Naaaa. I have all the equipment I could ever want or need......... but Sires ARE really nice basses.
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Sire V7 - are they really THAT good?
- Thread starter SimonSays
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- fender sire v7 sire v7 vintage
Naaaa. I have all the equipment I could ever want or need......... but Sires ARE really nice basses.
I tried a used Sire V7 5 string for the first time yesterday at the Bass Shop here in Seattle. It was a really nice bass. The playability was great and the preamp is super versatile. I'm currently not in the market for a new bass but if I wanted a nice value priced jazz bass, I would snap this up in a heartbeat.
Bones
Bones
These tick off many on the list of things I like to see on a bass: Easy access to truss-rod, bone nut, string-thru option on bridge etc etc (none of those are deal breakers really on other basses...other than the truss rod access). But the thing that gives me pause is where the volume is...the small little knob on top of the main-tone pot. Guess it would be something you'd have to get used to, but would have rather seen this as a normal volume and put the master tone where the treble is. But that's just me.
One more question about the Sire's. Are their pick guards they're own thing? Or are they standard Fender sizes? On the Jazz models, can you just take the pick guard off like you used to be able to do on the Fenders, without all the routing and CNC holes exposed in them?
Fender used to make theirs like this first photo, where you can take the pick guard off and everything looked nice (well, except for the screw holes, but that wasn't a big deal to me). But as you can see in the second one, you can't do that anymore:
Fender used to make theirs like this first photo, where you can take the pick guard off and everything looked nice (well, except for the screw holes, but that wasn't a big deal to me). But as you can see in the second one, you can't do that anymore:
Not my pic, but I did this on mine when I first got it to see how it looked. It looks much nicer, in my opinion, but there's too much room in the neck pickup's routing, so it looks quite strange. I opted to put the pickguard back on.
https://images.talkbass.com/attachments/dsc_0004-jpg.622893/
I thought about waiting on the 2nd gen as I do like a larger radius fretboard, but the overall changes seemed insignificant for the price increase and Losing a super nice gig bag. All things being equal, it’s about a $100 increase. Looks like values on used V7s are stable.
The 1st gens are very good, and there are no doubt a lot of people who thought them terrific until there's something slightly improved, and suddenly the old ones just aren't good enough. It's mostly perception. It's not like the 1st gens (all 3 of mine are 1st) suddenly sound worse than they did before the announcement about the coming of Gen 2 came out. I thought about getting a gen 2, intrigued as I always am by the "latest thing", but I can't justify spending the money when I doubt it'll sound much if any better than what I have.
I have asked here if anyone who has both can compare the Gen 1 and Gen 2 basses, but no one has answered... maybe there arent a lot of people that have both yet.
I currently have a 1st gen 2018 V7 in black and am awaiting a 2nd gen v7 in black that will be here next week. I'm selling the 1st gen and another bass to cover the 2nd gen. For me it is the satin neck, pickups, and 9.5 radius that pushed me to this decision.
I love my 1st Gen, but a flatter radius is a big part of my playing enjoyment and I figure this alone will move the bass to my number one. 9.5" up to 12" radius fits my hands and/or playing technique much better and is worth the hassle of selling/swapping a few basses.
I also feel like all my basses with a flatter radius seem to set-up better or more to my preferences.
I'll post my thoughts next week!
I've owned a 1st gen V7 and a 1st gen V3. Both were exceptional instruments.
The V7 as compared to the Jazz Elite/Deluxe/whatever overdone name Fender uses for the model that most closely matches the V7 configuration, may fall a touch short in the "fit and finish" category (tuners not as high quality as the Fender MIA for example). But in my opinion, with a V7 in your arsenal, there is no need to hemorrhage almost $2k on the corresponding Fender. Both passive and active mode on the Sire sounds fantastic, is extremely versatile, and allow you to dial in most tones that you could want.
I never had any QC issues on mine, and both played wonderfully.
Conclusion- Yes, they ARE that good... to me and a lot of others. Go get your mitts on one and take it for a spin- I think you'll be impressed!
The V7 as compared to the Jazz Elite/Deluxe/whatever overdone name Fender uses for the model that most closely matches the V7 configuration, may fall a touch short in the "fit and finish" category (tuners not as high quality as the Fender MIA for example). But in my opinion, with a V7 in your arsenal, there is no need to hemorrhage almost $2k on the corresponding Fender. Both passive and active mode on the Sire sounds fantastic, is extremely versatile, and allow you to dial in most tones that you could want.
I never had any QC issues on mine, and both played wonderfully.
Conclusion- Yes, they ARE that good... to me and a lot of others. Go get your mitts on one and take it for a spin- I think you'll be impressed!
Just received my Ash V7 4 string (2nd generation) today! Very, very nice bass! Sounds great, feels great! The finish is beautiful and the hardware looks very solid. I paid the extra $50 for the gig bag and it's definitely worth the money. For me, out of the box setup was much higher than I like... but I got it down and not one fret buzz! Great job Sire!! Thanks!
I’ve played several Sires and I am really impressed with their quality. If they charged twice as much they would still be a good value.
I picked up a 1st Gen Sire in November or December through a trade. I seriously considered letting my DJ5 go because my V7 has so much tonal range. After some serious comparison, my DJ5 remains my champion. Lakland necks are second only to Pedulla and Sadowsky when it comes to feel. Since I have great amp, a SWR Silverado, I can get lots of tones out of my DJ5. The DJ5 also has a much better B string that my V7 although my V7’s good certainly good enough to hold down the low end lives and on recordings.
What the V7 does incredibly well is get a very Marcus Miller style tonewith little or no effort. I plan on keeping mine for the foreseeable future.
What the V7 does incredibly well is get a very Marcus Miller style tonewith little or no effort. I plan on keeping mine for the foreseeable future.
Makes me want to check out 2nd gen, but I can't see replacing my gen 1s! Hmmmm.....
I had to whip out my V7 yesterday because I felt like playing along Michael MacDonald’s “I Keep Forgetting,” and my Sire is the most active sounding bass I own (the original version features Louis Johnson on one of his Music Man Basses.) my Sire sounds great. I love the way Pedulla and Lakland play better, but my V7 holds it own when it comes to tone.
Just got a 2nd gen V7 vintage last week...
Wonderful
Wonderful
One of my favorite LJ tunes. Yes that Sire Preamp is really good.
