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Sire V7 2nd Gen 2019 quality issues

vgru

vgru

Sep 24, 2019
14
8
#1
Anyone experiencing quality issues with newer batches of Sires, or did I just have a case of bad luck?

I just got a V7 5-stringer, and the first thing I noticed was the crazy buzz fret with open strings and on the lower frets, usually an indication of a tight truss rod. I noticed many reviews praising its good setup "out of the box", but anyway I went on to loosen the rod.

The A string still continued to buzz when pulled just a bit harder, although the spacing measured by holding the string down between 1st and 20th frets is noticeable, so the next thing I wanted to do is raise the action a bit.

And then the most ridiculous thing happened: the bloody input jack just stopped working! After several rounds of plugging/unplugging the cable, there is no contact (the cable works on the other bass I have).

So since it's new I have three options:
  1. get my money back,
  2. get a replacement V7,
  3. get something else (probably a MIM Fender Standard Jazz would be in this price range).

Should I consider this was a one-time mishap, or should a MIM Fender be a safer bet?
 
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#4
vgru said:
Anyone experiencing quality issues with newer batches of Sires, or did I just have a case of bad luck?

I just got a V7 5-stringer, and the first thing I noticed was the crazy buzz fret with open strings and on the lower frets, usually an indication of a tight truss rod. I noticed many reviews praising its good setup "out of the box", but anyway I went on to loosen the rod.

The A string still continued to buzz when pulled just a bit harder, although the spacing measured by holding the string down between 1st and 20th frets is noticeable, so the next thing I wanted to do is raise the action a bit.

And then the most ridiculous thing happened: the bloody input jack just stopped working! After several rounds of plugging/unplugging the cable, there is no contact (the cable works on the other bass I have).

So since it's new I have three options:
  1. get my money back,
  2. get a replacement V7,
  3. get something else (probably a MIM Fender Standard Jazz would be in this price range).

Should I consider this was a one-time mishap, or should a MIM Fender be a safer bet?
Click to expand...

Return and you will probably get a sweet Sire to replace it.
 
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#5
I have a Vv7 (fretless, 1st gen) a P7 (1st gen) and a M7 (2nd gen).

I wanted to get a V7 (2nd gen) just because, and ordered one not too long ago. Mine also had a terrible fret buzz with the D-string open. The reason was that the nut was filed down too much, I recon that the same thing happened to your bass. You can not fix that by tweaking it, and I suspect that there is this one guy at the factory in Indonesia that get this wrong. As I have some other Sire basses to compare with it is obvious to see with bare eyes that the nut was filed down too much.

I sent mine back the day after I got it and got my money back. If I were you I'd go for another Sire bass.
 
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#6
Peltor said:
The reason was that the nut was filed down too much, I recon that the same thing happened to your bass. You can not fix that by tweaking it, and I suspect that there is this one guy at the factory in Indonesia that get this wrong.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks, I actually already contacted the store and now I am waiting for the replacement. I am hoping to get it next week, hopefully without these issues! Apart from the buzz, the sound and playability are otherwise great!
 
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#7
Just reporting another case of the same thing here. Sire Marcus Miller V7, 2nd Gen - issue with the nut causing bad buzzing on open string (in my case the E).

Have contacted the supplier (Thomann) for a replacement. Otherwise a pretty lovely bass. Hopefully the replacement will not have this issue...
 
#8
Man, have times changed...
When I ran into a nut that was cut too deeply and caused some string buzz, I’d cut a tiny piece of paper and stick it in the string groove with a dab of crazy glue. If it was too much, gently file it down until it’s right.
These days you get a whole new bass...awesome!
 
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#9
I agree, times have changed... for better or worse, mail order is quite common now and you can't inspect the product before purchasing it. I'm sure none of us would buy and walk out a shop with a new bass that had a non-trivial issue like that. But I don't think you can expect someone to pay for a bass, then accept something that doesn't work, right? That seems odd...

Of course, if an older bass developed a problem then I would repair it (or get it repaired professionally in my case)... each to their own though, as long as we are all happy.
 
#10
Sadly I just purchased a v7 2nd gen directly from sire-usa.com and received it. After unboxing and setup I was immediately bothered by the crazy amount of fret buzz. I adjusted the neck and waited a day. It didn’t help. Using a fret rocker shows several high frets. Also a neck straight edge shows a gap on the first fret only, indicating a backward bend at the just that area. The truss rod had very little adjustment and only a little loosing felt like it was at the end of the threads. Sadly disappointed.
 
