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Sovereign 4 String - MRRP £1539.99

Special offer - £1300 with free UK mainland shipping -

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Another great example of an Esh bass, the hand made body and neck create a wonderfully light bass with a really comfortable neck. Powerful pickups and unbelievable piezos help create a modern classic.

Read the latest review in Bass Guitar Magazine HERE

Click on images to enlarge;

1. •Body - Swamp ash
   

2. •Top - AAA Flame Maple, matching headstock
   

3. •Finish - Translucent Grey high Gloss
   

4. •Neck - 3 piece American Maple bolt on neck with Walnut stringers, patented Ultra Contact neck pocket construction
   

5. •Nut - Graphite
   

6. •Frets - Medium Jumbo
   

7. •Fingerboard - Rosewood, 35" scale, 24 frets,
   

8. •Pickups - 2 x Active EMG 40 pickups, Individual Piezos
   

9. •Controls - Volume, Tone, Pickup selector, Esh-Tronics control
   

10. •Bridge - Schaller/ESH custom bridge in Ruthenium finish
    

11. •Tuners - Schaller M4 type 2000 in Ruthenium finish
    

12. •Weight - 4kg / 8lb 12oz
    

13. •Case - Custom Padded Gig Bag
    

*THE UNIQUE SOUND / Esh-Tronic

The Piezo bridge combined with the patented esh-tronic delivers one of the best Piezo sounds available. Together with a studio direct out, it provides the professional player with a very flexible and perfect tone.

This special system is the perfect circuit for the active EMG pick ups and our USP, the finest Piezo-Design. The esh tronic is your “command”-knob to  switch  several circuits:

a)Direct Out. For studio use, a direct out for the EMG pickups which bypasses all the electronics.

b)Magnetic Pick ups only. In combination with the toggle switch knob you can think of it as a preset

c)Magnetic and Piezo Pick up. This combines the “best of both worlds”

500. d)Piezo only. This is an unbelievable deep sound, precise and clear with a full low end. Not typical of the usual “thin Piezo sound”!
     

Esh Sovereign

Does this offering from the Esh stable have

the power, authority and standard of excellence

that it’s regal name suggests?

Gear Esh Sovereign Bass

44 BGM May 2009

You may recall the radical curves of the Esh Poseidon model, which received a glowing review back in issue 39 of Bass Guitar Magazine. The Esh Sovereign that we have here sports a less-esoteric body shape and a more contemporary styling that’s coupled with the same modern and innovative design features commonly associated with this German manufacturer.

Body and Neck

The swamp ash body has been finished in a translucent grey gloss, which highlights the undulating pattern of the flame maple top. On the rear of the bass, the caramel colouring of the swamp ash grainhas begun to soak up the grey finish in places, which has a surprisingly pleasing effect. The lower body outline owes a tip of the hat to the off set body of a Fender Jazz Bass, but the contouring to the rear and the upper body contribute to what is an altogether more unique and interesting shape. Despite the standard 34-inch scale length of the neck, the Esh Sovereign feels quite long in terms of its dimensions. Th e neck join features Esh’s own patented ‘Ultra

Contact’ method, which involves the neck pocket extending deep into the body. The rosewood fingerboard also continues some way past the 24th fret and has been contoured to allow space for playing with your thumb on the top three strings. The neck is securely attached to the body via six bolts to ensure maximum contact, which, in theory, should improve sustain and resonance, and along with the ‘Ultra Contact’ join, combine the inherent

benefits of both bolt-on and neckthrough- body designs. Th e neck itself ihas been made from 3-pieces of maple laminated together with two walnut stripes and is furnished with a rosewood fingerboard and pearl position markers. The neck profi le is nice and slim at the nut making this a very easy and comfortable neck to navigate. The slim and curvaceous headstock has a flame maple top to match the body and an equally narrow profile. The Sovereign tends to exhibit a little neck and headstock bias and balances better when on a strap.

