ESP 400 Series Bass

I have an ESP 400 Series Jazz, Made in USA on late 80's. It's coloured like urine-creamy-yellowish, the original pickguard was little bit bluish 3-ply, but I replaced it with black 3-plyer. Very narrow neck from the first frets (like Jazz do). I have also replaced the original neck pickup to Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder. I bought that bass second hand maybe in 1991, the price was about 600 euros.

Very Jazz-bass like sound (!). The Quarter Pounder adds little bit low end, that bass have very loud middle tone sound. Quite bright also. I'd like to have little more low end, but I think that I have to buy another bass for that.

Neck is brilliant! Just like it should be. Straight, easy to play, but very solid.

About 10 years ago rain waters came through the ceiling, straight inside to the bass. I poored waters away and started to play. No harms. It has also been beaten with axe. Still much like new.

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I must say that I never sell this bass. I have played lots of different gears and this is the one. Sometimes I have dreamed like a P-Bass or MM for some sound changes, but this ESP suits very well to me.

This isn't actually a 400 Series ESP, but the features are more or
less identical to an ESP 400 Series P-Bass. Don't know when or where it was made, I bought it used in 1987. It's probably custom-made by ESP, as the headstock has only a small silver-colored logo which says
"Produced by ESP". The headstock shape is exactly like that on a
Fender bass, not the ESP shape seen on 400 Series basses. Features? Just like a Precision: 4 strings, 20 frets, 1 pickup, 2 controls, that's it! The bass is left-handed, colour looks similar to Fender's Fiesta Red and it has a rosewood fingerboard. I've changed the stock bridge to a BadAss II, and the bass now has an EMG-P pickup (which I'm about to replace with a Seymour Duncan).

I've played this bass since 1987, and it has never let me down.
As for suitability for music styles, with this bass I've played...
let's see.. blues, R&B, soul, prog rock, acid jazz, funk, 60/70s
classic rock (The Who, CCR etc), jazz. Suits all styles!
Yes, it sounds just like a good Precision, but you can experiment
with different string types/gauges to tweak the tone to your
liking. Works great for gigs and the studio, when recording I
just plug into a DI box, simple and easy. This bass likes tube
amps; I use an Ampeg SVT with the 8x10 Ampeg cab, but for gigs in
small clubs I usually plug straight into the PA or use whatever
amp is provided by the venue.

Perfect, no complaints is this department.

Solid as a rock: I've used this bass since 1987 for rehearsals,
gigs and recording, and it has never needed any repairs! In all
these years I've had to adjust the truss rod only twice, the neck
is incredibly stable. Stays in tune, I can play 4 sets a night and
I can depend on this bass to stay in tune all night. Backup bass,
what for?

P-Bass copy, one volume, one tone knob. Passive "split" pu. Maple neck (thin like a Jazz Bass) ash body natural satin finish. I don't know how to rate this catagory. The bass has all of the features the original Fender P-Basses had they just don't have many features.

I'm playing through a TraceElliot SMC 7210 solid state amp. I've had this bass for almost 2 yrs play it everyday gigged a few times without a backup never had any problem. The bass never goes out of tune. I tune it just to act like I'm doing something but it's always in tune. It sounds like a P-bass should warm and smooth. It can't get that growl you can get from a Stingray or Jazz Bass but tone is exceptional.

You can't touch ESP for the quality of workmanship and parts they use. The only thing Fender has on these is name recognition and resale value. There are so many Fender copies out there most guitar/bass players don't know which ones are any good. IMHO ESP's have got Fender beat hands down. I paid $225 for my bass used. To get a Fender of this quality you'd have to spend around $1,000.

Very well built with quality components.

Never had to use them. (I use to have an ESP Traditional Strat too and I never had a problem with that either)

I don't see these around very often. If you run across one pick it up they're great basses and you can beat the price.