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#11
Brian Whitehead said:
Sadly I just purchased a v7 2nd gen directly from sire-usa.com and received it. After unboxing and setup I was immediately bothered by the crazy amount of fret buzz. I adjusted the neck and waited a day. It didn’t help. Using a fret rocker shows several high frets. Also a neck straight edge shows a gap on the first fret only, indicating a backward bend at the just that area. The truss rod had very little adjustment and only a little loosing felt like it was at the end of the threads. Sadly disappointed.
Click to expand...
My experience to. It is a cheap bass made in Indonesia and it shows. Lots of issues with my V7 but I got I really cheap so I fixed it my self but it is not as good as people says. It’s a bass for about 500$ and it shows. Its in the same price range as Yamaha TRBX and those are better. But the Sires really looks good. And after i levelled the frets and filed the nut and ser the bass up it plays great.
 
#13
Yes the Ibanez Premium vasses are great. I just mean that the manufacturers are saving a lot of money by letting their instruments being built in the factory in Indonesia. No problem with that. And the Sires are great but just not that great that many people say.
 
#14
I've had a bit of bad luck with the two Sire V7s I had.

Got a 1st generation 4 string (ash body, maple board). The first one I got had buzz between 3rd fret and the nut when fretting a note. Maybe nut cut too low. So got a second one that seemed better.

Terrible buzz and way high action. Amongst inspecting it, took the neck off and the pocket was really scruffy- lumps of paint and a ramp up to the inside of the pocket.

Sanded the pocket and got most of the ramp out. I guess it had a purpose as, afterwards, the saddles had to bottom out to get to a decent action. 2 shims later (Stewmac- .5deg was too much, so ended up with .25deg and about right).

A fret rocker also showed a few high frets (only did above the 12th, as I don't have a straight edge to really judge the rest well). I managed to get these spot levelled with sandpaper (the frets were uneven so not all of them had to come down) and fret erasers did the rest of it.

Result is a much better playing bass. One thing I note with the 4 string is that I have to adjust the truss rod regularly as the neck tends to travel a bit with different times of year. Not had to do that on any other guitar I have. Though I now also have some tatty neck screws to replace- they rounded very easily after the neck was off and on again. Buggered if I can find a replacement set for them- can find the same size and thread pitch, but any others I've found don't have the same thread spacing.

I also have a 5 string fretless V7. 2nd generation (alder and ebony). It's gorgeous. The only gripe with it (which I didn't click with for some time) is that the edges of the fingerboard are not rolled in any way (as advertised) so it feels like the edges are sharp when I pick the bass up, but it's barely noticeable when I play it. A bit of time with a razor and some wet and dry paper will sort these.

These are budget basses and you wouldn't expect the same level of attention to detail as with a high end, high cost instrument. However, the issues I had were a little disappointing. The state of the neck pocket on the 4 string was terrible.

On the whole though, Sire basses are fantastic and really do punch above their price bracket. I can see a P7 in my future and wondering if Sire will sell the new knobs they're now putting on the basses, as I can't stand the ones I have. That or I'll find some other round knobs to throw on them.

I would hope that over time QC issues will diminish- just about everything else is bang on with these basses. Experience and improvements at the factory and ongoing customer feedback will surely win the day.
 
#15
Just got mine a week ago, posted a review here the other day.

Mine had no issues, I've been playing for 40+ years and do the majority of my own work to my basses, short of dropping the saddles/string height to my taste and 1/4 turn tighter on the truss rod the bass plays like a dream.
Check out my review here if you'd like. I haven't seen many bad reviews on it yet really.
 
#16
Yeah, I'd contact customer support where ever you got it from and get those issues fixed. Sire has had a pretty good customer service rep since the early days, I hope they're keeping it up as they grow.
 
#17
I guess it's the luck of the draw (or the production line) because I bought a V7 last year and it was a mess -- I got bad wood, which my local bass tech confirmed. I boxed it up and shipped to California to the address listed for returns, which a quick Google Maps searched showed me was some guy's garage. They sent me a new one and it is pretty close to perfect.
 
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#18
Hey guys new here and new to The sire family.

I just got my first sire in the mail today. The bass is beautiful, the knobs feel sort of cheap but aside from that everything seems really good minus my one issue.

The frets are so sharp!!
I've had many basses new and used only had one bass with Frets this sharp it was left in a super dry room with a dehumidifier.

I'm not sure what getting that fixed would cost or if I should just contact sire. I'm a little worried I might get a fret buzz problem in return.....
 
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#20
I had three Sire jazz basses in my hands. All from Thomann. All set with action too low; just needed to loosen the truss rod and then set the bridge.
With one of them, the output jack got loosen in a while. Being experienced with this issue from other basses (especially including fenders), i tightened the loose jack before it could break the cable.
With my students, I'm trying to teach them the basics of bass maintenance. I think this ability did, is, and will be saving a lot of trouble to anyone.
 
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