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Advice needed - Ibanez SR300E or Sire M3?

OldFunBass

OldFunBass

Nov 5, 2016
477
918
Florida
#1
I have mainly been a Fender and Music Man player, but lately have been wanting to add a more "modern" style active bass for some variety. Ibanez has been popular for a long time, so I naturally looked into their lines. Since this is somewhat of an experiment for me, I would like to keep my budget in the $300 to $350 range (new). I have played several of the SR300E's at local GC's, and while the neck is a lot different than what I am used to, I really like how it feels and plays. Especially like how lightweight it is. And the tones are very interesting, lots of variety. I was about ready to pull the trigger on one when I started reading a lot about the Sire Marcus Miller M3. It seems like it is a similar style to the SR300E and might be an alternative to consider. However, I have never even seen a Sire in person and certainly never played one. I have listened to several videos of people demo'ing the M3, but it is hard to tell a whole lot from those. I would be ordering one based only on other peoples opinions, but there seems to be a lot of Sire fans out there who love them. I was wondering if anyone has played both the Sire M3 and the Ibanez SR300E, and if so how did they compare, both in feel and tone?
Thanks.
 
#3
bholder said:
I love my M3. If you were closer, I'd say come over and try it! :) Can't compare to the Ibby though. But yeah, Sire owners do tend to be a little gaga over them... ;)
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Thanks, I wish I could try it out. Just curious, did you play a Sire before you ordered yours or did you go off reviews? Obviously you are happy with your decision, just wondering how people are getting exposed to the brand with no apparent dealers in the US.
 
#4
I bought my M3 based on reviews here. Since it was so inexpensive, I wasn't really expecting to be blown away by it quite as much as I was, I was really rather shocked by it (I'll see if I can dig up my initial review post from back then). I have 3 more Sires now, (fretted V7 5, fretless V7 5, fretless M7 5), so I guess you could say I'm a "fanboi". I have a small herd of Ibbys too, though all older - nothing wrong with them, either, of course.
 
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#5
I'm usually a big Ibby guy, I've owned a few SR300s among my basses but not the newer version the SR300E. I don't own a Sire but I've heard nothing but good things about them especially for the price but it does seem to be a better option if matched with the SR300 (not a bad bass at all mind you) given your price range. It's probably one of the bass I would buy based off the reviews here on TB, I would take that risk as it's inexpensive. However you might have a harder decision to make as there's quite a jump in quality in the Ibanez models once you get to and above the SR500, I would say that's really the minimum model I would recommend but prices are above your budget brand new (used, maybe).

I'm tempted to buy a Sire myself but I'm set for now and don't see myself buying a bass in the near future.
 
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#6
And they are looking to develop a US retail presence, haven't heard how that's going. I ordered my first two from Thomann.de, and got the last 2 from Sire USA. Happy customer on all counts.
 
#7
bholder said:
I bought my M3 based on reviews here. Since it was so inexpensive, I wasn't really expecting to be blown away by it quite as much as I was, I was really rather shocked by it (I'll see if I can dig up my initial review post from back then). I have 3 more Sires now, (fretted V7 5, fretless V7 5, fretless M7 5), so I guess you could say I'm a "fanboi". I have a small herd of Ibbys too, though all older - nothing wrong with them, either, of course.
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Yes, Sire's seem to be wining fans everywhere. Mostly all good comments and reviews, not just here on TB but all across the internet. About the only negative remarks seem to be about either shipping issues or availability. Neither of which have anything to do with the instrument itself, of course.
 
#9
OldFunBass said:
Yes, Sire's seem to be wining fans everywhere. Mostly all good comments and reviews, not just here on TB but all across the internet. About the only negative remarks seem to be about either shipping issues or availability. Neither of which have anything to do with the instrument itself, of course.
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Yeah, they've had some difficulties scaling up to meet demand and predicting shipping times accurately, but they seem to be getting better at it. Someone just posted recently that they received theirs less than a week after ordering! Not sure that's typical though.
 
#10
Maxdusty said:
I'm usually a big Ibby guy, I've owned a few SR300s among my basses but not the newer version the SR300E. I don't own a Sire but I've heard nothing but good things about them especially for the price but it does seem to be a better option if matched with the SR300 (not a bad bass at all mind you) given your price range. It's probably one of the bass I would buy based off the reviews here on TB, I would take that risk as it's inexpensive. However you might have a harder decision to make as there's quite a jump in quality in the Ibanez models once you get to and above the SR500, I would say that's really the minimum model I would recommend but prices are above your budget brand new (used, maybe).

I'm tempted to buy a Sire myself but I'm set for now and don't see myself buying a bass in the near future.
Click to expand...
You are not the first person I have heard say that I should consider going up to the SR500 line. But it jumps from around $350 to $600, which is a little more than I wanted to spend. However, it seems like Ibby made some improvements when they came out with the 300E last year over the previous 300 line. However, I doubt this bass will leave the house, I really just want to play with some different tone possibilities.
 