This bass is a Fender Jazz bass '62 copy, the finish is Metallic Red and included matching painted headstocks (red..)
the weight is good (not too much heavy)
The price 1.200.000 IT.Lira = 570 US Dollars
I found another bass like this for 450.000 = 200 U.S. Dollars
30 days ago...but I was late

I've got 8 Fender Jazz Bass (or copy like "Rands" "Squier" "Fernandes", one canadian woods custom without name, "Marvin" and Fender '66 and Fender '77.
The Sound of this ESP model is good but not the best.

I bought this bass two days before (second hand)

The sound is like a Fender vintage (I prefer my '66 Jazz)
for who loves a Fender sound but don't want to pay more..

This is an ESP 400 Series Jazz Bass made in '88 in Japan. I bought it second-hand in '92. It is essentially a 60's style Jazz copy, 2 volume 1 tone, 21 frets, rosewood fretboard on a maple neck, dot inlays, etc etc. Even the pickup wires are wrapped in cloth, not plastic, a nice touch. It is earthed through the body to the bridge, not via that ugly copper strip so prevalent on Fenders. The tuners are very good, with a small allen nut running through the shaft allowing you to adjust the tension of each tuner. The bridge looks standard enough with one neat exception. The saddles have multiple grooves, allowing any string spacing you want. Again, this is a minor feature which adds greatly to this fine, fine instrument. I've played many Fender Jazz basses and I've never come across one better than this ESP.

It has a clean, punchy sound. I've never heard a bad tone from it. My only complaint is that it is a little on the quiet side for my tastes (I also have a Rickenbacker 4003 which is the opposite - fiercely loud) but that doesn't put me off in the slightest. It sounds like a great Jazz bass should. The pickups are the original ESP stock and I've no intention of swapping them out at all. I generally play with Rotosound Roundwounds 40-55-75-95 and the only word to describe the tone is sweet. I play through a '80 Peavey mark III head with a Celestion 15" cab.

To be blunt, I bought this instrument from a doofus who had set it up horribly. The truss rod was too loose, the action was too high, the pickups too low and he'd even painted Tank Girl cartoons on it, which left a shdow on the gloss when removed. It was Olymic White with a creamy white scratchplate. I set it up myself and was amazed at how low I could get the strings without any buzz, except for a little uneven fretwork at the fourth and fifth frets on the treble side. I blame the doofus for this. After a couple of months I left it into a luthier to have this corrected and I've never had to touch it, setup-wise since. The action is perfect, it feels great, sounds great and stays in tune permanently. I sanded the gloss coat off to get rid of the shadows and it's now a slightly dirty, very worn looking creamy-white. It looks and feelsfantastic. It is my number one bass, ahead of the Rick and a Fender P.

I've played many, many gigs with this bass and it's never let me down. It never goes out of tune. It's so easy and comforable to play. The pots feel super-solid and there's no sign of any scratchiness or noise. The tuners are simply amazing. It's been beaten, dropped and kicked and it remains rock solid. I would have no fear of using this instrument under any circumstances. It's built to last. If you are selling one e-mail me, please!!!!! I want one to give to my grandchildren.

I've never had the need to contact ESP about this, though I'd like to so I could thank them.

I've been playing since '88. This was my third bass, after two Aria Pro II's. It is still my number one. It is better than any Fender I've played. The action is superb and 100% stable through any circumstance. I wish I had another one. You'll not get anything better for the price. Please sell another to me!!! As mine was second hand, I can't vouch for ESP's setups. When I got mine it was horrible, but with a little time and patience a truly amazing setup can be achieved. A top-class instrument.

All right players -- There seems to be something afoot here and confusion reigns!

First -- an ESP 400 Series Bass can be either a Precision Bass style OR a Jazz Bass style. Both were made in this 400 series.

Further -- there were two models of the Precision Bass -- creating a total of three (3) ESP 400 Series Basses to argue about or choose from.

The line-up and "features" were as follows:

Precision Bass Styles =
#P457 ESPs knockoff of a Fender '57 model Precision Bass with 2 tone knobs and a maple neck.
#P464 ESPs knockoff of a Fender '64 model Precision Bass with 3 tone knobs and a rosewood fretboard.

Jazz Bass Styles =
#J464 ESPs knockoff of a Fender '64 model Jazz Bass with 2 pickups, 3 tone knobs and a rosewood fretboard.

