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High-End ESP/Ibanez

B

BELLATOR

Sep 7, 2005
467
2
#1
Hello bassists. I've done quite a bit of searching but can't find many reviews or info about the ESP B405. Does anyone own one of these? I really like this bass and would get it in see-thru black but I really like the Ibanez SRX705 as well but the colour isn't my fave :). How much would it cost to paint the SRX 705 if I bought one? :) I've played the "Fieldy" Ibanez but only because it was the only Ibanez in the store at the time. I really dislike the Korn bass sound and I thought this bass was complete garbage. The fit, finish, and tone was terrible playing through an Ampeg 4X10 stack. Anyway, I'm curious about Ibanez basses in this price range. Are they all similar to the "Fieldy" bass? If Ibanez basses above $500 all have this quality and similar tone, I'm probably steering clear of Ibanez basses. Please give me any more info about the ESP B405 and higher-end Ibanez basses. Also, if you can recommend any other 5-string basses for ~$600-800 that are neck-thru, have EMG or Bart. pups and have a black color, please let me know. Oh yeah, I play mainly brutal, fast, metal or classical.
 
#2
BELLATOR said:
Hello bassists. I've done quite a bit of searching but can't find many reviews or info about the ESP B405. Does anyone own one of these? I really like this bass and would get it in see-thru black but I really like the Ibanez SRX705 as well but the colour isn't my fave :). How much would it cost to paint the SRX 705 if I bought one? :) I've played the "Fieldy" Ibanez but only because it was the only Ibanez in the store at the time. I really dislike the Korn bass sound and I thought this bass was complete garbage. The fit, finish, and tone was terrible playing through an Ampeg 4X10 stack. Anyway, I'm curious about Ibanez basses in this price range. Are they all similar to the "Fieldy" bass? If Ibanez basses above $500 all have this quality and similar tone, I'm probably steering clear of Ibanez basses. Please give me any more info about the ESP B405 and higher-end Ibanez basses. Also, if you can recommend any other 5-string basses for ~$600-800 that are neck-thru, have EMG or Bart. pups and have a black color, please let me know. Oh yeah, I play mainly brutal, fast, metal or classical.
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the K5 is quite deffernt than most ibanez basses (i actually like the tone of the K5, to each his own). ibanez basses are great basses and i highly recommend them to anyone, in your range i would reccommend the sr805 or the sr905. maybe the srx705, not sure if its neck through though

lowsound
 
#3
Thanks for the reply about the Ibanez basses. I'll try to play a few and compare them to that Fieldy. Does anyone own ESP basses out there? Does anyone have an ESP B405 or tried one? Please let me know. Thanks
 
#5
I own a couple ESP basses. One is a B-50, which is as cheap as they come. I defretted it and am planning on swapping out the hardware and electronics soon, so it's shortcomings will be no more. It is built very solidly and plays great.....much better than most other "budget" basses. The other one I have is a C-304. It is discontinued now but is a fantastic instrument through and through. It is similar to a B-404 in that it has a mahogany body with a quilted maple top and has a five piece maple and walnut through-body neck. The differences are that it has a 35" scale and EMG-HZ pickups instead of the 34" scale and active EMG's found on the 400 Series. Overall, I wasn't able to find a bass that plays and sounds as good as this one anywhere. I would absolutely recommend an ESP bass, especially the 400 series. I've been wanting a B-404 in Dark Brown Sunburst since I first saw one. I never had the chance to play one, though. They have better electronics and construction detail than anything in the price range. IMO, they are the best basses out there for the money. Good luck.
 
#7
It's funny... this subject seems to come up a lot. People are always asking about ESP basses because they're inexpensive, so everyone figures they must be cheap. I own 3 different models and I think they are great - especially when you figure in what they cost.

That being said, the biggest complaint of ESP seems to be the bridge. I have never had any problems with any of mine, so I can't comment on that. What I will say is that I had one prof. setup when I was playing in a band that tuned down to CFBE... Yes, 2 full steps! And that thing never went out of tune... I can't say the same of my Fender.
 
#8
toddmcm said:
I own the REAL Tom Araya ESP... it's my favorite piece of gear that I've ever owned, and I suffer from serious GAK.

Sounds great though my Mesa stack.
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1) Your Tom Araya ESP doens't exist until we see pictures

2) How cool.

3) You're in LA... Can I please play yoru bass? :p



To threadstarter, I've got an Ibanez 506, it's bolt on 6 string sounds amazing. I'm not much of a fan of SRX series, honestly, and if I were you and you NEED a neck thru 5 string for under a grand, I'd definately go for the ESP/LTD. Those basses are killer, a band that I'm friend with has the bassist/vocalist using a B404 in black see thru I think, I saw them last night, he sounded really good (only downside was he was playing thru SWR... eww)
 

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