#11
bholder said:
Yeah, they've had some difficulties scaling up to meet demand and predicting shipping times accurately, but they seem to be getting better at it. Someone just posted recently that they received theirs less than a week after ordering! Not sure that's typical though.
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The Sire USA site just lists the M3 as "out of stock" with no mention of availability. However, the Thomann site seems to have them in stock. Did you have any problems with shipping from them? How long did it take to receive, and what was their shipping charge (if you remember)?
 
#12
OldFunBass said:
The Sire USA site just lists the M3 as "out of stock" with no mention of availability. However, the Thomann site seems to have them in stock. Did you have any problems with shipping from them? How long did it take to receive, and what was their shipping charge (if you remember)?
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I had no problems with Thomann at all, I was nervous but I found their customer service excellent, good communications. I forget specifics, it was less than 2 weeks, closer to 1, I think, and shipping (and duty) charges were less than $50. I still feel almost guilty I got such a good deal on it. It's definitely their stripped down "entry level" instrument but still has plenty of bang for the buck (even now that prices have risen a bit).
 
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#13
bholder said:
I had no problems with Thomann at all, I was nervous but I found their customer service excellent, good communications. I forget specifics, it was less than 2 weeks, closer to 1, I think, and shipping (and duty) charges were less than $50. I still feel almost guilty I got such a good deal on it. It's definitely their stripped down "entry level" instrument but still has plenty of bang for the buck (even now that prices have risen a bit).
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Thanks for all the info, it has been very helpful. I appreciate it.
 
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#17
i really liked the old SR300 line, but i'm not actually sure if i've tried the new ones or not as i don't read all the info on each bass at the stores when i'm just messing around. big ibanez fan, though. i was going to buy an SR300 after trying out many at many stores - the only issue is that none had the neck relief dialed in (go figure), but that's easy enough to do. great sound, light body that's got nicely radiused edges for comfort. the only reason i didn't buy one is that i found a used SR500 for $200 at one of our local GCs.
 
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#18
OldFunBass said:
I have mainly been a Fender and Music Man player, but lately have been wanting to add a more "modern" style active bass for some variety. Ibanez has been popular for a long time, so I naturally looked into their lines. Since this is somewhat of an experiment for me, I would like to keep my budget in the $300 to $350 range (new). I have played several of the SR300E's at local GC's, and while the neck is a lot different than what I am used to, I really like how it feels and plays. Especially like how lightweight it is. And the tones are very interesting, lots of variety. I was about ready to pull the trigger on one when I started reading a lot about the Sire Marcus Miller M3. It seems like it is a similar style to the SR300E and might be an alternative to consider. However, I have never even seen a Sire in person and certainly never played one. I have listened to several videos of people demo'ing the M3, but it is hard to tell a whole lot from those. I would be ordering one based only on other peoples opinions, but there seems to be a lot of Sire fans out there who love them. I was wondering if anyone has played both the Sire M3 and the Ibanez SR300E, and if so how did they compare, both in feel and tone?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

They're so similar in value that's a tough call. The M3 probably has more tonal customizability with it's preamp options. The SRs tend to be a huge bang for the buck though all features considered like the woods and neck construction, fretwork, etc.
 
#19
pcake said:
i was going to buy an SR300 after trying out many at many stores - the only issue is that none had the neck relief dialed in (go figure), but that's easy enough to do. great sound, light body that's got nicely radiused edges for comfort. the only reason i didn't buy one is that i found a used SR500 for $200 at one of our local GCs.
Click to expand...

that was one of my biggest complaints about my two SR300 basses- the necks seem to require more frequent truss rod tweaking than my other basses (even compared to other Ibanez models I had at the time), if the temperature changes, the neck relief is more affected than other basses. I can understand if it was on one of them, but both? Both of my basses were first versions of the SR300 model, I think the one that followed that (with 5 knobs instead of four with one stacked) had far more stable necks, it went from 3 piece to a 5 piece neck. The newer SR300E also have the 5-piece necks.
 
#20
Maxdusty said:
that was one of my biggest complaints about my two SR300 basses- the necks seem to require more frequent truss rod tweaking than my other basses (even compared to other Ibanez models I had at the time), if the temperature changes, the neck relief is more affected than other basses. I can understand if it was on one of them, but both? Both of my basses were first versions of the SR300 model, I think the one that followed that (with 5 knobs instead of four with one stacked) had far more stable necks, it went from 3 piece to a 5 piece neck. The newer SR300E also have the 5-piece necks.
Click to expand...

i talked to GC employees and they all came from the factory with no neck relief and no one bothered to adjust them. they seemed pretty stable, just poorly adjusted, but on the other hand we don't have any big temperature swings in los angeles, and even less inside GCs.
 

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