NEW Sire V5 FRETLESS - This is THE Sire to get! Roasted maple fretless BLISS! - LowEndLobster Review 

:)

Whoops ;P

Thanks Ruben!

Ha un suono più morbido e tendenzialmente più scuro come i vecchi bassi di una volta questa è la prima sensazione che proverai è anche bello sentire una tastiera fretless senza tasti sotto le dita è uno strumento passivo (meglio dal mio punto di vista). Alla vista sembra un basso di fascia alta e non di fascia media come è in realtà poi se vuoi essere un vero bassista il fretless lo devi avere... 🤟🎸😘👍❤️ 8:18

Hell yeah! Congrats!

*pulseox jumps in unboxing*

Thanks coolguy! Right? I'm not a fan of the headstock shape, but in this config it's absolutely beautiful!

I'm with you there. I dig the new finishes on the V3 and V7 with the matching headstocks (the burgundy, orange, blue) and I dig the V5 with the roasty toasty maple neck. What I don't dig are those darned V3's with the sunburst body, rw/laurel FB, and a natural headstock. We hateses its.

I got so I like it and refreshing not to see a typical headstock. Actually for a brand that has only been out for 5 years or so, their headstock is very recognizable to gear loving bass players-you just know it is a Sire. They can't copy other manufacturers without a lawsuit and I'm good with their design.

Thanks Stephen! I'll be doing a follow up 'post-mods' video on this bass and will definitely be sure to use some chorus :)

:)

Thanks Andy! Sorry for the late reply. This is absolutely one of my favorite jazz basses. I have a fretted one coming this week! :)

Thanks Michael! I think you're right, my Gibson LP Jr. Tribute has chromes and they're the same color. Thank you! They really nailed it with the V5

@@LowEndLobster I just got some Ironworks strings also. They’re great .. Wound a bit tighter, smoother to the touch .

Thank you Luigi :)

Thanks Chuck :) Glad you enjoyed the video! Sire is killing it with their 'Gen 3' stuff (V5, U5 and the upcoming P5 and D5)

Thanks Scott! Yeah I LOVE this bass and the burst on it. I've been running it without a pickguard and with the white covered Dimarzio Area J's and it's a stunner

Thanks Jon!

Thanks Michael! You make all excellent points, lines are visible to the player but not overly noticeable outside that and the 70's spacing is nice!

Thank you Ej!

Thank you and congratulations on your bass!

Congrats! Sire makes killer fretless basses. I still love this V5 (and I still have it).

Thanks Jack! I'll check it out :)

Awesome! Glad you enjoyed the vid :). Thank you for sharing your experience with your V5 fretted. Enjoy it :)

Thanks Mark! Glad you enjoyed this

Thanks Mitchell! We'll DEFINITELY be checking out a fretless P5 (and fretted too hopefully!)

Thanks James!

Thanks Rev! Nah, the Squier's time in my flock is short stayed (sold). The Sire is going to be getting some more content and will be seen on some other channels very soon.

Thanks Kirt! We'll be expanding the channel in a big way for the new year, including a website and all that info :). Stay tuned!

Thanks Comrade :)

Thanks Nathan! I'm really impressed with the latest line of Sire. They're definitely listening to what the community wants and are doing a great job delivering. The V5 IMO has the quality, price, and features (or lack there of- which is appreciated as I'm not a huge fan of the sire preamp) to make this a killer package. Enjoy!

Did you end up getting this bass?

Awesome! Congrats! That's a great deal as well. I have another video on this bass coming after all the mods I did. The biggest/best mod was the proper grounding/shielding and adding the DiMarzio Area J pickups. Nails the classic J tone without any of the single coil hum! Hipshot licensed ultralites and an Albridge high mass bridge balanced the bass out quite nicely as well. Congrats again and enjoy! :)

:), IMO it's instruments like these that are easy to play and use that help you become a better player. Not saying 'gear makes the player', but a quality instrument where you can practice without the instrument getting in the way is the best

Thanks Todd :)

Thanks Darren! Yeah man, like a P5 or something with the same color/wood scheme as the V5... yes.... yes... YES! Yeah man, Andertons was awesome. Love their vids, and the team was very communicative throughout the whole process. Quick and easy!

@@LowEndLobster yep, exactly, a P5! I'm having GAS for a bass that doesn't yet exist! Love the channel, look forward to more ☺️

@@DarrenSaw Thank you Darren :)

Lots of people must have agreed because now the P5 does exist!

Thanks Ryan!

