WOW! Really Sire

[buldog5151bass]

Whether or not it's a good value, I think it's a mistake. They are known as a value alternative, so offering something substantially the same price as an MIA seems odd. I also think the people looking for a "boutique" option are unlikely to want "Sire" on their headstock (silly as that is).

 

[Bassesh]

Whether or not it's a good value, I think it's a mistake. They are known as a value alternative, so offering something substantially the same price as an MIA seems odd. I also think the people looking for a "boutique" option are unlikely to want "Sire" on their headstock (silly as that is).

I think they are just testing the waters. Since Sire is considered as a budget company, introducing lower price product lines is a no-brainer, so they released both the V3 and M2 at the same time in different string and color configurations.
There's only one V10 configuration available at the moment.

 

[Thumpr]

So what is up with the "Sire" name. Does Fender reduce prices of instruments by eliminating the number of letters in the name?
Who dreams this sort of thing up? It is obvious that Fender isn't hiring top of class marketing grads.

I may be misreading/misunderstanding this post... (need coffee) but Sire is a competitor to Fender, not a brand extension. Not a FMIC product.

 

[mdogs]

I may be misreading/misunderstanding this post... (need coffee) but Sire is a competitor to Fender, not a brand extension. Not a FMIC product.

Ya, I’m not sure what that post was about either, pretty incoherent.

Also, I am not sure how Sire introducing a higher priced product does anything to detract from their low priced product? But, that seems to be the implication here.

 

[yodedude2]

i thought the whole point was for them to make a profit by filling market niches.

 

[Thumpr]

Ok, I read it straight then.

Yeah. I mean Fender is not worried about the MIA products cannibalizing the Affinity line.
I do agree if they’re gonna roll the bones that high they might want to consider moving “Sire” into #1 position on the headstock and push MM down a bit, but that’s just my personal taste.

 

[monsterthompson]

Sire already has lots of options in the lower buget range. I think it’s awesome that they are branching out and taking a chance on something a little different. After all, it’s not like introducing this model is going to cause one of the cheaper ones to be discontinued. You’ll still have tons of options at many different price points

This.

 

[RBrownBass]

Not to knock anyone who likes them , but after owning 2, a 4 and a 5, I couldn’t get along with the neck or the weight. For $1500, they’d sure need to make some major improvements to get a second glance from me. I’m pretty sure they’re not too concerned about my opinion though. To those of you who love them, more power to ya. Just not my cup of tea.

Share with us the improvements you'd like to see. You did list the neck and weight, to be fair, but those are largely subjective.

I'll never own a Sire (too many basses as it is), but I'm always curious about poor reviews with few specifics.

 

[RBrownBass]

Hard to wrap the mind around that price point once they've established themselves as a "budget brand" - sorta removes the cool factor for me, I'd rather buy a big boy bass for that money just my opinion, of course.

There. Someone finally said it.

So glad I'm not an Asian luthier like Mas Hino. It's got to suck building great instruments and having to sell them for less than his European and American counterparts get.

 

[flojob]

I think it's as potentially pretty as any other jazz bass, but I do think the bottom of the body is blocky. Would be prettier with a little more finesse on the edges. I'd like to try any of their stuff...see what all the fuss is about.

 

[Maxdusty]

A few weeks back there was a Sire / Marcus Miller thread that questioned the fact that MM still plays his Fender as well as his Sires.

In that thread I made this very point. I also said I wish they would do matching headstocks. Well, they added matching headstocks! Now if they would just listen to us about the confusing branding they would be a huge success.

Oh wait. . .

I think Sire has already established its brand credibility - I can understand them wanting to maintain that association with Marcus Miller. Marcus Miller is one of my favorite bass players, I do play some of his songs but I think on this particular bass for some reason, a bigger Sire logo maybe done in abalone would be cool in a boutique bass kind of way, the "Marcus Miller" is far too prominent and kind of ruins the aesthetics of it - anyone's name would ruin it. Do something like a signature on the back of the headstock (like on Fender's Geddy Lee model). Here the branding reminds one of a George Foreman grill kind of thing or Gordon Ramsay set of ginsu knives. It cheapens the bass if but subconsciously.
Just my 2 cents, I'd still probably buy the bass if I could but I would do something about that MM on the headstock.

 

[JRA]

You are a true sucker if you buy one of these.

 

[voodoobassist]

Share with us the improvements you'd like to see. You did list the neck and weight, to be fair, but those are largely subjective.

I'll never own a Sire (too many basses as it is), but I'm always curious about poor reviews with few specifics.

