I'm a Latin bass player who use to play a fretless upright years ago. Since my return to music, I've been playing mostly Christian music at Church. Playing a regular electric guitar was good enough when playing at Church, but when I played Latin music, I wasn't satisfied with the sound. Was looking for deep tones that was smooth but "punchy". Most electric guitarists today prefer playing "slap' bass with metallic strings and much treble. That's not me. The first bass guitar I tried was very versatile, but couldn't give me the sound I was looking for. After reviewing many YouTube videos, I opted to test the Ibanez SRH500F. Wow! The sound was very deep. And once I strung the La Bella nylon strings, I knew I had found my bass. Had to adjust the bridge height to eliminate some buzzing. But after that, it very much sounds like an upright. When I practice at my place, the windows rattle. That's what deep tones do. Once I play with the band, the guys will notice the difference

i bought both the fretted and fretless versions of this bass at the same time when they first came out. for me, the concept of a good-looking, semi-hollow, lightweight, piezo-only bass is a winner. unfortunately, the necks of BOTH basses warped after a couple years. i have about 50 basses, and they're kept in a climate-controlled environment; i haven't had any neck problems with any of my other basses except for ANOTHER ibanez (an SRF700) which also warped. i also have three ibanez SR800s from the 90s which are all great basses with no issues. at this point, i'm convinced that ibanez has given up on making musical instruments and now makes decorative wall hangings instead. when it comes to ibanez basses, buyer beware!

Looks great, sounds great, plays fantastic. The bass has a unique sound, so it's not going to be for everybody, but I love it in my folk band. This bass does not do funk well lol, but you wouldn't have bought this if funk was your main sound, anyhow. I've gotten many well-deserved compliments on how the bass looks, and anyone who's played it agrees that it feels great, too. One negative was that there was initially a slight imbalance between the string volumes (the D and G strings were a tad soft), but the ability to adjust that on the back allowed me to fix the issue myself. Very neat feature!

I really like this instrument. I am learning so much from it, the way you play it has so much more influence on the sound as compared to all the fretted basses I've owned... It is like a painter discovering a new array of colors to play with! I am very glad I went fretless. I will admit I thought I went over my head, that I bought something that I just could not make music with. However, after much practice and effort, I feel that my musical expression is greatly enhanced with this bass. At the price-point, it is a great choice to try out the fretless world without donating too much blood to pay for it.

Well, I got it in the mail yesterday, after a considerable wait. I've been waiting with baited breath for quite some time. Won't play above the 4th position on the fingerboard, and the G string pot is popping or dead. Mistakes happen, this time it happened to me.
Thank you to both the sales rep (Sean) and my Tech (sorry forgot his name) they worked to help diagnose the issue quickly and was very prompt in providing a path to resolution.
I hope to update this review once I get the replacement Bass.

I'm sure it is an outlier issue but felt that I should say something.

When it comes to fretless acoustic electric hollow basses this one is the best. Unlike the notable boutique brands it has several advantages; 1) a fully adjustable bridge 2) the piezo system is very responsive but not too "scratchy" sounding 3) the shape is perfect and well balanced 4) very smooth tuners 5) w/ flats and a bridge mute of your choice it has a very upright bass like tone and note "bloom" 6) the price for the build quality is way below others

This is the most responsive bass I've ever played. Every single tone at the touch of my fingers. It takes a little to get used to how sensitive to the touch this instrument is, but it's quite worth it.

My wonderful wife surprised me with this bass for xmas. I was blown away right from the start. It came set up from the factory nearly perfectly. I had to lower the saddle on the d string ever so slightly. Other than that it was perfect. It did come with D'addario flat wound light gauge strings. I am not a fan of light gauge strings so I swapped them out for a La Bella standard flat wound set. The original strings were nice, and had a mellow warm tone. The La Bella's gave the bass a little more presence, especially in the low end. I put a piece of foam under the bridge to lessen my attack and give it more thud. The playability was off the charts. The string spacing is similar to my fender jazz, and the neck is a little slimmer. The back of the neck was a nice slippery matte finish. Very fun and pleasurable to play. The tone was outstanding as well. Mwah for days even in the lower quadrants. Did I mention that the set up was spot on? I will say that the piezo system is very sensitive to right hand technique. It made me hyper aware of any discrepancies in my plucking. But, that just makes me a better bass player, right? Overall I would highly recommend this bass. There are dark lines, but they don't wrap over the edge so it is essentially like playing an unlined fretless. The dots on the edge of the neck are on the fretlines, and a good reference point. I learned on an unlined fretless, so for me this was kind of like coming home.

