Somewhat New Bass Squeeze

Summer of 2011, I picked up an Ibanez SR500 bass from this dude in the far reaches of Queens.  Simply an inspiring instrument.  First introduced in 1987, this bass has been a favorite among metal bassists.  I first became aware of this bass in or about 1990 at a gig somewhere Downtown -- maybe The Pyramid.  There was this dude in a Primus-like power trio playing one.  I was impressed by the dude's playing as well as his sound.  While one's "sound" or "feel" comes foremost from the player, the instrument is the physical conduit for the player's musical ideas and is the sound in space-time...er...reality.

Anyway, fast-forward to 2011.  I discovered this dude in Queens advertising the sale of the SR500 at a nice price.  Called him up and made the purchase.

Here's a picture.....

Torch's Ibanez  SR500

Besides having a killer & versatile sound, it's one handsome bass 

I still have my Carvin fretless bass, which has a wonderful vibe, sound and feel as well.  However, being fretless, it is harder to bash out that oily growl necessary for thrash-hardcore.  Frets somehow allow aggression to the max.  Additionally, the SR500 has active pickups with 3-band +/- EQ.  I do not know the frequency of the bands, but I'd like to do some research and find out.  If not, I could do some spectrum tests, but I'm lazy and have so little time with a bunch of more important tasks to attend to.

Bass wise, I feel complete with my present instruments.  I may decide to explore 6 string basses at the appropriate when I start doing prog rock again, but until at least the completion of the present album, I am very satisfied with my present instruments.  Rather ironic because I never had a bass while I was active in Falafel that I was particularly married to.  I had everything from a Sam Ash Dean bass that I bought new for $200 in 1988, to a vintage Rickenbacker which I occasionally borrowed from my old roommate at the time.

I'll get into my amplification chain another time.

Torch and Heavy Duty making some noise at The Ritz with GWAR on some July 4th Show.
Note that I'm sporting my roommate's Rick.  I liked its feel and neck, but the sound for me lacked low end balls and grind.  Punchy mids and highs, yes.  I know a lot of Heavy players favor them like Lemmy and Geddy, I prefer the Ibanez.

 Here's the Carvin: