1980s ESP JB Jazz Bass Electric Bass Guitar

Update 2020: This bass is back and I've changed it a bit since then, so I've updated this post with a new video, new pictures, and updated description. Back to the original listing...

The early-'80s, Japanese-made, ESP gear is amazing stuff and very well-built. For a short time I had a surf green ESP Strat from the late '70s or early '80s and to this day I still think about it as the Strat that got away. They tend to feel, sound, and play like the "real thing" -- that being early-'60s Fenders. This bass is a little more Jaco-oriented than traditional, though the neck certainly feels like a '60s Fender neck under the fingers and looks like one on its rear.

What we have here is a one-piece, solid ash body with oodles of natural play wear (in just a few spots) mated to a fast, comfortable neck. This came here with unoriginal active EMG pickups (it had a 4-knob setup with a side jack, too, with 1 unoriginal knob) but I've swapped the pickups to passive (a nice dual-coil Artec-made Alnico bucker in the bridge, single-coil Fender MIM in the neck) and with a more-efficient wiring harness. Tone is fat, full, and clean-n-clear. You get that lovely "sculpted" J-bass tone when you want it plus "a little more something."

The '80 to '83 ESP catalogs around the net show this bass but I can't quite see what model it actually is because the writing is so tiny. Suffice to say, it was definitely made in the early '80s period of production because it has all the features for an ESP from those years and the neck plate numbers are in a range that's right for the time.

Let's also not forget: isn't that trans-orange finish amazing? Pumpkin power!

Repairs included: pickup swap-out to passives (see above info), new wiring harness (500k pots, Mallory cap, 3-way switch, Switchcraft jack), and setup.

Setup notes: it's playing spot-on with 3/32" EA and hair-under 3/32" DG action at the 12th fret and it's wearing stout-ish newer 105w-50w LaBella flatwound strings (~$38 value). The neck is straight, the frets are in good order (with only the tiniest wear), and it has a hard case, too. The truss works as it should.

Scale length: 34"

Nut width: 1 1/2"

String spacing at nut: 1 1/4"

String spacing at bridge: 2 5/16"

Body length: 20 1/2"

Lower bout width: 13 3/4"

Side depth at endpin: 1 3/4"

Body wood: one-piece ash

Fretboard: ebony

Bridge: ESP high-mass

Neck feel: slim C-shape, ~10-12" board radius

Neck wood: maple

Weight: 10 lb 3 oz

Condition notes: while it's clearly been played a ton, it hasn't been abused. The body just shows lots of honest playwear in just the right way. The pickups and wiring harness are unoriginal but the knobs and control plate are. All the other hardware is original, though, save the strap buttons which are older strap-locks-style. There was a side-jack installed in the past and the finish is chipped-out and worn in that area and the fill for it is, too.

It comes with: an older hard case.