All user reviews for the Ibanez SR500

Soundgear Series Deluxe features:
- Body Mahogany Satin
- Channel wendge / bubinga 5 parts SR4
- Rosewood 24 frets
- Medium Frets
- Accu-Cast B20 Bridge to massive bridges (bridge 19mm string spacing)
- Bartolini MK1 Micro (neck and bridge - neck & bridge)
- Bartolini MK1 preamp Electronic 3-band active eq
- Chrome hardware
- Colors: BM (brown mahogany)

UTILIZATION

Beautiful to watch and very enjoyable to play

SOUNDS

It gets pretty much what we want with 3-band equalizer

OVERALL OPINION

I am fully satisfied with this bass for my amateur use in groups and sometimes live

The Ibanez SR500 4-String bass features:

- 5-piece wenge/bubinga SR4 neck
- Mahogany body
- Rosewood fretboard
- Oval abalone markers
- 24 medium frets
- Accu-Cast B20 bridge
- Bartolini MK1-4 neck pickup
- Bartolini MK1-4 bridge pickup
- Black chrome hardware with black pickups
- Bartonini MK1 active 3-band EQ

Made in Korea

UTILIZATION

This thing bass has a very comfortable neck with an oil finish on it that's fast and smooth. I've always been a huge Ibanez fan and though I'm used to playing the BTBs, which feel like they have a slightly thinner neck to me, this one is much more comfortable, and because of the more rounded neck it feels solid in your hands. If you're someone who likes slower bass lines, and not tons of speed, this one is definitely a better choice over the BTB series, as it also has a fuller, deeper tone.

The upper fret access on this guitar is pretty nice because of the cutaway (though it's not like most bass players play high up there anyway).

The fretboard itself is pretty skinny to what I'm used to. Most basses are a bit flatter on the neck and have a wider board, but this one is thicker on the neck, with a thinner board. Makes changing strings easy, but can also jumble up your sound, if you're not a very clean player.

SOUNDS

This bass has a huge, fat tone, very full with tons of lowend. My only complaint is it can get a bit boomy in the lowend for my tastes, but with the 3-Band EQ, you can dial it in to taste.

Speaking of the EQ, that is a major factor in the tone shaping of this bass, without it, the bass wouldn't be nearly as good. With the EQ, you can go to a punch slap tone to an aggressive picked tone, to a giant fingered tone with the turn of a few dials.

Also, the strings that come stock on these wear out REALLY fast for some reason. Invest in some new strings ASAP and you'll have a much better sounding bass. The stock strings on mine had some kind of weird plastic coating that started peeling off after a few hours of play, making the strings look like they were fuzzy. Changing the strings will result in a much fatter and defined tone.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall, this is a cool bass. Inexpensive and sounds great. While it's maybe not the best choice for any player, it's certainly capable of some great tones for almost any genre.

For the price, it's hard to beat if you're looking for a big, full tone. If you're playing slap, this is one of the best sounding basses I've heard, especially at this price range!

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.
</span>

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" width="300">

<tbody>

<tr>

<td class="product-details-info" style="text-align: left;" width="85"></td>

<td class="product-details-info" style="text-align: left;" width="187"></td>

</tr>

</tbody>

</table>

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.