Fender Jazz Bass MIM vs Sire MM V7

[Malak the Mad]

If the MIM Fender is a Classic Series Jazz ('60s or '70s) I'd probably go with the Fender.

Classic Series is quite outside the budget. All things being the same the Sire is going to be the road of least resistance. Before I found the Sire my focus was a Squier VM of some ilk.

Funny that the Classic Series was mentioned. I was going to say…

If it were my money, I'd go with a Vintage Sire. It shares a lot of physical specs with the Classic '70s Jazz…a bass I owned and really, really dug…at about half the price. Plus, you get a very tweak-able preamp system along with it.

I'll admit that, as a strictly-passive guy, the preamp is kinda intimidating, but that's not necessarily a deal-breaker. If I couldn't wrap my brain around it, I could always disconnect it, rewire it to passive and I'll still have a bass with specs I prefer.

 

[jasonmatthews]

I'll admit that, as a strictly-passive guy, the preamp is kinda intimidating, but that's not necessarily a deal-breaker. If I couldn't wrap my brain around it, I could always disconnect it, rewire it to passive and I'll still have a bass with specs I prefer.

You'll learn to love it. On the Sire I almost always cut my bass/treble just a touch, and boost mid-high mids ever so slightly.

Though the preamp on the Sire is *really* sensitive, it's still really nice to have the mid-sweep. On my Bart preamps I usually have the 3-way mid-freq switch, but sometimes I'm like "damnit, around 650hz would be great to adjust right now."

But that said, the passive tone on the Sire is also really nice. So if you go that route you'll still sound killer!

 

[Zulujos]

Vintage Sire? Is there such a thing!

 

[jasonmatthews]

Vintage Sire? Is there such a thing!

The "vintage" version is 70's pickup spacing, vintage-style bridge.

"Regular" version is 60's pickup spacing, high-mass modern bridge.

 

[Obese Chess]

Sire. Back when MIMs were in the $350 range about ten years ago I would have voted for the MIM, but now that the MIM is priced near or higher than the Sire, it's a hard sell.

 

[Zulujos]

I see that the vintage is described as having a North American Alder body vs Alder, MM vintage pickups vs MM super Jazz pickups and of course the maple neck with black markers, which I have to say is not the most aesthetically pleasing aspect of the vintage. Though they do look good with the black body.

 

[nsw200]

My 2p (UK!) I just bought a Sire V3-5 string, to go with my USA Pro Precision and Vintage 'Jaco' fretless, and in the past I've owned a load of basses and guitars including G&L, Duesenberg, Yamaha, MIM & MIA Fender, Warwick and a 1979 USA fender jazz. The Sire is a fantastic bass let down only by the hardware. My current USA P-bass is the best instrument I've ever owned - with some ultralite tuners and a better bridge (currently on order) the Sire will be as good. Features like rolled fingerboard edges, carbon reinforced neck, the fantastic preamp and quality pickups are really impressive for the price - you could easily spend two grand and not get better. But the hardware does need replacing to get the absolute best from it. Compared to MIM Fender....hardware maybe not quite as good but fairly close, build quality better, pickups and preamp streets ahead, on the Site.