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Just pre-ordered the sire z3 on Sweetwater. I've always wanted a sire and a stingray with a modern neck so killed 2 birds with one stone.
Played my annual charity gig last night in a big room that was formerly a church built in the 1880's. Very big room and maybe 350 guests or so. I brought both my Lakland 44-94 and Sire V7 vintage basses. Both active, "J" kind of style basses. The fit and finish of the Lakland is clearly a major cut above. Fretwork, quality of the wood/materials, action is probably just slightly better, but think that is due to a single high fret on the Sire getting in the way. Had both basses dialed in with just a small bass and treble bump, and all the settings on the tone hammer bass head were basically flat.
I played a couple songs on the Lakland, but tone was very uneven. Not a great sound guy, and no effective compression applied by him.
Flipped to the Sire, and immediately was having a better time. The volume balance across strings, and across fretboard positions was much more even. I've been playing for more than 30 years and know how to setup an instrument for good balanced tone. But the sire just provided better, fuller energy for the set and was more enjoyable to play.
It's not a perfect bass, but it sounds good and plays good, and it continues to stand up against much more expensive instruments.
Cheers
I played a couple songs on the Lakland, but tone was very uneven. Not a great sound guy, and no effective compression applied by him.
Flipped to the Sire, and immediately was having a better time. The volume balance across strings, and across fretboard positions was much more even. I've been playing for more than 30 years and know how to setup an instrument for good balanced tone. But the sire just provided better, fuller energy for the set and was more enjoyable to play.
It's not a perfect bass, but it sounds good and plays good, and it continues to stand up against much more expensive instruments.
Cheers
I have two Sires (fretless V9 and a M5-5) and two SBMM Rays (Ray34 and a short scale) and I still pre-ordered a Z7 because I've been jonesing for a Ray with the HS configuration ever since I saw Santana live. Benny's HS Ray just sounds amazing. I know it won't sound quite like that (beyond just the vast, VAST difference in skill between me and Benny) but at that price it's too good a deal to pass up.
I was going to buy a ray34 this week. I went to go try one out at guitar center and I didn't like the neck. It was way too chunky for my taste. I was disappointed and didn't buy it. The next day I ran across a post about the new Z series from Sire and as soon as I saw it had a C shape neck with a 12 inch radius I bought it. It's exactly the specs I would want along with the nut width. That Z7 natural ash looks amazing. Enjoy!
Hello, a quick question for people more familiar with the Sire preamp. I have a P7. I put in a humbucker in place of the jazz pickup. Now when the selector knob is at either side, bass sounds as it should (musicman on one side, precision on the other), but the mixing doesn`t work. I`m getting weak signal, and a relatively tinny tone when around the middle. Does anyone know why that could be? I was expecting a strong mixture of both. Thanks.
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sounds from your description like you're out of phase. Perhaps try swapping your negative and positive leads on one pickup only and see if that does the trick. Is the humbucker in series or parallel?
Thank you for the input. Now to show off my ignorance on the topic: I wired the red and black wires (which are the hot output according to seymour duncan) to the middle arm (where the yellow wire was in the original setup), and I wired the green and white to the right hand side arm (where the black one was). The bare wire went to ground.
I`m not sure which ones I swap to swap the negative and the positive. Any help would be appreciated.
you have the humbucker in parallel. So if the humbucker sounds as it should solo, and only bad with the p pickup, then most likely out of phase. Swap the wires going to middle arm (red and black) and the side arm (green/white). Keep the colors together that you currently have together.
That should do it but I can't be 100% sure without looking at it.
OK. I think I've asked this question before but didn't get an answer I could hang my hat on. SO:
Does ANYONE know whether the Z-series bridge pickups are (will be) wired in parallel (like classic Stingrays) or in series? With the switch deleted, I'd like to know how it ships.
Does ANYONE know whether the Z-series bridge pickups are (will be) wired in parallel (like classic Stingrays) or in series? With the switch deleted, I'd like to know how it ships.
Worked like a charm. Thanks, I really appreciate it!!
I had everything out tinkering with it. Quick swapWell, THAT was quick!
A review on the humbucker switch:
Generally, I`m not to keen on such a big modification, but I was looking at the new Z series Sires, and thought about the number of months I have to wait and the number of dollars I have to spend in order to get my hands on a lefty version from somewhere, I decided that I`ll do a mod on my current P6 (P7 body with a P5 neck).
The J pickup was a little weak on it, and although it added a little punch to the precision sound, I generally ended up using a J-bass if I needed a little more kick. I thought this was a good opportunity to try something new.
Playing it (after help from mrperlokator (thanks), it adds just what I wanted. The precision and the humbucker together has a really fat, punchy sound, that has more mids to it than my J-bass. It is definitely a sound I was missing from the repertoire, I`m happy with the swap.
I`m guessing the Z-series Sires will have something similar.
Generally, I`m not to keen on such a big modification, but I was looking at the new Z series Sires, and thought about the number of months I have to wait and the number of dollars I have to spend in order to get my hands on a lefty version from somewhere, I decided that I`ll do a mod on my current P6 (P7 body with a P5 neck).
The J pickup was a little weak on it, and although it added a little punch to the precision sound, I generally ended up using a J-bass if I needed a little more kick. I thought this was a good opportunity to try something new.
Playing it (after help from mrperlokator (thanks
), it adds just what I wanted. The precision and the humbucker together has a really fat, punchy sound, that has more mids to it than my J-bass. It is definitely a sound I was missing from the repertoire, I`m happy with the swap. I`m guessing the Z-series Sires will have something similar.
Any interest in this here charmer? 2nd gen Alder. Knobs have been changed to black aluminum flatheads, all else stock. Even has the coveted M7 gig bag!
I searched and waited for this bass for SO long and was overjoyed when I finally got it, but despite numerous attempts (I REALLY wanted to love it) I simply have not bonded with it.
Hoping I don't regret this...
DM me and we'll talk. Mods, please dump this post if it breaks any rules.
I searched and waited for this bass for SO long and was overjoyed when I finally got it, but despite numerous attempts (I REALLY wanted to love it) I simply have not bonded with it.
Hoping I don't regret this...
DM me and we'll talk. Mods, please dump this post if it breaks any rules.
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I just had a new P5 delivered Wednesday . No pickup swap but did a full setup installing a set of Labella 760fs . My other P currently has Rotosound Swingbass 66 so I purchased this bass with my favorite flats in mind .
To my surprise I am debating whether a pickup swap is even necessary . It sounds and plays fantastic !
To my surprise I am debating whether a pickup swap is even necessary . It sounds and plays fantastic !
