Overall the Ibanez SR500E is a great bang for the buck. I generally play it in passive mode. Nothing against the electronics that come with this bass, passive is just a preference. Having worked in musical instrument retail for many years, I was afforded the luxury of putting hands on thousands of instruments. Ibanez basses always shine through.
The Bartolinis were a great move for Ibanez, as stock Ibanez bass pickups have always been a bit of a bummer in my opinion. Every bass I've ever owned ends up with a set of passive Bartolinis. While I don't usually engage the active electronics, they are quite useful for setting up a nice mid-scooped slap tone. The selectable three frequency mid control nicely facilitates cutting the mids I really don't want in a slap-pop tone. Flipping the active circuitry on and off is quick and easy due to the convenient placement of its switch. Furthermore, while in passive mode the treble pot acts as a tone control. Cool!
The Okoume body produces a tone similar to mahogany. There is a distinct emphasis on the mids and low mids giving a nice clarity and growl to notey and staccato passages when playing from the bridge pickup. The 5pc Jatoba/Walnut neck enhances this midrange quality. For me the neck is a bit spongy. Maple necks with a rosewood fingerboard are my preference. I am very particular concerning neck adjustment and I've found myself tweaking this neck frequently. However, the instrument is still getting acclimated to its new environment. That being said, I also often adjust my maple-neck basses.
All other features on this bass are quality; tuning keys, smooth pots, solid multi-tweak bridge and a tight recessed output jack. This bass will be getting a fret level and dress. That does not imply that the neck work is poor. Quite the opposite. The factory neck work is very good, but not quite in the excellent category. Of course this is not a $1500 plus instrument, and I've played plenty in that range that had subpar fret work. As a matter of fact, I've only owned two basses of which I didn't do some fret work. One was a custom Jazz bass built by Tetsuya Y. at Sunset Custom in L.A. and the other was a $3000 custom six string fretless by the same.
totally excellent bass, many tones available with the frequency switch and pickup selections on board, beautiful wood, slim ,super fast fret board, totally everything ibanez has to offer for an advanced bassist or any skill level,excellent quality at a a superb price .