New ESP Surveyor 415 bass fixes & modifications

[JLS]

I recently got one of these during the $500+ 0ff (!!!) sale. The bass, while good, needed some work:the strings were way offcenter, and couldn't be remedied by moving the neck in the pocket. I just so happened to have an ABM bridge lying around, and mounted it instead of the factory Wilkenson, also allowing a significant amount of extra string spacing at the bridge.

The nut was laughable for a $300 bass, and, frankly, unacceptable for one retailing at $729. The Corian replacement
I made corrected the cramped string spacing.

Frets were better-than-adequate, but needed leveling and recrowning to get the kind of action I'm used to. The trussrod is maxed, which I don't like at all, but that will be dealt with when it's refret time, when I'll replane and/or heat treat the neck, so the trussrod isn't carrying all the weight.

I added another 9v battery in series, as EMG pickups perform superbly at 18 volts; both of my EMG-equipped basses have been this way for 20 years or so,

This bass plays and sounds great, now! It wasn't bad right out of the box, either.

 

[miner49er11]

Hey JLS, I just bought the same 415 bass. I also added the second battery. I'm relatively satisfied with this $299 bass, even though it arrived with a small scratch on the bottom side of the neck and the coil tap switch is noisy when switched. Tone is not bad, but the MM pickup is low. I just tried to raise the bridge pickup, and it doesn't lift at all. The three screws are screwed in crooked, and it doesn't appear to have any foam under it. It's screwed tight against the body. I plan to replace strings today, and I have some pickup foam. I'm going to put foam under it. Any technical objections to me doing that? (I've been messing with guitars for 40+ years...)

 

[JLS]

Hi, Miner--

Pull the bridge pickup and have a look underneath; I had to shim the neck of this brand-new bass (gasp!) to get the geometry right, and needed more height from both pickups.

That certainly shouldn't be screwed down to the body; in my case, I used some 1/8" plastic scrap, doublestick taped to the bottom of the pup cavity, raising the cavity's bottom, rather than more foam.

If I hadn't had that ABM bridge sitting around, I'd have had to either move the stock bridge over, or perform surgery on the heel and/or neck pocket, to get the strings to line up over the fingerboard. Neither of these is a particularly fun job; if the bass hadn't sounded as goood as it did, and played fairly well out of the box, I would have sent it back.

I really do like this bass now, though it may sound as if I'm damning with faint praise...

 

[ishouldbeking]

what's the procedure to add a second 9 volt? I just got the four string version; I'm curious about the way this might change the stock sounds.

 

[JLS]

what's the procedure to add a second 9 volt? I just got the four string version; I'm curious about the way this might change the stock sounds.

Add it in series, + to-. I like the increased headroom, esp. w/a low B. I added another 9v, in the control cavity; I may decide to rout the battery pocket deeper, but it's not a priority.

 

[miner49er11]

+1

EMG recommends an 18v supply (over a 9v supply) for both pickups and pre-eq. Why ESP didn't do this is beyond me.

 

[miner49er11]

Hey JLS, Thanks for the advice. I pulled the bridge pup. The installed foam is "shorter" than the foam I have, so I put a few pieces of my foam inside theirs. Works like a charm, so far. Pup much closer to the strings. Even used two pieces where the cable goes, so that the cable doesn't crush the foam. Better tone, to my ear, with the MM pup much closer to the strings. Will do the neck pup the next time I change strings. Also, from your experience, which bridge would be the best to replace the stock bridge?

 

[JLS]

EMG recommends an 18v supply (over a 9v supply) for both pickups and pre-eq. Why ESP didn't do this is beyond me.

I had to ferret this out, over 20 years ago; it's like some, "Don't ask, don't tell", oddness. They are rated up to 27v.

Also, from your experience, which bridge would be the best to replace the stock bridge?

I prefer any bridge that will allow me to get strings on & off the bass quickly; if this weren't my only 5IL bass, I'd have tried a set of TI flats from one of the 3x2 basses already. If that's not an issue, and if the string spacing's okay, as well as the string/fingerboard rounout, I see no reason to switch the bridge, but that's just me.

 

[darkstorm]

Glad I didnt get one. Wrongly isntalled bridge and bad nut is diff deal breaker to me, Id of returned it for refund if I got one like that. Totally unacceptable for a bass that supposed to sell normally for much more. Even if they was factory 2nds. Observation about fretwork is disapointing to as esp ltds Ive owned had good fretwork on them.

 

[JLS]

Glad I didnt get one. Wrongly isntalled bridge and bad nut is diff deal breaker to me, Id of returned it for refund if I got one like that. Totally unacceptable for a bass that supposed to sell normally for much more. Even if they was factory 2nds. Observation about fretwork is disapointing to as esp ltds Ive owned had good fretwork on them.

What I said before: if the bass hadn't sounded as good as it did, and played fairly well out of the box, I would have sent it back.

The fretwork was industry-standard good; I go for exquisite action, which is why I do what I do.