Those two things were my main gripe. As far as being subjective, I never weighed either bass, but both had to be in the neighborhood of 11 lbs. That,..is pretty damn heavy. As for the necks, the 5 especially, felt much more like a P bass than a jazz to me. Thick front to back, round baseball bat feel , rather than flat and wide, my personal preference. Very much different from a typical jazz neck feel. The preamp, while very versatile , had almost too wide a range. Bass control being the biggest culprit. There was so much bass boost available , you seriously could do speaker damage if you weren't careful. I wound up preferring the tone of both Sires passive, and I'm normally an active bass kind of guy.
The neck on the 4 was closer in feel to what I prefer, but once again, the weight was substantial. To me, there's no reason for a 4 string jazz to be pushing 11 lbs.
I truly wanted to love the Sires, my family actually bought the 5 for me as a birthday present. Unfortunately, it just wasn't a fit. They make a decent bass for what they were charging back then, but seeing them in the $1500 range seems like putting a set of expensive chrome wheels on your Ford Fiesta. Once again, no offense to the folks who play and love Sires. We all have different tastes. And while I'd rate the Sires a bit higher than I would a Squier, can you imagine the comments if Squier released a $1000 - $1200 instrument? Both companies were supposed to be a decent budget brand. I'm sure Sire will sell a few of these , I could find some other extremely nice basses for sale at that price point though. Case in point, a Dragonfly just sold for that price here in the classifieds. Hope that answers your question.

 

[malthumb]

So what is up with the "Sire" name. Does Fender reduce prices of instruments by eliminating the number of letters in the name?
Who dreams this sort of thing up? It is obvious that Fender isn't hiring top of class marketing grads.

I may be misreading/misunderstanding this post... (need coffee) but Sire is a competitor to Fender, not a brand extension. Not a FMIC product.

Ya, I’m not sure what that post was about either, pretty incoherent.

Also, I am not sure how Sire introducing a higher priced product does anything to detract from their low priced product? But, that seems to be the implication here.

I assumed it was a tongue in cheek joke implying that Fender simply removed the Q and U from SQUIER to come up with SIRE. Looking at it again, could be that Liam Wald may have been under the impression that there is some Fender affiliation. Yeah.....confusing.

 

[RBrownBass]

Those two things were my main gripe. As far as being subjective, I never weighed either bass, but both had to be in the neighborhood of 11 lbs. That,..is pretty damn heavy...The neck on the 4 was closer in feel to what I prefer, but once again, the weight was substantial. To me, there's no reason for a 4 string jazz to be pushing 11 lbs.

I get that. 11 lbs is heavier than I'd want, ideally. By "subjective", I meant only that not everyone agrees on what's too heavy or what doesn't feel right in the hands.

I've been in a position where I could choose to sit or stand during gigs for so long that sometimes I forget what a heavy bass feels like. I once had a Washburn AB-95 (seriously wide archtop fiver, shaped like a jazz guitar) that probably weighed 15, but I played it seated exclusively. I still miss that bass, and I've been meaning to have a body built for a Warmoth neck so I can once again have a sitting bass for "serious" aesthetics.

My Fender MIA parts bass and my Ibanez BTB745 both weigh in under 10 lbs.

 

[Thumpr]

I assumed it was a tongue in cheek joke implying that Fender simply removed the Q and U from SQUIER to come up with SIRE. Looking at it again, could be that Liam Wald may have been under the impression that there is some Fender affiliation. Yeah.....confusing.

Right?
That’s why I mentioned the need for coffee...

 

[James Collins]

...I think on this particular bass for some reason, a bigger Sire logo maybe done in abalone would be cool in a boutique bass kind of way, the "Marcus Miller" is far too prominent and kind of ruins the aesthetics of it - anyone's name would ruin it...
View attachment 3325726

Almost all basses get labeled with someone's name on them.
Leo Fender
Victor Squier
Adolph Rickenbacker
Brian Sadowsky
Sterling and Ernie Ball
Paul Reed Smith
Salvador Ibanez
Les Paul
Orville Gibson
...among so many more.

I think you mean you don't want someone's name on the guitar or bass that is know for playing more than making?

 

[alaskaleftybass]

A lot of good opinions here. We aren't all used to change, once things are set we like it that way. I was very close to buying a Sire a while back because 1. They have lefty's, and 2. They had a P-bass style. But as others have mentioned, the weight factor and the constant use of the Marcus Miller name swayed me otherwise. When a bass gets to a certain price point, it should have a name, like V10 on the front of the headstock. Sire are boxing themselves in with the MM thing. But then, I don't have a BA in marketing either.

As another TB'er posted, why not have his signature on the back of the headstock? I look forward to reading reviews on this one because I hope it is lighter and available in lefty. If it is lighter due to roasting I'd consider it. Putting it in that price class clearly sets it up to tango with the MIA Fender Jazz, which is an undisputed champ. This will be an interesting fight. All this coming from a long time Ibanez user!

 

[Thumpr]

Almost all basses get labeled with someone's name on them.
Leo Fender
Victor Squier
Adolph Rickenbacker
Brian Sadowsky
Sterling and Ernie Ball
Paul Reed Smith
Salvador Ibanez
Les Paul
Orville Gibson
...among so many more.

I think you mean you don't want someone's name on the guitar or bass that is know for playing more than making?

That’s interesting. I suppose that’s the reason. I look at him as an “endorser” of a product that someone else had already designed I suppose. More thought needed. This will require more coffee.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

That’s interesting. I suppose that’s the reason. I look at him as an “endorser” of a product that someone else had already designed I suppose. More thought needed. This will require more coffee.

If it was the Marcus Miller Bass Guitar Company I would agree. But he's an endorser -- while Fender, Sadowsky, etc. are the manufacturers. They're the ones putting their money on the line...