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'Sire V7' Keep The Preamp-Change The Pickups

#4
mustBmtd said:
Has anyone dealt, with this situation yet. With your own Sire. I love the preamp layout. Just considering what I'm use to with other pickups. Nordys, Aguilar, sometimes EMG'S. What's your opinions.
Click to expand...

I've modded both of my Sire V7 basses with Aguilar 4J & 5J 60's. Basically a more clean and open tone
overall. The Nordys are probably a good choice as well.

The stock Sire pickups are good but a bit dark for my taste.
 
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#8
LowB-90 said:
Hello fellas..any body know the pickup replacement size for the v7 5??
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Fender replacement sizing is what I heard and went with...

Aguilar:

  • Neck Pickup
  • Length = 3.975"(101.0mm) Width = 0.732"(18.6mm)
Bridge Pickup​
  • Length = 4.094"(104.0mm) Width = 0.732"(18.6mm)

Here's what Nordstrand shows as:
  • Pickup Length: Neck 101mm (3.965")
  • Bridge 105mm (4.10")
There are minuscule differences in size usually.

It's always a good idea to measure yourself if you have the right ruler.

If you have any difficulty fitting them, you can simply use the ouster shell of
the original Sire with the new pick up inside.

I've done this a few times on other basses and it works fine.
 
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#10
I reinstalled the orig pickups back into my V7, I like it better than the SD QPs. FYI, it was a very tight fit putting SDs, EMGs, and DiMarzios into this V7 of mine. Even empty pickup covers were pretty tight. Also couldn't swap standard J pickup covers on these orig pickups as the pole holes didn't quite line up...go figure!
 
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#11
We can be too quick to change electronics sometimes because it's the "thing to do"...I would advise all my groove family to give the instrument,whatever brand it might be,a chance before running to the mod shop! I'm sure we all know that pickups are like mics...if you can't sing,a better mic isn't gonna make you sound like Pavarotti!! :) :) So if the bass has bad tone,pickups won't do a lot for it!

Spend quality time with that instrument and give it a good spin on gigs,practice time,recording,etc...

I never change electronics unless it's absolutely necessary...so far I've only had to do that twice in my 35+ years of playing bass.
 
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#12
chinjazz said:
I've modded both of my Sire V7 basses with Aguilar 4J & 5J 60's. Basically a more clean and open tone
overall. The Nordys are probably a good choice as well.

The stock Sire pickups are good but a bit dark for my taste.
Click to expand...

Hmmm...interesting bro!! I can barely use the treble control on my Sire basses...wonder if there was something wrong or maybe ours are wound differently?
 
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#13
Jackie Clark said:
We can be too quick to change electronics sometimes because it's the "thing to do"...I would advise all my groove family to give the instrument,whatever brand it might be,a chance before running to the mod shop! I'm sure we all know that pickups are like mics...if you can't sing,a better mic isn't gonna make you sound like Pavarotti!! :) :) So if the bass has bad tone,pickups won't do a lot for it!

Spend quality time with that instrument and give it a good spin on gigs,practice time,recording,etc...

I never change electronics unless it's absolutely necessary...so far I've only had to do that twice in my 35+ years of playing bass.
Click to expand...

Very good point, and I completely agree with you. Definitely really check out that instrument for a while before pulling the trigger on electronics mods. The Sire preamp is a keeper in my book.
 
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#14
Jackie Clark said:
Hmmm...interesting bro!! I can barely use the treble control on my Sire basses...wonder if there was something wrong or maybe ours are wound differently?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about the pick up winding differences. I'd leave that to the people who know those nuances. "I think" the Sire V7 pickups are more 70's sounding to me and the Aguilars are more 60's (they were made this way). My playing and ear tends to like the 60's wind.

In my V7 4 string, I put in an older set of AG 4J-60's that dialed it in to my comfort zone. Interestingly enough this same set of AG pickups used to be in a Fender Classic Series 60's Jazz bass because they were clearer and fuller than the stock ones.

Anyway, I thought that was interesting.
 
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#15
DWBass said:
I just installed the new Nordys 70's wind single coils in my custom Jazz. Amazing tone.
Click to expand...

I know we are jumping off-topic, but the bass in my avatar has the Nord NJ5FS that I think means stacked noiseless coils and while they sound pretty good, they are darker than I'm want hear from that bass.

I'm looking for the holy grail Marcus-type tone, so I was looking at the 60s wind single coil Nords. Since I don't know what you are going for with your tone, do you think the 70s wind comes close to that?

My SR5 is my main go-to bass, but I'd like to play that but Jazz more.

Thanx!
 
#18
LowB-90 said:
Well i bought a pair of barts 57cbjds fender size, and did not fit.

Unless i shave some wood off. Am just going to leave it alone. Unexpected
Click to expand...

I've been down that road too and found out my V7 routs are slightly smaller. It was a very tight fit, but no worries, this bass sounds awesome in stock form. I'll be leaving it alone.
 
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#19
Geri O said:
I know we are jumping off-topic, but the bass in my avatar has the Nord NJ5FS that I think means stacked noiseless coils and while they sound pretty good, they are darker than I'm want hear from that bass.

I'm looking for the holy grail Marcus-type tone, so I was looking at the 60s wind single coil Nords. Since I don't know what you are going for with your tone, do you think the 70s wind comes close to that?

My SR5 is my main go-to bass, but I'd like to play that but Jazz more.

Thanx!
Click to expand...
I don't go for the Marcus Miller sound per se but I like that old school 70's single coil sound. Marcus does an exaggerated mids scoop for his sound along with compression. I keep my mids flat on my basses but I do lower the mids a little on my amps. The Nordies 70's winds give me a nice wide open single coil sound with nice highs and lows. I'm pretty picky with my sound and it's why I tend to change the electronics to what I like. I love classic Barts, Vintage EMG's and now the Nordies.
 
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#20
Funkinthetrunk said:
As I found out...if you leave it stock, there's your holy grail MM tone.
Click to expand...

Actually, I had considered, and now I believe I will do that very thing before I spend any more money on the bass. There's a nice Nord preamp in, so that should help. The bass is an AM STD Jazz and I think the pups had a good reputation. Actually, I changed them to help with a noise situation, but I think I can deal with that, especially if it gets me back where I want to be with the tone.
 

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