ESP LTD B-208SM 8-String Electric Bass (Spalted Maple, Natural Satin)

Styled in a satin natural finish, the ESP LTD B-208SM is an eight-string electric bass with a tonal twist. It's tuned like a four-string bass, but each string is doubled with another an octave higher; think of the tuning of a twelve-string guitar, apply this tuning concept to the bass, and you've got the idea.

The instrument features a solid ash body, a spalted-maple top, and a double-cutaway design. Its bolt-on maple/jatoba neck is fitted with a 34" scale jatoba fingerboard and 24 extra-jumbo frets. Its strings are affixed with ESP's LTD tuners at the headstock, but on the body, you'll find a tune-o-matic bridge and a tailpiece, which is an unconventional bridge in a bass.

For electronics, passive ESP-designed soapbar pickups offer timbres from round and jazzy to growling and biting. A volume knob, a balance knob, and a set of three EQ knobs allow you to control the instrument's tone; with the active EQ, not only can you attenuate frequencies—you can boost them as well.