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Sire Bass Club!

What color/wood combination do you own?

  • Bright Metallic Red/ Ash

    Votes: 17 1.6%

  • Bright Metallic Red/ Alder

    Votes: 33 3.2%

  • Natural/ Ash

    Votes: 173 16.7%

  • Sunburst/ Ash

    Votes: 104 10.0%

  • Sunburst/ Alder

    Votes: 165 15.9%

  • White/ Ash

    Votes: 86 8.3%

  • White/ Alder

    Votes: 122 11.7%

  • Black/ Alder

    Votes: 104 10.0%

  • M3

    Votes: 28 2.7%

  • M7

    Votes: 85 8.2%

  • I'm a heretic - I don't own one yet, but I'll see the light soon enough!

    Votes: 243 23.4%
  • Total voters
    1,039
  • Poll closed .
#19,401
Speaking of strings, I need help. The strings which came on the U5 are rough on my fingers, and have lots of string noise.
I use GHS Pressurewound Bronze exclusively for my six acoustic basses, and they are much nicer imo. I want good tone and sustain, without this string. Advice from the Sire crowd?
Thank you.

20231027_200356.jpg
 
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#19,402
Cullen G said:
Speaking of strings, I need help. The strings which came on the U5 are rough on my fingers, and have lots of string noise.
I use GHS Pressurewound Bronze exclusively for my six acoustic basses, and they are much nicer imo. I want good tone and sustain, without this string. Advice from the Sire crowd?
Thank you.

View attachment 5233610
Click to expand...
Had same experience with the strings on my U5. I just put a set of Ernie Ball Cobalt flatwound 45-105 gauge. Sounds good to me so far.
 
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#19,403
Cullen G said:
Speaking of strings, I need help. The strings which came on the U5 are rough on my fingers, and have lots of string noise.
I use GHS Pressurewound Bronze exclusively for my six acoustic basses, and they are much nicer imo. I want good tone and sustain, without this string. Advice from the Sire crowd?
Thank you.

View attachment 5233610
Click to expand...

well I have EHB cobalt flats on mine. Yes they are regular scale as the short scale strings won't fit (thru body) and they do wrap metal around the e string post. So far so good but that's generally not recommended.

on my fretless U5 I have labella white copper nylon wrapped flats. I think it was the beetle bass special size and the fit nicely and sound great.
 
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#19,404
Cullen G said:
Speaking of strings, I need help. The strings which came on the U5 are rough on my fingers, and have lots of string noise.
I use GHS Pressurewound Bronze exclusively for my six acoustic basses, and they are much nicer imo. I want good tone and sustain, without this string. Advice from the Sire crowd?
Thank you.

View attachment 5233610
Click to expand...

well I have EB cobalt flats on mine. Yes they are regular scale as the short scale strings won't fit (thru body) and they do wrap metal around the e string post. So far so good but that's generally not recommended.

on my fretless U5 I have labella white copper nylon wrapped flats. I think it was the beetle bass special size and the fit nicely and sound great.

if I have a problem with the EB flats, I'll switch them out for GHS pressurewounds.
 
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#19,405
I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Here are my second thoughts on the U5.

Yucky strings! They make a bright sounding bass, even brighter. Atrocious string noise.

It may be small, but it is also heavy! Maybe not in the big picture. But in the 30" scale world? A bit heavy. I'm currently using a heavy leather strap, and it helps the weight and slight neck dive some.

Why in $#&* didn't Sire give this bass a matching headstock, like on the mint color?

Although I do feel the bass is underpriced, I was surprised at just how much didn't come in the box! Maybe this is normal for electric basses. But my acoustic basses came with nice gig bags, owner's manuals, etc. The U5 comes with warranty card, standard Allen wrench, and packing materials .... okay.

Which brings me to these interesting ideas:
Sire slightly missed an opportunity, imo. With a roasted neck, matching headstock, and quality tuners, the "deluxe" option would have been awfully nice for an option! I'd pay the $200 more aaaaaaaallllll day long!
At the least, matching headstocks and smaller/lighter tuners (not necessarily expensive) should be standard, imo.

But, but, but .... How nice is the U5 really? It is nice enough to kill GAS! No joke. I'd decided if I liked the U5 enough that I'd buy a fretless Sire V10dx. Then I did a visual comparison... Same fit, finish, knobs, beauty, etc. The V5 bridge is slightly nicer, but still thin. The ONLY things it offers me over the U5 is a roasted neck and upgraded tuners ... for $1000 more. Uuuuhhh ... I am purchasing the same upgraded bridge for the U5 as I would for the V10dx. Leaving the tuners to upgrade for $80, and lack of a roasted neck. And lastly ... the abalone is beautiful! But not $920 beautiful. Not beautiful enough for me anyway.
Caveat: I am NOT a professional bass player. So the additional tuning/knobs features don't really affect my personal buying decisions.

So yeah ... The U5 is too nice for me to want a V10dx any longer. It's a GAS killer, and that is a high compliment!

Now, if I can just hear a video where the beautiful D5 doesn't sound so thin and bright! GAS attack again!!!! Aaaauuughhhh!!!
 
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#19,407
Okay. Good information to know. U5 is bright.
I just spoke with a GHS tech. He said their Pressurewound strings are exactly what I want. Says the goal is the same volume and sustain as round wound strings, but smooth on fingers and fretboards.
So the same philosophy as their acoustic style Bronze Pressurewound strings.
 
#19,411
Cullen G said:
Okay. Good information to know. U5 is bright.
I just spoke with a GHS tech. He said their Pressurewound strings are exactly what I want. Says the goal is the same volume and sustain as round wound strings, but smooth on fingers and fretboards.
So the same philosophy as their acoustic style Bronze Pressurewound strings.
Click to expand...
May i ask which specific pressurewounds were suggested for the U5? I love the feel of flats and am trying to see what options there are for my U5.
 
#19,419
I have been really wanted to get a fretless again, and with how much I like my fretted V7 Vintage, I've been looking primarily at Sires. HOWEVER, being a lefty and wanting a 5-string with active electronics really limits my choices with basses in-stock. Thomann has a few lefty 4-string V7 fretless basses, Anderton's has a V7 and M7 4 string fretless, and there's a 5 string V5 fretless on reverb with an absurd shipping cost (it's in the UK, I'm in the US), and that's about all I'm seeing out there at the moment.

Are there any other online or willing-to-ship dealers with decent inventory I should check out? I'm mostly looking for lefty V7 or M5/M7 5-strings.
 
#19,420
jimb213 said:
I have been really wanted to get a fretless again, and with how much I like my fretted V7 Vintage, I've been looking primarily at Sires. HOWEVER, being a lefty and wanting a 5-string with active electronics really limits my choices with basses in-stock. Thomann has a few lefty 4-string V7 fretless basses, Anderton's has a V7 and M7 4 string fretless, and there's a 5 string V5 fretless on reverb with an absurd shipping cost (it's in the UK, I'm in the US), and that's about all I'm seeing out there at the moment.

Are there any other online or willing-to-ship dealers with decent inventory I should check out? I'm mostly looking for lefty V7 or M5/M7 5-strings.
Click to expand...

Adirondack Guitars in Hudson's Falls NY specializes in lefty guitars/basses
Left Handed
Left-Handed Guitar, Bass and Pro Audio for the Southpaw Player.
Might be worth checking them out
 
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