My Take on the Ibanez SDGR SR300 Fretless Bass

Here is the AMS description of the Ibanez SDGR SR300 Fretless Bass:


"Fast and versatile, the SR300 fretless bass guitar lays down grooves in every style imaginable. Featuring a 3 band style sweeper EQ with a lightweight balanced comfortable contoured body, you have pro features at an entry level price. The extended range travel on the narrow neck is as physically comfortable as it is musically exhilarating. Plus the EXF pickups have equal spacing between pickup to string for balanced output levels. To control your tone, you have a volume and balance knob, style sweeper finger step knob and a treble and bass boost/cut knob."




Here is what I think about it after playing it for 4 months:
Ok, so this bass is fretless, so it shouldn't sound like it's fretting out in the higher registers.  Yet, amazingly, it does.  I couldn't get the action as low as I like because of this issue.  It made it very uncomfortable to play.  


What I loved about this bass was the fact that it didn't weigh a ton like my mahogany bodied SR500.  It had active pickups, which was another plus, but didn't quite put out the rich tone that the SR500 does.  So, basically, I could have awesome sound quality, or a lighter bass.  I choose better sound quality.  


The biggest issue I had with this bass was this: it only sounded fretless when I played in the higher registers, which was a problem because of the action set-up.  The lower I set the action, the worse the sound quality.


Ok, so I know what you're thinking.  "What did you expect out of a $300 bass?" But honestly, I did expect more.  It's an Ibanez, and with Ibanez, you usually get good quality even if you don't pay out the rear for it.


So, that being said, I sold the fretless, and I seriously hope that Ibanez does a little better with their lower line fretless basses in the future.




Ibanez SR300 Fretless Specifications:

• Neck: 5 piece Maple/Rosewood neck
• Neck Type: SR4
• Body: Agathis body
• Frets: Fretless
• Fingerboard: Ebonol
• Inlay: Pearl Dot
• Bridge: B100 bridge
• Neck Pickup: EXF-4-F
• Bridge Pickup: EXF-4-R
• EQ: Style Sweeper
• Hardware Color: Cosmic Black
• Case: Optional