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New Sire U5 review and discussion thread

#41
I'm very interested in the new Sire U5! I have an Ibanez Mikro I absolutely fell in love with. I found that I can get various sounds out of the pickup using the volume and tone controls on the bass. I've grown to enjoy the short scale as much and maybe (?) more than a 34" of which I have six. Most are economy used basses but still set up to my liking.

I found one in inventory at Thomann's and I think, not sure, that they drop-ship to the U.S. If I order through Sire, it's a 4 month wait. And I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on the sale of three of my basses. I guess I'm experiencing GAS!
Here's a flipped picture to emulate the lefty:

Sire-U5-Bass-Burst.jpg
 
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#45
Great review, I appreciate the thoroughness. I just ordered one, all natural, because at 64 with arthritis, spinal stenosis, and a bad left shoulder joint I have returned to short scale basses for the low weight and ease of lower fret access. I've looked at the boutique ss basses but the price?!?!? Really? Currently I use a gibson sg 20th and a hofner icon beatle bass live (I added Steinberg strap hooks for better balance), and a squier vm 77 jazz 34" scale that weighs 7.3 lbs, but I wanted a ss fender style that already had the upper strap post at the 12th fret. At first I was looking at mustangs but I wanted 20 frets not 19, and I prefer passive basses. Having owned sire basses like the V7 and V3 i knew they were a great product but way too heavy for me. The 7 lbs. sounds great, and the vids I've seen tell me this is gonna be a go to live bass.
 
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#46
freshbass said:
Great review, I appreciate the thoroughness. I just ordered one, all natural, because at 64 with arthritis, spinal stenosis, and a bad left shoulder joint I have returned to short scale basses for the low weight and ease of lower fret access. I've looked at the boutique ss basses but the price?!?!? Really? Currently I use a gibson sg 20th and a hofner icon beatle bass live (I added Steinberg strap hooks for better balance), and a squier vm 77 jazz 34" scale that weighs 7.3 lbs, but I wanted a ss fender style that already had the upper strap post at the 12th fret. At first I was looking at mustangs but I wanted 20 frets not 19, and I prefer passive basses. Having owned sire basses like the V7 and V3 i knew they were a great product but way too heavy for me. The 7 lbs. sounds great, and the vids I've seen tell me this is gonna be a go to live bass.
Click to expand...

Do let me/us know what your thoughts and impressions are when it arrives. I like mine quite a bit. I've never had one this size- so now have 30", 32" 33", 34", and 35" scale basses.
 
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#47
I have mine for three weeks now and I love it, being a short fingered fella with mild carpal tunnel and a degenerative spinal condition, I had to loose the Stingray last year and go back to my jazz, I also picked up a Mustang but found it difficult to get on with tone wise (until I put GHS flats on it).

I can tell that the weight of the Jazz is becoming an issue, so I pre-ordered the U5, now, I have flirted briefly with Sire in the past but just couldn't get on with it (that stacked knob thing is a pain in the arse) but the U5 has won me over.

Very light, really into the versatility tone wise (surprising for an SS), there is a little neck dive (nowhere near as bad as a Mustang) but a decent strap sorts that, hardware is excellent, pick up's are pretty hot and it is superbly made, neck is a lttle beefier than a Mustang, still good for small hands and maybe better suited for 'normal' (!) sized hands.

I don't find the lack of contour on the back to be a problem at all, the edge on the top is the only downside, I suspect that it was a trade off, it really couldn't afford to loose any bodyweight as it would creat other issues, long sleeve shirt (or a toweling wrist band when I am wearing a t-shirt) takes care of that.

It is amazing value for money and will likely become my go to bass.
 
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#48
scott cuppello said:
I have mine for three weeks now and I love it, being a short fingered fella with mild carpal tunnel and a degenerative spinal condition, I had to loose the Stingray last year and go back to my jazz, I also picked up a Mustang but found it difficult to get on with tone wise (until I put GHS flats on it)...
Click to expand...

I agree with every word of what you wrote, as a short fingered fella it's the bass I'm picking up by default, without even thinking. I had to buy a decent strap, this isn't a bass suited to a slippy polyprop strap, and that top edge was annoying at first but I don't think about it now.

