Ibanez SR605E 5-String Bass Review

Ibanez SR605E 5-String Bass Review…

Ibanez never ceases to amaze me with their amazing basses. The Ibanez SR605E is not only stunning with its Cosmic Blue Starburst Flat finish over the beautiful Ash body, but the combination of the Nordstrand Big Break Pickups and Ibanez electronics make this a beast to be reckoned with! I performed with this bass at church and a couple of rock gigs, and the abundance of tones that you can get out of the SR605E is truly amazing and the bass itself is very comfortable to play either sitting or standing.

So you may ask, what makes this bass so amazing?

First off, the Ash body helps with giving snappy mids and a more transparent sound that makes Ash a popular wood choice for basses. The use of Jatoba in the neck helps give the bass a rounder, fuller sound in the low mids and adding the walnut gives the excellent balance tonalities that fall between rosewood and mahogany. The 24 fret rosewood fretboard is very durable and gives off warm and rich tones, and is complete with medium frets and Abalone oval inlays.

The Nordstrand Big Break Pickups are passive, however, the Ibanez Custom Electronics 3 Band EQ with a bypass switch is powered by a 9-volt battery. The controls are Volume, Balance, Bass boost/cut, Mid boost/cut, Treble boost/cut (which is also the tone control when EQ is bypassed), EQ bypass switch, and there is a 3-way switch to choose between 250Hz, 450Hz, and 700Hz.

The bridge is the Accu-cast B505 bridge which has adjustable saddles to adjust string spacing in addition to string height. Strings are D’Addario EXL165 + .130 and the gauges are .045, .065, .085, .105, and .130. All of the hardware is bale.

In addition to the Cosmic Blue Starburst Flat finish, the Ibanez SR605E also comes in a stunning Black Stained Burst.

Check out the Ibanez SR605E 5-String Bass online at Ibanez.com at a music retailer near you!