Hello TB-Land!
The first 6-string bass that ever felt great was an ESP/LTD B-206SM back in 2011; I bought one and soon after I switched to 6-string basses exclusively. I bought a second ESP/LTD 6-string B-336SR (one of 3 prototypes made for NAMM) that was stunningly beautiful but had neck issues. All the while I wanted an ESP/LTD B-1006, the top of the “B” line with LTD at the time.
Flame maple/mahogany top, five-piece neck, satin finish, rosewood fingerboard, jumbo stainless frets, maple neck, Hipshot tuners, active/passive, body through or bridge string options, neck through… retail $1800.
Ouch.
Still, I’ve wanted one for years, but B-1006’s are VERY hard to find. I’ve seen maybe 1 other come up for sale in all this time, from Reverb, here, GC used, CL (here and in Nashville where I have a lot of fam and friends). I set up alerts all over the place should one come up for sale – blah blah. There were (and are) B-206SM’s all day long, some RB-1006’s – but no B-1006’s.
Fast forward to this past February. On Reverb this popped up:
ESP LTD B-1006 | Reverb
Note that this wasn’t “just” a B-1006, which would’ve thrilled me – this beast was an upgraded B-1006. The previous owner added a brass adjustable nut to set the height of the individual strings at the first fret, installed Nordstrand Big Singles pickups, a non-stock EMG preamp (I don’t know which model) and modded the controls significantly. The truss rods turned smooth, the input jack upgraded, the inside cavities all lined with copper shielding (reaching the cavity cover screws) and the body was in great shape.
Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.
About the controls mod – which is a great upgrade. Instead of one volume control for the bridge and one for the neck pickup as are on stock B-1006s, this B-1006 had one master volume control in the neck-pickup volume position to adjust the volume of both Big Single pickups and a 5-way switch installed where the bridge pickup volume control once was, using the same knobs as stock B-1006s so you can’t tell that any mods have been done to the controls at all by looking at it – a very professional job by the previous owner.
Position 1 – bridge pickup alone, Position 2 – neck pickup alone, Position 3 – bridge + neck in series (my fave – deeeeep and bright), Position 4 – bridge + neck in parallel, Position 5 – off. Nice thing about the pickup selection is that of course you can run the bass passively and still get the switchable pickup tone options.
Not only did I find the bass I wanted, I found it modded in fantastic ways, ways that I would have wanted to have done myself (if I could). It’s my first string-through bass, so I’m naturally taking advantage of that, and I love the tonal options with those HUGE Nordstrand pickups, so different than my Yamaha RBXJM2 basses or my fretless Carvin LB76F. The B-1006’s satin feel is awesome, and I love Its understated look – my other basses, all sixes, are green and purple – are quite the contrast lol.
After a month+ of waiting, new strings and a setup, and am loving it. The switches and controls are solid with no audible click when switching pickup configs, the tone controls are silent, and it is fantastically ergonomic and comfortable.
Now, back to playing it!!!!
The first 6-string bass that ever felt great was an ESP/LTD B-206SM back in 2011; I bought one and soon after I switched to 6-string basses exclusively. I bought a second ESP/LTD 6-string B-336SR (one of 3 prototypes made for NAMM) that was stunningly beautiful but had neck issues. All the while I wanted an ESP/LTD B-1006, the top of the “B” line with LTD at the time.
Flame maple/mahogany top, five-piece neck, satin finish, rosewood fingerboard, jumbo stainless frets, maple neck, Hipshot tuners, active/passive, body through or bridge string options, neck through… retail $1800.
Ouch.
Still, I’ve wanted one for years, but B-1006’s are VERY hard to find. I’ve seen maybe 1 other come up for sale in all this time, from Reverb, here, GC used, CL (here and in Nashville where I have a lot of fam and friends). I set up alerts all over the place should one come up for sale – blah blah. There were (and are) B-206SM’s all day long, some RB-1006’s – but no B-1006’s.
Fast forward to this past February. On Reverb this popped up:
ESP LTD B-1006 | Reverb
Note that this wasn’t “just” a B-1006, which would’ve thrilled me – this beast was an upgraded B-1006. The previous owner added a brass adjustable nut to set the height of the individual strings at the first fret, installed Nordstrand Big Singles pickups, a non-stock EMG preamp (I don’t know which model) and modded the controls significantly. The truss rods turned smooth, the input jack upgraded, the inside cavities all lined with copper shielding (reaching the cavity cover screws) and the body was in great shape.
Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.
About the controls mod – which is a great upgrade. Instead of one volume control for the bridge and one for the neck pickup as are on stock B-1006s, this B-1006 had one master volume control in the neck-pickup volume position to adjust the volume of both Big Single pickups and a 5-way switch installed where the bridge pickup volume control once was, using the same knobs as stock B-1006s so you can’t tell that any mods have been done to the controls at all by looking at it – a very professional job by the previous owner.
Position 1 – bridge pickup alone, Position 2 – neck pickup alone, Position 3 – bridge + neck in series (my fave – deeeeep and bright), Position 4 – bridge + neck in parallel, Position 5 – off. Nice thing about the pickup selection is that of course you can run the bass passively and still get the switchable pickup tone options.
Not only did I find the bass I wanted, I found it modded in fantastic ways, ways that I would have wanted to have done myself (if I could). It’s my first string-through bass, so I’m naturally taking advantage of that, and I love the tonal options with those HUGE Nordstrand pickups, so different than my Yamaha RBXJM2 basses or my fretless Carvin LB76F. The B-1006’s satin feel is awesome, and I love Its understated look – my other basses, all sixes, are green and purple – are quite the contrast lol.
After a month+ of waiting, new strings and a setup, and am loving it. The switches and controls are solid with no audible click when switching pickup configs, the tone controls are silent, and it is fantastically ergonomic and comfortable.
Now, back to playing it!!!!
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