It's just so damn versatile tonally and a joy to play.
 
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#49
Love my Sire but got a question about the truss rod adjustment, on most Fenders the truss rod adjustment is at the the headstock end of the neck and on the Sire it is at the bottom of the neck, does this mean that I will have to turn it opposite to how I would turn the truss rod on a Fender?
To explain what I mean, on a Fender to tighten the truss rod I would insert the Allen key and turn it towards the bass E and A side and to loosen I would turn towards the treble D and G side.

On the Sire as the adjustment is at the other end of the neck does it work the other way around so to tighten I turn towards the D and G side ?
 
#50
shoulderpet said:
Love my Sire but got a question about the truss rod adjustment, on most Fenders the truss rod adjustment is at the the headstock end of the neck and on the Sire it is at the bottom of the neck, does this mean that I will have to turn it opposite to how I would turn the truss rod on a Fender?
To explain what I mean, on a Fender to tighten the truss rod I would insert the Allen key and turn it towards the bass E and A side and to loosen I would turn towards the treble D and G side.

On the Sire as the adjustment is at the other end of the neck does it work the other way around so to tighten I turn towards the D and G side ?
Click to expand...

On all basses I've had it's always clockwise to tighten the rod, irrespective of which end the adjustment is so you are right in terms of which way to turn relative to the strings. If you think in terms of clockwise to tighten, you can't go wrong.
 
#54
After reading this thread, I was expecting D'Addario strings when my U5 arrived today in Australia.
Not so, apparently. These are the tags I received on the bass.
Nickel rounds fairly similar to the D'Addarios supplied on my Gen#1 V9 and also with no silk binding like all my other strings have.
Plenty of images of red U5's in the thread so I won't post another.

Sire-U5-Tags.jpg
 
#55
number six said:
After reading this thread, I was expecting D'Addario strings when my U5 arrived today in Australia.
Not so, apparently. These are the tags I received on the bass.
Nickel rounds fairly similar to the D'Addarios supplied on my Gen#1 V9 and also with no silk binding like all my other strings have.
Plenty of images of red U5's in the thread so I won't post another.

View attachment 4058560
Click to expand...

That's interesting as when I contacted Sire over the problem with mine they were definitely using D'addario EXL220S. I guess the Ernie Ball are similar in feel and sound?
 
#56
alweeks said:
That's interesting as when I contacted Sire over the problem with mine they were definitely using D'addario EXL220S. I guess the Ernie Ball are similar in feel and sound?
Click to expand...
I use DR Sunbeams on my other basses so no expert on EB or D'Addarios.
One's a shorty and one's not, one's a maple board and one's ebony, one's a J and one's a P/J, so I can't compare apples with apples.
I didn't notice an extreme difference in tension and feel, not like flats when I swapped Sadowsky to TI and the TI's felt like noodles.
 
#59
ClusterFlux said:
Chicago Music Exchange has a page now for a fretless version of the U5, coming in February. I might have to pick one up.

I'm guessing that rolled edges probably doesn't matter as much with fretless. :D
Click to expand...

Let me know how you like it. I am wary of getting a short scale fretless (but enjoy my fretted U5 a lot), due to my experience buying (here on TB) a fretless Kala U Bass which is very short scale. I notieced right away that you need to be way more axact with a short scale fretless than a standard scale. Intonation was problematic on that fretless Kala. #0" is definitely longer than the Kala scale but it gets me thinking twice about fretless short scale.
 
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#60
I am now also a member of the growing Sire U5 Club. After years of a love-hate relationship with my first bass, an SX P/J hybrid, I came to realize that although there was nothing wrong with my professionally setup SX, I was just having a hard time learning to play it, with its long scale, and my short fingers. I am a retired fellow with several hobbies, and learning to play a bass guitar had dropped significantly on my “to do” list. My first modification out of the box was to string a set of tapewounds, to help address finger sensitivity issues, and the next thing I knew, I have now progressed more in my learning in the last two weeks than in the first ten years with my SX. Although I certainly am not qualified to offer a critical assessment of my new Sire U5, from a practical standpoint, I am delighted with my acquisition.
C017CD15-1EAA-4A62-95C4-AA84E83949B2.jpeg
 
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