Sire Bass Club!

[Jamarvic]

Owners......would you say that the fret work is average, above average or excellent? I'm pretty critical when it comes to well-seated and level frets and am curious....

Hey Quadzilla! I found the fret work on my V7 to be just a little better than average, all the frets seated well, although I did have a little buzz at the 15th fret on the A string.I like low action so I just went ahead and had the nut slots lowered and a fret level by 3rd coast guitar service.
Plays like buttah now

 

[bholder]

Owners......would you say that the fret work is average, above average or excellent? I'm pretty critical when it comes to well-seated and level frets and am curious....

I have not noticed any issues, but I'm also not one for ultra-low action where any such issues become more noticeable. I'd give mine above average to excellent, nothing to complain about yet. Except on the fretless, 'cause well, there are none. The fingerboard work is excellent, though.

 

[bholder]

Thanks spoon, I didn't ask for a club, but whatever. Just interested in user reports and such. Thank you, I'll check in later. Peace Kirk

You're not the first to mention it, we were just looking for an excuse basically.

 

[jim nolte]

Had a little fun with my v7 in passive mode the other night at practice. We're having to use a sub vocalist for a new years eve party so we're in the process of finding out what songs of ours work for him and which ones don't. We hacked our way through "Cumbersome" and I propped up my iPhone 6s on the amp and let er rip. Anyhow, for everyones amusement I put it on youtube and posted it here. Amp was a GK 400RB through one of the 1st gen Eden 410 cabs. All the filters were off, bass and treble were flat with a little boost to both the high and low mids and the boost circuit was around noon.

The fact that they have a great passive tone was a big selling point for me as I play a lot through headphones at home and my active only basses never sounded as good as my passive Jazz or Fbass in passive mode do through my old Tascam cd/headphone amp thingy, good finger style tone there. Jim

 

[chinjazz]

Wow, nice to see this thread growing! I'm now gassing for a 4 4TS Rosewood version!
Love that combo!

 

[stingray69]

The fact that they have a great passive tone was a big selling point for me as I play a lot through headphones at home and my active only basses never sounded as good as my passive Jazz or Fbass in passive mode do through my old Tascam cd/headphone amp thingy, good finger style tone there. Jim

Then you will really love the V7 - there is absolutely, precisely, zero difference between the passive mode and active mode (set flat). There isn't the slightest degree of any "baked in" tone when the preamp switch is engaged. Active mode in this case only takes a great sounding passive tone and lets you begin to sculpt to taste. I hope yours shows up soon!

 

[Temcat]

Anyone with a fretless V7 here? What are your experiences?

 

[bholder]

Anyone with a fretless V7 here? What are your experiences?

Yes, I have a fretless, posted pics several pages back. I like it a whole lot. I did take off the stock strings and put Ken Smith Compressors on to limit fingerboard wear, might try tapes as well.

 

[Temcat]

Yes, I have a fretless, posted pics several pages back. I like it a whole lot. I did take off the stock strings and put Ken Smith Compressors on to limit fingerboard wear, might try tapes as well.

I wonder about the versatility: Do the controls allow you to de-emphasize the fretlessness when needed and more or less play it like fretted (with proper technique, of course)?

 

[bholder]

Then you will really love the V7 - there is absolutely, precisely, zero difference between the passive mode and active mode (set flat). There isn't the slightest degree of any "baked in" tone when the preamp switch is engaged. Active mode in this case only takes a great sounding passive tone and lets you begin to sculpt to taste. I hope yours shows up soon!

On my fretted V7 and the M3, engaging the preamp gives just enough boost to tell which is which, I like that. On my fretless, they're dead even, I may tweak it to have a bit of a bump. But I agree, there is little or no difference between the passive tone and the active tone when the controls are at their center detentes. No "color" added until you start fiddling.

 

[bholder]

I wonder about the versatility: Do the controls allow you to de-emphasize the fretlessness when needed and more or less play it like fretted (with proper technique, of course)?

