ESP TA-500

Year:Not sure 2003 maybe
Frets:24
Strings:4
Controls:Volume, Pickup blend, active bass trebel, and midrange.
(careful changing batteries, I broke my eq some how, not really sure, I wired stright to the volume pot, and out, sounds quieter, if I still played it that much, I'd get better pups and eq, but I'm mostly playing guitar at the moment.)
Pickups:Emg HZ, they sound like bass pickups, they are the bare minumum. they are just ok, you don't have any personality. They don't sound bad, they just don't sound that good either. Real emgs are better.
Jet Black finish, fairly tough, has a few scratches.
I believe it's alder, and the neck is a five piece, not sure what, probably maple and walnut.
Body is the same as the new ones Espguitars.com
Bridge is compatible with string through, but the body isn't . You can get ferrules at carvin.com, and drill the holes yourself.
Tuners, not bad, not like gotoh ar anything though.
Neck, uuuhhhhggg Very thick. Good for tone, a pain in the ass to play. Ibanez has some good thin necks, but the sustain probably isn't as good.
At the time of purchase I was more into Slayer, and pentagrams for that matter. If you're into Slayer, you'll love it. Tom isn't anything special. Not like he inspires anyone to practice. Victor Wooten, he's cool.

The notable features, looks. Buying musical instruments for looks is dumb. You'll get tired with the looks, and mave a lame instrument.

Not worse than most stuff, just not that great.

Ok. Brand new strings help alot. Has the same tone as my rogue beginner bass, but better. Not a bad tone, nothing special. You'll never get a compliment on tone with this. Warwicks are good for tone. Not noisy.

Action:ok, depends on how much buzz you can stand. Better than alot of stuff for the same price.

finish gets swirly scratches easy, deep ones are rare.

Never failed on me. Never broke a string. I've done that about three or four time with my last bass. Back then I kept the same strings on for 6 months or so. Now I'd change them at least once a month, but I don't play it much anymore, and bass strings are costly.

The eq broke, not really sure how, but that was probably a rare case, and the only time it has ever let me down in the slightest.

I've been playing since 2003. I would probably not replace it, because I switched to Electric Guitar. If I did I'd get an Ibanez six string.

I don't really like it that much.

If it had great tone, it'd be ok, but the tone is only ok, and the play is the same. I hate the thick neck, it's the nature of most basses. Ibanez are good.

Nothing is really wrong with it, I just don't like it, and there are better basses. With new strings, it sounds really good acoustic, I'd bet with good eq and pickups it'd sound good.

This bass was made in 2002. It is an import but you can't tell it.
It has 24 frets, 4 strings.
It has a master volume and 4 tone selector/blend knobs
It has 2 EMG-Hz's
Maple NECK THROUGH, with rosewood fretboard
Very beautiful black paint job
Pentagrams on the 12th fret
This is the lower end version of the $3000 Tom Araya model. The shape is unique to itself. It is very similar to the F-series by ESP.
The neck is very fat, with extra jumbo frets. You have to have big hands to do some serious playing on this bad boy. You feel like you are holding one damn big piece of wood!!

I play thrash (www.hooga.org) and it is absolutely perfect! I use it with an Ampeg B-2R with 2 Peavey TX410 cabinets
This bass is not noisy at all. It is very crisp and clear. It has a very rich warm sound. I do a bit of slap and pop on it and it handles it perfectly. This axe is perfect for both the stage and the studio. No complaints here....

I bought the bass and it was set up perfect. The pickups were fine, with no complaints.

This bass seems designed for the rigors of the road. It is a tank, and will hold up to any abuse you can dish out. I changed the strap buttons to strap-locks, but the original ones were solid enough. I do have a back up bass, but for only if a string breaks

I have had many conversations with Todd at ESP, not for any maintenance or complaints about the bass just other stuff. They are very responsive and very quick to respond.

I have been playing for 17 years. If this bass were stoled I would crucify the sorry bastard who was stupid enough to steal it. I love this bass THAT MUCH!!!! I wish it did have active EMG pickups but that can be changed. If you want a killer looking, solid bass that has a great sound and feel this is for you. This model is actually discontinued now and is a collectors item. But ESP now has the TA-600 which is the same bass, but with active EMG's