NBD regrets?

[Bass-Babe]

You got GAS'd ....

 

[db59]

Apples to box of nails

 

[pjbassist]

I know for myself, that if I find a flaw or in some way a bass doesn't float my boat, its gone! Life is too short for regrets and doubt...take that bad boy back!

 

[Shoreline Gold]

Um... is it the one with the sticker affixed?

Yeah, that's an easy fix. Remove the sticker...I'm sure it will sound better immediately.

No thanks necessary.

 

[Ricky Caboverde]

It’s a simple fix if the bass plays and feels good to you. Pickups or a new preamp will fix up the sound. Easy peasy

 

[kev451]

View attachment 5030061 View attachment 5030061 Picked up a bass on a major whim today. Been eyeing something like this for a long time. Tried it out in the store and I was actually pretty blown away by a really nicely put together instrument. Sounded really good, and playability was pretty darn close to my main player which is about 5x’s more expensive.

Bring it home and the sound is not really what I was thinking I was getting. The dreaded music store experience kind of masked what I was hearing. Plugged into my DI box and studio monitors, and this new bass was not nearly as refined as my main player. It’s not a fair comparison, and I wasn’t expecting it to be, but it’s quite a bit less refined that I though it was in the store, and less so than what I was hoping for.

It’s a very pretty instrument though, and sets up beautifully. I’ll probably try out my standard set of preferred string (fat beams) and see how that works. If that helps a little bit I’m sure I’ll hang onto this one and maybe swap up pickups or electronics sometime in the future. Great bass for the money, just was slightly fooled into thinking it was even another level up from what I think it actually is. Music store show room is where nuance goes to die.
Cheers!

Thing is you may have differing types of woods and different types of pickups. As well as the build of the basses. You will have to adjust EQ settings on whatever gear you use. But Sire Basses are actually very good basses.

 

[retslock]

You own a pretty high end bass already so there’s no point comparing the cheaper bass to it. Given that it cost a lot less, if it feels nice I’d put a set of Nordstrands or Fralins in it and play on.

 

[3bc]

OP, you've been playing one bass for a long time and your ears/brain have gotten used to that sound. Maybe give the new bass a little more time before giving up on it.

When I practice by myself at home I rotate basses. I'll play one for a few days, then another, etc. I find that often when switching I don't like the sound of the bass I just picked because I'm still subconsciously comparing it to the one I played previously. But after I've played it for a while it sounds better.

Psychacoustics - maybe that's what you're dealing with.

Very true, could be that. My other favorite bass is a Lakland P bass. When I bounce back and forth between the 44-94 and the P, there's no adjustment. They're such different animals, one an active j style sort of, and the other a passive P with flats. I fall right into and dig it's sound. I'm trying to project a sound on this, or at least some characteristics of sound, which is not particularly fair.

The sound coming out of the sire just feels a little clumsy by comparison. I'm sure when I spend a little more time with the preamp, and maybe get more accustomed to the bass itself maybe my technique on this is clumsy compared to the basses I'm used to. The sound coming out of my Lakland can be as tight as a marching snare drum with a kevlar head when I want/need it. This sire feels oddly resonant, and not like the bass itself, but the electronics.

What were you looking to get out of a budget bass that your Lakland can't do? I think Sire makes great basses but I wouldn't get one that overlaps with my #1 or #2, it would have to be in a totally different ballpark

My goals:

1. Jazz bass config with two j pickups, and slender jazz neck
2. Preferably active/passive option
3. Inexpensive so I can beat around without too much worry
4. Small frets. Lakland uses very small frets, maybe just slightly bigger than mando frets. Fender medium and/or jumbo frets feel like giant speed bumps to me.

The sire actually checks all those boxes. I’ve always wanted a sadowsky but never could bring myself to spend 6k on a FSO. Maybe I’ll grab a set of sadowsky pickups and electronics and drop it in. It does play and set up quite well, probably be a pretty killer bass for $1k at that point.

now that I think about it, that would make a really fun shootout. Record a few tracks with the stock sire, re record the same thing with sadowsky electronics in the same bass and compare.

