The ESP Guitar Company

Upon joining his bandmate Thomas Youngblood on the ESP artist roster, bass player Sean Tibbetts of Tampa, FL-based power metal band Kamelot was able to explore ESP’s bass offerings and find the instruments that were best for his playing style. We spoke to him about how he chose the basses that would rock the hardest.

Sean, you’ve been a big proponent of our Stream bass for the past couple of years, and you own several of them.
Yes, I’ve tried all the Streams… the LTD, E-II and ESP Original.

Do you find much difference between them?
By far, my favorite is the ESP version, with the E-II being a close second. It’s funny because when you look at them, they’re exactly the same. All the dimensions are identical. But still, when you’re playing, there’s a noticeable difference.

Do you take any steps so that you have a similar sound between your basses?
Well, I reset all the EQ settings on the EMG pickups so that they’re consistent. But still, I set up the E-II exactly the same as the ESP, and there’s still a difference in sound. They’re all great basses but they all have slight differences.

How about in feel?
The only thing that feels different between them is the neck, but even then, it’s pretty close. But the tone of the ESP and E-II basses is so good that I’ll go out for sound check and my sound man says he gets goosebumps and starts jumping up and down.

That’s the reaction we all like to hear. Tell us what kind of tone you’re looking for while playing in Kamelot.
A lot of guys in metal go for a real throaty sound, or midrangey sound. We’re a little different in that we have kind of an old school sound, like the big smily face on the EQ. Good high end, solid low end, and reduced mids.

I should also say that the boost switch on the preamp is amazing as well.

Do you use it a lot?
I leave it on all the time.

You also have another band called Sault which is more of a project that you started and help drive. You picked up an LTD H Series Bass for that, and customized it to be fretless. Tell us more about it.
I have one of the first ones! The ESP guys told me they were coming out, and I wanted a fretless for the Sault album. That bass is really cool. It’s a unique, one-of-a-kind bass. It sounds great. There’s a whole lot of tone control with the EQ. It’s a good, warm, slidy-feeling bass.

It doesn’t usually come as a fretless.
No. You guys customized it for me at the shop in LA.

Do you have a big preference in the construction of the bass?
I do! Most of the basses I’ve played in the past have been neck thru body. I’d been buying and using those kinds of basses for years. I thought it was the way I wanted to go. But then, I got into the Stream, and those are all bolt-on.

It’s surprising to me even now, but I like them better. I never thought I would say that. A well-made bolt-on bass offers a better tone. With the Stream, it also fits my body better due to the offset of the neck.

Was there any adjustment period when you started playing it?
It took a little while to get used to it. It’s a big bass, but it’s actually light for its size. It was nice to lose a couple of pounds! For anyone who’s seen Kamelot, they know that I’m the cheerleader in the band. I’m always running up and down the stage, jumping around. The Stream has been great for that.

You’re an EMG guy. As a metal bass player, what’s the advantage in an active pickup?
Active pickups are just what I like. There are a lot of guys out there who like the passive pickup sound of older instruments. They want to sound like Jaco. I also like that sound, but just not on my stuff. I like the crisp sound of active pickups.

No matter what pickups are in it, I also like the sound of a new bass. I play a bass a couple years and then start wanting a new one.

Well, getting a new bass can be an inspiration for getting creative and making new music.
That, and I beat the snot out of it.

Good point! By the way, you do a lot of touring, so is reliability an important factor in choosing a new bass?
It’s really important. It’s got to sound good every time I pick it up. We have really good roadies and guitar techs. They do a great job but you finish a show and they’re doing their job at three in the morning. The bass has got to hold up even though we’re jumping around on stage, banging them and throwing them around.

How’s the tuning stability on your basses?
It’s excellent. My basses have Hipshot tuners, and I put a detuner on all my basses. We switch tunings a lot.

You’ve been playing ESPs for awhile now. Any noticeable difference in how they hold up versus other brands?
With basses I had in the past, I was constantly adjusting the neck. Playing in the heat, and then going somewhere cold… I was always wrenching on them. Tweaking the neck, the bridge. It was always something.

With these basses, I haven’t had to do any of that. I’d never had a bass that I didn’t need to wrench the truss rod every other show until now.

How’d you get into playing ESP?
It’s been two or three years now. Tony (Rauser, ESP artist relations director) showed up at a concert with an ESP bass. he said, “Give this a run.” I tried it, and I was sold. It was so much different than my older bass.

Were there already ESP players who you knew and respected?
Of course, there was Thomas, my guitarist from Kamelot. Also, Bill Hudson has been a friend of mine for a few years now. I spoke to both of them. I wanted to see how the whole company worked. What I found is that with ESP, it was more of a personal relationship with the players. It’s been nothing but great so far. Any kind of work I’ve needed done, and help I need, Tony’s been right there.

Do you have any different concerns as a bass player in Sault versus your work in Kamelot?
It’s a completely different style. Sault is hard rock-slash-metal. It’s not nearly as heavy. The reason for that is that I wanted to do something I’d never done. Previously, my musical life was only metal. Death metal, symphonic metal, all that. It’s an adventure for me to do something different.

Congrats on the debut album, by the way.
Thanks. It just came out on on March 2, and it’s called Seeds of Power. It was a lot more work than I expected!

What led you to become a bass player in the first place?
I was 12 years old, and I wanted a drum set. I asked for a drum kit for Christmas. I came running down to the tree, and instead of drums, there was a guitar. My dad said, “I wasn’t buying you anything without a volume knob on it.”

Below: some detailed photos of Sean's basses.