Ibanez Gio GSR105EXMOL 5-string Bass Guitar - Natural Reviews

I've been a walking advertisement for the Ibanez Gio series and this one is the best yet. Light, versatile, and overall a blast to pick up and play! In my eyes, this is an amazing option for a 5-String if you are on a budget and you will most likely not need any other bass!

I highly recommend. It looks beautiful and also looks way more expensive than what it's being sold for. I've played guitar for years and wanted a bass guitar. I'm very happy

I can definitively say after playing on this Bass for almost a couple of month's now and weeks worth of doing my homework about this guitar that there are almost no bad review's out there that I can tell including my own it has a very smooth neck to play on and is a lot of fun to explore all of the notes especially with that fifth extra string it's just as I imagined playing the Bass would sound like and be thanks again Sweetwater for another excellent buy.

I have a thing for playing cheaper gear, so I picked this bass up. It is awesome. Very lightweight, and the pickups are detailed and high output. It feels and sounds great.

I have never owned any high-end basses but I've own some good sounding ones and this one definitely plays and sounds good.

Super awesome! It came earlier than expected and the quality is amazing! My friend loves his new bass! Thank you Sweetwater!!

This bass give a good slapping, Would recommend 100 percent

The action was set to a comfortable height, there is no frett buzz on any fretts, there is no feedback on any of my amps, it stays in tune, is light, comfortable to play on, and its fun to use and also cheap. My favorite bass of 16 years of playing bass guitar by far.

This bass could easily be mistaken for a $400-$500 bass guitar. Hardware is way better than expected - knobs don't feel floaty, bridge is solid, pickups are solid, and the tuners are surprisingly not terrible at all.

Finish is unique and quite different from the picture, but I think I'm a fan! Was absolutely blown away by the fret and neck - I don't own a single guitar under a thousand buckos anymore because I generally don't like the feeling of cheaper necks/hardware, but somehow the cheapest bass I could find didn't elicit a negative response.

I'd have zero problems with the bass at double the price. Maybe I just got lucky and got a really well made one, but dang, I'm happy that I saved so much money and still got a quality instrument.

This is an awesome bass guitar. It looks great, sounds great, and plays great. The quality of the guitar for the price is outstanding. I added a custom setup, and my salesperson, Zack Davidson asked me what action height I liked, as well as whether I play with fingers or with a pick. The setup came just as I had requested. The bass is solid, very well intonated, and very comfortable to play. It has the classic Ibanez Soundgear look and feel to it. The lows are there, as well as good midrange and treble. I can't say enough good things about this guitar. Excellent quality, highly recommended.

I bought this beautiful bass guitar as a birthday gift to myself last year. I have no problems with it. I named it
"Woody" lol. No long story needed here. If you're looking for a bass and don't want to spend 4 figures on one, but you want a bass that sounds like you did, and you're questioning if you want this one, let me help you...Just buy this amazing bass and stop hesitating, its worth it 10x over lol!!!

I bought this on a whim, was going to use it as an experimental bass, change pickups, bridge, and mods in general. When I get the bass the set up was dead on!!!!!! action was low, how I like it, and the intonation was spot on. So I plugged it in and WOW!!! amazing sound, amazing feel, looks like a million bucks!!! If you are looking to start on bass or even just add another 5'er to your arsenal, this is the one to get!!! Not to mention it is only 5 pounds!!! super light!!!

I m sure the 4 string is the same but have no xp with

and to add in my Sales Engineer Jimmy Hart IS THE BEST!!!

I"ve played guitar for years but have always wanted a 5 string bass. This was the best purchase. The look of this bass is gorgeous and not glossy, just natural. The wood feels and looks warm and is super light weight. The tone you can get out of this is monstrous though I will say that it does get a bit buzzy if you turn the tone knob past 10 o" clock. Luckily for me, I prefer that muffy rolled back sound. This bass actually inspired me to bust out my Boss equalizer pedal I haven"t used in ages and get the perfect sound. Don"t hesitate because of the price, this bass is perfect.

This is such a lovely bass ! Not long purchased this bass and I am happy with it, has some lovely features and has nice finish and lovely feel to the neck and fingerboard, bass has a deep low end and can reach higher register with ease and bass has great playability. Worth a purchase!

I'm a 6 year guitarist/multi instrumentalists who bought this bass with the intention of upgrading it then using it to record, however this bass needs little to no upgrades. The bass itself is very neutral sounding, slightly on the warm side and the tone is very subjective to EQ, body is light, pickup is definitely great for stock, bridge isnt sharp or rattly and only needed a small intonation job, the neck is thin and smooth, tuners are effective, overall an amazing bass, my only issue is the medium frets as I like to have my action slightly higher which is a bit harder to play with because of the smaller frets but its bearable and nothing I can't deal with. Just need some 250k pots and a Jazz style wind for the pickup and shes set. Will be buying the 4 stringer next as well.

