TL;DR
Excellent value and pleasant GC experience resulting in a fun, nice-playing, great sounding bass.
I’ve been having a little low-grade GAS. for a 5-string for a while. And for a Stingray too. Last night I decided it was time to pull the trigger. Band’s doing a song that would be better with a 5, so I researched Sires last night. A locally owned shop where I bought my Aerodyne and got some other stuff has them and I like how they played when I checked them out before. So I head over ready to buy and they’re closed to take inventory. They’re usually open Sunday, but no dice today. So I called one of the local GCs that carries a few basses and they had this one. My price range was $350-700 or so and this one listed for $349, so I headed over. I took it off the wall and it was a buzz machine. Neck was flat, so I asked the tech to adjust the TR, and he quickly had it playable. 10 minutes or so to make sure the electronics work and the string spacing felt comfortable and I decided to bring it home. It had a couple of tiny buckle nicks on the back, so they knocked 15% off.
I got it home and plugged it into the WD800-SW115 rig to check it out. I couldn’t wait to play the B string, but it was a fart machine! Turned up the HPF at 3:00 and the gain WAY down, the B was a raspberry! Even with the active pad, it was just too much. The E was a little crusty too, although the other strings were ok. The ceramic bucker is really hot, so I lowered the pickup and raised the B string a hair and that cleaned it up perfectly. I went through a few songs off our set lists and felt surprisingly at home on it. String spacing is narrow, which is my preference, and the reason I sold my previous 5. And that B now sounds clear and fat though that rig!
Early review is that tamed, it’s a good combination of growl and punch, no mud from this bucker. Couple of frets need filing and a pick guard screw is stripped, but otherwise the fit and finish are above expectations. It feels good in my hands and I’m having fun playing it so far. It sounds good, strung with EB Slinky’s. Fairly flat fretboard radius. No significant dead spot about an hour in, we’ll see. I’m planning to play it pretty exclusively for the next few weeks or until I don’t have to think so hard. I’m happy to join the Five String Club!
Excellent value and pleasant GC experience resulting in a fun, nice-playing, great sounding bass.
I’ve been having a little low-grade GAS. for a 5-string for a while. And for a Stingray too. Last night I decided it was time to pull the trigger. Band’s doing a song that would be better with a 5, so I researched Sires last night. A locally owned shop where I bought my Aerodyne and got some other stuff has them and I like how they played when I checked them out before. So I head over ready to buy and they’re closed to take inventory. They’re usually open Sunday, but no dice today. So I called one of the local GCs that carries a few basses and they had this one. My price range was $350-700 or so and this one listed for $349, so I headed over. I took it off the wall and it was a buzz machine. Neck was flat, so I asked the tech to adjust the TR, and he quickly had it playable. 10 minutes or so to make sure the electronics work and the string spacing felt comfortable and I decided to bring it home. It had a couple of tiny buckle nicks on the back, so they knocked 15% off.
I got it home and plugged it into the WD800-SW115 rig to check it out. I couldn’t wait to play the B string, but it was a fart machine! Turned up the HPF at 3:00 and the gain WAY down, the B was a raspberry! Even with the active pad, it was just too much. The E was a little crusty too, although the other strings were ok. The ceramic bucker is really hot, so I lowered the pickup and raised the B string a hair and that cleaned it up perfectly. I went through a few songs off our set lists and felt surprisingly at home on it. String spacing is narrow, which is my preference, and the reason I sold my previous 5. And that B now sounds clear and fat though that rig!
Early review is that tamed, it’s a good combination of growl and punch, no mud from this bucker. Couple of frets need filing and a pick guard screw is stripped, but otherwise the fit and finish are above expectations. It feels good in my hands and I’m having fun playing it so far. It sounds good, strung with EB Slinky’s. Fairly flat fretboard radius. No significant dead spot about an hour in, we’ll see. I’m planning to play it pretty exclusively for the next few weeks or until I don’t have to think so hard. I’m happy to join the Five String Club!
