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The Soundgear Club

#861
Thanks KR, I'm familiar with that, but I'm hoping for a somewhat technical answer in how that frequency can be shifted lower to place that is more pleasant to my ears. Everything else about this bass is wonderful - and I can live with it as is, but if I could make it better that would be a big plus.
 
#863
IngerAlb said:
Just because some folks can't get a good tone out of the SRs it doesn't mean the basses are not great - they are. Of course, some lemons might still end up in the shops from time to time, but I've said this before: I've seen a constant improvement in the QC during these past years that it's really shocking...my old Ibbys were MIK; my current ones are MII and yet they're better built. No sharp frets, no finish flaws, even the setup is top notch out of the box - insane low action btw.

But you can't expect them to sound different from what they've been designed to do. SRs are modern sounding basses. The EQ is very versatile, but no matter the settings, they will still sound modern.
Click to expand...

Big +1. I was pretty happy with the Korean stuff I had and kind of avoided the Indonesian but I have to admit the quality is really stunning. My SRT's are the bomb!

Went to GC recently to possibly purchase another brand of bass in the $1600 price range and the fretwork was sloppy, there was tremendous amount of fret sprout and the action was sky I mean sky high. I snuck in my own allen wrenchs (yes I'm that sick) and did a partial setup but couldn't get it to where it was comfortable. Picked up three similar models from the same manufacturer and the all had fret sprout and crappy setups too! All in the $1300 to $1600 range. Must have been a bad batch of wood.

Picked up an SR700, SR500 and a cheap Gio Ibanez and they all had better fretwork and setups. You know damn well GC isn't in there setting up basses either.

This is not an Isolated incident. In the past year I've been to Big music retailers in 6 states and have seen a similar trend. Maybe I'm just that biased???

And for the record my neckthrough SRT's have a stupid amount of sustain. I think I can still hear the last note played last night... With my current band I find myself playing palm mute, thumb pluck more that I ever had and I like it.
 
#866
IngerAlb said:
The 700 has exactly the same pickups & EQ as the 500. And yet they sound different. The only difference is the maple top. As weird as it may be, that might be the reason why - since eveything else is the same.
Click to expand...
There's not telling what is different though. The preamp could be voiced differently. I've not measured pickup placement, but that could vary also. Just hard to say, but IME the same two basses with the same exact electronics can sound pretty different from one another. I think people neglect the smaller things that can affect an instrument's tone, such as strings and pickup heights. I've setup basses for friends and local players here because they just don't know how to do it themselves, and they're often surprised to learn how different an instrument can sound just by raising or lowering the two pickups so that they mix differently when they are blended.

All things aside, two nearly identical basses with the same pickups, in the same position, with the same strings, and the same electronics, should sound almost identical also. Wood variances aren't nearly as responsible for instrument tone as people like to think. Subtleties perhaps, but they don't provide the huge tonal differences that most folks seem to think they will.
 
#867
Hey folks. I'm thinking about buying a used SR505. Love the mahogany, love the Bartolinis, love the neck feel, love the price.

But when I go to

Guitar Center

And search for SR505, I get some guitars that are clearly older than others. They have finishes no longer available, for one thing. What's the history of the SR505? What should I look for--or avoid?
 
#868
scottfeldstein said:
Hey folks. I'm thinking about buying a used SR505. Love the mahogany, love the Bartolinis, love the neck feel, love the price.

But when I go to

Guitar Center

And search for SR505, I get some guitars that are clearly older than others. They have finishes no longer available, for one thing. What's the history of the SR505? What should I look for--or avoid?
Click to expand...

In 2001-2002 the 505 was the SR485BM, and it had Ibanez DX pickups.

In 2003 it was the SR495BM, with a wenge/walnut neck.

In 2004 it started being called the SR505BM, with a wenge/bubinga neck and bart pups.

And in 2008 is when the pickups were both moved more towards the neck, and instead of wenge/bubinga, they used jatoba/bubinga.
 
#870
KingRazor said:
In 2001-2002 the 505 was the SR485BM, and it had Ibanez DX pickups.

In 2003 it was the SR495BM, with a wenge/walnut neck.

In 2004 it started being called the SR505BM, with a wenge/bubinga neck and bart pups.

And in 2008 is when the pickups were both moved more towards the neck, and instead of wenge/bubinga, they used jatoba/bubinga.
Click to expand...

An interesting post and valuable reference. What about the sound? Anyone care to comment on how the tone varies from one year to the next? Did the neck size and shape remain constant? Any dependability issues?
 
#872
PDGood said:
An interesting post and valuable reference. What about the sound? Anyone care to comment on how the tone varies from one year to the next? Did the neck size and shape remain constant? Any dependability issues?
Click to expand...

There is a difference in sound, I had a 485 once upon a time, it was alright. Didn't do much for me.

The 480/490s were a very large departure from the old 500s, which were maple, so I'd have a hard time grouping them all together. It's really apples and oranges when it comes to the three different models.
 
#873
The 500 and 505 get much more mention that the previous platforms - generations leading to them, IIRC. It wouldn't surprise me if those two models have been produced in much greater numbers than the previous models that led to them.
 
#874
I'm in!

006-1.jpg
 
#876
PDGood said:
An interesting post and valuable reference. What about the sound? Anyone care to comment on how the tone varies from one year to the next? Did the neck size and shape remain constant? Any dependability issues?
Click to expand...

I think the necks were slightly thicker on the older models. Just slightly.

I haven't played anything older than the 08/07 500s, so I don't know anything about the tonal variations of the different years.
 
#877
KingRazor said:
In 2003 it was the SR495BM, with a wenge/walnut neck.

In 2004 it started being called the SR505BM, with a wenge/bubinga neck and bart pups.

And in 2008 is when the pickups were both moved more towards the neck, and instead of wenge/bubinga, they used jatoba/bubinga.
Click to expand...

You know, Bubinga might make a cute baby name. (Are you listening Danimal?) The nick name could be Bubbs or Bubba.
In fact, Bubinga Jatoba Danimal II has a nice ring to it, don't cha think?
 
#878
KingRazor said:
I haven't played anything older than the 08/07 500s, so I don't know anything about the tonal variations of the different years.
Click to expand...

Same here. But I can say there's a difference between the 2007 models with wenge necks and the current models - the older ones had a darker tone with thick lows and aggressive low mids, while the ones with the MID switch have a more open & brighter tone with accentuated mids. Keep in mid the difference is fairly subtle though - at the end of the day, they all sound like a SR500 ;)
 
#880
PDGood said:
Thanks KR, I'm familiar with that, but I'm hoping for a somewhat technical answer in how that frequency can be shifted lower to place that is more pleasant to my ears. Everything else about this bass is wonderful - and I can live with it as is, but if I could make it better that would be a big plus.
Click to expand...

Hi..over the last yr or so ive upgraded a 2004 SR900AM with the Bartolini MK 1 pre amp n pickups and a 2008 SR405QM with Ibanez pre and pick ups and put Bartolini NTMB in both of them and the treble boost cut is a lot smoother...the original Ibanez Stylesweeper and MK pre amps top end to my ears was harsh when boosted..one option you might consider...although i realise the pre amp in yrs is a Ibanez model they replaced the MK 1 pre amp a few yrs ago

Leslie
 

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