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Congrats! I join the Sire family today, as well. My brand new V5 should be waiting for me when I get home from work tonight.
I'm not planning any mods right away. I've he heard so much positive be about Sires and want to give it a chance as-is, however, I wouldn't be surprised if I decide to put lightweight tuners on it. And I'm sure I'll install a set of nickel Lo Riders, Chromes, or Elixir Nanowebs on it,but I want to give the stock strings a chance first.
After that, who knows?
Good info, thanks!
Could be a while, communications are at the one e-mail a day level. Time diff I guess.
They offered me a $50 discount if I kept it, seemed silly considering the difference between fretless and fretted is real.
If this was Sweetwater a replacement would have been shipped already. No questions asked.
Might not be worthwhile to shop overseas unless you really have to.
Things just seem a bit more complicated due to distances and timezones.
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I had a similar issue with a P7 I bought from them with a bad pre amp. I bought a hard case at the same time that I wanted to keep, but they made me send it back as well, which I thought was weird but ok. The return process and scheduling an appointment with DHL, etc. was such a pain that I wish they would have just offered me a partial refund and I would have replaced the preamp on my own.
I was too slow to pull the trigger on a b-stock M7 fiver at a great discount, but I haven't been tempted by anything from Thomann since.
Hm, that's sad to hear. I had no issues with Thomann so far, including a guitar which had a defect jack that was repaired in quite short time. But of course they are a local seller for me, and I would be as cautious when purchasing from American distributors...
I decided to take a closer look at the guitar today, out of curiosity.
Frets are nothing like on my V5, these are sticking out just a bit and are very sharp.
Maybe the wood has shrunk a bit from all the travel?
Whole experience is pretty lame, it's obvious Thomann does not look inside the box of stuff they ship.
Quick color comparison between my 2007 Fender USA MMV in Shoreline gold and my new 2023 Sire V5 in Champagne Gold Metallic. The fretwork, bridge, and weight (9.5lbs) on the V5 are way better than the first gen v7 I owned about 5 years ago.
I will swap the tuners for Gotohs, and maybe drop in a Sadowsky VTC preamp if I can find a luthier that can add a side jack. The stock knobs look and feel cheap. Excellent value here, and I'm just a sucker for gold and silver finishes.
Any leads on a pearloid pickguard replacement? The Boston Musical Products pickguards seem to only be sold in Europe.
I will swap the tuners for Gotohs, and maybe drop in a Sadowsky VTC preamp if I can find a luthier that can add a side jack. The stock knobs look and feel cheap. Excellent value here, and I'm just a sucker for gold and silver finishes.
Any leads on a pearloid pickguard replacement? The Boston Musical Products pickguards seem to only be sold in Europe.
I'm pretty much a sucker for anything metallic. But if you like gold, I think the Firemist on Harley Benton's 25th Anniversary instruments is pretty fantastic!
Hey!
Are there any V8 owners out there that can give me a small review? I'm stuck between the V7 ash and the v8. Not sure how the 70s position comes into play, but the weights seem a little lighter on the V8.
Or does anyone have both and would do a comparison for me?
Thanks!
Are there any V8 owners out there that can give me a small review? I'm stuck between the V7 ash and the v8. Not sure how the 70s position comes into play, but the weights seem a little lighter on the V8.
Or does anyone have both and would do a comparison for me?
Thanks!
I've ordered a few replacement pickguards from Aliexpress for my V3. They are pretty well made, the screwholes and truss rod notch line up almost perfectly. Most vendors have a pretty wide selection of colors and materials.
I admit to being a bit confused about modding something like a V5.
Mine has no neck dive and I doubt changing out the bridge would do much to sound.
PU's certainly should be changed if they dont sound the way someone wants, but even stock ones are fine to my ears. I thought about (and asked about) that here but now that I played mine for a while I can enjoy the stock PU's.
Pretty great $500 Bass. Looks good too.
I avoided the word "upgrade" as to me that means something becomes better, and I'm not sure different hardware makes something like my V5 better as it works well already.
(I would think that building a parts Bass would be more flexible and make more sense financially than modding a $500 instrument that at the end of the day will still be worth $500?)
