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Ibanez SR500
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Ibanez SR500
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songboy songboy
Published on 11/16/09 at 08:06
I am unaware as to where my Ibanez SR500 was built. 
It has a <span>Accu-Cast B20 bridge.  This is very similar to almost every bass bridge I have seen.
Ibanez calls the Neck type an SR4
Its a little thinner to me than a Jazz bass neck. 
It has 24 frets with a neck and a bridge pickup.   Both pickups are Bartolini MK 1-4's
They sound exceptionally good too.
As for the knobs, you get a Main Volume, a Balance knob for the two pickups and a 3 band Eq totaling five knobs all together.
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UTILIZATION

Yes the top frets are accessed easily enough, but I can't say I use them much.
This is a great sounding bass (to my surprise) for how much I paid for it.  The controls are easy enough to get a well rounded sound out of this guy. 
The reason I got this bass mainly was the amazing tone for such a low price.  The other big factors where how easy it is to play and how amazingly light it is.  I prefer a light guitar/bass and this one is one of the lightest I have found.
No drivers

SOUNDS

I use a Peavey TNT 150 with some Mooger Fooger effects (Lowpass and Ring Mod).  The peavey brings the low end punch and the effects bring the weirdness.
I really like cranking the Low EQ knob on this guy for the deepest sounds.  Great tone down there.  I also like thinning it out sometimes and playing some slap style bass which this bass does extremely well.
Directly in to the amp, this thing is very clean.  You would need an effects pedal to change that. 
This bass can bring the deep lows for electronica, great thick mids for rock and great pops for slapping.  Its kinda of a jack of all trades.
Yeah, its a great tool for the many styles of music I play.


OVERALL OPINION

What I like most about it is the tone and its weight (or lack there of).  There really isn't anything I like about this bass, maybe that it says Soundgear on it and most people think Soundgear is a cheap step child of Ibanez.  That maybe true, but this bass deserves better.
I paid $420 at a local music store.  It was a show room model with a small ding on top, but I don't care about such things.  I played it and loved it and bought it that day and was very happy about the price. 
Excellent sound.  The bartolini pickups live up to there reputation.
I own a Carvin six string bass and a Fender JP 90.  All of them have there purposes but I find myself going to the SR500 because of its versatility. 
I would definitely buy this choice and highly recommend this bass for those on a budget who still want a good sound.