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Belated NBD - Sire M7 fretless 5 trans blue

#22
osonu said:
How would you describe the sound?
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Uhhh.... That's difficult. Flexible, of course. Not sure what other adjectives to use. I haven't done a direct comparison to my V7s, and even when I do, it won't be with identical strings.

The one thing I'll note (with these strings) is that the difference between the SC pickup settings and the parallel HB is fairly subtle, HB is slightly "thicker". However, switching to series HB is very noticeable - much thicker (as expected). Fatness incarnate, which is what I was expecting.

Also, the D'Addarios it came with are flats, I might leave them on for a while. I already lost the hang tag saying which type they are. I think the differences between pickup modes would be more obvious with brighter strings like the Ken Smith Compressors.

I didn't even practice for most of August so trying to get whatever little chops I had back before recording samples. ;)
 
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#25
another thing I've noticed: it's very quiet even with both pickups in the single coil position with the blend control all the way to one end or the other - I turned a noisy old fan on on the same circuit just to get some external noise going, still dead quiet. I wonder how they did that - perhaps improved shielding? Anyway, still a happy camper, I am enjoying playing this quite a bit. :) It is 35" scale, but it doesn't seem as noticeable a "stretch" as it does on some other basses.
 
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#28
Ender_rpm said:
How would you compare the HBs to say, G&L MFDs?
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I don't have G&L MFD humbuckers to compare against, anyone want to loan me one? :woot::roflmao: I have an SB1 with the P style MFD, I'll try to remember to compare against that.

I've got no complaints about the pickups thus far - to be honest, I think most of my observations about the tone thus far have more to do with the bass coming strung with flats, it's been a long while since I've played flats. I'll get some brighter strings on it sooner or later.
 
#32
FWIW, I kind of suspect I might be the first / only M7 fretless owner, because when I asked them back in February if they planned to offer the fretless option for the M7, they said they weren't. So I was pleasantly surprised to find they had added it to the web page when I went shopping! (Moral of the story - they actually listen to their customers - imagine that!)
:woot::bassist::hyper:
 
#33
Congrats on the bass.

Do you know if the fretboard on your bass has any type of treatment to resist wear from round wound strings? like epoxy, polyurethane, etc? I've noticed that on the demo videos of the fretless V7, the fretboards look pretty shiny under some light reflection.
 
#34
:thumbsdown:
s0707 said:
Congrats on the bass.

Do you know if the fretboard on your bass has any type of treatment to resist wear from round wound strings? like epoxy, polyurethane, etc? I've noticed that on the demo videos of the fretless V7, the fretboards look pretty shiny under some light reflection.
Click to expand...

I got my answer: I emailed Sire and they responded very quickly; they use (poly) urethane to protect the fretboard. Good news. I'm GAS'ing severely for an M7 fretless.:thumbsdown:
 
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#35
s0707 said:
:thumbsdown:

I got my answer: I emailed Sire and they responded very quickly; they use (poly) urethane to protect the fretboard. Good news. I'm GAS'ing severely for an M7 fretless.:thumbsdown:
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I couldn't have told you what they used, but it's definitely coated with something hard. My V7 fretless too. Thanks for confirming it's poly. Funny thing, I was thinking of updating this thread when I put some clips in the Sire club thread, but figured "why bother, nobody's interested in that old thread". ;)
 
#40
bholder said:
I finally made time to check out my newly arrived Sire M7. A few initial comments, pics when I get a chance.
  • Very light, I haven't weighed it yet, but I'd be shocked if it's more than 9 pounds.
  • Neck is thin front to back, side to side is narrowish at the nut and wider up high, like a typical J but less chunky
  • Back of the neck seems to have a "pre-matte" finish, not glossy or sticky - no Scotchbrite needed here!
  • Humbucking pickups sound great.
  • The parallel / series / single coil switching adds substantial flexibility
  • "Trans blue" is more like an aquaburst or teal burst - very nice - not what I expected, but very happy with it - if I'd seen this vs. an all-blue one, I would have chosen this.
  • Setup seem great out of the box. Might raise the pickups a smidge (new strings first though).
  • The pickup blend pot was a bit too tight at first, but got it moving smoothly after a few minutes.
  • I still don't care for the stock D'Addario XL strings, they have a "thin" sound to me
  • The 9v batteries that it came with are the expected not-so-great budget batteries. I'll use them for something else and put good ones in.
Summary: I love it, likely not a huge surprise.
That's all for now, more (and pics) soon.
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Thanks for the info. I checked with Sire and they said they put the same urethane finish on the M7s as on the V7s. However, from your pics, the fingerboard finish doesn't look glossy. Do you have that glossy finish, or is it more of a natural one?

Thanks.
 

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