Sire Bass Club!

[Plutonium244]

So I've been taking a break from this place for a long while, got a little too nuts for me for a bit. Do we have some M7 reviews on here yet? I think I'm going to be ordering one when the blue 5er is back in stock.

I see you found mine a few pages back, you may have come across another one or two in there as well. I have noticed that no publications have reviewed the M7 yet. There's a lot to like but my favorite 2 things are that the 35" scale gives a super nice B-string sound, and the switchable pickups are extremely useful, giving the bass a lot of versatility.

Welcome back, bholder!

 

[bholder]

I see you found mine a few pages back, you may have come across another one or two in there as well. I have noticed that no publications have reviewed the M7 yet. There's a lot to like but my favorite 2 things are that the 35" scale gives a super nice B-string sound, and the switchable pickups is extremely useful, giving the bass a lot of versatility.

Welcome back, bholder!

Thanks, yeah, I liked the sounds I was hearing from the series settings. Holy Fatness!

 

[jjk2007]

I decided I wanted to swap the pickguards on my V7 and the new V7 Vintage Series. Slight fit difference - the pickguard from the standard V7 is a bit too short for the Vintage Series (where it should meet the control plate). The pickguard from the new Vintage Series V7 is too long where it meets the control plate on my Standard V7.

I guess they use slightly different dimensions? I dunno. No worries though - gonna get a Tort one made for the Vintage Series V7, because I think it looks great with a Tort guard! Just wanted to let people know about the slight fit difference. What the heck, I may even rock it as-is (with this Tort guard) until I can get a new pg made for it.

Also - here is a partial snippet of a quick recording (my recording gear & skills suck by the way). I don't really have very good playback equipment. I hope it sounds decent through a set of headphones or desktop speakers. This was just a quick plug in & play aggressively rock(ish) kind of thing. There are so many more tones in the bass to be sure. In any case, I'm digging the new Vintage Series!!

Sounds great! I've got a buddy at my church who finally pulled the string on the 3 tone burst/maple neck vintage 4 string. He's chomping at the bit waiting for it to arrive. That 70's spacing really gives that nice punch to the sound.

 

[stingray69]

Sounds great! I've got a buddy at my church who finally pulled the string on the 3 tone burst/maple neck vintage 4 string. He's chomping at the bit waiting for it to arrive. That 70's spacing really gives that nice punch to the sound.

Thank you sir!

I really dig a 70's tone - it's not as "billowy" (if that's a word) as a 60's tone. For example, I find it more difficult to coax a soft, gentle note sometimes from a 70's spacing, to me they seem to come out sounding close to full volume and always tight/punchy. The notes have a much more immediate attack to them, I guess is what I'm trying to say. But that is also its strong point too. I love BOTH 60's & 70 spacing/tone. Two different animals, each with their own tonality strong points.

That's awesome news about your buddy picking one up - hopefully that means you'll be able to give it a thorough test drive!

 

[Basssid]

I got my new V7 Alder Red out on a gig last weekend and it sounded aweseome. It has punch, clarity and it looks hot in metallic red!
Though quite different than ma V7 Ash - a littler more gentle on the highs but I found it cutting through the mix better than the Ash. The mids seem more powerful to be.
But after all, it wasnt a clean comparison, since I used different strings on it and the action was set on a different height.
I'll upload a Video of the Alder model in 1-2 weeks.

 

[jjk2007]

Thank you sir!

I really dig a 70's tone - it's not as "billowy" (if that's a word) as a 60's tone. For example, I find it more difficult to coax a soft, gentle note sometimes from a 70's spacing, to me they seem to come out sounding close to full volume and always tight/punchy. The notes have a much more immediate attack to them, I guess is what I'm trying to say. But that is also its strong point too. I love BOTH 60's & 70 spacing/tone. Two different animals, each with their own tonality strong points.

That's awesome news about your buddy picking one up - hopefully that means you'll be able to give it a thorough test drive!

Agreed with the tonal differences. And yes, I'll definitely get my fair share of playing time on my buddy's vintage when it gets in.

 

[ursus]

Im curios to hear fr.o.m those that have both, is there is a big tonal/sounddifference between the original V7 ash maple with 60's spacing and the alder/maple with 70's spacing? Is IT possible to hear a differnce in a live setting. I prefer the alder/maple early 70's sound

 

[jlepre]

Here's a little video sample of me and my V7 5 in action. I was playing without FOH support in a huge room with my Genzler MG800 head and Fender Rumble V3 210 cab. I wasn't even past 10 o'clock on my master volume.

 

[chinjazz]

Here's 3 takes of my V7 5 Alder all passive.
All recorded on my iPhone - not great levels but at least it's audible:

 

[PortlandBass77]

The V7 Vintage Series arrived a couple of hours ago and I've been tweaking the truss rod and setting my action, letting things settle, playing, retweaking - you know how it goes. Getting pretty close to everything being stable and dialed into the ballpark of what I prefer.

First impressions - very good!! It's got that 70's tone in it!! Tight, punchy, wonderfully aggressive - makes me want to cue up tons of 70's rock & funk tunes and play all night! I just might, lol. But like I said, I still don't have things completely adjusted to what I'm used to with my standard V7, but getting very close now. Still not a fan of the stock strings though, lol. But they don't sound horrible either.

