Today I played a Soundgear again since a long time....

[LDonnie]

....and it blew my socks off . I used to think these things were ''okay'', but I thought this one was awesome. I even thought for a moment that I liked it better than my Bongo (I hope this does not stay this way , or maybe not?). It played so smooth even though the strings were too low and they hit the fretboard. I played it through some kind of Peavey amp + 2x10'' Peavey cabinet and it had some very nice growl going on. It was a SR705. I am going to a large guitar shop this friday and try some basses including some Soundgears. Anyone else have similar experiences?

Edit: I don't really think my Bongo growls nor my Stingray to lesser extent, but they ''sing'' more. Is this because of my amp or is it just the character of the bass?

 

[gotbass1228]

I played a soundgear back in 96 and was not happy. I played one in 2008 and bought the SR506 after playing it for 35 minutes.

 

[LDonnie]

A friendly meant bump for a reply on my second question.

 

[danomite64]

Stingrays do growl; Bongos (the few I've played, that is), had a more controlled. less wide-open sound. Soundgears are like Jazzes or Precisions; there are a ton of different models out there. I love my old 800's, and the 505 the local Sam Ash had was very impressive, but the mid-90's 400 my friend has is clearly not in the same league. Heck, I like her (passive) GSR200 better than her 400.

 

[LDonnie]

Perhaps I should have mentioned: the model I played was a SR705 (I'll edit the original post). How is QC on the high/mid-end models?

 

[tranceFusion]

My main issue with most Ibanez stuff is the durability..

 

[danomite64]

My main issue with most Ibanez stuff is the durability..

Really? My SR800's are 22, 20 and 18 years old, and my ATK is 15 years old. All four sound and play as new.

 

[Flaked Beans]

I have a beautiful SR 1305 from 1996, 3 band active var. mid padouk wenge bubinga wenge fingerboard exellent condition, "custom made" block on the 24'th fret... pm me if you're interested!!

 

[Flaked Beans]

I have a beautiful SR 1305 from 1996, 3 band active var. mid padouk wenge bubinga wenge fingerboard exellent condition, "custom made" block on the 24'th fret... pm me if you're interested!!

And it's made in JAPAN! with japan gotoch tuners!

 

[Dirty Dave]

The bass in my avatar is a friends SR800. He's had it for about 15-20 years now and it plays great. I liked it so much that it actually inspired me to buy a couple of Soundgears many years ago. What I remember about my SR640 in particular was that it was set up perfect right out of the box. Very low action and absolutely NO fretbuzz anywhere.

I've long since sold them but it had nothing to do with the way they played or the reliability. I believe it came down to wanting to try other basses with options that were not available with Ibanez.

If it simply comes down to playability and reliability, I could not in good conscience discourage anybody from the Soundgear series. Especially if they like a fast neck!!

 

[Boostedrex]

While I am gassing for a custom fretless, I do still love my SR500 very much. Great sound, nice variety of available tones, and it's just flat out fun to play for me.

 

[onlyclave]

I have a SR885 from 94 I think and a SR506 from a couple of years ago. I think they're great basses.

 

[danomite64]

My guitarist just sent me an early '90's recording that I was playing my then new SR800 on......that bass sounded great!

 

[hypercarrots]

my 90 SR800 looks like it's been through hard times but the neck is straight and the electronics are great and it sounds awesome.