ESP LTD Vintage-214 Bass Guitar

Get in the groove with the ESP LTD Vintage-214, part of the Vintage Series of four-string electric bass guitars and an example of the quality construction ESP has built its name on since 1975. Both the Black, Sunburst (alder body), and Natural (swamp ash body) models feature a bolt-on maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, and LTD’s hardtail bridge and vintage-style tuners.

The 34-inch scale houses 21 extra jumbo frets on a thin U neck contour, along with a 42-millimeter molded nut to help you hold down the low end with ease and accuracy. On the ESP-designed electronics unit, you’ll find one passive J pickup, one passive P pickup, two volume knobs, and a master tone knob.

The first fretless bass was made in 1961 when Bill Wyman—who would become the Rolling Stones’ bassist the following year—converted an inexpensive Japanese bass by removing the frets. Since then, it’s been used widely in jazz and jazz fusion, and has made its way into rock, blues, country, folk, and metal, as well. The smooth fingerboard allows for an expressive glissando (slide), vibrato, and microtonal intonations, and grants the player a great deal of musical freedom: Rather than playing just an E or an F, you can play every pitch in between. The resulting sound is richer and smoother, with less of an attack.