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5 string bass: Sire vs Fender Player

K

KoalaBass

Aug 12, 2011
242
80
#1
Hi there, I soon might be venturing for the first time in the world of 5 string basses and I am looking for some opinions.

So far, I’ve been looking at the Sire basses (which offer many colors and configurations such as P, PJ or J bass) and the Fender Player ones, which are Jazzes only. Do you have experience with any of these? The Sires are in a 400-600 bucks range, the Fender is closer to 900-1000 (most likely will be ordering online from Europe). I don’t think I’ll gig a lot with that bass, more of a studio tool situation.
Is it worth getting the Fender? I have quite a few Fender 4s (MIA, MIJ and MIM), but never tried any from the player series. Or are the Sires a better deal? They get really nice reviews and have more options.

Open to other suggestions but would like to stay in that price range. Cheeers
 
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#2
In my humble opinion, the Sires are an amazing value for the money, especially if you stick to the V5/V7 range.

The player series are great too, but when I play them I have a hard time figuring out where the extra $500 went vs. the Sire.

The advantage of the Fender is that sourcing replacement parts and upgrades will be a breeze. Resale value will be much higher as well.

For clarity: are you in Europe or are you ordering from a European website?
 
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#6
Al Rivera said:
The Sire is a good choice, but don't buy the cheapest one.
Click to expand...

Not sure I agree with this. The one I bought (P5R five string) was the least expensive P type. I bought it because it did NOT include a J pickup or a preamp. The sound of the stock, passive P pickup is (IMHO) great. ymmv What it DID include were rolled neck edges and a roasted maple neck.
 
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#7
biguglyman said:
Not sure I agree with this. The one I bought (P5R five string) was the least expensive P type. I bought it because it did NOT include a J pickup or a preamp. The sound of the stock, passive P pickup is (IMHO) great. ymmv What it DID include were rolled neck edges and a roasted maple neck.
Click to expand...
I say this because I replaced the tuners and bridge on mine,now it's perfect! Congratulations on your new bass.
 

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#15
CoughSyrup said:
The player series are great too, but when I play them I have a hard time figuring out where the extra $500 went vs. the Sire.
Click to expand...
@KoalaBass this statement pretty much sums it up. I have the cheapest j bass (V3) and my only complaint out of the box is that the knobs are too close for me. I also dont like single coil noise. Others may not have that issue. I swapped the preamp to Audere and the pickups to bartolini and it's wonderful. I probably would have bought the passive version of the V3 if it was available at the time. If you're into more modern tones, the M series looks fantastic, and I believe LowendLobster has his sounding similar to MTD's super expensive one. So the M series seems to be a poor man's porche modern 5 string.

I'd buy Sire again easily. Rolled fretboard edges are great. Cheaper than Fender, and arguably same or greater value.
 
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#16
Something to think about as well, a G&L JB 5 or the JB2-5 string tribute basses.

I really like the necks on these. The tribute now are apparently very nice and no longer have the first series issues.

They also have the same pickups and bridges you would find on the American made ones.

Watch the review Videos and I think you may be surprised.

Clayton
 
#17
Is there a reason you are only considering these two brands? If your not in the middle of no where, especially if you are mostly looking for a 5 just for recording the odd thing, i would honestly go into a store and try out all the 5's they have. I havent been a 5 string player in forever minus songs that need it, so most of mine are 4's, so alot may have changed... but a "bad" B string used to be a pretty common thing on some basses where it isnt as responsive tonally with the pickups ect. THere was a purple MiM fender (this is over a decade ago) at a used store i went in to check out and it kinda sucked in terms of playability.

Another reason i would strongly suggest checking out whats available and trying everything thats there, 5 and 6 string basses tend to have very differing string spacing, and some have massive necks, or flatter necks. Especially if this is hiding away in a studio, so asthetics are at least less important to you, i would personally take this approach to come home with something that suits you.
 
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#18
tremor100 said:
Is there a reason you are only considering these two brands? If your not in the middle of no where, especially if you are mostly looking for a 5 just for recording the odd thing, i would honestly go into a store and try out all the 5's they have. I havent been a 5 string player in forever minus songs that need it, so most of mine are 4's, so alot may have changed... but a "bad" B string used to be a pretty common thing on some basses where it isnt as responsive tonally with the pickups ect. THere was a purple MiM fender (this is over a decade ago) at a used store i went in to check out and it kinda sucked in terms of playability.

Another reason i would strongly suggest checking out whats available and trying everything thats there, 5 and 6 string basses tend to have very differing string spacing, and some have massive necks, or flatter necks. Especially if this is hiding away in a studio, so asthetics are at least less important to you, i would personally take this approach to come home with something that suits you.
Click to expand...

Scale length can play in to B string behavior.

Of the Sire's, only the M series fivers are 35".

I have a M7 five string and the B is Beautiful.
 
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#19
Auer said:
Scale length can play in to B string behavior.

Of the Sire's, only the M series fivers are 35".

I have a M7 five string and the B is Beautiful.
Click to expand...


^^ this. I was going to comment on the scale length / string tension being a big factor for the "bad B" but i figured i would get called out and told to just get a thicker string gauge for the B which would increase the tension a bit :P. Either way the big thing for me is also the spacing.. some companies pretty much just add an extra 3/4" of fretboard and have a similar to a 4 string spacing, some only add a bit of board and crowd the strings a bit more. Neither is better or worse for the most part, but is defiantely something the OP will want to consider and keep in mind.
 
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