Would Cliff Burton have used ESP?

[downeastthrash]

This thought has been on my mind for years! When Metallica got endorsed by ESP, would Cliff have used them too. I think he would have used the bass Frank Bello had.

And if there was a Cliff Burton ESP, what do you think it would look like.

And what do you think his gear would be like today if he was alive?

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

I guess Cliff would have stuck with his Aria or returned to Rickenbacker. Robert doesn't use ESP, after all.
Link Removed

Man I want that bass...

 

[downeastthrash]

Robert has an Esp, and jason used Esp for the 88 tour.

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

Robert has an Esp, and jason used Esp for the 88 tour.

Does he? Well, he usually plays that Fernandes.

 

[downeastthrash]

He uses, warwick, Fender, Fernandes, Tobias(Gibson) and a custom shop Esp, and Zon.

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

He uses, warwick, Fender, Fernandes, Tobias(Gibson) and a custom shop Esp, and Zon.

 

[Addison]

I think the Fender style basses he uses are actually clones made by Nash. There's a complete list of his touring gear on the Metallica website, IIRC.

 

[Alembic83]

This thought has been on my mind for years! When Metallica got endorsed by ESP, would Cliff have used them too. I think he would have used the bass Frank Bello had.

And if there was a Cliff Burton ESP, what do you think it would look like.

And what do you think his gear would be like today if he was alive?

Just a guess, but I'm not sure he would've gone with ESP. The ESP Frank Bello bass looks cool but it seemed Cliff liked non-Fender style basses and the 2x2 tuner style (Ric, Alembic, and Aria). Again, just a wild guess, but I tend to think he would've gone back to Alembic after a while since he did use a Spoiler for a short time before it was stolen.

 

[callofcthulhu]

My first bass was an ESP and my first bass hero was Cliff Burton.

So I'm gonna go with yes.

Most of their basses are 2+2 headstocks btw.

 

[Hamlet7768]

It's hard to say what Cliff would have used had he not died. I've heard people suggest Modulus, which would have been interesting. I doubt ESP, though. Cliff was very much rooted in the '60s and '70s in his bass playing and influences; ESP is...not very '70s.

 

[20db pad]

If Lars and James allowed it, he might have !