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2005 Seymour Duncan SD-170JB by ESP J Bass, Set Neck w/ Ebony Fretboard and Active Electronics, Japan

$1,149.99

+ shipping

Up for sale, a 2005 Seymour Duncan SD-170JB J Bass in 100% original condition and in perfect working order. An upscale modern iteration of the Jazz Bass platform produced in Japan by ESP, this Seymour Duncan-branded bass features an alder body, maple set neck with heel-less construction, and a thick slab ebony fingerboard, yielding a particular clear, authoritative and articulate natural acoustic response.

The active electronics include a three-band EQ and center-detent Pickup Blend knob which provides a smooth gradient between the two USA-made Seymour Duncan single coil pickups. The bass delivers plenty of traditional Jazz Bass growl and upper midrange burp, with a clear treble register grind and broad, defined low end with the EQ controls tweaked to taste and the neck pickup favored. The bass weighs 9lbs 14oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar with 45-105 roundwound strings, comfortable action and accurate intonation.

The maple neck has a substantial and effortless U-shaped profile carve at the nut, with more roundness and overall heft as you travel up the fretboard, measuring .860" deep at the 1st fret and 1.005" at the 12th. The slab ebony fretboard has large pearloid side dots, retaining the stock medium jumbo frets which have their full factory height and well-rounded crowns, showing light, uniform wear beneath the strings on the crowns of frets 1-5, with wear extending even more faintly beneath the A and D strings until fret 7. THe bass plays easily up the full 34" scale with a straight neck and responsive, optimally adjusted truss rod. The bone nut measures 1 1/2" in width (standard for a Jazz Bass), and the headstock features a slender shape consistent with Fender's earliest Precision Basses of the '50s (produced before Fender enforced their trademarks on headstock shapes for the Japanese market). The tuners are very reliable with a smooth response and vintage appearance, featuring clover buttons and nickel plating that shows only a light speckling of surface patina.

Electronics include the Seymour Duncan pickup pair wired to a Master Volume, center-detent Pickup Balance control, and three-band active EQ (two of these controls are stacked, and all are center-detent for easy control over boosting and cutting frequencies). A metal flip-out ESP "ashtray" on the back of the bass provides easy access to the 9V battery for the electronics. Hardware includes the bridge which has a substantial string anchor point and large saddles for ideal sustain.

The Sunburst gloss finish exhibits pick wear extending beyond the pickguard to the bass-side waist of the body, with some light finish scratches and minor marks on the body as a whole, and more concentrated dings on the treble-side lower bout edge adjacent to the input jack. The neck profile gloss is smooth and lightly ambered, with only one small, shallow nick on the treble side of the carve behind fret 3.