I just grabbed a used Sire V3 on a lark from GC. The sales guy brought it to my attention, and I was kinda shocked what was being sold for $349 as a used piece. I have a long history of buying, modding, and flipping RSD’s. I found once sorted they were an excellent representation of what a more expensive Sadowsky might be like. But I’ve avoided sire’s as I had heard they are usually well in excess of 9lbs. I find basses under 9lbs to be more comfortable and easier to sell.
As this was literally my first time holding any sire, I was absolutely shocked at how good the bass sounded and played, the $349 price tag not withstanding. What was the most striking feature was the very rolled fingerboard edges, and the lower profile frets. This is a feature I’ve seen on few basses, such as Elrick basses, and I am a big fan of the smaller profile frets. The rolled fingerboard edges, and flattened fret ends made the frets feel just great, like a much more expensive bass. The pickups, and active electrics were in perfect working order ( although the Mid freq selector kept catching n the mid boost/cut knob stacked above it, and easy fix with better knobs)
The setup needed some mild tweaking. I put on a set of strings I had in my stockpile, and the bass plays and sounds just great. Although at 9lbs 3 oz, its still a bit on the heavy side, but not reaching the prohibitive weight class.
What I found so surprising is that you can get an active 4 string jazz bass, with the upscale features this includes ( 18v active, rolled board, string thru bridge) for the price of an affinity squier.
Who knew?
As this was literally my first time holding any sire, I was absolutely shocked at how good the bass sounded and played, the $349 price tag not withstanding. What was the most striking feature was the very rolled fingerboard edges, and the lower profile frets. This is a feature I’ve seen on few basses, such as Elrick basses, and I am a big fan of the smaller profile frets. The rolled fingerboard edges, and flattened fret ends made the frets feel just great, like a much more expensive bass. The pickups, and active electrics were in perfect working order ( although the Mid freq selector kept catching n the mid boost/cut knob stacked above it, and easy fix with better knobs)
The setup needed some mild tweaking. I put on a set of strings I had in my stockpile, and the bass plays and sounds just great. Although at 9lbs 3 oz, its still a bit on the heavy side, but not reaching the prohibitive weight class.
What I found so surprising is that you can get an active 4 string jazz bass, with the upscale features this includes ( 18v active, rolled board, string thru bridge) for the price of an affinity squier.
Who knew?
