Ibanez SR-506 6-string bass

2009 model; made in Indonesia. Jatoba/bubinga neck, red mahogany body (oil finish) and headstock overlay. Bartolini passive soapbar pickups, active 3-band Bartolini EQ. 34" scale, black chrome hardware.

This bass has the typical thin, narrow SR neck and a super-low action. It makes fingerstyle, pick, and slapping all easy. The neck is narrow for a 6-string and is very, very thin. Playing hand comfort is a definite plus. The body is balanced and comfortable to play.

Pots feel cheap. There's a battery door on the back to make changing easy.

The sound is unusually variable and versatile. It's extremely bright, clear, and balanced out in the crowd. I've used this bass with big band, jazz, country, rock, R & B, shows, standards, oldies, funk, and blues, and it fits them all with nothing more than a little twiddling of the knobs and changes in finger technique. With my MarkBass combo amp and this bass, I can get any sound I want. This bass is at home with any style I choose to use. Chords, walking, thump, dub, riffs, this bass does it all.

This is not a pretty bass, but it's a very functional bass. The fit and finish were excelleng, and the only complaint I have is with cheap-feeling pots. The action is unbelievably low and nearly buzz-free.

This is a solid instrument. I have a 20 year old Ibanez 4-string, and it has been amazingly reliable and resilient. I don't see that I'll have any problem with this bass.

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I traded a Modulus Quantum 6 bass for this axe and some other gear, and I feel that I came out on top. This bass has a better tone and is easier on the hands than my old Modulus. I don't know yet whether this axe will be as reliable, but considering my past Ibanez experiences, I don't think I'll have any problems. This bass compares favorably to instruments that cost 4 times as much.

Nice quality with decent pickups. Light body and fast neck, especially for a 6 String. Too good to be true. (see below)

On board electronics great. Action nice for a six.

Here is the big problem with this design-and I learned it from another "poster" who bought 2 of them, and got rid of them both.
I took mine back to the guitar shop and got rid of mine-which goes to show you, anything funky like a 6 string bass, don't buy on impulse.

Problem is intonation. Thing does not stay in tune in the upper register. A real bummer for 3 octave walking lines. Your ear tells
you when a note is off pitch. The other "poster" told me HE Tried To Fix His-and it was a no win-impossible.
That is why the high end six stings are "built like tanks" (*and miserable to play)-because they want to stay in tune!
This IBY is too light, too flimsey. Take your tuner to the upper frets and the pitch is all over the place. (unless you like playing fretless style and have BIG EARS.)

You can really get burned in a live gigging situation if your bass doesn't respond.

A nice bass but bad disign based on intonation problems.

Feels great, looks great-plays in a limited siutation. Like in your bedroom. Don't walk out of the store with one!

5th and 6th strings don't stay in tune.

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Buyer Beware!

Ibanez SR-506 6-string bass, made in Korea. It has dual Bartolini Mk.1 pickups in the neck and bridge positions, and Barto 3-band active eq.
The other details are well-covered by previous reviewers.

This bass sounds amazing. With the Bartolini 'active' pickup system, you can 'carve' out any kind of sound you choose. It goes thro' a Mesa (live) , and SWR Redhead (studio), and the results are just stunning. It breathes like a dragon in 'live' situations, and is always well behaved in studio sessions. I love everything about this bass, especially when you consider the price, and what the other expensive options are.

The 'set-up' from the factory was flawless. The Elixir strings rock, and the height of the pickups were just right.

I bought this bass about a month ago. Time will tell how long it will last. I have been gigging it without a back-up. Since I bought the 506, my old 79 ( Leo Fender) MusicMan Sting-Ray, has been on an extended vacation.

Never dealt with company before, but I heard that Ibanez is okay. From the looks and 'sound' of the instrument, I may never have to deal with them.

I have been playing both guitar and bass for quite a few years as a studio guy and live musicican. I own a ' mid-end recording studio'...Trident, ProTools, Focusrite, yadda, yadda. I have always played Fender basses, including the original Fender Bass-6, which is more of a 'bari' than bass. I switched to Music-Man in 1979, and stayed. I don't like 5-stringers. For me it is either 4 or 6-strings.
I play both guitar and bass in regular week-end situations, and I have played next to too many bone-head so-called 'blooze guitarists' whose influences start and stop at the late great SRV. Now Stevie was a great musician and good guitarist, but these local hacks and clones are just too much. I finally shocked and shut up all of them, when I showed up at the 'jam' sporting an SR-506 tuned E-A-D-G-B-E (like a guitar) and the Boss GT-6B bass pedal, which is a pretty 'lethal' piece of kit in its own way. They are now down on their knees begging for 'mercy' and urging me to go back to the 4-string, because the SR-506 was too powerful sounding. My answer was a resounding 'NO'. This is my 'weapon' of mass 'creative construction, and I am just having too much fun to give it up.