 

[ishouldbeking]

So when you add the extra 9 volt, does that require rewiring and soldering in another 9 volt adapter wire in there? Or is it something simpler that I'm missing? Sorry if I'm being obtuse, I don't have much experience with active basses and am genuinely curious.

 

[ishouldbeking]

Glad I didnt get one. Wrongly isntalled bridge and bad nut is diff deal breaker to me, Id of returned it for refund if I got one like that. Totally unacceptable for a bass that supposed to sell normally for much more. Even if they was factory 2nds. Observation about fretwork is disapointing to as esp ltds Ive owned had good fretwork on them.

Even if you didn't personally love it, at this price it'd be insanely easy to flip for a profit. My bridge and nut are aligned properly. The nut itself isn't cut perfectly, and I'll probably have a new one installed if this winds up being any kind of gigging bass, but mine is absolutely playable in the condition it came in. In general I'd say this is a great bass at an absurd price, only in need of the typical minor adjustments any mass produced bass will require upon delivery. Mine sounds like it came in better shape than the OP's, but that too seems pretty standard for anything mass produced.

One thing I've noticed about the tone, is that I can sound fantastic without any tweaking when running through my Ashdown-into-610 rig, but I struggle with gankiness and nasty midrange through the SVT-into-810 at my current rehearsal space. Strange. I probably need a better hand with the EQ since my passive basses are pretty much the opposite.

 

[JLS]

So when you add the extra 9 volt, does that require rewiring and soldering in another 9 volt adapter wire in there? Or is it something simpler that I'm missing? Sorry if I'm being obtuse, I don't have much experience with active basses and am genuinely curious.

Yep, that's it. Here, I clipped the red wire, soldered it to the black wire of the auxiliary 9v clip, and soldered the outgoing red wire back to the original red wire.

but mine is absolutely playable in the condition it came in.

Agreed, mine, too.

 

[ishouldbeking]

Yep, that's it. Here, I clipped the red wire, soldered it to the black wire of the auxiliary 9v clip, and soldered the outgoing red wire back to the original red wire.

Agreed, mine, too.

Cool, thanks for the visual! One of these days I need to conquer my fear of the soldering iron. Last attempt at a pickup installation didn't go so well, haha.

 

[JLS]

Just did a gig last night, with TI JFs on this bass, much better than the SIT strings that were stock on this bass.

This is the first 5 IL bass I've ever used, I keep reaching for the D&G tuners on the treble side of the headstock, after all these years.

 

[miner49er11]

Hey JLS, Similar with me. It's a long reach for that G tuner! And I replaced the SIT's with Dunlop light (.40-.120) nickels. Sounds great, with a few 1/8 turn loosenings of the truss rod. The SIT's (nickel's?) were actually making my finger tips black. Must have been on for a while. And I really hate having to string through the holes in the bridge. I know I asked you this before, but which bridge would you replace the stock bridge with? If Hipshot, which style? Thanks.

 

[JLS]

Hey JLS, Similar with me. It's a long reach for that G tuner! And I replaced the SIT's with Dunlop light (.40-.120) nickels. Sounds great, with a few 1/8 turn loosenings of the truss rod. The SIT's (nickel's?) were actually making my finger tips black. Must have been on for a while. And I really hate having to string through the holes in the bridge. I know I asked you this before, but which bridge would you replace the stock bridge with? If Hipshot, which style? Thanks.

I'd go with the one I used, an ABM. When I restrung it, the only hole I had to uncoil a string through, was the A string, in the stringtree on the headstock. The ABM's saddles have enough side-to-side adjustment to matter, as well.

 

[miner49er11]

JLS, thanks for that bridge advice. BTW, the stacked pots on the 415... is the upper knob the mid control? I turn mine and I find it hard to hear any tone change. The bass lower knob, lots of boost/cut. The other tone knob appears to be treble? One more quick question... just thinking, could the EMG active pickups be wired into a traditional passive circuit, like a VVT ckt? (I have no prior experience with active pickups, just Barts and Nords.) Thanks, in advance.

 

[ishouldbeking]

The top knob of the concentric pot is the treble, lower knob is bass. The other "tone altering" knob is the mid control. Are you playing through a dark amp/cab setup maybe? If you're not hearing a big difference, try hitting the string with a pick: you should hear a definite increase in bright, clangy attack when you boost the treble.

For whatever reason the concentric knob on mine feels pretty janky. The top knob sticks a bit and feels like there's some grime binding it to the bottom knob. Sometimes when I adjust the bass knob the treble knob moves as well, as if they're stuck together. The rest of the pots seem fine, however. I'm sure it's just a symptom of cheap wiring.

 

[JLS]

JLS, thanks for that bridge advice. BTW, the stacked pots on the 415... is the upper knob the mid control? I turn mine and I find it hard to hear any tone change. The bass lower knob, lots of boost/cut. The other tone knob appears to be treble? One more quick question... just thinking, could the EMG active pickups be wired into a traditional passive circuit, like a VVT ckt? (I have no prior experience with active pickups, just Barts and Nords.) Thanks, in advance.

Upper knob is treble, other tone control's mids.

Nope, EMG actives are active only.