I got a replacement pickguard for my four string V3P from Thomann. Had the V3P for two months now and still loving it. Fantastic tone and playability. I haven't played my Fenders since getting it. I haven't gigged it yet though. From past experience I know that basses that sound good at home don't always sound good at a gig. I have a gig next month. Fingers crossed.
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I got a replacement pickguard for my four string V3P from Thomann. Had the V3P for two months now and still loving it. Fantastic tone and playability. I haven't played my Fenders since getting it. I haven't gigged it yet though. From past experience I know that basses that sound good at home don't always sound good at a gig. I have a gig next month. Fingers crossed.
I have engineered speakers for almost 40 years. Resonance, vibrations, absorption and the transfer of these has been a field of study, along with aerodynamics and siesmology.
I "get" bass bridges. Some of the "tech" is simply incorrect too.
But it IS about getting high and consistent pressure from the string break point to the body.
Which leads me to the stock Sire bridge. After removing it, I realized it is better than Amazon bridges which look very similar for less than $15.
It is heavy. Maybe as heavy as some high mass bridges. The ridges for slight string adjustment side to side are a nice touch. But there's two issues. One is a workable, but poor design. The very design wants two screw tips per saddle to transfer all of the energy to the body. Not good for this purpose. In the photos you can see where they ground down the bottom of the bridge, where the stamp made channels on top for the screws. They didn't grind the bottom flat as you can see. But they left untouched places, and poorly ground other places. This makes a poor connection with the body, compared to a flat bottom.
Also where the screws touch have been shown with red. These are all that transfers the energy in this design. And lastly ... those screws. We studied screws and bolts a lot in college. They vibrate at a certain frequency, which changes with a lot of variables. These vibrations ARE transferred to the pickups, amp, and overall tone of your bass.
Aaaand I said all of this, to explain the next point. I lost the somewhat irritating, honky mid sound by changing to the Babicz bridge. It definitely shifted the tone of the bass lower and more solid sounding. Rhe tone comes through more pure. Less mid centric.
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None of my Sires have the multi-groove saddles. I get the idea, but it seems like it limits the area of contact between the string and the saddle. It seems like every time you string it you could end up in a different groove.
I noticed the bridge you looked at only has four screws securing it to the body. My two Sires are 5-stringers, but have seven screws holding it in place and both have thru-body stringing. I believe the way the bridge secures to the body is super important.
I really like Leo Fender's saddle lock bridge on my G&L L-2500. That bridge has a set screw on the side to lock all the saddles in place between the high mass walls (once you set the intonation). And it has a hooked flange on the bottom that embeds into the body of the guitar. That beast weighs 11 pounds, but it sustains for days. That bridge was one of his best creations.
I have engineered speakers for almost 40 years. Resonance, vibrations, absorption and the transfer of these has been a field of study, along with aerodynamics and siesmology.
I "get" bass bridges. Some of the "tech" is simply incorrect too.
But it IS about getting high and consistent pressure from the string break point to the body.
Which leads me to the stock Sire bridge. After removing it, I realized it is better than Amazon bridges which look very similar for less than $15.
It is heavy. Maybe as heavy as some high mass bridges. The ridges for slight string adjustment side to side are a nice touch. But there's two issues. One is a workable, but poor design. The very design wants two screw tips per saddle to transfer all of the energy to the body. Not good for this purpose. In the photos you can see where they ground down the bottom of the bridge, where the stamp made channels on top for the screws. They didn't grind the bottom flat as you can see. But they left untouched places, and poorly ground other places. This makes a poor connection with the body, compared to a flat bottom.
Also where the screws touch have been shown with red. These are all that transfers the energy in this design. And lastly ... those screws. We studied screws and bolts a lot in college. They vibrate at a certain frequency, which changes with a lot of variables. These vibrations ARE transferred to the pickups, amp, and overall tone of your bass.
Aaaand I said all of this, to explain the next point. I lost the somewhat irritating, honky mid sound by changing to the Babicz bridge. It definitely shifted the tone of the bass lower and more solid sounding. Rhe tone comes through more pure. Less mid centric.
View attachment 5246675
View attachment 5246676
View attachment 5246678
Could one borrow some accurizing technique from the firearms world? Glass bedding the bridge to the body?
They could. But it would be easier to sand the bridge flat on the bottom. You can see from my photos that they tried ... just poorly.
Awww. It's sweet how we're bridging the gap! 
This morning taught me I needed to trim down the bridge's E string spring. You can see what I cut off.
These photos show why the Babicz bridge works well. The bottom plate is flat and solid. And the saddles are a solid mass with a large flat bottom to mate with the bottom plate. The cam forces pressure down, forcing the large block of the saddle bottom against the bottom plate. So a huge contact area of pressure.
This morning taught me I needed to trim down the bridge's E string spring. You can see what I cut off.
These photos show why the Babicz bridge works well. The bottom plate is flat and solid. And the saddles are a solid mass with a large flat bottom to mate with the bottom plate. The cam forces pressure down, forcing the large block of the saddle bottom against the bottom plate. So a huge contact area of pressure.
It reminds me of the Allbridge Sire replacement. Very svelte design.
I apologize for the delay with recording the U5 bridge swap. I literally forgot the 9th was my birthday, and am just now getting back to the studio.
I will get it done.
I will get it done.
