Ibanez? I love my SR 506. Well, I didn't at first - the neck is cool - really thin from front to back, and of course aircraft carrier-like width wise. But I really didn't like the sound. I may have been adversely affected by reading a thread on TB about people switching out the preamps. So it stayed in its case for several years. I thought about selling it, but it's my only bass with a low-B so I figured I'd better keep it in case I needed notes lower the E or D. Never did. But this past summer I pulled it out, set the controls flat, and used either my amp controls or my Alembic F-2B preamp, and it sounded great! Now I really love this bass. It's made in Korea, kind of mid-range - they have a cheaper model available too. Based on my experience with this bass, I've actually gotten interested in some of the more expensive ones, like the SR1205E (5-string) but then I realize that the bass I have in my hands does everything I want it to do so I don't need something else - I need to practice and play with this one!
I would normally never consider an Ibanez - never owned one in the past, the image that immediately springs to mind is METAL but that's not all they do - guitarists like Pat Metheny and Bob Weir we kind of an older generation of Ibanez users, I remember in the early-'80s they seemed to be more like big jazz-box guitars, almost Alembic-like in their approach. We won't even mention the lawsuit-era instruments...
And sorry about the Ibanez detour - don't get me started on Alembics or Gibsons!
