Product: ESP LTD AX-104
Price Paid: EUR 294
Submitted
07/16/2009
at
08:36pm
by
Carlos
Features
:
7
It's a China made 24 jumbo frets bass. It's got Bolt-On Maple neck, Basswood Body, Rosewood Fingerboard, Chrome Hardware, ESP Tuners, ESP DB-4 Bridge, two ESP SB-4 pickups with ESP ABQ-2 2-Band Active EQ. This model is only available in black and it comes with 45/65/85/105 strings.
It's a BIG bass, more than 130cm long and heavy. Because the upper horn is small and the back strap pin its in the inside of the "back horns" the bass gets very neck heavy but on the other hand the midlle cavity makes it comfortable for the right hand. The neck is also confortable
Sound
:
8
The pickups are situated a bit closer to the bridge that its usual so it has a brighter sound than other basses, also the factory strings are kind of bright. Despite being a basswood body bass, it's loud when unplugged and you can really feel the body vibrating, maybe 'cause the body is kind of thick. Lots of sustain.
I haven't played it loud yet but from what i've seen so far it's perfect for cutting throught the mix in a metal band (such as mine).
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
5
Well the factory set-up is lousy, the neck bow was literally zero, straight as can be. This means that bridge and pick-up hight have to be adjusted also because they depend on how much bow you give it.
Mine came with a small discoloration on the back near a corner and some major shattering between fretboard and neck near the nut (almost like the fretboard is separating from the neck. I'm going to the store tomorrow to see what can be done (note, they opened the original ESP box in front of me in the store so it's a factory defect)
Reliability/Durability
:
10
All in all the bass seems solid, the distance between neck bolts sugest a large joint and the body looks solid. I kind of fear for the neck because of what was said above but besides that nothing to point the finger at.
Customer Support
:
3
It comes with 2year warranty and ESP has a life-time warranty for all problems that can't be related to missuse. So good here
The bad story comes when I sent them an email regarding a string gauge question and they did not answer, also, no online product registration is unacceptable these days.
Overall Rating
:
9
I wish i could have tried it before buing but ESP in Portugal are hard to find.
There were other basses, maybe a bit better ones, that I could've get with the same money but this guy is just beautiful and an unique shape (even thought some people say is similar to a BCRich Warlock...) and it's a good bass when it comes to features so if I something was to happend to it i'd get another one without thinking.
Overall I love it
