ESP LTD Surveyor '87 Review

Very high quality for the price

I have had this bass for couple of months now and I love it! plays great, perfect neck and the Pickups have a lot of range. Sweetwater did a nice set up on this thing. highly recommended.

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Buy this ****ing bass!!!

This magnificent instrument is nothing short of glorious. Looks alone earn it high favor and praise, but then when you pick it up and play it? *Chef's kiss* I was in the store for hours trying out a bunch of different price ranged basses, but the whole time I knew this was the one. It was like a spiritual awakening. This is a high end instrument at a more than reasonable price!!!… read more Neck is slim and smooth, pickups are great, and the tone is so rich and full. I'd been working with a Fender 70's Jazz Bass and we can just consider it a fading memory at this point. This is my weapon of choice from here on out. It's beautiful and has just elevated my motivation to play. I used to walk by my J Bass and say I'd practice later. I can't keep my hands off this wonderful extension of musical creativity. Finance it…buy it outright…but DO NOT miss out on this while it's available. You won't regret it!

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Player friendly and gorgeous!

I will be making a review video of this bass and will add a link as soon as it's finished if possible for those who want to see it up close. For background, I have not owned a bass in several years and the majority of my playing experience on bass has been on an early 2000's Fender made-in-Mexico jazz bass. I can tell you definitively that this bass has more player-friendly features… read more than my beloved J-bass The #1 thing I love about this instrument is the neck. It's a little wider on the fretboard than a jazz neck, but it's a slim profile that is extremely comfortable! The finish on the back of the neck is so smooth - if you're into playing fast, you will appreciate how this feels from the second you pick it up. The ebony fretboard looks great and to me feels a little bit harder/cleaner than a rosewood fretboard to play on. The pickups sound clear and I couldn't notice any hum or static at all. The P/J setup gives you plenty of room to find your ideal tone. I think I'd prefer that the knobs were set to P-volume, J-volume, and Master Tone but the Master Volume/Master Tone/Blend setup does give plenty of range and versatility and I think I'll get used to it over time. This is more of a preference thing than a performance thing - the actual quality of the pots and electronics feel top notch. Everything is smooth to the touch and free of crackling. I did a bone nut upgrade so can't comment on the stock nut other than to say that this is a commonly mentioned item in several other reviews on other sites. The GOTOH bridge is very solid and easy to adjust. Shout out to the Sweetwater staff who set up my particular instrument because it came out of the case sounding flawless and exactly to my preferences. I thought about dropping a half star from the rating because the tuning keys feel like they're a little lower quality than the rest of the bass. They're a little bit sticky to me but haven't had any issues with the instrument going out of tune so far even with new strings installed so I don't think the functionality of the instrument is compromised by this. It's just a thing I noticed that I'm sure I can live with. Aesthetically... man, this is a wonderful instrument. It doesn't show quite as well in photos but the finish has a great lightly pearlescent accent and the black hardware all looks great along with it. The ebony fretboard complements it well. My bass weighs in at 9lb 10oz so some might find that a little heavy but I don't mind that. There were no visible issues with the finish or construction - it's extremely well built apart from my minor gripe with the tuning keys. In this price tier, it's competing against the Player/Player Plus series from Fender. I decided to give ESP a shot because I own an old electric guitar made by them that I bought used that I absolutely love the quality of, and I really feel like I made the right decision here because it sounds great and the neck is extremely comfortable. It's just wonderful to play and a really great value for the price point by my estimation.

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ESP 87 Surveyor Reissue Bass.

I have to say this is an excellent bass. Put Labella 760FS Flatwounds on it, sounds and plays great. Neck feels excellent in my hands. Balances excellent also. I'd recommend give one a try. As always, Sweetwater sales staff were great! Shout out to Nick Church. Thank you.

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Bass Explosion

First I really think the bone nut upgrade was a great move ...it gave me a chance to have a bass set up to awesome specs..just the way I need the bass to play sight un seen ...just an big thanks to the techs @ Sweetwater for doing a bang up set up Alder body has the correct resonance Ghoto bridge and ESP open gear tuners keep ya locked in tight in addition the Seymore Duncan vintage… read more pickups really do this bass justice..also the frets are nickel alloy hate to have to do a GP but there real hard and the Madagascar Ebony fret board speaks in a very clear crisp way again the nut is one if not the most important parts on the bass as it will speak real clear with a bone nut ..the bass is not a knock off yes over seas built however the techs at Sweetwater again and of course my trusty sales rep Evan M...hooked me up with the demo in black super bad look and feel in not so short a review Go For the ESP re issue LTD Surveyor 87 re issue bass ya won't be short changed on this bass.

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Nice Bass

Really nice bass. That being said, I have a few complaints. After getting it I of course had to do a setup with my preferred strings. It had very little room to adjust the pickup height, I had to add foam under both to get them at the correct height. Also, the tuners are terribly hard to turn, and will be getting replaced. The Gotoh bridge rattles like crazy on the E string saddle,… read more so I'll be replacing that as well. These issues shouldn't occur on a bass at this price point. Other than that it's a nice bass. Comfy neck, awesome pickups, very cool looks.

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Insane Bass Guitar!

The look and feel of the ESP Surveyor 87 bass guitar is totally insane. Nobody had this bass around where I lived so I took a risk buying it without testing it. Well, thankyou Sweetwater for selling them and of course to Jake my buddy pal for taking care of me through the sale. Cheer all and happy rockin!

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Phenomenal Bass!!!!!!

Just got mine in today. This bass is freaking phenomenal! The most comfortable and fastest neck of any bass I've ever had. The tone is amazing as well. Really loving this bass!

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