Both seem like such well built basses. For me it came down to the more narrow neck, and I found a great price on mine. I have no doubt that the ESP will be wonderful, just more modern sounding than the Yamaha.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Official ESP club
- Thread starter funkmasterflex
- Start date
-
- Tags
- club
which hipshot d-tuner did you use, I couldn't find the right one for my vintage 4, can you post a pic of the back headstock with it? thanks, I wish mine was the vintage white instead of black!
here's my vintage 4, my favorite fourstr that I own! It has 10yr old TI flats on it that still sound great, a 3d printed thumbrail, luminlay large side dots, and a bassmute. Needs a d-tuner and will be complete!
It looks very nice in black. It is also my favorite bass. I am attaching close ups of the drop d. Dont know the brand as i bought it like that. I will contact the guy and get back to you. I just noticed that the machine head was shifted down slightly to install it.
Here are some pics
Just noticed a screw whole...in the third picture...they did shift the machine head
The bass mute is a brilliant idea...need to find one....flats are also on my list...this bass is incredible in terms of quality and sound. The only negative is the relic thing....but i can live with it. I actualy thought of stripping it to natural .....it would look great...i think...maybe i do it
It is like putting a piece of foam under the strings at the bridge. This cuts the sustain of the note...some bassists mute by using the palm of their right hand to touch the strings. The outcome is nice and funky.
Well made an impulse buy and asking to join the club. Just picked up a used ESP Ltd B-208FM.
Overall looks and feels good. Seems dense, not necessarily heavy at 9 pounds, just feels solid. Neck is straight and truss rod works. Maybe just needs a little bit lower on action. Frets seem to be ok, no sharp ends, just needs some tarnish cleaned up on them. Going to order up new strings, clean and setup sometime next week. From playing with it for a short time, I think it's destined go on the wall as "Yeah, I own an 8-string." Pick seems comfortable, fingerstyle not so much. Just seems like the strings are always in the way. I'll see how I feel about it when new strings go on and more practice time with it.
Overall looks and feels good. Seems dense, not necessarily heavy at 9 pounds, just feels solid. Neck is straight and truss rod works. Maybe just needs a little bit lower on action. Frets seem to be ok, no sharp ends, just needs some tarnish cleaned up on them. Going to order up new strings, clean and setup sometime next week. From playing with it for a short time, I think it's destined go on the wall as "Yeah, I own an 8-string." Pick seems comfortable, fingerstyle not so much. Just seems like the strings are always in the way. I'll see how I feel about it when new strings go on and more practice time with it.
- Aug 21, 2003
- 11,589
- 18,607
- Disclosures
- A-Designs Mike Lull GK Tsunami Cables GHS Strings RMI Basswitch Nordstrand Pickups Darkglass
So my final conclusion on the ESP LTD AP-5
Ok so over all this is a great instrument and especially for for the price.
I have 1 criticism
-The tuner posts are really small. I had one hell of a time dealing with a .126 B-string. They are almost like guitar tuners.
Instead of Grovers I would have gone with the import version Hipshot.
Yeah a painted headstock would be nice but its only cosmetic.
The 19mm spacing does not feel necessarily 19 (if that makes sense), it feels to me a touch tighter which I prefer, but its not a deal breaker. At this point I would rather have 19 over 17 if giving the option between the two. 18mm spacing is perfect to me.
Overall for everything this bass and what it costs.
I would give it a 9 out of 10.
Ok so over all this is a great instrument and especially for for the price.
I have 1 criticism
-The tuner posts are really small. I had one hell of a time dealing with a .126 B-string. They are almost like guitar tuners.
Instead of Grovers I would have gone with the import version Hipshot.
Yeah a painted headstock would be nice but its only cosmetic.
The 19mm spacing does not feel necessarily 19 (if that makes sense), it feels to me a touch tighter which I prefer, but its not a deal breaker. At this point I would rather have 19 over 17 if giving the option between the two. 18mm spacing is perfect to me.
Overall for everything this bass and what it costs.
I would give it a 9 out of 10.
So here's my ESP LTD F-104. I found this body on Craigslist for $5. It was stripped down and spray painted with huge runs all over it. Took me a week of effort to get it sanded down and smoothed out. The guy had no neck, no electronics, no hardware, just the body -
I gave it a crazy swirl because I love that sort of thing (hair metal all the way), got a new neck and new EMG active soapbars, gave it all new hardware and BAM!
This shot was before I added neon pink knobs. The logos are waterslide decals, I put an ESP Custom Shop one on the front of the headstock and the small ESP circle logo on the back. I'm sad that it doesn't have the F-104 inlay in the neck, but I'm really happy with how it came out considering where it started. I call her "Intuition", for obvious reasons.
Hopefully it's enough of an ESP to let me join the club.
I gave it a crazy swirl because I love that sort of thing (hair metal all the way), got a new neck and new EMG active soapbars, gave it all new hardware and BAM!
This shot was before I added neon pink knobs. The logos are waterslide decals, I put an ESP Custom Shop one on the front of the headstock and the small ESP circle logo on the back. I'm sad that it doesn't have the F-104 inlay in the neck, but I'm really happy with how it came out considering where it started. I call her "Intuition", for obvious reasons.
Hopefully it's enough of an ESP to let me join the club.
So is @ArvindJayaram still giving out numbers, or has TriggerHappy taken over? The last list that Arvind posted was post #1259 (page 63) and it's kind of a mess. I'm thinking maybe I just take #209 since that was the next sequential number in the list? Thoughts club members?
Last edited:
Can I join the club?? My new AP5. A pro style instrument. Incredible quality! So nice and easy to play.
Made a (relatively) cheap impulse buy and I am very impressed by the quality. Can I join the club? Thanks!
It says on the 12th fret inlay, it's the B204-SM.
It's funny tho. My B-206SM doesn't have the model inlay like most ESP-LTDs do.
