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Sure looks like it. I just picked up a new M7 5-string and I see it has a "2N" prefix in the serial number. The press release I quoted is over six years old so it appears that the "2N" designator still being used.
I'm sorry, I don't know. I haven't played a 1st Gen and can't speak of tham. I hope it works out and that they sound like you would want.
So, this is 1st gen, right?
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Are the pickups still good?
Yeah, I'm going to pass. I'd rather have the improved version but this is a third bass and I'm not paying that much for a 2nd gen M7.
Yeah.
Of course, the only person that can answer that second question for you, is you.
I didn't get my M7 to be my #1 (it's a 2nd gen), but for its flexibility. And it delivered that in spades!
I've modded my other two basses after modding every other one I've had, and I lost my taste for that. If this were a 2nd gen I might go for it, but it's a 1st gen.Yeah.
Of course, the only person that can answer that second question for you, is you.
I didn't get my M7 to be my #1 (it's a 2nd gen), but for its flexibility. And it delivered that in spades!
I think I'm going to go for a Ray34HH or maybe Sire Z7 instead. Both versatile and I won't need to mod the electronics.
I'm thinking of getting an m7 4-string. What are the best features of M7's? What don't you like like about them?
I barfed out initial thoughts about my new M7 5-string here last week:
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/sire-bass-club.1144219/page-1062#post-28880297
Latest info after playing again this weekend:
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/sire-bass-club.1144219/page-1062#post-28880297
Latest info after playing again this weekend:
- Midrange heavy sounding bass.
- Active sounds good and can dial in a sound quick. You will likely be dialing up the bass knob.
- Passive bass tone is wimpy. It works but needs larger range. May be a mod for it (cap replacement).
- Neck feels great to me. Not a lot of adjustment needed to get it right. Relief was bad out of the box.
- Fit and finish are better than I expected.
- Bass is solid. Electronics not so much.
- After two+ weeks I can say that the pots themselves are cheap. Wouldn't be a big prob but they are soldiered to the preamp board. I am to understand that Sire themselves do not replace pots but will replace the entire preamp.
- Stacked pots set crooked on the bass so both knobs do not turn independent of each other without modification. Fixable but poor design.
- Freatboard feels great
- No frets stabbing me so the rolled edge frets work well.
- Tuners are OK. I like a tighter gear ratio personally. The bass stays in tune reasonably well. No slips or constant turning of the gear to get to pitch.
- Many many different sounds out of this bass. Just not very bassy without preamp.
- OK sounding passive.
- Thin sounding single coils passive.
- Active humbucking is where this bass is best in my opinion.
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M7 necks are solid maple and M5 necks are laminated maple and mahogany. Is one better than the other?
I'm a sucker for figured woods and matching headstocks, but not at the expense of neck stability.
I'm a sucker for figured woods and matching headstocks, but not at the expense of neck stability.
Do you think this strap button being misaligned is going to cause problems? Look how it's different than the other ones.
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Pic from my new M7 G2 just purchased this month.
I do not see a problem with the strap lock mounting as far as how it is placed and if it is secure. It is mounted to go against the grain and in the alder wood and not between the maple veneer and alder. It seems to be a secure mounting too but, I don't use mine. I will be drilling a hole on the opposite horn likely this next week so I can also use a strap. I plan on following the same path and location that Sire did when mounting my strap button btw. That might screw up my right-handed friends but too bad.
I do not see a problem with the strap lock mounting as far as how it is placed and if it is secure. It is mounted to go against the grain and in the alder wood and not between the maple veneer and alder. It seems to be a secure mounting too but, I don't use mine. I will be drilling a hole on the opposite horn likely this next week so I can also use a strap. I plan on following the same path and location that Sire did when mounting my strap button btw. That might screw up my right-handed friends but too bad.
I gave up on trying to make my M7 sound any kind of good passive. I flipped over to active (make sure to mute first. Your speakers and everyone's ears will thank you) and I was able to make a useable noise pretty quickly. Working with the M7 passively I was forever tweaking pedals and amps for this one bass and it never really sounded like I felt it should.
Many times when I find a passive switch it doesn't mean the bass has a decent passive sound. This bass is just another one in a long line of them that sound like passive-ass under my fingers without a lot of manipulation. As always, YMMV
Many times when I find a passive switch it doesn't mean the bass has a decent passive sound. This bass is just another one in a long line of them that sound like passive-ass under my fingers without a lot of manipulation. As always, YMMV
Discovered that the pickup blend pot on my M7 also suffers from a short throw. Turn it just a smidge and the pickup selected is now fully selected. There is no blending of the pickups per se. It's either both full on or one full off. Lame as f.