 

[2thAche]

Very true, could be that. My other favorite bass is a Lakland P bass. When I bounce back and forth between the 44-94 and the P, there's no adjustment. They're such different animals, one an active j style sort of, and the other a passive P with flats. I fall right into and dig it's sound. I'm trying to project a sound on this, or at least some characteristics of sound, which is not particularly fair.

The sound coming out of the sire just feels a little clumsy by comparison. I'm sure when I spend a little more time with the preamp, and maybe get more accustomed to the bass itself maybe my technique on this is clumsy compared to the basses I'm used to. The sound coming out of my Lakland can be as tight as a marching snare drum with a kevlar head when I want/need it. This sire feels oddly resonant, and not like the bass itself, but the electronics.

My goals:

1. Jazz bass config with two j pickups, and slender jazz neck
2. Preferably active/passive option
3. Inexpensive so I can beat around without too much worry
4. Small frets. Lakland uses very small frets, maybe just slightly bigger than mando frets. Fender medium and/or jumbo frets feel like giant speed bumps to me.

The sire actually checks all those boxes. I’ve always wanted a sadowsky but never could bring myself to spend 6k on a FSO. Maybe I’ll grab a set of sadowsky pickups and electronics and drop it in. It does play and set up quite well, probably be a pretty killer bass for $1k at that point.

now that I think about it, that would make a really fun shootout. Record a few tracks with the stock sire, re record the same thing with sadowsky electronics in the same bass and compare.

Japanese Sadowsky. Done.

 

[TrevorG]

I honestly think most basses sound great until you play them along side something better. Even now, if I sit with my Fender Jazz long enough, I'll think, "why did I buy that Spector? This Jazz does it all". Then I go downstairs, pick up the Spector and question my sanity.

 

[andare]

A bass sounds different through a different rig, I'm sure you knew that.
Refined, tight, I don't know what these words mean to you.
Have you tried the bass on stage/in a recording, like it's intended to be used? Have you tried different strings?
Most importantly, have you given yourself a few weeks to live with it and discover what it can do for you?

 

[bobyoung53]

The bridge is an instant clue that it's a Lakland

I'm not that well versed on them. I've never even tried one, have heard good things about them though.

 

[vindibona1]

I had recently purchased an Ibanez SRSC 805 from SW, thinking a beautiful single 5 string cut-away was what I was looking for. The thing came. Horrific hum. Out of balance. Went back in the box 20 minutes after unpacking. Physically it was beautifuls. But $1200 was just too much for less than mediocre. I have to other Ibbies which wre much better (on a Gio 6).

A few days later spontaneously bought a Sandberg, 3.5x the price of the SRSC. Well worth every penny. See current avatar.

Other than that I really haven't had any disappointments.

 

[3bc]

I'm not that well versed on them. I've never even tried one, have heard good things about them though.

Great basses and very unique looking bridge to be sure.

 

[3bc]

I honestly think most basses sound great until you play them along side something better. Even now, if I sit with my Fender Jazz long enough, I'll think, "why did I buy that Spector? This Jazz does it all". Then I go downstairs, pick up the Spector and question my sanity.

Truth!

 

[3bc]

I finally had about 45 minutes to sit down with it this morning and give it some more attention. I changed the strings to my preferred fat beams and that made a surprisingly major difference. I always attribute maybe 5% of the tone to the strings and the rest to the pickups, and maybe 5% to the choice of materials. With something like a Warwick with big brass frets and exotic woods, maybe the materials make a bigger difference than that.

Change of strings was a major difference, especially noted in the passive setting.

One other small change with a major change on the sound was dialing the tone control down by about 5-10%. I didn't realize that was doing anything in it's active setting, I was only messing with it on passive mode, mostly leaving it pegged. But everything flat on active setting, minus about 5-10% down on the tone, and hey hey, sounding pretty great TBH.

 

[MarkM13]

Set it up with entirely different strings and use to create a different sonic pallet than the Lakeland. If it has Fatbeams, then put flats or tapes on the Sire.

 

[Bright Midnight]

American Standard Precision. It sounded lifeless and dull, other than that it was well made. Sold it pretty soon afterward.