This is my favorite fretless. Plays great, sounds great, nice balance. My only complaint is that they could have put a veneer on the front and back, which would have upped its looks. As is, it has the appearance of a masonite Moserite.

I like the tone - more like an upright than a solid body electric. You need to adjust the truss rod just right to get than nice fretless buzz on the lower registers. Although I am a finger player, when used with a pick you can also get a bit of a Rickenbacker vibe.

I've spent three times as much for a decent bass, but this is the one I prefer - even with many sets where a fretted bass would seem preferable. For those not used to fretless, it may take some time to get the feel for the right positions at various points on the neck but it will teach you precision and well as some tricks for sliding up or down to a note that you can then translate to your fretted playing. As for me, I love the tone.

For the type of music I usually play (African / AfroCuban / fusion / blues) this bass does the job very nicely.

I've always wanted a fretless bass. The bass arrived very nicely packed in an enourmous box. It played beautifully right out of the box. The fretboard has the slots for frets filled with something like black epoxy - that turns out to be very helpful for finger placement. For a modestly priced instrument, the fit and finish is very nice.

Buy this bass. For the value it"s hard (if not impossible)to beat. I always put a stigma on Ibanez , even though I knew in my mind it was unfair... this purchase disproved my "doubts".. I look at it as if I were a muscle car gear head, and love my new Honda Civic or something...

Having great fun with the Ibanez SRH500F. First time fretless and flat string. I'm loving both the tone and fretless experience. Very light, well balanced, easy to play. It's becoming a favorite.

I am able to go from a VERY respectable upright tone to full on Mick Karn with this extremely versatile instrument. It's almost tennis racket light with an unbelievably comfortable neck and is easily one of the most comfortable guitars I've ever put on. It'a very attractive and the craftsmanship is on par for this price point. The guitar's performance exceeds the price point, however. As always, my sales rep Aaron Swaidner took great care of me, even through the slight delay from the factory. Well worth the wait!!

This is definitely a great instrument, it sounds great, looks cool and is probably the most comfortable bass overall that I've ever played.

A few things to consider - it's a little flat sounding, I would recommend running it with some reverb and an EQ pedal to get some texture in your sound; the tone knob goes from almost shrill to muffled very quickly so I wouldn't count on that. The dots on the neck take a second or two to get used to, they're set up on the fret lines instead of the center of the frets and the 12 fret dots are all kinds of confusing.

For the price I'm very happy with the instrument and can definitely get the upright sound I was hoping for.

This bass is very well designed. The fretboard is very smooth and combined with the D'addario Chromes give your fingers a very smooth feel.
Like some other semi hollow basses, this one does not have a magnetic pickup and that allows for an extra hollow tone since it has more air in the body.
What really makes the difference is the ability to setup individual volumes for each string, allowing for a much better volume balance through all frequencies.
I have to say that the guys at Sweetwater make a great job, making sure you get an instrument that you can play right out of the box without having to spend extra time and money having to set it up before it can be played.
The only downsides I've found in this bass so far, were at the neck to heel joint.
First, the surface at the heel joint was very rough finished and it was also painted with the rest of the body instead of being masked during the painting process for a better wood-to-wood contact.
Second, the shim they used to set up the neck was not made of wood, but instead they used a little rectangular piece of something like formica or plastic fiber.
All this flaws at the joint, make for a lower sustain and off course, if corrected, the tone of the instrument will be much improved.
Still, I think this is a superb instrument for the money, having a real warm acoustic tone with an awesome fretless feel.

Plays great! Love the way it sounds! Great warm tone!