The body material almost without exception is alder. I have seen a couple of sunburst ash models (in fact I own one).

They used ESP pickups that range from fairly decent to throwaways (about the same as Fender really). The best bet is a complete retrofit of ALL electronics (wiring, knobs, jack, etc.) -- I do it to all mine (I have about 10 ESP 400 Series instruments).

Models reproduced specific pre-CBS Fender vintages with appropriate finishes like '50s 2-tone or mid-'60s 3-tone sunbursts. Other appropriate-vintage colors offered were Black, Olympic White, Lake Placid Blue, Seafoam Green, Candy Apple Red. The J464 Jazz Bass model was also offered in Metallic Blue or Red and sometimes included matching painted headstocks (I've only seen one like this!)

Hey -- it's alder and maple (and rosewood if applicable). What's not to like?

The electronics are certainly not any worse that similar era Fender offerings. Remember: These were the years when Fender's own first vintage reissues cost close to $1,000 AND were also ALL made in Japan. These basses from ESP in 1986 were discounted from $550 (the basses actually cost about $55 more than the ESP 400 Series guitars!).

They sound just fine like an old Fender (I bought my first ESP 400 Series guitar because it was the only thing I ever found that felt exactly like my beloved '65 Fender Stratocaster).

These were only made as "400 Series" from 1983 to about 1988 when the name was changed to the "Traditional Series". These were nice too, but the 400 Series was named for their original suggested list prices around $400! By 1988 the prices began to exceed $500 and the series name was changed. This bit of ESP info courtesy of Toshi Hayakawa of ESP Tokyo. ESP (Electric Sound Products) Co. Ltd. was started in 1975 with the opening of the first professional repair shop for high-end American guitars in Toyoko. They got into the parts business (replacement necks, bodies & hardware), opened a shop in Hollywood and became a mjor exporter/distributor for Schecter also.

An American branch, ESP Shibuya (named for the founder and president) Enterpriseswas started in 1982 as the U.S. distributor of ESP replacement parts. By then ESP had built its own factory in Japan and an office was opened in New York City in 1983. Introduction of his first ESP guitar and bass line to the U.S. was in 1984.

As Baker Rorick said in his July 1998 Guitar Shop Magazine "Recent Relics" article (Pg. 66) comparing ESP 400 Series to Fender reissues, "ESP 400 Series were better guitars, at half the price." He went on to say, "They feel, play and sound like the real things,...."

If you don't believe me, ask any experienced luthier. They've all seen these guitars and I've never met a good luthier that won't admit with a grin that these ESP 400 Series models were a LOT of guitar for low buck.

For that matter, ask around at recording studios -- I've seen many used as in-house instruments -- but they never want to sell them!!

The finish is unfortunately not nitro but some poly finish that is put on rather nicely. Wears well but picks up the typical edge dings any alder guitar would expect to see.

The hardware is nice and ESP always made good hardware. Biggest problem is that the bridge is like vintage Fender so many have been retrofit with something more to the owners liking.

The 400 Series have a bit less wood in the modified headstock shape and aren't quite as neck heavy as their counterpart Fender Basses (a plus!)

ESP barely wants to admit they made these guitars at this price point anymore. If you call ESP these days you'll be lucky to find anyone that worked there more that 5 years. As far as info on the 400 Series, your guess is as good as theirs AND they want to sell you something from their current line. No reason I can find to contact ESP about these guitars from almost 20 years ago.

Playing since 1964, I've had almost everything at one time or another. I just can't be about playing "vintage" instruments and paying crazy prices for the tools I need. ESP offers a great used deal between $200 and $400. They offer body shapes that are more "authentic" to Fender than most Fenders in this 400 Series line!
The necks feel great and unless I stumble across a Lakland in a pawn shop, I'll be playing these ESP 400 Series for a good time to come. I actually buy almost every one of these guitars and basses I find.

Baker Rorickalso pointed out in his July 1998 "Recent Relics" Guitar Shop Magazine article, "Current prices for 400s on the used market are between $200 and $400, but they're fairly scarce because the players who use them rarely let them go. Search for 'em. They're worth a lot more."