I'm curious why more people don't post about the v10. Is it that Sire seems hard to beat under $600, or is the v10 possibly over priced?
Just wanting to learn more about Sire as it pertains to this forum.
Just wanting to learn more about Sire as it pertains to this forum.
LoveThatBass
Supporting Member
I think for me at least I was willing to give them a try for around $600 and found those to be exceptionally better than most all others that price range. I also think most that spend over $1500 are looking for well known brand names. Having said this, the V10 is beautiful and now that I know Sire's quality I might Jump for a V-10 if it were no more than $1100 so yes I think they are a bit over priced
Chicago Music Exchange has a couple great deals going on Sire basses unfortunately they're still more than my budget at the moment.
Sire Marcus Miller V9 Swamp Ash/Quilted Maple 4-String Natural (2nd Gen)
Sire Marcus Miller P10 Alder 4-String Natural (2nd Gen)
Sire Marcus Miller V9 Swamp Ash/Quilted Maple 4-String Natural (2nd Gen)
Sire Marcus Miller P10 Alder 4-String Natural (2nd Gen)
OMG! Can someone please help me?
Is there a master list that explains all of the Sire bass model numbers, and how to understand it?
There's V basses, T basses, etc.
I understand the J, the P, the PJ, and even modern.
Then there's the models 3, 5, 7, 9, 10 etc ...
I'm soooooo lost!
Is there a master list that explains all of the Sire bass model numbers, and how to understand it?
There's V basses, T basses, etc.
I understand the J, the P, the PJ, and even modern.
Then there's the models 3, 5, 7, 9, 10 etc ...
I'm soooooo lost!
The V are Jazz basses. U are short scale. M are modern (think Stingray). P are PJ basses.
2/3 series are the low end models. 5 are passive. 7 are the high-end. 9/10 are premium (roasted necks and such).
For the V, they offer some as "Vintage" which affects the pickup placement.
An R at the end indicate rosewood fretboard.
J.Ja
I don't know what a T bass is, it's not on their website.
V= jazz
P = P
D = 50s precision, a body with carves like the P but with tele-like pickup, bridge, and headstock. These sound cool!
U5 - only one of these, a short scale jazz.
3 is their base model as in V3 or P3 etc.
A V3 is the base model active jazz bass.
A V3P is a passive base model jazz bass.
A V7 is the next step up active jazz bass, with the V5 being basically the passive version of the V7.
A V5R is a passive bass bass with rosewood fretboard.
This naming applies to the P series too, but not the D- only the one of those.
The 8's and up are all active and out of my price range so I quit paying attention. OK so are the 7s!
V= jazz
P = P
D = 50s precision, a body with carves like the P but with tele-like pickup, bridge, and headstock. These sound cool!
U5 - only one of these, a short scale jazz.
3 is their base model as in V3 or P3 etc.
A V3 is the base model active jazz bass.
A V3P is a passive base model jazz bass.
A V7 is the next step up active jazz bass, with the V5 being basically the passive version of the V7.
A V5R is a passive bass bass with rosewood fretboard.
This naming applies to the P series too, but not the D- only the one of those.
The 8's and up are all active and out of my price range so I quit paying attention. OK so are the 7s!
*Except* the M5 is active!
*All* the active basses have the exact same preamp, just packaged differently. The M5 and M7 have series/parallel/split switches for each pickup.
Thank you sooo much! The "V" being a Jazz bass is something that threw me off.
V series are jazz basses, P series are precision basses, M series are modern dual humbucker models, D series is 51' p-bass model, and the U series is the short scale P/J model.
The model numbers (2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10) indicate parts and features. As you go up the components are generally better and there are more refined details on the instrument; for the V5/V7 and P5/P7 the main difference is the 5 series is passive while the 7 is active. The letter after some model numbers indicate a difference from the other basses in the same model line. For those, a V3P is a passive version of the V3 jazz bass, a V5R or P5R have rosewood fingerboards instead of the roasted maple found on the V5 and P5, and the Vintage V7 models are jazz basses with 7.25" radius fingerboards instead of the 9.5" found on the other V7's.
LoveThatBass
Supporting Member
Yeah, I don't know why they made the M5 active and broke the pattern. I also think that having the 5's be passive, but *also* offering P's as passive, is confusing. While I appreciate the breadth of choice, I think after a point it just leads to analysis paralysis. Not to compare them too hard to Squire (their main competitor, at least for the 7's and below), but I can't help but note how much simpler Squire's product line is than Sire's.
Oh, and a ton of the Sire stuff is offered as fretless too which is even more choice!
I love the options, you can get exactly what you want with Sire if you dig through the catalog, but... it's overwhelming at the same time, to the point where the more you learn, the less it makes sense. Like why do the 5's have nicer necks than the 7's? Why can't the P's and M's get matching headstocks (or more colors)?
J.Ja
It was really easier some years ago with the smaller choice...
IMHO, the V5 is not simply a passive V7, it also has a roasted neck as feature whereas the V7 has not (but the V8 and V10/V10dx have).
The differences between P5 and P7 are even greater: P5/P5R have a chunkier roasted neck, whereas the P7 has a not roasted J-style neck and a PJ setup (like P8 and P10/P10).
So a higher number means "better" equipped/more features but not necessarily in every aspect.
BTW, there are T models, namely Telecaster-style guitars.