One month in and this preamp is screaming to be replaced. Not because it sounds bad but because the pots and values used for the components are such garbage. Now I find that the blend effectively does not work. I'm pretty sure it is working as designed though. Just really comes off as a half-arsed design.
Add this to the dodgy pots that I had to fix out of the box and the passive tone that has two tones (it blends like the p/u blend. In other words it does not blend at all) it is adding up to a "Save your Money"-type of bass.
I didn't want to replace anything in this bass but it is not very well made electrically-speaking and is forcing me to consider replacing the preamp. Again, not because it sounds bad but because the quality is so very very cheap.
One month in and this preamp is screaming to be replaced. Not because it sounds bad but because the pots and values used for the components are such garbage. Now I find that the blend effectively does not work. I'm pretty sure it is working as designed though. Just really comes off as a half-arsed design.
Add this to the dodgy pots that I had to fix out of the box and the passive tone that has two tones (it blends like the p/u blend. In other words it does not blend at all) it is adding up to a "Save your Money"-type of bass.
I didn't want to replace anything in this bass but it is not very well made electrically-speaking and is forcing me to consider replacing the preamp. Again, not because it sounds bad but because the quality is so very very cheap.
This is very helpful because I've been seriously considering one of these, but I'm finished modding basses. One thing to be aware of (and I'm sure you are already) is that most "blend" pots act like neck/both/bridge switches, so this isn't as much a design failure but more of the usual. G&L ditched the whole "blend" knob in their L2XXX models with an actual neck/both/bridge switch! At the same time, even though I've installed very flexible Audere Audio preamps in my basses I rarely use the active blend knob. Maybe I'm not such a preamp guy after all.
Thank you for that info. Every bass I have ever played that has a blend pot that well, blends so I didn't know that this could be thing I still own a Lakeland, a Spector, & a Fender that all have blend pots that have a decent taper. Even the Fender Jazz lol (obvs not vvt).
I don't have a problem modding my equipment but I am sort of at the end of wanting to do that right now. Especially for something I bought brand new.
I'm going to see if I can return it and it has motivated me to get my Fender back on the bench despite the fact that I do not want to do any luthier work beyond a set up these days.
I'm at a spot where I want to get a third bass, but my current lineup of 2 can cover a lot of ground. I only play at church and don't record so nobody is going to hear my tone in any detailed way. I have an MM/J fiver where I can noiselessly choose either MM coil, and an MM/MM 4-string where I can noiselessly choose any coil for J and P tones. I thought an M7 might be somewhat different but I'm not sure.
The M7 has two humbuckers and either of them can be run parallel, series, or as singles. The singles used are the coils in the back by the bridge and the front coil closest to the neck. I dislike the passive sound of the singles but liked them with the preamp. The switching of the types of coils is noiseless but turning the preamp on or off could blow your speakers.
I DO like the neck and how it plays and how I can make it sound, however. It's just the quality of the electronics that are causing me issues. I'm glad I found out that they use that same preamp in other Sires so that pretty much ends that for me.
FWIW, the blend pots on my two V7s do certainly blend both pickups smoothly, the sound is different through the whole range, so it's way more than a three-way-switch... I don't own a M model but I would be surprised if this is different with the M models (and I think I have never heard anyone tell that, either). Could this be a defect of that particular instrument ?
I reached out to Sweetwater and my rep seems willing to help with this bass. However, I told them that I am going to work with it again tonight.
In other words, I am still on the fence about returning the M7.
In other words, I am still on the fence about returning the M7.
I did not return the M7. The quality of the preamp construction will always give me pause. However, the playability of the instrument is very good for me so I kept it.
Once I decided to keep it I gave it it's first proper setup. Prior to this there was not enough relief on the neck and B & E strings buzzed on the 3rd to 5th frets. I opened up the truss rod cover and loosened the strings. Seeing as I was not having to tighten the rod I gave it a slightly larger turn that I would normally. About a 1/3 turn was the distance that the hex wrench could turn without having to reset it. As it happens that was right on the money.
Set up was easy and with the extra frets I was able to test intonation at two octaves on each string. Now that I fixed its neck and back issues the M7 is much happier.
Once I decided to keep it I gave it it's first proper setup. Prior to this there was not enough relief on the neck and B & E strings buzzed on the 3rd to 5th frets. I opened up the truss rod cover and loosened the strings. Seeing as I was not having to tighten the rod I gave it a slightly larger turn that I would normally. About a 1/3 turn was the distance that the hex wrench could turn without having to reset it. As it happens that was right on the money.
Set up was easy and with the extra frets I was able to test intonation at two octaves on each string. Now that I fixed its neck and back issues the M7 is much happier.