I've never tried such a thing, but I suppose toning down upper mids and highs might help hide the fretless "mwah" signature sound.
I tried it, yeah, it kind of works, bass bumped a bit, mids set high and cut, highs cut, playing carefully and plucking with a bit of nail to get a harder sound, yeah, very dub sounding, but you wouldn't really know it was a fretless listening. Not my favorite tone, but it masks the mwah right out.

 

[Charlie Blue]

Nbd. Sire v7-5

 

[bholder]

You'd think we'd all be sick of reading these silly gushing newbie reviews. I know I'm still not.

 

[dinodino]

Man... as the founder of this club, I am ashamed to say that I sold my alder V7 5 string a few months ago due to the weight and the fact that I was not used to a 5 string. Now coming back to this thread, and listening to youtube videos I really want to get back in with an Ash 4 string but everything is out of stock now sigh...

If one comes up on the Classifieds I might have to jump!

 

[Charlie Blue]

I have always played 4 string and I was concerened with the neck width but it fits like a glove.

 

[jim nolte]

Then you will really love the V7 - there is absolutely, precisely, zero difference between the passive mode and active mode (set flat). There isn't the slightest degree of any "baked in" tone when the preamp switch is engaged. Active mode in this case only takes a great sounding passive tone and lets you begin to sculpt to taste. I hope yours shows up soon!

And that's what I always felt a good pre-amp should do, just enhance the passive tone. Just heard from Mickey they are expecting another shipment from overseas Dec 15-16. It takes another week to get through customs so maybe start shipping out again right around Christmas. These are for the mid November orders. He said because of the delay I would get a free set of chrome knobs, a shirt, and a pair of pants. Well, no, not the pants. I have no idea how long of a delay there has to be to get the other goodies so don't quote me if you who are waiting just get a lump of coal with your bass. But I'm sure all will be happy, Mickey does things right! Jim

 

[jim nolte]

NBD!
Let me preface by saying I worked in a classical guitar luthiers shop for over 5 years that sold $10k guitars worldwide.
V7 5 string Alder Tabacco Burst.
First imppresions:
This is a $2000 plus bass
Fisish is perfect, zero defects.
Tabacco finish, very very little cherry
Frets are amazing and each fret is finished perfect.
Fretboard is excellant
Alder is two piece with beautiful grain
Black Knobs all smooth turning and clean
Chrome plate under knobs finished excellent.
Pickguard is tortoise and very beautiful blends.
The only negative: the pickguard is a little short in matching the chrome, about 3/16 on each side but very minor issue if at all.
Tuners feel good and solid
Nut is finished really nice.

The gig bag is the best I have seen on the market.
Neck brace with velcro flap about six inches long holds the neck tight and in place.

Pictures tomorrow since I am heading out the door to see Victor Wooten. I was actually leaving my home when UPS arrived. But there was no way I could have gone without looking at this bass.

Btw, the packing was excellent, plenty of peanuts and zero room for flopping around. I have packed many guitars and this is the best jon I have seen.

Overall: Holy Cow am I blown away by the quality for a $2000 bass, but the good news is I still have a $1500 in my pocket.

Charlie Blue

Very interested in seeing the finish as almost all the pictures I've seen show quite a bit of red in the sunburst. Which is okay as cherryburst has always been a favorite of mine and I ordered the exact same thing. Congrats, Jim

 

[stingray69]

On my fretted V7 and the M3, engaging the preamp gives just enough boost to tell which is which, I like that. On my fretless, they're dead even, I may tweak it to have a bit of a bump. But I agree, there is little or no difference between the passive tone and the active tone when the controls are at their center detentes. No "color" added until you start fiddling.

Mine seems set to exactly dead even. I cannot decipher a difference in tone or boost until i start adjusting the preamp in active mode. I've seen pics of the small blue trim pot inside the preamp control cavity, but luckily they seem to have nailed the perfect blend on mine. I won't be needing to make any adjustments to the trim setting.

 

[Charlie Blue]

If is a nice color.

 

[jim nolte]

You know, as I sit here I just realized I feel like a kid before Christmas for the first time in many, many years! It sounds weird but I actually do