Hi everyone,
This is a review of my GrassRoots GT80BD bass that I've had for 2 or so years now. This is the economical Artist Series model of Testuya's (Larc En Ciel) ESP bardic bass. I haven't actually seen any post reviews for grassroots basses so I figured I may as well start one for future buyers or people interested. I am a gigging musician who has been using this bass as my main instrument on stage and for practice for all of its life with me.
For the general information of what I could find about GrassRoots as a brand. It is ESP's cheaper line (Think squiers of ESP) of JAPAN ONLY basses compared to their Edwards brand (which is amazing stuff - I've read people saying that it is better than the LTD elite series etc.). Grassroots basses, from what I've read, are made in Indonesia or China. I have not seen a definite source (E.G. ESP rep saying so) but I have seen a few forum posts which have mentioned those two countries. Grassroots basses are only available in japan so you will likely have to ship in from there like I did. I bought this one on Ebay from one of those Japan instrument middle men.
ONTO THE INSTRUMENT REVIEW:
Starting with the specs -
Body = quilted maple top with an ASH body. I feel like I got lucky with the level of the quilted maple top because other ones I've seen on Ebay etc. look less...quilted?
scale length = 35" scale
Fingerboard = Maple with abalone dot inlays
Weight = Around 5.2 kgs
Original pickups = no name brand J/MM set up with active pre-amp.
Differences to the higher spec Edwards model:
1. Light ash body with better quality quilted maple
2. Seymour duncan Sj5n neck pickup + Seymour Duncan SMB-5A pickup
3. GOTOH Bridge + Tuners
4. Cinnamon CI-R-03 Active EQ
PERSONAL MODIFICATIONS:
Seymour Duncan QP Jazz neck pickup
Seymour Duncan SMB-5A bridge pickup
250k Volume pot swapped out for 500K pot
Optima Unique Gold bass strings
SOUND:
I have gigged with the original pickups for a year before swapping out for Seymour duncans. The original pickups were pretty good for our style. This bass was great for RnB tones with its clean lows and responded well to the active EQ. They suited my RnB/pop band well but lacked a little for any other genre which needed more highs compared to lows or the aggressive trebly tone you find in heavier genres.
After upgrading to the Seymour Duncan pickups, it has become a beast of a bass capable of achieving amazing tone and additional punchiness to hit the rock tone that I felt was missing initially. With that being said, maybe adding the QP jazz neck pickup was a mistake because it added a little too much of an aggressive tone, requiring me to adjust the EQ quite a bit for the smoother RnB songs my band plays. I would describe it as having a dark and aggressive tone when EQ is flat. I can understand why the Edwards model has the SJ5N pickup instead of the QP now. None the less, I can make it work with a lot of genres with some adjustment. Changing the 250k volume pot to 500k also helped a lot in adding highs of its flat EQ tone.
Word of warning: The original pickup is not the same dimensions as the Seymour Duncans so it had to be routed. I also had to carve up a new pickguard to fit the new pickups.
PLAYABILITY:
This bass has a thick neck compared to my LAKLAND 5 string bass. This is a matter of preference but I much prefer the thickness of the neck to my lakland bass. It just makes for a more comfortable experience. String spacing is a comfortable 18 mm as well. Tuning stability is great too. I never have any major issues regarding tuning/intonation.
I set up this instrument myself and have achieved a nice and low action. I could probably lower it a tiny bit more but then it would be almost impossible for me to pop the strings when I'm slapping.
BUILD QUALITY:
Comparing to my lakland 5 String skyline bass, the build quality is still quite nice in terms of the neck and body. The hardware is on the heavier side (That's what I get for buying the cheapest version of this bass) but the quality is still there and it holds up well enough for a gigging instrument. However, the 9v battery cover at the back is a cheap black plastic compared to the brushed metal cover on the Edwards/ESP version. Nothing serious but it just looks a lot better.
Another thing is that upon opening up the back cover to the electronics, the wiring and solder work looked poor compared to the LAKLAND which was amazingly well organized. Not too big an issue for me since I know how to solder but it's always nice to have cables better coupled.
NEGATIVES:
Being a short and thin guy (158 cm, 67 kg), I would say this bass is pretty heavy for gigging. My first year playing this bass, my shoulders felt tired after all of my gigs. After that and getting a thicker strap, it does feel a little better but the weight is still noticeable. Whenever I play my other basses live, they feel like holding nothing at all by comparison (Edwards jazz bass weighing 4 KG, Lakland 5 string weighing 4.5 or so KG). With that being said, I still love gigging with this bass!
WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN/SHOULD YOU BUY IT?
I feel that this bass would be great for the home musician who is a fan of Tetsuya from Larc En Ciel and doesn't want to break the bank. For another skinny person similar to myself, I fear it might be a bit much in terms of weight and how long you gig for (I normally play 3x 30-45 minute sets at gigs).
This bass is such a beauty and I get a lot of compliments for it. I see photographers snapping photos of this bass a lot compared to my other 3 when I'm using it on stage. I feel the that quality of the quilted maple top can be quite varied based on the other ads I've seen of this model. My one seems to be the most quilted of the Grassroots models I've seen (unless it's just bad camera angles?)
With the modifications I made, it has become a really capable bass for much of the music I play.
HOWEVER, I feel that I probably would have been happier buying the EDWARDS version for a couple hundred more. I wouldn't have had to change anything at all and it would have been an amazing bass from the get-go.
