Part 1 A short journey to the LTD 214. If you just want to see the bass and a bit of review, skip to part 2.
The options for an affordable P style (P'ish body and pup with a 42mm or bigger nut) instrument with a naked fretless board are pretty slim. However, with my Fretless Carvin's late 90's looks and slim nut falling out of favor with me -and a rather limited budget- that's exactly what I was looking for.
I found that if you want to stay under or around $500, you're options are pretty much limited to the Invalid Link Removed, slapping a [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] on a Squier or, the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] . Link Removed and Invalid Link Removed make servicable instruments at the $115 and $300 pricepoint respectively, but they are lined. A [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]is a very high-quality set of parts, but you're limited to a J-width neck.
I wasn't against the synthetic ebanol board on a Mighty Mite neck, but it wasn't my ideal and I don't plan on putting rounds on it anyway. The Retrovibe Super P is hot looking and has a bound neck and a MM at the bridge, but it's around $500 shipped from the UK. So, when a local deal on a used 214 with a decent Levy's bag popped up I jumped on it. Here's what I got for under $300. The pics are from the seller who was a very pleasant fellow.
Part 2 The Bass:
A small ding at the input
The side dots are at the fretlines (as I prefer on a FL), but a previous owner marked blue over the dots that wouldn't be on the side of a fretted bass. I can't explain it, but it's actually quite brilliant the way the white dots stand out without removing the others and my mind seems to follow them instinctually.
Apparently it's made in Vietnam. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing I gather new ones might be made elsewhere?
Pro's
-Plays great.
-The neck is nice an P-width like I prefer, but front to back is slim, very similar profile to my old MIM p-bass.
-The pickups are decent and quiet and the pots are functional.
-The top layer of the pickguard isn't too thick, but is actual 3D Tort, not a print!
-Low Action
-Rosewood Fretboard
-Nice basic-but-heavy copy of a Gotoh 201 bridge.
-Great aesthetics. I'm a sucker for Sunburst and tort (though I've never owned one) and I actually like the Peavey-meets-fender look of the headstock. Overall, it appears to me to be a pretty obvious cop of the look of the Tony Franklin Fretless.
Con's
-Though the the wood grain is nice with reasonably good matching, there is one visible join on the front.
-Not much care was taken with the screws. Many of the PG screws and even one or two of the bridge attachment screws are clearly not in strait.
-Though decent, I don't think the pups are anything special and will probably eventually switched out just to try something else.
-Tuners look decent and function well, but I'm quite skeptical of the long-term reliability of these cheap die-cast machines.
I am really digging this bass. I love the look, the neck and the playability. It feels similar enough to my 90's MIM P that it's like coming home. I've never owned a P/J (for longer than a few days) before and especially with fretless I really see the value of the bridge pickup to put back some of the highs. I'm not sure what flat-ish strings it has, but they aren't quite as smooth as flats, so maybe they're half-wounds or ground-wounds. I like them though and probably won't change them.
The Rosewood Board is not ideal for folks who want to put on rounds, but for those folks, there are affordable Ebanol alternatives that will get you more of that epoxied-Jaco-thing. I personally prefer the warmer sound of flats on rosewood anyway. Clearly this is not the same level of construction or quality as my Carvin, but I love the sound and it already feels more like "me" in my hands. Having been out of the bass-buying game for a while, I didn't know (until last week) that ESP/LTD was making P-basses but I'm really glad they are!
The options for an affordable P style (P'ish body and pup with a 42mm or bigger nut) instrument with a naked fretless board are pretty slim. However, with my Fretless Carvin's late 90's looks and slim nut falling out of favor with me -and a rather limited budget- that's exactly what I was looking for.
I found that if you want to stay under or around $500, you're options are pretty much limited to the Invalid Link Removed, slapping a [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] on a Squier or, the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] . Link Removed and Invalid Link Removed make servicable instruments at the $115 and $300 pricepoint respectively, but they are lined. A [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]is a very high-quality set of parts, but you're limited to a J-width neck.
I wasn't against the synthetic ebanol board on a Mighty Mite neck, but it wasn't my ideal and I don't plan on putting rounds on it anyway. The Retrovibe Super P is hot looking and has a bound neck and a MM at the bridge, but it's around $500 shipped from the UK. So, when a local deal on a used 214 with a decent Levy's bag popped up I jumped on it. Here's what I got for under $300. The pics are from the seller who was a very pleasant fellow.
Part 2 The Bass:
A small ding at the input
The side dots are at the fretlines (as I prefer on a FL), but a previous owner marked blue over the dots that wouldn't be on the side of a fretted bass. I can't explain it, but it's actually quite brilliant the way the white dots stand out without removing the others and my mind seems to follow them instinctually.
Apparently it's made in Vietnam. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing I gather new ones might be made elsewhere?
Pro's
-Plays great.
-The neck is nice an P-width like I prefer, but front to back is slim, very similar profile to my old MIM p-bass.
-The pickups are decent and quiet and the pots are functional.
-The top layer of the pickguard isn't too thick, but is actual 3D Tort, not a print!
-Low Action
-Rosewood Fretboard
-Nice basic-but-heavy copy of a Gotoh 201 bridge.
-Great aesthetics. I'm a sucker for Sunburst and tort (though I've never owned one) and I actually like the Peavey-meets-fender look of the headstock. Overall, it appears to me to be a pretty obvious cop of the look of the Tony Franklin Fretless.
Con's
-Though the the wood grain is nice with reasonably good matching, there is one visible join on the front.
-Not much care was taken with the screws. Many of the PG screws and even one or two of the bridge attachment screws are clearly not in strait.
-Though decent, I don't think the pups are anything special and will probably eventually switched out just to try something else.
-Tuners look decent and function well, but I'm quite skeptical of the long-term reliability of these cheap die-cast machines.
I am really digging this bass. I love the look, the neck and the playability. It feels similar enough to my 90's MIM P that it's like coming home. I've never owned a P/J (for longer than a few days) before and especially with fretless I really see the value of the bridge pickup to put back some of the highs. I'm not sure what flat-ish strings it has, but they aren't quite as smooth as flats, so maybe they're half-wounds or ground-wounds. I like them though and probably won't change them.
The Rosewood Board is not ideal for folks who want to put on rounds, but for those folks, there are affordable Ebanol alternatives that will get you more of that epoxied-Jaco-thing. I personally prefer the warmer sound of flats on rosewood anyway. Clearly this is not the same level of construction or quality as my Carvin, but I love the sound and it already feels more like "me" in my hands. Having been out of the bass-buying game for a while, I didn't know (until last week) that ESP/LTD was making P-basses but I'm really glad they are!
Last edited:
