NBD - ESP LTD AP-4 Black Metal

[K-2]

Self Santa was early this year!
Long story :
I was looking at this for quite some time, probably for a year. Classic case of GAS. Weighing in pros and cons, etc.
I was fortunate enough this year to make some great gifts to my wife and family and thought to myself - maybe I can gift something to myself!
Of course I did my research, but still was on the fence - "Do I really need it?". Final nail was - there were many basses, that I wanted to get, but was not in a financial position to get them and then they were discontinued, etc. When I saw that this one is no longer on official site as being in production, I just couldn't....

Now the bass :
First thing - It is really light. I haven't weighted it, but compared to several other (Warwick Streamer, ESP F, Sire P5) that I have I, and I had, can instantly feel the difference.
There are a couple flaws, that are to be expected from mass produced thing. Nut was cut fine, but they didn't bother to clean out the plastic peel offs. And there's a indent above the nut, where someone probably wanted to start cutting the nut slot.
Now for the good things :
I bought it for two things : Thin, modern neck and Stingray tone. And it delivers on both. Pickup is in the so called sweet spot for the Ray sound, neck is mix of modern and classic - fretboard is flat, thin U shape. While the pickup is not a big open pole humbucker, the EMG is in the right spot and has the same qualities. It does have the growl and presence of Stingray.


Next week it goes to the rehearsal and two days later to the gig. Will see how it copes!

P.S.

I wasn't able to find any info on this bass here. I'll add more info here as I get more familiar with it, for potential GASers there.

 

[bass-shy]

Self Santa was early this year!
Long story :
I was looking at this for quite some time, probably for a year. Classic case of GAS. Weighing in pros and cons, etc.
I was fortunate enough this year to make some great gifts to my wife and family and thought to myself - maybe I can gift something to myself!
Of course I did my research, but still was on the fence - "Do I really need it?". Final nail was - there were many basses, that I wanted to get, but was not in a financial position to get them and then they were discontinued, etc. When I saw that this one is no longer on official site as being in production, I just couldn't....

Now the bass :
First thing - It is really light. I haven't weighted it, but compared to several other (Warwick Streamer, ESP F, Sire P5) that I have I, and I had, can instantly feel the difference.
There are a couple flaws, that are to be expected from mass produced thing. Nut was cut fine, but they didn't bother to clean out the plastic peel offs. And there's a indent above the nut, where someone probably wanted to start cutting the nut slot.
Now for the good things :
I bought it for two things : Thin, modern neck and Stingray tone. And it delivers on both. Pickup is in the so called sweet spot for the Ray sound, neck is mix of modern and classic - fretboard is flat, thin U shape. While the pickup is not a big open pole humbucker, the EMG is in the right spot and has the same qualities. It does have the growl and presence of Stingray.


Next week it goes to the rehearsal and two days later to the gig. Will see how it copes!

P.S.

I wasn't able to find any info on this bass here. I'll add more info here as I get more familiar with it, for potential GASers there.

Very cool! Congrats!

 

[Gopherbassist]

One knob, I like it!

Can you upload some sound clips?

 

[evs]

That looks so cool

 

[Kayvan S]

I was really considering ordering one of those last year…love that reverse headstock and simple configuration. I’d love to try one in person.

That’s one slick bass though…congrats!

 

[Windreaper]

I bought it for two things : Thin, modern neck and Stingray tone. And it delivers on both. Pickup is in the so called sweet spot for the Ray sound, neck is mix of modern and classic - fretboard is flat, thin U shape. While the pickup is not a big open pole humbucker, the EMG is in the right spot and has the same qualities. It does have the growl and presence of Stingray.

I totally assumed they'd use a 35DC (which was supposedly designed to sound like a 'Ray pickup), but it's a 35CS. Nevertheless, great-sounding pickups in that position. Love the simplicity of the configuration too!

 

[monsterthompson]

Very nice.

 

[Ondoval]

Very cool bass. I didn't know I wanted one until now...

 

[bass nitro]

This bass took my attention since i saw it a few months ago and i wish it would habe a tone knob but that is not bothering me much.There is very good demo on bonedo.de and on YouTube as well and i am tempted on it also.It would be great if someone do sound samples playing different styles of music.It would be great alternative to Dusty Hill's Fender,modern vision and sounds.

 

[dbflats]

There's basses that look good to me but too many knobs. No such problem here!

 

[bassdude51]

OH WOW! Speaking for myself, I'm really into simplicity! And, you bass is awesome! Black. One knob. One p/u. No fret markers. The reversed headstock fits right in!

Congratulations! Great bass! Thanks for sharing!

 

[K-2]

One knob, I like it!

Can you upload some sound clips?

I'll give it a shot next week, as I'm out of town for the weekend. Have a DAW, but never tried to record something at home. Will see, how hard can it be!

