Ibanez SRH500f vs ESP LTD TL-4 fretless?

[the_eleven]

Looking to order one or the other of these. They seem to sound quite similar from the sound clips I have heard and are both in my price range.

I can't get my hands on either, so hoping someone has played both and can comment.

Thanks!

 

[J_Bass]

Don't forget the Cort Artisan B4FL MHPZ.

Unless I'm thinking of the wrong bass, the ESP is an acoustic bass, right?

Quite different from the Ibanez, or the Cort. These are semi-hollow basses, the Ibanez with a piezo pickup, the Cort with one piezo and one magnetic pickup.


I would go with the Ibanez, or Cort.

 

[the_eleven]

The ESP Thinline seems more like a semi-hollow. Their site isn't showing the fretless, but they do make one.

TL-4

 

[Solarmist]

The Ibby has a slightly smaller neck.
I'm partial to the Ibanez.

 

[the_eleven]

What about the sound? Is it my imagination, or does the TL-4 have a bit more warmth and "hollow body" vibe?

 

[freshbass]

Looking to order one or the other of these. They seem to sound quite similar from the sound clips I have heard and are both in my price range.

I can't get my hands on either, so hoping someone has played both and can comment.

Thanks!

The bridge on the ESP is not adjustable , the Ibanez/Cort bridge is, and the electronics are probably less complicated. The side dots on the Ibanez SRH500F line up w/ the fret positions making it very forgiving to play. I've tried them all and while I prefer a deeper neck I chose the Ibanez for it's tone and QC, there's lots on reverb.

 

[Nunovsky]

I have the Ibanez SRH-505F and I love it. I haven't tried the other basses but the Ibanez just sings. It has that acoustic quality to the tone, woody and organic and so much muah.
And you can set the volume individually for each string.
The neck is very confortable and it's really lightweight.
IMHO, it's an amazing bass. I was thinking of buying a Godin A5 Ultra early this year, much more expensive, and probably sell the Ibby because of the magnetic pickup and the extra options, but then I picked up this bass to play and decided I didn't need it.
But, as I mentioned before, I cannot compare it to the others since I've only tried this one.