Ibanez Gio GSR205B 5-string Bass Guitar - Walnut Flat Reviews

Everything is working great so far. Really pretty finish. Have received several compliments. Ibanez for the win!

i have a jay truser stringray 5-string bass but playing it for 2-3hrs it gets very heavy. so i was wanting to stay with a 5-string bass but lighter. i was reading about the ibanez gsr205bwnf so i called sweetwater to find out they had one in stock. so i drove to sweetwater to check it out and play it as well.they were excited to take one and set it up in the demo room so i could get the feel and sound first hand. it was a noticeable bit lighter as well as sounded great and the phatt boost was great. so it left me with only one choice I BOUGHT IT !!!!!!!

Diving headfirst into bassland after a thirty eight year absence, I found myself serving on a worship team that was in dire need of a bass player. I had spent one year all those years ago playing bass in a band, but just at a "bassic" level. Years since have been spent serving on worship teams at various churches as an acoustic-electric guitar player. Toward the end of that tenure, I had purchased a no frills four string Washburn Bantam X100 p bass so I could step in as the emergency bass player. It now with a regular bass playing commitment, I wanted to upgrade to something more versatile.
After consulting with a former worship team bass playing colleague who really knows his craft, I decided to shop for a five string bass. My friend said the low B string was invaluable on many songs, helping to add scope, tonal variation, and dynamics within each one. Since I live about twenty minutes from Sweetwater, something I do not take for granted by the way, I naturally started and ended my search there. Ibanez makes outstanding bass guitars, and the GSR 205 is no exception. With a smooth playing neck, excellent string spacing, fantastic fretwork, and great fit and finish, my transition from four to five strings was flawless.
Celebrating forty years helping folks the world over find their musical bliss, Sweetwater"s success can be contributed to one thing and one thing only.....outstanding customer service. Founder Chuck Surack expects nothing but the best for his customers and his employees always deliver. And they did it again. I"m coming back again for a Fender Rumble v3 series bass combo amp....when I can decide which one!

This bass sound AMAZING the extra bost you get from the 9v battery is outstanding and it feel really good the only thing this bass need is a on and off boton to use the pick ups active and passive if you run out of battery...i regimen it for those one that ine a good sound bass but don't want to pay a fortune.

Bought this bass from Sweetwater last year and have been using it for bass-lines in my music. It sounds great! The live bass has definitely taken my production to the next level. This is my first bass so I don't really know what I'm missing out on as far as quality with high end basses go. I've got my eye on the Ibanez SRFF805 now because I feel like if I'm satisfied with what these guys put out for $250, then their $1000 model will blow me away.

Love the look and feel of the bass....very lightweight and easy to hold. Sounds great and is well built. My only complaint is that I have popped 2 strings in a month, but I have been playing it a lot and it probably needed a better set of strings anyway.

Shipping and customer service was excellent.

Bought for my son as a Christmas present. Was blown away after taking the bass out of the package!! This bass looks nice and is very light weight. My son loves the feel and the sound is AMAZING. I definitely recommend this product to anyone looking for a great sounding, affordable bass. Very pleased with delivery time also!!

Purchase process was OUTSTANDING right from my first contact with Sweetwater. Had my two guitars in a matter of two days and then an immediate phone contact from their sales associate to ensure that I was satisfied. Excellent

Love this 5 string, great budget choice. Came set up perfectly out of the box and didn't need to make any adjustments, fret work is good/edges aren't sharp at all which is is common for cheap guitars and basses, the stock pickups sound good and the active bass boost knob sounds pretty good. Although I would recommend changing the strings since the stock strings are pretty cheap.

I just started playing a 4 string Ibanez for about 3 months that a friend let me borrow. I wanted a 5 string for a little extra range on the low end. (I didn't feel that a higher 6 string would be necessary.) It definitely comes in handy when I have a lot of Eb's and D's in a song. And that low B is nice and deep. It can get a little muddy depending on the amp I'm using, but with the controls I can get just about any sound I want out of it and clean it up. I can play quite a few different styles with this bass from funk and jazz to punk and metal. As a guitarist picking up bass as a beginner, this bass is easy to get used to. The neck isn't too wide or too long, the frets are easy to get around to, and the bass stays in tune pretty well. I can play for about 45 mins to an hour before I have to tune again. It's also very lightweight. Around 7 or 8 lbs or so. Really easy on my shoulder. Great sound, very versatile, easy to handle, and at a good price. Plus the mahogany body looks great. It looks much darker and richer in person. The picture here doesn't do it justice.

I was looking to buy an entry level 5 string bass, as I had always played a 4 string in the past. As this is a 34" scale bass, I found the low B a bit weak and floppy. There are ways to fatten it up a bit with EQ etc. At the time I purchased it I only able to find one in brown. It appeared to be finished wood so I ordered it. I was disappointed to find the finish was painted brown and there was no clear coat over it. You could see the paint had soaked into the wood grain. However the finish was uniform and consistant.
That was mainly why I gave it 4 stars. Any 34" scale bass will have a bit of a problem playing an open b. But it played and sound great thru my Eden Bass Rig. Sweetwater did a great setup on the bass.

This is a fantastic starting bass. I had one ten years ago when I first started playing and it went thru thick and thin with me. And for being an intermediate guitar I would receive a lot of compliments on the sound. I highly recommend buying for anyone just starting out.

It's not a bad beginners instrument, but I can't shake the feeling of this guitar being cheap. The knobs and pots are scratchy, the string spacing is way too tight, and it's just not as comfortable as something a bit nicer. Do yourself a favor and spend the extra... on an sr305

Nice practice Bass. I would not gig with it. internal preamp very limited for funk or gospel.

Had it for about 3 months. It does the job at this price. When I first got this bass, I loved it because it was nice and it was light (easy on my shoulders). But, I realized that it needed to get adjusted, because the 12th fret was not in tune with the open-string note. So, I took it in to a local repairman who had to adjust the bridge and sand down a couple of the frets. After the adjustment, the bridge was basically hanging unto the ends of its thread. After a couple weeks, the 12th fret was no longer in tune with the open-string note again. Took it back to the same local repairman, and he had to relocate the entire bridge and move it upward, so that the distance from the 12th fret to the bridge is equal to the distance from the 12th fret to the top of the 1st fret. Anyways, it works fine now. It"s just that I have visible holes at the bottom of my bass that are slightly exposed. But, at this price and $145 later, it"s alright.