 

[K-2]

I totally assumed they'd use a 35DC (which was supposedly designed to sound like a 'Ray pickup), but it's a 35CS. Nevertheless, great-sounding pickups in that position. Love the simplicity of the configuration too!

I was wondering too why they didn't use DC, which I think is their "default" humbucker, as opposed to CS being a variation of DC.
I read somewhere that CS is more mellow compared to DC, so maybe wood choices had something to do with it - Alder body, maple neck :?

 

[K-2]

As I haven't found any info on Talkbass about this particular bass, I'll post my experiences here for "future generations" that might want to buy it

I'll setup it next week - needs thicker strings, as my band plays in drop C. It came with action higher than I like, so will check that too. Will post some sound clips then!

 

[ravlin]

The EMG MM is a wider (MM dimensions) CS pickup, not a DC. The DC being notably bright, I think EMG chose the CS for the sweet-spot for tone balance. Sweet bass!

 

[RavenousPoe]

Love it. I'm glad you'll update the thread!

I've been talking myself in and out of the entire ESP Black Metal Series for the last year, mostly the F body. It seems like it would be right up my alley. Especially with the 35" scale length, it would be perfect for BEAD. I'm just worried that I wouldn't like the sound without a distortion, as I only use the overdrive built into my amp, and all demos I could find were pretty distorted.

 

[K-2]

The EMG MM is a wider (MM dimensions) CS pickup, not a DC. The DC being notably bright, I think EMG chose the CS for the sweet-spot for tone balance. Sweet bass!

Yes, but this is not EMG MMCS, but a 35CS.
MM comes with 3 screws and this is with 2. And spec sheet says 35CS too.
I guess they choose CS for tone balance as you say, and 35 instead of MM probably for aesthetic reasons :?

 

[K-2]

Love it. I'm glad you'll update the thread!

I've been talking myself in and out of the entire ESP Black Metal Series for the last year, mostly the F body. It seems like it would be right up my alley. Especially with the 35" scale length, it would be perfect for BEAD. I'm just worried that I wouldn't like the sound without a distortion, as I only use the overdrive built into my amp, and all demos I could find were pretty distorted.

I have ESP LTD F204 and that 35" scale is really nice. Thin U shape neck, flat radius (400mm I think), one of things that helped seal the deal on buying AP-4 is that the neck was similar in spec (nut width on F series is 2mm wider). Sad that this one didn't come with 35".
Looking at the pictures the pickup on F Black series is in the same spot as a bridge pickup on my F204. Having that in mind, personally I wouldn't like the F Black. As I never use bridge pickup solo on F204. Compared to this AP-4, the pickup is closer to the bridge and it has that nasally, thinner type of tone. And it has a push-pull for single coil mode, which would make it even thinner!

I think your best bet is to find F series or B series (as they have same pickup positions) at your local guitar shop, set the preamp flat and solo the bridge, and see if you like that tone.
Looking at specs they are almost the same, differences being F Black has a 3 piece neck (maple), F204 has 5 (maple,jatoba), and different fingerboard.
F Black says extra thin U neck, so it is probably even slimer than F204, I can only assume something similar to Ibanez SRs.
Black has better hardware, but that wouldn't impact tone.

 

[RavenousPoe]

I have ESP LTD F204 and that 35" scale is really nice. Thin U shape neck, flat radius (400mm I think), one of things that helped seal the deal on buying AP-4 is that the neck was similar in spec (nut width on F series is 2mm wider). Sad that this one didn't come with 35".
Looking at the pictures the pickup on F Black series is in the same spot as a bridge pickup on my F204. Having that in mind, personally I wouldn't like the F Black. As I never use bridge pickup solo on F204. Compared to this AP-4, the pickup is closer to the bridge and it has that nasally, thinner type of tone. And it has a push-pull for single coil mode, which would make it even thinner!

I think your best bet is to find F series or B series (as they have same pickup positions) at your local guitar shop, set the preamp flat and solo the bridge, and see if you like that tone.
Looking at specs they are almost the same, differences being F Black has a 3 piece neck (maple), F204 has 5 (maple,jatoba), and different fingerboard.
F Black says extra thin U neck, so it is probably even slimer than F204, I can only assume something similar to Ibanez SRs.
Black has better hardware, but that wouldn't impact tone.

Thank you so much for the advice! That is exactly what I was worried about. I wish I could try any of them out, but unfortunately there is no local retailer around that carries quality ESP basses. Most local shops around me are Fender and PRS affiliates and hardly stock anything else.

I'm wondering if the M-1004 might be the better option for me here. I'm not a huge fan of on-board EQ, and I loved my Schecter CV-5's dual humbuckers while I had it, but did sell it since I moved away from 5 strings.

 

[deepestend]

Cool, like the one knob setup as well. Not my thing, but I can appreciate that it's a "best of" version of that kind of bass. Very cool!