Sold (definitely!): Ibanez Soundgear SR765JM 5-string

ICBM · May 2020

This is quite a rare bass - an earlier Japanese-made Ibanez Soundgear SR765JM (Jade Metallic), made only in 2003 as far as I can tell. It's a fantastic bass for what it is, but I've realised that I'm just not a modern active 5-string player.

It has a slightly 'dished' Warwick-style back, which isn't obvious in the pics. Weight is 8lb 15oz. Nut width is 45mm and string spacing at the bridge is 16.25mm. Controls are volume, pickup balance, bass and treble, and the knobs have been replaced by upgraded abalone-topped ones.

It's in what I would describe as good used condition - there's no major damage, although there are a few minor dings, mostly on the lower back edge near the jack, but one large-pinhead sized one near the edge of the body roughly parallel with the 22nd and 23rd frets, and a small scuff on the edge of the headstock parallel with 'Soundgear', which you should be able to see in the pics... although it's hard to photograph well. The rest are mostly light reflections. The hardware is a bit tarnished and the gunmetal-type top coat has worn off where you would expect, on the bass side of the bridge and a bit on the machineheads - it's silvery, rather than the dull matt it looks in the pics - and the logo on the neck pickup is quite worn.

These were pretty high up the range when new - the original price in 2003 seems to have been about £600. I'm looking for £400 including shipping - bear in mind that there's no case, so I'll have to send it with the neck off.

surfguy13 · May 2020

Beautiful and a total and utter bargain at the price. So many people are looking for 5 stringers now and I reckon it will go within no time. GLWTS!

ICBM · June 2020

100 views! It's a really nice bass... really

.

Zonular · June 2020

How is this not sold yet?

ICBM · June 2020

Zonular said:

How is this not sold yet?

I think it’s because it’s green

.

I don’t know... but if it helps, I’d be willing to deliver it or meet up anywhere within about a hour of Edinburgh. (I know that doesn’t, for most of you!)

guitargeek62 · June 2020

Personally I love the colour, but I'm not after a 5-string else I'd likely have taken it off your hands! GLWTS

ICBM · July 2020

Still here! Price drop if it helps - £379 including shipping.

(Currently in Strung Out Guitars in Glasgow if anyone's nearer there.)

ICBM · November 2020

Still got this. Would possibly consider trades - not looking for anything specific, but if you have anything interesting... doesn’t have to be a bass.

ICBM · November 2020

Not withdrawn, again

.

Funkfingers · November 2020

ICBM said:

No-one seems to want it, and it's really quite nice.

I do not dispute the quality of the bass guitar but, for me, the string spacing is too tight to mention. I veer towards the Anthony Jackson school of thought. i.e. Four-lane Interstate width fingerboards.

ICBM said:

Would possibly consider trades - not looking for anything specific, but if you have anything interesting... doesn’t have to be a bass.

Care to be more specific?

Doodlegame · November 2020

Keep coming back and looking at this, don't think there is even a corner left in the house for it to go though!

ICBM · November 2020

Funkfingers said:

I do not dispute the quality of the bass guitar but, for me, the string spacing is too tight to mention. I veer towards the Anthony Jackson school of thought. i.e. Four-lane Interstate width fingerboards.

That's exactly why I bought it in the first place... I have little girly hands and a 'normal' 5-string is just too much of a handful. I think I was so shocked that I could actually play it that I didn't stop to think about whether I really needed it

.

Funkfingers said:

Care to be more specific?

No idea! Maybe a semi-acoustic, or a completely acoustic (with or without electrics - yes, I know the limitations), or... but not a guitar synth

.

Funkfingers · November 2020

ICBM said:

Funkfingers said:
Care to be more specific?

not a guitar synth .

Fear not. I think I have a local outlet for that item.

glasgowgeddes · January 2023

Hi, I bought this from Strung Out Guitars in Glasgow!! I rly love it! I have played guitars for a couple of years but never bass - any tips? Thank u sm!!

Funkfingers · January 2023

Do you seek tips for playing bass guitar in general or specific tips for getting the best out of an Ibanez Soundgear model?

I have an elderly SR800. I was only happy with its sound after I changed the pickups and control electronics.

My only five string is a modified Warwick. After months of neglect, I finally chanced upon one position on the pickup balance control that sounds really good - especially if played hard through a DAW plug-in that models a dirty Geddy Lee meets Billy Sheehan sound.

It is possible that the three-band, stacked knobs active EQ PCB of my SR800 would fit in the SR765. @ICBM is probably the best person to consult about this.

ICBM · February 2023

glasgowgeddes said:

Hi, I bought this from Strung Out Guitars in Glasgow!! I rly love it! I have played guitars for a couple of years but never bass - any tips? Thank u sm!!

I think the most important thing is probably not to play a 4-string as well - or if you're like me, you will not get used to the bottom string being a B and it will throw you off at the least convenient moment and you'll find yourself playing in the wrong key

.

I'm just too stuck in my ways as a 4-string player, so in the end - after really trying to get on with this bass, which I still loved as an instrument - I traded it for the Warwick Corvette 4-string they had

.

What still astonishes me is that after I had decided finally to sell it, it took so long - I can only assume it's because current Soundgear basses are mostly so much cheaper. I'm very pleased for you, you've got an extremely high-quality, Japanese-made bass in a very rare (and I think beautiful) finish for the price of one of the more recent Indonesian models.

Funkfingers · February 2023

ICBM said:
I think the most important thing is probably not to play a 4-string as well

I find that I move about the fingerboard differently on four, five or six string bass guitars. The low B invites more sideways, string to string moves whereas a four is more up and down.

After a good while on five string, a four feels as if part of the neck has gone AWOL. (For the same effect, try a tenor guitar.)

ICBM said:
I'm just too stuck in my ways as a 4-string player

#MeToo, although, having said that, I recently managed to get a believable Geddy Lee tone from my modified five string Streamer Pro Stage 1 via an edited DAW amp model. (For some reason, it sounds more convincing in compound time signatures than in 4/4.)

ICBM said:
Warwick Corvette 4-string.

Nice, aren't they?

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Sold (definitely!): Ibanez Soundgear SR765JM 5-string

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