Ibanez Bass Workshop SRF700 Fretless Bass Guitar - Brown Burst Flat Reviews

Fretless bass was one of those things I've loved the sound of since listening to Jaco as a kid in the 80s. My only other bass, is a beautiful fretted spector.
I've tried lots of basses over the years. The only other fretless I almost bought was a godin a4.
I bought this one based on the reviews here at Sweetwater. It is everything I hoped for, and more. I had a friend, another multi-instrumentalist, in the studio when unboxed it. From the first plugged in notes played, we swooned, my nucleus acumbens lit up in ecstacy. Every little adjustment of the 6 pots dials in another flavor of ahhhhhh. I love the whole sensory experience that this bass provides; the touch and feel, and the delicious sounds bathe my entire system in a cascade of endorphins. If you crave the mwah, and the woodiness, get it. Even when I'm at work I'm playing it in my head. And the price is right. Especially through your Sweetwater sales folk.
Thank you Jeff B.

For me this bass is just amazing. I love how it looks, sounds, plays, and feels. It definitely has my name on it.

Very beautiful Bass. Easy to play, is light and sounds super great. Anyone who has a few bass guitars would soon choose this as their number one favorite. Highly recommend. Roger at Sweetwater was great to deal with and made sure it shipped soon after I ordered it.

I am finding this instrument to be way more than what I expected. I find the Ibanez quality to be outstanding and the tone just keeps coming. I can also give a little shout out to Evan Mehre and the rest of the Sweetwater team.

What a great bass! I had to loan it to my neighbor overnight just to put it down! Great sounding and plying bass. When I got it back fro the overnighter next door, my neighbor said (and still does say) " that is the most comfortable, best sounding bass I've ever played!" I totally agree. Minutes after I ordered it my sales engineer sent me a link with a gallery of HD pics of my bass so I could salivate for a few days. Thanks Andrew! Seriously though great service and support as always from you and Sweetwater.

First off: I had the Sweetwater team update the SRF700 with D'Addario Chromes Flatwound Bass Strings and a Tusq Nut Installation. I was not disappointed, rather I was very impressed with the sound and the sustain. Hooked up to my Trace-Elliot ELF (1x10" 200-watt Bass Combo) Amp, the sound is so clean and deep, that its really hard to beat. It's my fourth Bass from Sweetwater (2 PB (one acoustic) and 2 Fretless: the other is also an Ibanez, the UB804). The SRF700 is right away my favorite for gigs. Both the UB804 & the SRF700 are perfect for studio. Thanks again to the Sweetwater team for all their support!

The growl of this bass with roundwounds on it is thunderous, and the sustain is impressive. Even the E/A strings have great tone past F12. It's light, plays like a dream. Battery dies more often than it should. I would have liked lines, but I am getting accustomed to without. A master volume would have been nice, I find the separate volume for everything is a bit klunky.

I've been performing locally in a bluegrass-type band with a fretless micro bass for 5 or 6 years now and always like the "upright" sound I get from that. When it comes to playing in a classic rock band, I've been fortunate to be able to borrow someone else's fretted bass. A special event coming up stirred me to look seriously about purchasing my own full size bass and going fretless was what I wanted. I had never played an Ibanez guitar or bass before but reading the specs and reviews, I decided to go for it. I'm so glad I did. This bass has the sound I was looking for in a fretless with many options from the pickups. It's lighter than I imagined but a real solid feel to it and has been a joy to play. The fretboard is smooth and fast and the intonation is right on. I'm totally happy with this bass.

I played fretless when I started play in late 70s, had an Ibanez Jazz bass (Copy better than original) then it got
its neck surface damaged by the Rotosound Roundwound Strings. Gave it up and played Fretted Precision.
Then I got back the old Fretless draw, really wanted one so I checked different alternatives and this one sailed up as
first choice, and when I got it, SO FANTASTIC the Bartolini mikes sound so beautiful and the Piezo added makes an incredible
woody and acoustic sound, and with all the 3 mikes you can really find all kinds of sounds/combinations. Its A joy to play this
little beauty; its very nice when it comes to weight and it looks so good. Pure happiness. Patrik in Sweden

I"ve had this amazing bass for about 2 months now. I am astounded by the smooth, effortless playing and the beautiful combinations of tones I can get from the pickups. I am a fretless only player, and this is hands down the best bass I have ever played. Get one!!!