When I opened the box I was stoked to see how pretty the natural wood was. It isn't super glossy so you can still feel the wood. The low end is killer the top end is the same. All around I am blown away that I could get such a good bass for such a low price.

This is a truly awesome instrument, especially for the price. It is lightweight, but do not mistake this for poor quality... it is very comfortable to play. Thin, fast neck with easy access to the lower strings even up at higher frets. Also, the tone from the humbucker is really good... nice and fat, lots of clarity. I have played basses three times the price that don't sound or feel as good.

I bought this Bass so I would have something I can practice with on the fly now its my main Bass. Simple on Pickup design but sounds great, plays great. I even like the strings that are on it. Cant go wrong with this!

I never expected to be this happy when I ordered this bass. I feel like I got a lot more bass than I paid for.
It's beautiful, it's light, it's fast. I love it!
Want to make sure I give credit to Anthony Jenkins. Customer service means a lot to me, and Anthony takes the time to help me understand my options and get what I need.

For the price I paid, I can't believe what a great guitar this is.

Sounds great ! I like the Wooden style

The simplicity of it blows me away. I'm gonna slap a pickup cover on it, a thumb rest and throw down the THUMP!

IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THIS GOOD. This is the cheapest five string bass available for purchase on this website in the year of our Lord 2023, along with its sister bass, the GSRM25. I just bought it to demo some songs I wrote on my baritone guitar. This is way better than I need, honestly. The oil finish looks great on the three-piece Mahogany body, which is thin, light and comfortably sculpted. Very nice balance hanging on the neck and very comfortable to play sitting down, which I usually dislike. Great sustain and resonance, it's pretty loud unplugged. I like my guitar necks chonky and generally avoid Ibanez guitars like the clap, but for bass, it's a different story. I love this neck. It's thin. It's fast. It's maple. Very nice fretboard, too. The frets are sufficiently dressed. Don't expect the world at this price. I dig the humbucker, the main reason I bought this bass and not the GSRM25. I'm playing death metal, not jazz funk. This sucker is punchy, bright and loud. Perfect! The included strings are pretty horrific to play, but sound good and are the main reason I took half a star off. I order a set of the strings of my choice with the bass and plan to throw them on shortly. Bottom line: unless you can afford something significantly nicer than this bass, I'd recommend just getting this. I have a four string Fender MIM Deluxe Jazz Bass and I think I like the Ibanez a lil' more to be honest. It isn't super refined, but it's so comfortable, it's hard to put down.

This bass is great. Great tone, great playability, and very stable. Looked better than the pictures. Only complaint I have is a personal preference, in that the pick-up position doesn't work as a thumb rest for my style of playing, but is easily overcome with a tugbar or resting on the B-string.

Out of the box (didn't opt for SW setup) the bass was pretty much ready to play. All I had to do was lower the action slightly and adjust the intonation a bit to accommodate my play style.

Overall a great bass, as to be expected for Ibanez

It's my first bass but I've been playing guitar for a long time. When it came, It had a straight neck, no sharp frets, it looked sexy, and it sounded good.

The bad thing is that it needed a bit of a set up. Getting the intonation was a pain. I had to move the bridge a couple times. Then I had to shorten some screws and springs. I took me longer than I'd like to admit.

Also, It's a tinny bit neck heavy. Really not that bad.

If you can handle all that this bass is awesome. Mine is always out.

4.5 stars to leave some room for the 2 grand models.
This is a find for the price. I wanted to try a 5 string and this was the perfect experiment.
All works as it should. I even like the sound. Bluegrass friends would like me to get an upright, which isn't going to happen. This one can put out a pretty good thump, I think.
Who knows, perhaps I'll stay with this one. The quality is such that I can't rule that out.
If I do upgrade, another nice thing is that all the dimensions are almost identical to the better SR models.
I am a beginner so take my comments as such.
My guy at Sweetwater was out of town, so I dealt with 2 others. I'm impressed. Clearly all 3 work in a culture where being helpful but not pushy is the rule. Customer loyalty is more important than a quick sale. Bless Sweetwater for that.

I have owned this bass for about four months now and this review captures what I've learned.

I chose to purchase this bass as I was curious but undecided if I could play or enjoy a five-string bass, having only played four-string basses before. The experiment was triggered by my desire for additional low notes when I play in the worship band at our church. The low D and Eb in particular were of interest. So, based on reviews here, the price and my good experiences with Sweetwater, I ordered it online in late January.

