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Pros:
- Great Value
- Highly Enjoyable Design
- Ebony Top
Cons:
- Heavy
- High tone Issues
Some of my favorite instruments of all time seemingly have no qualities to make them outstanding. This is because there is a certain subtlety to musical instrument designs that might make an instrument interesting. So a guitar that takes ideas from guitars that came before it, but adds its own twist, has more value to me than a guitar than simply tries to emulate the existing without any kind of alteration. Let us take a look at ESP LTD B-4E Bass and see if it is in any way outstanding.
Body Quality
The body of the ESP LTD B-4E borrows a whole lot of designs that have existed for many years. Truly the shape of the body is very reminiscent of a bunch of instruments that are more popular than this one. The double-cutaway with slim, sleek wings is seemingly a ubiquitous design choice that has been a much-beloved choice for many manufacturers and players. Though the twist added onto the guitar is very interesting – the grain of the instrument is revealed, and the color of the wood is allowed to be visible so that the guitar looks rather incredible.
The body of the guitar is made out of mahogany, in an attempt to achieve superiority in terms of sound, sturdiness and beauty. The choice results in a success mostly, with the guitar having a powerful resonance with the lowest tones the guitar can produce. The mid-tones of the guitar are also well-pronounced thanks the tonewood. The sturdy nature of the mahogany provides the instrument with a long, scratchless and dateless life. The color and grain of the mahogany works to benefit the overall look of the instrument, providing a great look. The heavy weight is an unfortunate reality that is not too hard to deal with. The top wood of the guitar is made out of ebony, which provides a nice, black contrast to the rest of the guitar. The tone is further enhanced thanks to the ebony.
The neck of the guitar is made out of mahogany as well, which results in an instrument that is a little on the heavy side, but also rather durable and lovely. Mahogany is known to be very sturdy and warp-resistant, making it a great neck material. The color of the hardwood works well with the guitar’s design. The neck is set through the body of the guitar, making for a very stable and sturdy body of the instrument. The fretboard of the guitar is made out of ebony as well, making for a great design the choice and a great fingerboard.
Hardware
The guitar comes with a BB-604 bridge system. This allows the guitar to have nice string stability, but suffers a little in terms of action, though it is not bad and is acceptable in the price range.
The nut of the guitar is made of a decent synthetic material. It provides the instrument with a very stable, clean sound while also giving it some nice action.
The tuning machine of the guitar is made well and looks really nice with the already great-looking guitar. The tuning stability is great.
Electronics
The guitar comes adorned with two pickups, one located at the bridge of the guitar the other located at the neck of the guitar. The two SB-4 Humbuckers are two great pieces of stock pickups, providing the guitar with some really nice sound. The output of the pickups is rather powerful, while the tonality is biased a little towards the lower tones, while also keeping each and every note nuanced and detailed.
The guitar comes with some detailed controls. You get a master volume control, one master tone control, and one bass, mid and treble control each.
LTD B4E Sound
The guitar has a very interesting and powerful sound. The guitar is totally biased towards the low tones, which is what you would expect of a bass guitar, but in the case of this one, you get one with a stronger bias than usual. The combination of ebony and mahogany creates a powerful bass response, with the strong midtones, though some of the higher tones suffer slightly.
Conclusion
Overall, this is a great value guitar, providing so many great qualities for a price that seems almost magical. Great sound, amazing design and all over lovely guitar that is so much fun to play.
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