Mine has no neck dive and I doubt changing out the bridge would do much to sound.
PU's certainly should be changed if they dont sound the way someone wants, but even stock ones are fine to my ears. I thought about (and asked about) that here but now that I played mine for a while I can enjoy the stock PU's.
Pretty great $500 Bass. Looks good too.
I avoided the word "upgrade" as to me that means something becomes better, and I'm not sure different hardware makes something like my V5 better as it works well already.
(I would think that building a parts Bass would be more flexible and make more sense financially than modding a $500 instrument that at the end of the day will still be worth $500?)
I did change the pup in my P5 to a Geezer, but not because the stock one sounds bad in any way. I just like the Geezer better. Other than that I have no desire to change anything else about that bass.
I'm guessing the V7 ash is a 2nd gen? If so, the V8 is most definitely worth it. You get the new battery doors, edgeless fingerboard (more rolled than before), better fretwork (they've improved a bit IMO), roasted neck, hi mass bridge, AND the best part... you get the ridiculously good Sire case. It's like a mono bag, but included with the bass (and 60 bucks at Sweetwater!).
Thanks Lobster! Those are great points. The newer series of basses seem to have some great updates.
Hey there!
Could U tell us more about those pickguards?
When U say "almost perfectly" does it mean that U had to sand some? Or that some screw holes had to stay screwless maybe? Or that U had to drill new holes? How "almost perfectly" close to perfection?
Thaaaanks
One screw hole in the 11 o'clock/top left position was slightly off. Not off enough to drill a new hole, IMO, but off enough to make the screw go in at a slight angle. All the other screw holes were perfect. I'm not sure about the pickup hole because the ears/tabs on my pickups are below the pickguard, so I don't know if they're cut well or not. The only other issue I had was where the control plate met the notch in the pickguard. It would need a tiny bit of trimming. All 4 of the pickguards I bought from 3 different stores had the exact same issues, so they've obviously got a template or CAD file.
I didn't wind up keeping any of them because I didn't like any of the colors better than my factory black one against my V3's mahogany finish. I wouldn't hesitate to order another black one when this gets replaced or another color if I get a second Sire. I keep thinking about an ash V7 fiver I see on Reverb from time to time.
I looked a few months back and it looked like the only guards Aliexpress had were for 4 string basses. Is that still the case?One screw hole in the 11 o'clock/top left position was slightly off. Not off enough to drill a new hole, IMO, but off enough to make the screw go in at a slight angle. All the other screw holes were perfect. I'm not sure about the pickup hole because the ears/tabs on my pickups are below the pickguard, so I don't know if they're cut well or not. The only other issue I had was where the control plate met the notch in the pickguard. It would need a tiny bit of trimming. All 4 of the pickguards I bought from 3 different stores had the exact same issues, so they've obviously got a template or CAD file.
I didn't wind up keeping any of them because I didn't like any of the colors better than my factory black one against my V3's mahogany finish. I wouldn't hesitate to order another black one when this gets replaced or another color if I get a second Sire. I keep thinking about an ash V7 fiver I see on Reverb from time to time.
One screw hole in the 11 o'clock/top left position was slightly off. Not off enough to drill a new hole, IMO, but off enough to make the screw go in at a slight angle. All the other screw holes were perfect. I'm not sure about the pickup hole because the ears/tabs on my pickups are below the pickguard, so I don't know if they're cut well or not. The only other issue I had was where the control plate met the notch in the pickguard. It would need a tiny bit of trimming. All 4 of the pickguards I bought from 3 different stores had the exact same issues, so they've obviously got a template or CAD file.
I didn't wind up keeping any of them because I didn't like any of the colors better than my factory black one against my V3's mahogany finish. I wouldn't hesitate to order another black one when this gets replaced or another color if I get a second Sire. I keep thinking about an ash V7 fiver I see on Reverb from time to time.
Great thank U!
i have the sunburst version of Ur bass & was thinking of going towards the dark red/brown tort pickguard... Not so sure anymore...;0)
I could have sworn I saw some there before, but I just looked now and only saw 4 string.
