Ibanez Soundgear Series?

SR800 series are pretty good. Made in Japan, not Korea, better components and wood. Good Warranty.
If they are desperate, you should be able to get it for $500 alone, maybe $600 with a case and tax. They don't ship in a case.
Also, check the neck for warping. Bowing is no prob. And have them set it up for you (adjust the intonation).

 

MY SR405 is Made in korea not japan.
I really like it. It has a very diverse sound, and it cut's through the mix just fine, definetly value for money.
All the crud you hear about them usually isn't justified anyway. and it's just the usuall sheep sinario. some big guy say's they suck, and so everyone else follows.

all in all sounds like a good deal, just make sure there is nothing wrong with it

 

Hey, dude,

I had a SR405. I didn't like it much. I am glad it got stolen. I found that it WASN'T a diverse sounding bass. And I don't think it is the sheep scenario.
They are an allright bass for beginners, or people on a budget, but I definitely think the criticism is justified.

OTOH, the SR 800 's are usually fairly decent, for what they are, (I reckon). Ifyou can get a sweet deal, then go for it!

 

My SR506 sucks, tonewise.

The neck is decent, the body looks great, but the tone is awful.

Here's a pic of it.

<img src="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=994952&a=7315325&p=24853847&Sequence=0&res=high">

 

The SR800 is made of Basswood and has a painted neck.
Made in Japan indeed.
There are 2 versions. 1 with the older bridge that does have independent height-adjustable sadles. And the other one that is fully adjustable with the latest Varimid EQ.

Construction wise the SR made in Japan is a little better, but the tone that comes from the basswood is not bright.
(Thats why I believe the newer Spectors NS2000Q are Alder and not Basswood.)

I think $500 for such and old bass is too much.
You can do a lot better with those $500.

Most SR´s now are made of Soft Maple.Series 400, 500, 1200, etc.

There is a SR800LE too but I dont remember the differences. Crawling Eye has one of those.

 

my second bass was an SR800A. i know ill probably be shot for saying this, but i loved that thing. it had an awesome slap tone, and was nice and tiny, so it was really easy to play fast and grap huge amounts of the D or G to pop. Do be careful of the necks though, i had some warpage problems with mine. nothing the truss rod couldnt fix though. If you can find the A version do it. I paid 600 for the bass and a good case new. The "A" version has an ash body, a huge improvement tonewise over the basswood. much more impact, and much brighter. not nearly as muddy as the basswood. and in my opinion the thing had pretty good electronics on it too (active pickups, and the vari mid 3 band eq) i would NEVER sell this bass.

 

Check out Bass NW! They have an American Series Neck-Through Soundgear there...
Active EMGs... hmm...



David

 

Thats not necessarily true. Many times very educated people about basses will complain about the SR's then justify that complaint completely. Some people like um some dont.

I have an SR-405 and I dont like it a whole lot, but I'm on a budget so you take what you can get. If you can work them down I say go for it. Plus its what you like.

 

Have you ever thought of replacing the pickups, the problem with Ibanez Soundgears is they don't have much to offer in midrange but they perform very well with scooped mids. You just need the right tool for the right job.

 

I've got the sr300. 'tis my primary axe. Cheap buy, extremely playable, good action. Bigfeet is right about the midrange, but nonetheless it's a cool bass (Has good highs and good lows). I can see why some people disagree with it.



Hopefully, all of the hate is rooted within all of those ads with Fieldy.

 

Because they are very thin and made out of lower grade maple.

The neck on my 6 is substantial enough that I haven't had those kinds of problems with it.

Bigfeet, I have thought of putting a better preamp in the Ibanez, I think that's more the problem than the pickups, but between my Peavey, Zon, Pedulla and Fender, I don't think that the Soundgear will see much action in the future.

I have also thought about defretting it.

 

I have a friend that did that, he said it was the biggest mistake he ever made apparently they don't defret very well. He said he could barely hear the wood in his tone (the loss of the fretless wah and it was not there), but his was a cheapo 406 with lots of dead spots. BTW what kind of preamp does you bass have in it, it looks like a bass and treble setup.

 

Yeah, it's bass/treble.

 

Yeah, I can see why you don't like it tone wise, the EMG-BQ with the sweepable mids and bass/treble on the Concentric pots might be a good replacement preamp, the mid range sweep has an impressive range.

 

Yeah, too bad he's a bit banned right now.

I personally have NEVER tried a non-USA Soundgear that I've liked. The tone had no depth, and there wasn't much clarity or bloom in the notes. I didn't like any of them, and I've them across the line.

And I didn't find the neck comfortable. It was too thin, and was REALLY easy to bend almost a minor third. Again, across the line. I just don't like them.

 

I've got a SR300DX - it's my first bass, and I quite love it
I chose it as the only lefty bass I could get here, (in Hungary) for $400. It's black metallic and looked quite good.
And it's not just me who likes it: my bass teacher, who's graduated from the Conservatory (which is quite well-known, just think of Liszt Ferenc or Bartók Béla) as a contra-bassist, and has been playing bass for far more than a decade (that's very much here - because of the soviets here from 1945-1989, as part of the westerner lifestyle, it was illegal), so he, who owns a couple of Fenders and playes mostly them, says HE PRETTY MUCH LIKES IT! He sais it's a kick-ass!
So, as much for that


Spelling corrected

 

!!!!
Crawling Eye Banned?? !!!
WHAT DID HE DO?

Who is in charge here?