Ibanez SR505 5-String Electric Bass Guitar Brown Mahogany Rosewood Fretboard

I bought this a while back after falling in love at my local shop. I plugged into a Ampeg mini stack, and I swear I shed a tear out of sheer beauty. It thumped like a tree, yet gave me clean mids and bell like highs. I love this bass.

I purchased my Ibanez SR 505 five string bass in November of 1997 to play in church for weekly church services. I love the deep B string on this bass it has a nice growl to it. I also love the fast neck and the active Bartolini pickups along with the built in eq, I can tune in just about any tone that I want. This bass is so comfortable to play it almost plays itself. I also love that this bass has narrow spaces (not too narrow) between the strings. This bass stays in tune. I have owned this bass since 1997 and I have rarely had to tune it when I take it out of the case to play. I always wanted a bass with a fifth string after I playing for about a year in the sixties while still learning bass. After a while I always thought that bass manufacturer's should add a fifth B string to basses. When I saw this bass in 1997 I fell in love with it after playing it, so I bought it with a hardshell case.. I was in a rock n/ roll band in the 1960's for seven years and I always played 4 string basses. I started out with a Danelectro, followed by a St. George (copied after a Fender P bass). I graduated to a Hagstrom F400 that was a my favorite bass for years until I bought a Vox Sidewinder IV V272 bass in 1972. The Hagstrom and the Vox bass both had close string spacing so I was used to that. I don't plan on ever selling my Vox Sidewinder IV or my Ibanez SR505, they are both keepers. I prefer the Vox Sidewinder when I sit in a jam with others for Rock n' Roll and the Ibanez SR505 for playing in church services.

It was not my intention to purchase this bass when I walked into my local Guitar Center. But, the mahogany body caught my eye, so I grabbed it and sat down to start playing, and a couple of hours later, I was STILL playing. The thing is just so easy, so light, so fast to play. The location of the pickups is comfortable, the thin neck and tight action make playing a breeze and lightning fast, especially for someone like me who has smaller, bony hands. And the bubinga neck is solid. I can flat out do things with this bass that I cannot do with my Fender Jazz or my older Ibanez EDB series bass. The edges of the body are tapered to remove weight, and the weight difference is extremely noticeable! Needless to say, I purposely drove off without it, ate lunch to think about it some more, and immediately turned around after lunch to buy this bass. It is simply THE BEST bass I've ever played, and is my workhorse instrument for my hard rock gigs. I barely touch my other bass guitars anymore. It is simply amazing! You will play this thing so much that you will wear off the stain on the body where your thumb rests, a testament to the war worthiness, playability, and fun factor of this bass. Once you pick it up, it's hard to put down. You will not be disappointed with this bass! It does not come with a case, and the neck is LONG with 24 frets, so make sure it'll fit in your hard case, or you'll need to get another one. GC sent me a coupon in my e-mail a few days after I purchased this bass and I was able to acquire the hard case after the fact for about $60.

I wanted a five string bass as I have Carvin and Music Man 4 string models. Yes the delivered set up was way off but I expected that, but what I did not expect was that the frets were not bad at all. Yes I did polish them a bit but the edges were not rough to start with. I did not set the action as low as the Ibanez booklet as it seems more appropriate to a guitar then a bass. I now have a very playable bass that was a great price on sale. I lemon oiled the fretboard and boiled linseed oiled the finish with one coat and the grain pops a bit more to my personal preference.

First off, it looks amazing. Undeniably so. I have played an Ibanez 4-string for over 30 years, and right from the start, this bass felt familiar. Well, of course it took a few weeks to really get used to the 5th string, but the learning curve is well worth it. The neck is fast fast fast, no high-gloss varnish to slow you down. Did I mention it looks amazing? The Bartolini pickups are great, and the eq controls allow you to sculpt the sound as you want to. When you strap on the bass is fits nicely against you...the body is contoured so that it just fits right. Tuning pegs are smooth. Very nice instrument.

Had this bass about 6 months. Replaced the round wounds with a set of d'addario flatwounds and wow! This bass can deliver tones for every style of music! If you're a 5 string player this is a must have tine monster. I have some effects that I use for live performance but when recording I use it straight in with very little tweaks afterwards. Theses mk1 pickups are monsters! The built in eq offers tonal flexibility without fiddling with an amp or effects. Great buy! Stop in your GC and play one. You'll see what I mean.