ESP LTD B-206SM 6-String Bass  

I resisted the temptation to buy a 5 or 6-string bass for the past six years.I have however tested a few made by Yamaha,Ibanez,Carvin and Fender,in music stores ,and owned by others in my country,Trinidad & Tobago, and have  found none to my liking.I either didn't like the overall sound of the instrument,that is,pick-ups and electronics,the width of the neck,or string action, so i was happy with my Fender Jazz,until i saw the ESP LTD B-206SM ON this website, i was sold on the look. I ordered my instrument from another website(This website was out of stock),and received it in two weeks(i ordered a Hard-shell case as well,and  took most of the time).My instrument arrived in mint condition,no blemishes anywhere,it was "gig ready" right out of the box,and is well balanced,the neck is narrow to my surprise,and the action,though a bit high for me,was easy to adjust with no problems.It has a single Truss rod,but it's a "Bi-Flex" Truss rod,which is very useful,as the neck can be adjusted in either direction,very useful in the tropics where i live.The acoustic sound of the B-206SM is unbelievably clear,whats even better,is that the ESP pick-ups and on-board preamp reproduces that sound accurately.It's three-band EQ is very easy to use and just as accurate,no sudden increase/decrease features,but rather a gradual more "natural" approach to sound shaping,and this is a feature i love,i also love the extra "heel" at the bottom of the neck,it sits inside of the body,i suspect it contributes to extra sustain.The B-206SM uses one 9-volt battery,as opposed to two,this i like not just for the economics,but because the preamp doesn't come across as overwhelmingly loud as other models,i'm using a GK 800RB,as my bass rig,and it sounds fantastic on it with little or no tweaking on the amp,the neck and bridge pick-ups give me a wide variety of tonal possibilities,and amazingly,with almost no damping,they sound just as clear as pole-piece pick-ups,amazing clarity for Soap-bar pick-ups,i was never a fan,but i am now,ESP did a great job with these.Alto Music tells me that all ESP guitars ship with SIT Strings,so that's what i'm using and they sound great!!.I use D'Addario EXL 170s with my Fender Jazz,and the SITs sound similar to those,at least to me. Finally,i have had the B-206SM now for almost a month,i've been playing it daily for 6-8 hours a day,preparing for a Gospel concert(the transition from 4-string to 6-string isn't easy for me),did the gig on the 29th of May with full Orchestra and singers, a two hour performance,and the battery held up,i had a spare,but thankfully,i didn't need it,i'm still using the same battery it shipped with. This is a great design by ESP,clearly a great item for the price,a 3-band EQ is rare on guitars in this price range.Check out ESP Guitars.com for additional info,and even a downloadable "Owners Manual".Thanks ESP,

I've already reviewed two other ESP basses, so this should be easy as pie-- This bass was set up in tune and perfectly set right from the box. The action is great. There is a 97% buzz-less fret board, aside from the 6th fret B string on mine. The pick-ups are great - EQ is great. Here's the quality problem. The back of the tuning heads are the color of a fairly (pale) rusted penny, and that's not affecting the sound, but it's annoying that they couldn't have checked. ASLO, the bolts that keep the neck and body attached are a tab bit discolored, and screwed on almost wrong. --All in all, this is a wonderful bass, the finish is great, the pickups sound great, it's easy to tune, and is (as much as I WOULDN'T have liked to know) very resistant to drops, even dropping it onto a steel girder, and then the floor.

Following up to my previous review, i took the bass in to get the wiring problem fixed, and the short of it is, while i was disappointed that i had to take a brand new instrument in to be repaired right off the bat, now that i have had time to really get to know this bass, i would highly recommend it to anyone! Great action and response.  Cheers.

This bass absolutely blew me away.  It was the cheapest 6-string I could find that consistently got good reviews, so on a whim I picked it up off ebay for about 400$.  Stunning.  Not only does it look fabulous, with a natural finish over beautiful wood-grain, it sounds unreal.  The active pickups allow for so many tonal options it's hard to know where to begin, suffice it to say you can get ANY sound you want out of this thing!  Mine shipped in tact too, it needs minor setup (buzzy frets here and there on the high C) but nothing I can complain about.  I cannot recommend this bass enough, I've played a lot of basses in my time and have a very good ear, and this thing seems so miraculously under-priced for it's quality, it's hard to believe it's for real. Happy instrumenting everyone!  As 6-stringers go this thing's a steal!