ESP LTD B-205SM Spalted Maple Five-String Bass Guitar, Natural Satin

Name: ESP LTD B-205SM Spalted Maple Five-String Bass Guitar, Natural Satin
SKU: 119273
Availability: InStock

4.4 | 102 ratings

Price: 649

Last update: 10-18-2024

About this item

With unique coloration and grain pattern, spalted maple is a great look to stand out from the crowd
An affordable yet high quality 5-string bass that offers an ash body with a spalted maple top in Natural Satin finish
Designed with an extra thin U-shaped 5-piece maple/jatoba neck for excellent playing feel
Includes passive ESP Designed SB-5 pickups, along with an active ABQ-3 3-band EQ, and good-looking black nickel hardware

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Top reviews from the United States

S. Reed

Gorgeous to look at and listen to.

Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2016

This is the most gorgeous bass I've ever owned. Despite my fear of rejection, I'm seriously considering a marriage proposal.

The bass arrived about 10 hours ago and that's about as long as I've been playing it. So far I can say the design is superb and the sound is sweet. I now understand why there are so many unattractive guitars and basses on the market. I normally abuse my instruments ...the day I scratch or dent this bass I'm going to fall into a deep depression.

UPDATE: 3/20/16

I neglected to mention that while the color of this bass is described as "Black Satin" it (or rather mine) is more of a very dark espresso brown in the front and dark ashen gray (as pictured on Amazon) in the back. I don't know if this is intentional or a manufacturing error but it's not much of an issue for me as it's still a very lovely bass. The knobs and bridge are a dark bronze if that matters to anyone. I should mention that the texture or finish of the bass is indeed silky to the touch. Very well made.

Keep in mind, this bass eats 9-volt batteries by the fistful.

Dylan Stover

Nice!

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2024

Really nice bass that’s worth the $$. I have a renewed passion to learn the bass, and this one is perfect for me. I am a guitar player, but there is just something super fun about playing bass, and this one’s beautiful.

Con

Beyond expectations

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2018

I have a heavy music background mainly in voice - always wanted to learn to play the bass. Started about a year and a half ago using a borrowed Ibanez 4-string from a friend. Shopped around and loved the look of this ESP, went to a few local stores to play one they had in stock and liked the sound (but not the look of that one) so I decided to buy this as my first owned bass. DOES NOT DISSAPOINT. I may not be a bass afficianado, but it plays really well and has a great tone, not to mention the spalted maple grain is absolutely incredible in person. I'll agree with others about it having fret buzz, but it doesn't seem to be a consistent issue, and I've found that with keeping enough pressure on the string it seems to solve the problem. Overall - extremely pleased and a bass well beyond my expectations. I'll look to purchase from ESP again in the future.

Amazon Customer

WILL NEED SETUP!

Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2023

This bass is amazing, I own many electric guitars and this was my first 5 string. It might be the best guitar I own now, but when I first opened it out of the box I had some major concerns. The biggest being the neck was badly bowed, and the low string was buzzing everywhere. One of the knobs was so loose it was about to fall out and I almost ripped the wires before I realized it needed tightened. These come stock with a 125 gauge on the low string which in my opinion wasn’t thick enough. After a proper set up, trussrod adjustment, I put a 135 set of d’adarrios on it and had to sand the nut down a bit for it to sit right. I play in drop A tuning and now it’s a beast. No need to upgrade anything else but I did have to pitch out another $100 or so to get it playing like it should.

Hayden H.

Overall It's Great for My Purposes.

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2022

First off I'm not a bass player but I wanted one with some range as I like to play a lot of metal. Quality of the wood seems pretty great and it looks beautiful. Action is pretty low and not too much fret buzz. Lots of adjustment knobs that allow for a wide range of tone without any secondary effects. Most importantly... It will slap. Very satisfied.

peederj

Which flavor of ice cream is best?

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2020

There’s good ice cream and bad ice cream, regardless of flavor, and the first thing you want to know is is this bad ice cream. No, this is good ice cream, although like most cheap instruments, it needs some set up work, in this case I even went in and cleaned up the neck joint a bit.

The second thing you want to know in a review is what flavor is this? If a J bass is classic vanilla, and a P bass is chocolate, this ESP LTD B-205SM is vanilla soft serve. Vanilla because it doesn’t impart too much of its own character on the strings, and soft serve because it doesn’t have the thump and punch of a passive Fender, but instead is full and round and somewhat compressed sounding. A major competitor in active 5’s is the Yamaha TRBX305, which would be chocolate soft serve, having a lot more of the P bass character but not as much punch again.

Which flavor is right for what you do? This bass might excel when you want a pure tone that is easy to manage, also a great platform for effects and amps that give their own character. Maybe the idea of a perfectly fine bass that lacks its own punch and character doesn’t appeal to you. I can’t answer that for you. Get them all?

But it’s a beautiful instrument if you get one with nice spalting. I am amazed at how some people don’t know what spalting is and think the wood is rotted or something. Yes, but in a good way.

Amazon Customer

Smashed

Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2023

This came smashed, I do not recommend shipping a guitar.

Mark Larsen

Beautiful bass and beautifully made.

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2021

I have played a Rickenbacker my whole life, which I love, but I wanted to try a 5 string. I purchased an Ibanez but was very disappointed with it and sent it back. I ordered the ESP and could not be happier. It looks and sounds great, and the craftsmanship is what I would expect to pay for a much more expensive bass. The only thing I need to do is replace the strings and it will be perfect. I highly recommend this beautiful bass for the beginner, or seasoned player. Nice work ESP!

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