ESP LTD B-1005 Multi-Scale Bass Guitar - Natural Satin Reviews

This is an absolutely amazing instrument. I rarely leave reviews, but if you are at all considering a 5-string, I honestly don't know what could be improved beyond this.

I play with an E-C tuning (rather than standard low B) that Sweetwater set up for me. I have had it for about a year and it has made me want to play and improve.

Also, bite the bullet and get the case with it. It fits perfectly and snugly hugs the bass.

After having one, I would buy it again tomorrow and I would pay more for it.

I've had this bass for roughly a year now, so I can review it better.

Firstly, the extended scale is perfect for lower end. In fact, I worked with Sweetwater to get a specific tuning, specific strings and gauges, and install EMG pickups. This bass handles the low F# like it's no big deal. (I got it that low to match my 8 string electric and acoustic) The team worked very well with me, and though we had some back and forth, we eventually did get on the exact same page, and they did amazing work.

The feel of the bass is natural; there was not much of a learning curve for the fanned frets, though it is a little trickier with the first fret on the low strings when working with octaves on the higher strings. That's my only word of warning.

The bass is very responsive - though I can't say anything for the stock pickups since I never played with them. I play multiple styles of music, including acoustic, and it can accommodate all of them just as well.

Looks-wise, I could stare at it at all day, even still. The red of the wood really comes out in the sunlight/bright lights (though obviously you wouldn't want it in the sun for very long).

As far as basses I've owned, it is the best. The only contender is a Warwick Pro-line Corvette 5.

I was looking for a Dingwall style bass for standard to low tunings, and spent many months researching what I wanted. It arrived with a dead battery, that I have since replaced, time will tell if there is a soldering issue. The Daddario strings are fine and sound great, but I feel the 125 is too light a gauge, a 130 would be better in my opinion. The neck needed a truss rod adjustment, the B, E and A strings were fretting out from 8th fret up, very badly. The sticker around the volume and tone controls, tears when you try to remove it, like an illegal parking sticker, very annoying removal and totally unnecessary. Just put it on a piece of cardboard we can figure it out.

Now to the good, it has great tone, passive and Active. Thumping the B string is just massive and focused, same goes for the E String. The bass sounds great no matter how you play it, finger style, pick or thumping. Tone controls and electronics work and sound great, no complaints there. Tuning Keys have a nice feel to them. Pickups Sound amazing.

It's a big bass, it's long and fairly heavy. Playing the 1 fret on the B string, requires your finger to come over the Nut, which is pretty tall. The scale is bigger, playing near the nut (left hand) and playing near the bridge (right hand), you notice it, but with time on it shouldn't be an issue. But these were all things I knew about going in and I considered acceptable to get that tone. It is a tone beast, especially if you do low tunings. It's a keeper

This bass is exactly what I was looking for. It is great for all styles of music. Every string is completely clear and it never sounds muddy.

I contacted ESP customer service and spoke to Austin in their technical department regarding the problem I was having with the 9 volt battery prematurely going dead. He emailed me the wiring diagram of the bass. I found a partial short between the battery ground connection on the output jack and the pickup ground connection. I replaced the defective output jack with a Switchcraft from Amazon. Problem solved. I found ESP technical support very helpful. I really love this bass.

The bass itself is absolutely gorgeous. This is my first multi-scale bass. I have to say I was quite pleased with how easy it was to get used to the fanned frets. Paired with the Nordstrand pickups it sounds AMAZING! I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to make the jump into multi-scale. If you are looking to play in a really low drop tuning this is definitely the instrument for you.

Some might ask....Does it? I'm going to tell you...it absolutely does.

Placed my order for this bass and when Sweetwater got them in stock they shipped it immediately. Love the tone and Sweetwater service.

The bass needs a proper set up right out of the box. As far as multi-scale instruments go this one was a rough grind to get used to playing. Definitely not an easy "pick up and play" like other multi-scale basses I have tried. However, once I pushed through a lot of the discomfort and got used to playing this bass on the regular, it is 100% the best bass for me to play on. If you have a collection and switch instruments often, maybe look for other options. But if this will be your one and only bass and you love the versatility of ESP then it is worth the investment.

I really like this bass but after using if for almost 2 years, I do have one complaint. Whether you use active or passive mode, the battery is still drawing 100 miliamps. I couldn't figure out why the battery was allwasys dead after a while never using active mode. In future the manufacturer should add a disconnect to the battery while in passive mode to keep from draining the battery.

I really like this bass but after using if for almost 2 years, I do have one complaint. Whether you use active or passive mode, the battery is still drawing 100 miliamps. I couldn't figure out why the battery was allwasys dead after a while never using active mode. In future the manufacturer should add a disconnect to the battery while in passive mode to keep from draining the battery.

This a great sounding bass. It has an excellent preamp, great tone woods, and great finish all around. The frets feel good, the bass itself is light, and very comfortable. This is my first multi scale. I find it very comfortable except down on the first fret. Your hand runs into the nut in a similar way that it might on a locking trem nut. But adjusting the fanned frets is almost effortless. It gets more and more comfortable as you go up the neck in my opinion. And the B and E strings have more tone than any other bass I own or have played. This is not the best balanced but instrument though. Otherwise I'd have given it 5 stars. It's not terrible but the light ash body doesn't weigh much and the neck and headstock are pretty substantial.

Regardless, this is one of the best sounding bass guitars I've ever heard or played. I don't know if I will ever go after another multi scale but it's a great instrument and stands up with my boutique basses easily.

I got this bass in June, but due to some wrist and back injuries, wasn't able to get much use out of it until now. Finally getting to play it, I've noticed some problems with the neck and frets. The frets are so far from the fretboard that they're ripping up my fingers. There's also a spot where it almost seems like the fretboard is seperating from the neck(pic attached). Other than that, the bass plays and sounds great. Should be able to get these issues resolved with my local tech.

I really wanted to love this bass. It felt great in my hands, the tone was to die for, and the low B sounded incredible with the extra scale length. It felt great in the hands as well.

However, there were too many QC issues with this bass. The fretboard developed a long crack after the first month of use (I live in a humid environment too, so it wasn't a dryness problem). I contacted ESP, and they stated their warranty doesn't cover cracked fretboards. Seriously?? What company doesn't cover that within the first year of ownership? The fretboard also was not fully glued to the neck towards the heel of the bass. This may have been due to the deep wood grain of the Wenge though, but the sanding on that surface could have been smoother to allow for a flat joint. After reading around, these basses seem to have quite a few QC issues, mainly with the wood cracking and/or poorly glued sections.

Luckily Sweetwater has the best customer service and their warranty is better than the manufacturers, so they got me hooked up with a new bass from another company. My rep, Andy Scheer is the best!!