Ibby SR500, maple or rosewood fretboard?

Ah, dang, so I lied ;-)

 

That might be true when it comes to other brands, but Ibbys don't vary a lot from one bass to the next within the same model number and year.

Mine have the same electronics & the same strings. The only difference is the fretboard. And is not like I haven't tested various other SRs (or owned) before getting these 2.

Anyway, feel free to test this yourself or stick to your opinion

 

We are going to have to disagree and leave it at that.
You with your assumptions, me with my difficult proper tests...

The issue now is... which bass shall I use for tonight's gig? My maple Stingray, or the rosewood one? ;-)

 

Whichever fits your stage outfit better - it's not like the sound would be different, right?

 

I tried a bunch of rosewood SR505s in stores a year ago. I ended up buying a maple one. Why? Because that is all Ibanez had in stock when I ordered. Could I tell the difference in sound between the two in a double blind A/B test? Don't know, maybe. Could I tell any difference in sound between the rosewood ones I tried and the maple one I bought in real life use? Nope, not at all.

I think you can buy either one with confidence, knowing that you will get a great playing, great sounding bass. Buy the one you like the looks of best, buy the one that is currently in stock, flip a coin, you will get a great bass. If you really fear that you will dislike the "sound" of a maple fretboard then try any maple basses you find in stores and see what you think before you decide. If maple has that distinctive a sound then you should be able to hear it on any bass. In my experience the mid and treble EQ controls on that bass will take all the "bright" out of anything so not to worry.

Full disclosure, I've since sold my SR505 because I could not adjust to the string spacing. If I had bought an SR500 instead and tuned it BEAD I might well still have it but that's another story.

Ken

 

ha ha
One of them is white... and I avoid using that one when I am wearing white. Am I vain?

well, I ended up taking the G&L L2000 (out of action for months, finally back in business). Maple fretboard... but I only have one of those

 

I had a maple board Sr305 and the maple looked better with the painted bodies. With the stained mahogany I don't think it looks right. As for it being brighter than a rosewood board, I'll say that it might have accentuated the attack a bit, which with my setup was kind of nice.

 

Unfortunately (IMO) the 4 stringers don't handle the low B too well - that's tha main reason I switched to 5ers, although I hated 5ers them for years (I prefer the feel slimmer neck of a 4 string SR) The string spacing on 5ers is indeed tight

 

Whichever looks better. I've owned two maple fretboarded EBMM bass guitars. Neither could get as growly or bright as my Bongo...which obviously has a rosewood fretboard. My MIM Fender was brighter than them as well...and it too has a rosewood fretboard.

So yeah...whichever one you think looks cooler. Otherwise if one or the other really is brighter, turn down the treble knob a bit (or up, if you'd like).

 

But there was another issue.

I'm sure I got a lemon
Yet maple neck was really weak, and I downtuned it a full step
(D, G, C, F)... still it tended to warp.

So I'd do that again
Maybe an SR505M this time, who knows? I don't mind tight stringspacin' (I already owned SR405 and SR915 in the past) and now own G&L L2500 and Peavey Cirrus BXP5, so I think I'm
quite used to narrow stringspacin'

What I'm tryin' to suggest is what somebody else already said:
look for an SR605 (better in a walnut satin finish)
ash body with jatoba/bubinga/jatoba/bubinga/jatoba neck...
body is brilliant and "snappy", while neck is straight and stable

You won't be disappointed...

Cheers,
Wallace