This is a review of my GrassRoots GT80BD bass that I've had for 2 or so years now. This is the economical Artist Series model of Testuya's (Larc En Ciel) ESP bardic bass. I haven't actually seen any post reviews for grassroots basses so I figured I may as well start one for future buyers or people interested. I am a gigging musician who has been using this bass as my main instrument on stage and for practice for all of its life with me.
For the general information of what I could find about GrassRoots as a brand. It is ESP's cheaper line (Think squiers of ESP) of JAPAN ONLY basses compared to their Edwards brand (which is amazing stuff - I've read people saying that it is better than the LTD elite series etc.). Grassroots basses, from what I've read, are made in Indonesia or China. I have not seen a definite source (E.G. ESP rep saying so) but I have seen a few forum posts which have mentioned those two countries. Grassroots basses are only available in japan so you will likely have to ship in from there like I did. I bought this one on Ebay from one of those Japan instrument middle men.
ONTO THE INSTRUMENT REVIEW:
Starting with the specs -
Body = quilted maple top with an ASH body. I feel like I got lucky with the level of the quilted maple top because other ones I've seen on Ebay etc. look less...quilted?
scale length = 35" scale
Fingerboard = Maple with abalone dot inlays
Weight = Around 5.2 kgs
Original pickups = no name brand J/MM set up with active pre-amp.
Differences to the higher spec Edwards model:
1. Light ash body with better quality quilted maple
2. Seymour duncan Sj5n neck pickup + Seymour Duncan SMB-5A pickup
3. GOTOH Bridge + Tuners
4. Cinnamon CI-R-03 Active EQ
PERSONAL MODIFICATIONS:
Seymour Duncan QP Jazz neck pickup
Seymour Duncan SMB-5A bridge pickup
250k Volume pot swapped out for 500K pot
Optima Unique Gold bass strings
SOUND:
I have gigged with the original pickups for a year before swapping out for Seymour duncans. The original pickups were pretty good for our style. This bass was great for RnB tones with its clean lows and responded well to the active EQ. They suited my RnB/pop band well but lacked a little for any other genre which needed more highs compared to lows or the aggressive trebly tone you find in heavier genres.
After upgrading to the Seymour Duncan pickups, it has become a beast of a bass capable of achieving amazing tone and additional punchiness to hit the rock tone that I felt was missing initially. With that being said, maybe adding the QP jazz neck pickup was a mistake because it added a little too much of an aggressive tone, requiring me to adjust the EQ quite a bit for the smoother RnB songs my band plays. I would describe it as having a dark and aggressive tone when EQ is flat. I can understand why the Edwards model has the SJ5N pickup instead of the QP now. None the less, I can make it work with a lot of genres with some adjustment. Changing the 250k volume pot to 500k also helped a lot in adding highs of its flat EQ tone.
Word of warning: The original pickup is not the same dimensions as the Seymour Duncans so it had to be routed. I also had to carve up a new pickguard to fit the new pickups.
PLAYABILITY:
This bass has a thick neck compared to my LAKLAND 5 string bass. This is a matter of preference but I much prefer the thickness of the neck to my lakland bass. It just makes for a more comfortable experience. String spacing is a comfortable 18 mm as well. Tuning stability is great too. I never have any major issues regarding tuning/intonation.
I set up this instrument myself and have achieved a nice and low action. I could probably lower it a tiny bit more but then it would be almost impossible for me to pop the strings when I'm slapping.
BUILD QUALITY:
Comparing to my lakland 5 String skyline bass, the build quality is still quite nice in terms of the neck and body. The hardware is on the heavier side (That's what I get for buying the cheapest version of this bass) but the quality is still there and it holds up well enough for a gigging instrument. However, the 9v battery cover at the back is a cheap black plastic compared to the brushed metal cover on the Edwards/ESP version. Nothing serious but it just looks a lot better.
Another thing is that upon opening up the back cover to the electronics, the wiring and solder work looked poor compared to the LAKLAND which was amazingly well organized. Not too big an issue for me since I know how to solder but it's always nice to have cables better coupled.
NEGATIVES:
Being a short and thin guy (158 cm, 67 kg), I would say this bass is pretty heavy for gigging. My first year playing this bass, my shoulders felt tired after all of my gigs. After that and getting a thicker strap, it does feel a little better but the weight is still noticeable. Whenever I play my other basses live, they feel like holding nothing at all by comparison (Edwards jazz bass weighing 4 KG, Lakland 5 string weighing 4.5 or so KG). With that being said, I still love gigging with this bass!
WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN/SHOULD YOU BUY IT?
I feel that this bass would be great for the home musician who is a fan of Tetsuya from Larc En Ciel and doesn't want to break the bank. For another skinny person similar to myself, I fear it might be a bit much in terms of weight and how long you gig for (I normally play 3x 30-45 minute sets at gigs).
This bass is such a beauty and I get a lot of compliments for it. I see photographers snapping photos of this bass a lot compared to my other 3 when I'm using it on stage. I feel the that quality of the quilted maple top can be quite varied based on the other ads I've seen of this model. My one seems to be the most quilted of the Grassroots models I've seen (unless it's just bad camera angles?)
With the modifications I made, it has become a really capable bass for much of the music I play.
HOWEVER, I feel that I probably would have been happier buying the EDWARDS version for a couple hundred more. I wouldn't have had to change anything at all and it would have been an amazing bass from the get-go.