Hardware

The Sovereign sports a full set of black chrome Schaller hardware including M4B machineheads, a Schaller 2000 three-way adjustable bridge and strap lock-ready strap buttons. A pair of EMG 35DC soapbar pickups have been selected to compliment the Esh-Tronics circuit. These are positioned quite close to one another so the breadth of tone available may be different to what one may expect of a two pickup-equipped instrument, but the Sovereign has an added ace up its sleeve in the form of an additional Piezo system that can be manually adjusted for each string. The Esh-Tronics selector provides you with four options. The first option is designed for studio use where a direct signal is sent from the EMG pickups, bypassing the electronics. You can then select the pickups with the full compliment of electronics, followed by the pickups and the Piezo system combined, and finally, just the Piezo system. The controls are easily accessible and neatly laid out in the order of Volume, Tone, Pickup selector, (with positions for neck, neck & bridge and bridge positions) and the Esh-Tronics selector. A quick peek inside the control cavity reveals a well-shielded copper-lined compartment that allows for easy access should you need to adjust the Piezo system or replace the battery.

Sounds

The Sovereign has a naturally clear tone that is particularly apparent when played acoustically with the slim neck and reasonably taut string tension making for a comfortable and responsive playing experience. Plugging into an amp reveals that the concept behind the Esh ‘Ultra Contact’ neck attachment method certainly has some foundation as the Sovereign retains a significant sustain in addition to a bright attack. The modern nature of the

circuitry yields added clarity yet moving through the individual settings of the Esh-Tronics system highlights an array of different bass sounds that are on off er. There is something for fingerpickers, slappers and plectrum players alike with plenty of snap, thud and focussed defi nition throughout the range. Those looking for rounded

Fender-like tones may be a little disappointed, but the inherent bite and growl of the EMG pickups is enough to ensure the Sovereign retains a distinctive voice all of its own. The close positioning of the pickups does slightly limit the range of tones available from altering your playing position, but this is readily accounted for by the extensive tone shaping options that are on offer. Each of the four settings within the Esh-Tronics system provides a different base from which to build your sound and we must commend the Piezo system here as it works very well indeed and unlike some Piezo systems that we have encountered, retains a full low end. Being able to attenuate the settings to your own preference opens up a whole host of tonal options, away from the standard active pickup options, and would certainly prove useful if you need to dial in an alternative to your usual live sound in a hurry.

Conclusion

The Esh Sovereign clearly has a lot to offer the modern bassist and Esh should be congratulated for its forward thinking in coming up with an innovative design that doesn’t conform to the status quo. The absence of a typical 2/3-band EQ system is certainly not to the Sovereigns disadvantage, as the wide range of bass sounds available remain strong and very usable. At this kind of price, the Sovereign faces some serious competition and more familiar brands will always garner the immediate attention from players with this sort of budget, but make no mistake; the Esh Soveriegn is a great sounding, very playable instrument that could well prove the surprise package for anyone willing to give it an audition.

Mike Brooks

Esh Sovereign

Price: £1,649 (gigbag included)

Made In: Germany

Scale Length: 863.6mm (34-inches)

Nut Width: 40mm

Body: Swamp ash with AAA flame maple top

Finish: Translucent grey gloss

Neck: Ultra Contact bolt-on, 3-piece hard American maple with walnut stripes

Fingerboard: Rosewood

Frets: 24

Tuners: Schaller M4B

Bridge: Schaller 2000

Pickups: 2 x EMG 35DC soapbars

Electronics: Esh-Tronics circuit with adjustable Piezo elements for each string

Controls: Master volume, tone, 3-way pickup selector, Esh-Tronics 4-way circuit selector

Weight: 4kg (8.8lbs)

What We Think

Plus: A quality and extremely flexible instrument with a wide array of tones and settings.

Minus: Old school it isn’t and some players may fi nd it too modern for their tastes.

Overall: A highly playable bass with an excellent range of very useable bass tones and some unique features. The Piezo circuit is particularly impressive.

Contact Details

Bass Direct Ltd.

Tel: 01926 886433

www.bassdirect.co.uk

www.esh-bass.com