I've been wanting to pursue playing fretless, and though I already have a Sire P7, which is a beautiful quality instrument with an amazing neck that plays wonderfully, its preamp controls are, frankly, byzantine and continually baffle me. So, I've been keeping my eye open for an alternative, and I've been considering this ESP LTD B-204SM fretless for some time. The funds available and credit card billing cycle gods coincided to make purchase possible, and so I ordered one from GearTree in Grandville, MI. Shipping was incredible. I ordered one day and it was delivered the next day. Packaging was awesome and the bass arrived in perfect condition.
Out-of-box it was already almost in tune and action setup and intonation already almost perfect. As an example of attention to detail there was even plastic film on the backsides of the tuners. After the usual local acclimatization I did my usual new bass cleaning, fretboard oiling, waxing, polishing and flatwound string swap. Only some minor setup tweaks were required after the string swap.
The controls on this bass make much more sense, with low, mid and high cut and boost controls that have a tactile center detent, a neck/bridge blend control with a tactile center detent, and overall volume output control. The pickups are specced as passive, but the preamp provides plenty of signal to my amp that I don't need to make any adjustments for this bass as compared to my other basses.
The "spalted maple" top is only a veneer, and doesn't cover the entire top, but nevertheless is very tastefully incorporated into the ash body. The fingerboard is Jatoba and was pretty dry as delivered, so I oiled it with lemon oil then waxed and polished it before installing my preferred D'Addario light weight XL Chromes.
Conclusion: I'm very happy with this bass, and I think it will fill the role of me pursuing fretless playing.
Out-of-box it was already almost in tune and action setup and intonation already almost perfect. As an example of attention to detail there was even plastic film on the backsides of the tuners. After the usual local acclimatization I did my usual new bass cleaning, fretboard oiling, waxing, polishing and flatwound string swap. Only some minor setup tweaks were required after the string swap.
The controls on this bass make much more sense, with low, mid and high cut and boost controls that have a tactile center detent, a neck/bridge blend control with a tactile center detent, and overall volume output control. The pickups are specced as passive, but the preamp provides plenty of signal to my amp that I don't need to make any adjustments for this bass as compared to my other basses.
The "spalted maple" top is only a veneer, and doesn't cover the entire top, but nevertheless is very tastefully incorporated into the ash body. The fingerboard is Jatoba and was pretty dry as delivered, so I oiled it with lemon oil then waxed and polished it before installing my preferred D'Addario light weight XL Chromes.
Conclusion: I'm very happy with this bass, and I think it will fill the role of me pursuing fretless playing.
