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Comparing the pickups and the bridge of Sr305e and Sr505, which one do you prefer? I think the Sr505e is out of my budget, otherwise I can buy an used Sr505 (w/ Bartolini Mk1)
To me the powerspan offers greater tonal variety but in terms of quality, the SR500 still sounds better. I have the older SR500 without the midswitch (and not the active/passive switch of the SR500E). I bought both basses pretty much within days of each of other so I've been comparing the two pretty frequently lately. Both basses were used, I bought the SR500 for just over $200, a great deal that was hard to pass up. Even then, the SR500 is just pretty obvious to me, the higher quality bass, the neck and feel being the most obvious to me, the bridge is more substantial on the SR500 and of course the quality of what sound you can get on it, not that the SR300E is bad, it's just in comparing the two side by side The finish is really the only thing that I don't like about the SR500 but haven't had the problem yet of it flaking off . I bought the bass used and even though it looked heavily used by the previous owner, there are no finish issues on it even though there were severe corrosion issues from the previous ownership - must have sweated a lot or played the bass submerged in water. lol
No problem.
Completely agree on all points, I've owned a couple of the older SR300 basses, the latest iteration of it, the SR300E is much better but still not at the level of even the oldest version of the SR500 basses. Even without plugging either bass and solely going by how each feel in your hands, you can pretty quickly tell which one is of a higher quality. I've also owned an older SR700 which is essentially an SR500 with a better paint job- that bass was great, it was a bad mistake on my part to trade it as I was on a passive bass kick at the time.
I have seen many used ones that had the finish come off and they look really bad. However, I was lucky to get a great used SR505F several years ago and the finish is still in mint condition. Admittedly I don’t play as much as I used to, but just wanted to say that, yes the finish is rather delicate, but depending on how you treat your bass, it can last. You just have to know what kind of player you are, similar to how some drummers can break a stick every song and others never break one for years.
I'm a funk player, so usually the spot right under the G string would often get the most impact on my basses, but I don't see any damage or wear on my SR500. Even the previous owner used the bass considerably from what I can see but no damage on the finish. I do believe some are more prone than others - from what I've noticed, the dark brown ones tend to be more fragile than the ones that have a more pronounced reddish finish.
There's quite a number of used SR500 or SR505 basses where I live, a really nice one in that exclusive EB finish which is far more durable than the Mahogany for $275. I bought my SR500 for $215 out the door from the MSG near me.
