That’s exactly what you read: a 7-string bass where 4 are fretted and 3 are fretless. Weird, huh? According to Steve DiGiorgio it is weird. Read what he has to say:
“I tried to play this bass. It’s very alien, no one can master it first try. Besides the obvious aesthetic, it also requires a major brain twist. Which is also a credit to Franck for shredding on it in this demo from Ibanez Guitars.”
Ibanez SRAS7 Specs:
Neck type: SRAS7 7pc Maple/Purpleheart/Rosewood neck
Body: Poplar Burl/Ash top/Mahogany body
Fretboard: Purpleheart fretboard (fretless)/Rosewood fretboard (fretted)
Fret: Fretless (7th to 5th string)/Medium frets (4th to 1st string)
Number of frets: 22
Bridge: AeroSilk Mono-rail V bridge (fretless)/Mono-rail V bridge (fretted) (16mm string spacing)
Neck pickup: SRAS Super J neck pickup (fretted) (Passive)
Bridge pickup: SRAS Super J bridge pickup (fretted) (Passive)
Equaliser: Ibanez 2-band EQ (fretted)
Factory tuning: 1G, 2D, 3A, 4E, 5G, 6D, 7A
String gauge: .045/.065/.085/.105/.045/.065/.080
String: Flatwound strings (fretless)/Roundwound strings (fretted)
Hardware color: Black matte
The videos below explain it better – or not:
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!