The quality is great as I was hoping it might be - very glad to see Sire's quality is consistently hitting the mark. This one is another made in Indonesia, like my other V7. Grabbed a few shots - I'll get some better ones over the weekend I'm sure. Back to more tweaking & listening:

Sweet bass! I'm still waiting for mine lol.... Do you mind answering the long anticipated question: satin or gloss finish for the neck?

 

[stingray69]

Sweet bass! I'm still waiting for mine lol.... Do you mind answering the long anticipated question: satin or gloss finish for the neck?

Oh yeah, I'm sorry - I forgot to comment on that. From what I can tell, I believe the finish is gloss. If there is a difference in thickness on the back of the neck, its minute enough to cause me trouble trying to pick up on any visual or feel differences when having them both right next to each other.

Now the fretboard itself is clearly satin finish - low gloss, low sheen. It's got just enough clear coat to protect it but it's definitely not one of these deals where it looks like it may as well have been dipped in a vat of clear coat.

But again, the back of the neck - pretty close to the standard v7 gloss. I would say close enough to make some people want to break out the steel wool or scotch brite pads.

 

[stingray69]

So I got to give the Sire Vintage V7 a spin tonight (and again tomorrow) at church this evening. I've played many times at this church with the Avioms, etc - very familiar with the usual sound levels, tonal qualities, etc. of everything involved. The v7 Vintage performed wonderfully - great tone! I was digging the punch and clarity, but I knew probably no one else was noticing too much.

However, the drummer this weekend (one of the best in the rotation of musicians) and whom I've played with many times with my standard V7 came up to me and said "Man, I can hear your bass really well tonight - did you change something"? At which point I pointed out the new v7 and told him about the 70's pickup spacing, etc. So, I guess that's some testament to there being a noticeable tone difference in the mix I suppose. Anyway, tonight was a blast and looking forward to doing it again a couple times tomorrow. Sorry for the poorly lit pics - these were taken afterwards when they had turned off most of the stage lights.

And the pics also remind me to wish a Happy & safe 4th of July weekend to all my fellow TB'ers.

 

[chinjazz]

I decided I wanted to swap the pickguards on my V7 and the new V7 Vintage Series. Slight fit difference - the pickguard from the standard V7 is a bit too short for the Vintage Series (where it should meet the control plate). The pickguard from the new Vintage Series V7 is too long where it meets the control plate on my Standard V7.

I guess they use slightly different dimensions? I dunno. No worries though - gonna get a Tort one made for the Vintage Series V7, because I think it looks great with a Tort guard! Just wanted to let people know about the slight fit difference. What the heck, I may even rock it as-is (with this Tort guard) until I can get a new pg made for it.

Also - here is a partial snippet of a quick recording (my recording gear & skills suck by the way). I don't really have very good playback equipment. I hope it sounds decent through a set of headphones or desktop speakers. This was just a quick plug in & play aggressively rock(ish) kind of thing. There are so many more tones in the bass to be sure. In any case, I'm digging the new Vintage Series!!

It does look great with the Tort guard! With the black it's kinda yin/yang-ish, and this looks more Vintage or it just pops more.

Nice throaty recording by the way. I gotta keep off this thread because I'll just want to buy a 3rd V7 (LOL).

 

[stingray69]

It does look great with the Tort guard! With the black it's kinda yin/yang-ish, and this looks more Vintage or it just pops more.

Nice throaty recording by the way. I gotta keep off this thread because I'll just want to buy a 3rd V7 (LOL).

Thank you sir. I agree - the black is cool and I'll probably have it off & on occasionally, but I typically go for a more old school vintage vibe.

+1 on the Vintage Series - I knew I wanted at least one more v7 eventually and almost bought one a while back, but when they announced the 70's spacing Vintage Series I knew that was gonna be the one for me. It's a wonderful counter point to the 60's spacing v7 instruments.

Very glad Sire is serious about listening to customer opinions & feedback as they stated the 70's spacing was an answer to volumes of customer requests for it. Hoping they finally bring about a P or PJ model for those waiting.

 

[ursus]

Ash or alder body on your Vintage V7?

 

[stingray69]

Ash or alder body on your Vintage V7?

I went with Alder bodies on both of my v7's.

 

[ursus]

Thats what consider too. I have a lefty ash WB 5-string, somewhat heavy 10,5 lbs. Do you know the weight of your alder basses? To me alder body with 70´s spacing and maple board is the perfect match.

 

[stingray69]

Thats what consider too. I have a lefty ash WB 5-string, somewhat heavy 10,5 lbs. Do you know the weight of your alder basses? To me alder body with 70´s spacing and maple board is the perfect match.

I don't have an accurate way of measuring their weights, but i would guess in the low 10lb area. I've certainly owned both heavier and lighter basses. But these are typical, average 5-string jazz weights, IMO.

I agree on the Alder/Maple - it's a great combo. Not exactly sure how i feel about what extent body woods affect tone, but i felt if there's any amount of substance to it, then Alder would probably be the most "neutral" tone choice for me and one that I'm much more familiar with than Ash.

 

[bholder]

Is anyone else having trouble getting to the Sire USA site? I just get a blank page and a warning that a malicious javascript has been blocked - looks to me like they've been hacked.

 

[jlepre]

Is anyone else having trouble getting to the Sire USA site? I just get a blank page and a warning that a malicious javascript has been blocked - looks to me like they've been hacked.

Works fine for me. Maybe YOU'VE been hacked.