The instrument was the last one in Sweeetwater's inventory at the time and in their Arizona warehouse. I got the tracking information and followed its trek to my home in Indiana during the coldest snap of 2024. It even got delayed in a snowstorm near Chicago. But it arrived in great shape, perfectly packed with zero damage outside or in. I let it sit overnight before handling, per good suggestions from Sweetwater and others.

Upon opening, the bass looked awesome! It was much more attractive in person than in any photo I had seen. My wife was impressed. It is also light...mine weighs in at 7lb 1.7oz (3.22kg), with zero neck dive...feels great standing or sitting. I've had many compliments on how sharp and simple it looks...the mahogany is very pleasing on the eye.

Acclimated to my home, I began to get it playable. I've done setups before and it was easy to get neck relief, adjust string heights to my preference, and intonate. It sounded OK. I swapped out the stock volume and tone knobs for black, generic knobs and that classed it up a good bit visually.

Yet, the stock strings felt "gritty" to me, as I got used to the bass. Plus, the B spring was floppy, not an uncommon feature on five-strings. So I ordered a custom set from Stringjoy for balanced tension across all five strings ( landing at 135, 105, 80, 60, 45, Nickel round-wound). Installing these made a massive improvement. The strings sounded better and were oh so much more comfortable to play. I started playing it more and used it at our church for the first time in public.

At our first rehearsal's sound check, I learned something further from our sound guy. He said my pickups were really "hot" and asked me to back off the volume button. At first, I thought this was cool but on reflection, I wondered why this was the case. Further, I noted I had to focus a lot on muting the strings I wasn't playing. In addition, the lowest notes on the B string were still more muddy than I had hoped. And that was the entire reason I bought the five string.

Digging into this, I discovered a possible explanation. In mid-March, I measured the distance from the single humbucker pickup to the strings. I observed, when fretted, they were too close. It's recommended by many to have at least 3mm clearance. I had only 1.7mm. On my Fender JBass, the same measurement was 3mm. In retrospect, I should have checked this when I did the first setup on the bass in January.

So, I attempted to lower the pickup but the adjustment screws would only rotate about a quarter turn and then stopped dead. I knew not to force things. I wondered if a) there were springs underneath the pickup and b) if they were fully compressed, prohibiting any further lowering.

I carefully loosened the strings, removed the pickup and, indeed, there were two springs plus foam underneath to provide upward pressure. I gently removed both springs, leaving only the foam and reassembled. The screws now rotated farther and I could compress the foam to get a gap of 3.25mm after it was all done.

The difference was remarkable when I retuned and plugged in. Much cleaner sound. Clarity on the lowest notes. Far less hum from unplayed strings. I was very pleased.

I've used this set up for about six weeks now and have played in public several times. The bass now sounds terrific and plays like a dream. It is truly growing on me, it sounds so good and plays so well. The low notes, all the way to C, ring true on a good sound system.

Thus, this low-cost bass is excellent value, though it took some work to get there. I'll not need another five-string for a long time now. Thanks, Sweetwater!!

I bought this bass as a backup to my Fender (5-string) Jazz Bass. After using the new bass a couple of times in band practice, I'm not so sure it won't become my primary bass. It's light, it looks good, plays well, and sounds good. Right now, I'm on the fence -- who ever heard of a rock 'n' roller with an inexpensive bass?

I've played 4 strings for a long time, Rickenbacker, Epiphone, recently a Sweetwater Squier Jazz and I decided to get this inexpensive 5 string, on clearance to expand my horizons and stop having to drop tune.

I love this guitar! The body is a little smaller than my others, which I actually kinda like. The single humbucker is more P bassy than the Rick or Jazz, it's closer to my EB style Epiphone. Friends have spoken well of Ibanez and I can see why!

If you want to expand, like me, into the world of 5 strings, this is a great starter. I will play this anywhere, adding it to my of stage- worthy basses.

This is a great entry level bass! It also makes for a great practice instrument and could hold it's own at a gig if you want a reliable back-up. If you're on a budget and looking to get started on bass, I'd check it out. For the price, you can't beat it.

The service from Jordan at Sweetwater was spot on ... as always. I'm happy with my purchase and Sweetwater will continue to be my go-to!

I am well pleased with my new Ibanez 5 string bass guitar!
It is very light so it's easy on the back and shoulders when playing multiple sets.
Plays very good for an inexpensive bass!
I have no complaints !
Beautiful stained mahogany finish !
I would buy again!
Thanks to Dave Snow at Sweetwater for always being ready to help!

I brought this a gift for my husband he really like the finish. Great for the old drummer to learn to play the bass.

Nice little 5 string. Lots o fret noise with the round wound strings so I recommend flats. Just 1 pickup without much tone variety however for practice purposes and learning the fifth string it's awesome. Also it is easy on the shoulder as the bass doesn't weigh too much in fact it's pretty light.