I'd absolutely agree. AND I'm not selling ANY on Ebay or anywhere else -- so good luck.

My ESP 400 Series Jazz Bass gets played mostly through an old pre-Magnavox Ampeg SVT or an SWR SM-500/Goliath III setup. Same with the Precision -- just not as often :)

I just wanted to clear up a misconception. I'm the person who is listing the 400 Series on ebay and the gear classifieds. I listed a review of this bass a while back. I clearly stated that I bought the bass for $275 and anyone who is interested in buying it from me can easily find out as I always leave my name, email address, phone number and home address in my listings. I really don't care what these other "people" (it does seem odd...) said about the bass, I'm just trying to "dump mine off" because of amp problems. I personally think the bass sounds great and this is my opinion. I tried to tell what the bass sounds like in my review, but it eventually came down to "better than Fender" (sorry about that stupid phrase, once again, my opinion). I am asking $250-$300 for the bass, and at that price I will be making absolutely no profit. Please find out what is going on before you post something against "the guy on ebay trying to sell it", you're hurting whatever reputation I have.

Features are fine...slightly heavy, solid wood body, maple neck and fretboard, same stuff as a Fender P-Bass without the Fender name.

Sounds okay. Contrary to most of the previous reviews (did anyone notice that the majority of the rave reviews were posted at an interval of three days? Hmmm....), this is not the greatest bass in the history of mankind. It doesn't sound bad, but heck, even Jay Turser can make a P-Bass copy that sounds okay. Fairly smooth and thick, like a P-Bass should be, but none of the harmonic complexity that P-Basses are known for. In my opinion, it's fairly useless to say things like "this sounds better than a Fender." What kind of frame of reference is that? At least the guy who gave it a bad tone rating explained what made it sound bad. I Think I would generally agree that there's nothing really spectacular about its tone. We're talking about a P-Bass here--it's your standard bass tone. There are plenty of other, more versatile basses, that can do this tone and much more.

Very good setup and construction. This is a high quality 80's bass from Japan. Almost everything coming from in the early 80's was higher in quality than the comparable American made stuff.

I've had mine for almost 20 years; it's reliable but it doesn't get much playing time. I'm confident in its construction though. Like I said; gotta give ESP credit where it's due.

N/A

This bass is well built and it sounds okay. There's really nothing more to it than that, and very little to set it apart from any Mexican made Fender. Anybody who tells you different probably wants to sell you something. There's absolutely no reason to pay more than a couple hundred bucks for this bass, because resale value is horrible. For instance, there's a guy who's been trying to sell his 400 series here on H-c and at bassgear.com for months and months. It's really not worth that much, and that's where Fender has these things beat, regardless of quality. You can buy a used Fender and sell it for at least as much as you paid for it. Not so with the 400 Series. If you buy one of these for more than $200 and decide to sell it, you will be stuck with an unsellable piece of garbage. My advice to you then would be to just give it up. This is not a diss on the ESP company--G&L Guitars face a similar situation--good quality Fender style instruments that are worthless on the used market.
The bottom line is that you can do better. There are actually quite a few advantages to just buying a Fender, the chief one being that you can actually sell it if you end up not wanting it.

"Harold Gibson" and his friends seem to all of a sudden be writing reviews on this bass, at a rate of about one every three days. Not surprisingly, they are all complimentary, except for the lemon. Might this have anything to do with a 400 Series being auctioned on eBay by a seller that's been trying to unload it for months?

This bass just sounds bad. It is very well made but as for sound, it is worse than a wet fart in a thunderstorm.

Good setup. Before they made the LTD's, all ESP guitars were carefully constructed and set up.

My bass is old. It's lasted this long, but mostly because I haven't played it, since the tone sucks!

This bass is a piece of junk.

I just wanted to comment on the review that appears before this one. The reviewer must have gotten a lemon, because I have seen more of these basses than just mine and all of them are great! I have truly never heard one of these basses that sounded anything short of perfect.