I'm thoroughly happy with this bass. This is my first time Ibanez purchase and was a little apprehensive that it would be up to par for my liking. Soon as I started playing I knew this was a keeper. Every string rings like a piano. And being fretless, this has mwah up and down the fret board. Being 30 "fret" it seems like the notes never run out. With the three pickup system, there's gotta be a sound in there for any situation.

Now if I can just keep my eyes off looking for an Ibanez fretted :)

If you are a fretless bass player, GET THIS BASS!
pros:
1. Lightweight and easy to play
2. Neck is perfect. nice and thin but still feels solid.
3. combination pick up system with independent volume controls allows for EXTREMELY versatile sound applications from metal to big band upright tones.
4. extended neck allows for some creative noodling.
5. aesthetically gorgeous.

cons:
1. While each of the 3 pick ups having their own volume control is great (see pro number 3), I personally would have preferred to also have an overall master volume nob on the instrument for on the fly adjustments to the overall volume in live applications.
2. I personally do not like the scooped jack on certain Ibanez basses, but that is just a personal preference that in no way impacts on the overall AWESOMENESS of this bass.

This bass has quickly jumped up to one of my all time favorites. If you you are looking for a light weight versatile fretless bass this is it.

I promised myself that one day I would pick up a fretless bass guitar. I got to play with this at the local music store and decided that this one is it. Months later I'm still discovering all the cool little nuances I can tweak out of it. The piezo pickup is a very nice add and lets you get some very expansive tones. The fret board is smooth as butter and glides beautifully.

There are real advantages to designing a fretless bass guitar over simply converting an existing model to fretless and marketing it as such.

The lined fingerboards are generally just the same boards pulled off the assembly line before the frets are installed and filled with some plastic sheet that tends to rise and fall as the wood expands and contracts, so there's seldom a completely smooth fingerboard. The nut is usually just the same nut used on the fretted version, so it's always way too high. Often there's a single action truss rod that's nearly impossible to get a flat fingerboard.

Ibanez has avoided all these pitfalls, and produced a very nice instrument at a very nice price, with some advanced features such as a piezo system and a 30 note fingerboard. It's an axe that a beginning fretless player can afford, but a professional wouldn't hesitate to use.

The only con for me is the battery box. It might have been nice to have the newer drop in type. Big deal. The option of ordering an ebony board would be nice, but the rosewood fingerboard is beautiful.

The range of sound available is a little overwhelming but honestly, it's all shades of good. Preamp is dead quiet and the piezo system is wonderful. Really, really great sounding. Bass plays a lot like he SR700 series IMO.Intonation is a little easier to hit vs other basses I've owned.

Honestly this is the first fretless I've owned that I could see using as a main player.

Wow, and she's a beauty as well. I ordered the SRF700 from Sweetwater with Brian Rick's assistance and have been extremely pleased with my purchase. I had been looking for a really good fretless that was in the right price range and had the features I wanted. I wanted the SRF705 at the time but that wasn't available. That's OK because I'm just getting to learn the 5 string. At 7.5 lbs, Bartolini's, 30 fret neck length, she plays so easily and the tone options give her a heavenly voice. I've given her the nickname of "Ida". Now I'm saving my money for the SRF705. Sweetwater's follow up on my purchase has been great. I have never had personalized service like that from GC or MF. All future purchases are going to be from Sweetwater. Thank you Sweetwater!!!

finally got it today! The Piezo/Aero bridge pickup is SO nice by itself, and subtly adding the Bartolinis instantly offers tonal options that I don't see exhausting anytime in the near or distant future. Fast neck, and a fretless growl that is monstrous! .Amazing tonal options for the price. This will be a hard one to put down. Thanks Sweetwater and Ibanez.