bright DR's, D'Addarios, or Blue Steels could sound nice and hardcore.
Click to expand...

This is very true and I see a ton of big hardcore bands that use MIA fender basses that sound awesome. I think the amp and sansamp has a lot to do with it. Still, the ESP phoenix bass really appeals to me because of it's build quality and electronics. I want that bass
 

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