It's still one of my favorite fretless basses. I loaned it to AMP and he has a video on it coming soon I think

Awesome! So glad you're digging yours! Enjoy :)

@@LowEndLobster I think I may be swapping the pickups for SD Apollo's. I had them in a MIM jbass and they were such an improvement. These Sire pickups have that same sort of tone so far, which I definitely don't hate, but I miss that Apollo sound.

Thanks Keith! I'm with you on the ebony. I should do another vid on my Status Electro II that I reviewed very early on. It may be my favorite fretless due to it's insane versatility. It can get a really nice funk fusion tone that's still maintains warmth, and if you solo the piezo it pwns the upright tone.

Nice! Yeah it took me a while to get used to flats when I first started. They felt like that glossy-ish paper that I hate the feel of, but now I don't mind

I love TI flats!

Thanks Art!

Thank you Boomer!

Thanks Chris! Glad you enjoyed this one

Thanks Decay! I agree, this is one of the best value fretlesses out there. Lacquered board, roasted neck, great build quality and a great mod platform. Hardware (bridge/tuners) have always been Sire's weak point IMO, but the stuff on here is off of the V7. Tuners are heavy but work well (definitely recommend replacing with Hipshot Ultralite LIC tuners!).

Thanks Bassdriver! Oooh I LOVE the Musicians. I'd love to get my hands on one of those.

Yeah I allways put flatwounds on my fretless

Thanks! Indeed, it's my favorite fretless jazz. I recently put a preamp in this, video coming soon ;)

Thank Ram!

:)

Yes!!!

Thank you Darrell!

Thanks Jorge!

I forgot to mention that they're called the "Marcus Miller" and not "Sire" over there for some reason... Here's the link to Andertons where I got mine. I think mine was the one used in their vid cause mine was 330 GBP not 399. Either way, saved some money ;P. www.andertons.co.uk/brands/sire/sire-v-series-basses/sire-v5-basses/sire-version-2-fretless-marcus-miller-v5-alder-4-string-tobacco-sunburst

@@LowEndLobster One bit of good news is that if one does decide to replace the bridge, measure for new holes, fill the old ones, etc. it’s not like you would be sullying a collectible vintage bass.

@@samlelowitch Indeed!

Thanks Jess! They NAILED it with the V5 IMO. I've modded mine a bit since this video and have another 'Sire Mod Squad' video coming up detailing the current and future mods of my 3 favorite Sires in my stable (P10, V7 'Siredowsky' w/ sadowsky pre, and V5 fretless with new bridge and tuners)

@@LowEndLobster sounds epic, I can’t wait to see 🙌🏽

This is the way

Thanks Jaime!

Awesome! Thank you :). I love the folks at CME! I have a shirt from them somewhere haha

Thanks Aaron! Haha that is an idea. I have an envelope filter but not a dedicated Wah, should probably snag one ahahaha. Yeah man, I feel the same way. The V3 was nice but still a cheap instrument, the V7 styling never did it for me (and I'm not a huge fan of the preamp complexity), but this one just hits right.

Thanks Eric! The finish on the fretboard seemed pretty robust, though I probably wouldn't use stainless rounds on it hahaha

Thanks Joe! Right? It's like... what preamp? I'm right there with you. It's not always the case, but sometimes I like fewer but more well thought out options vs a plethora of em. I definitely get what you're saying about the noodling with the preamp taking away from practice time, there's a lot of possibilities with that preamp. A P5 would be awesome!

You can always play it in passive mode. Since I put DiMarzio high output pickups in I stay in passive mode.

It is VERY fun. Outside of the hardware things that I had mentioned (bridge+tuners), this thing is punching well above its price tag.

Thanks! I may check out a 5'er fretted version at some point... I'm super impressed with the new V5 series.

@@LowEndLobster For a “passive” bass, they sound great!! Just check; you CAN order a 5 string Fretless for $699 direct. I’ll check Thomann.😌🎶👍🏾

The back of the neck is natural and has probably a light satin or oil or something. Sire hasn't made any statements regarding the fretboard, in fact they don't even mention the coating on the website!

:)

Hahaha indeed! The BFR is under like a mile of gloss where this just has a little poly on the fingerboard. Love the result though, such a fun bass!

Haha thank you Jean-Paul! She was feeling a little camera shy that day hahaha

Thank you :)

No not yet, only the P10 and P5 fretted (for the fender style instruments). They make awesome 5 string necks.

Thank you Hector! Indeed, they are great basses and yes they've also definitely struggled during the pandemic with supply but are still doing it! Hoping that things return back to normal for them soon

@@LowEndLobster if we hope so. In my basses i have a v7 ash vintage 5 strings and i love it ,,,even on basses with higuer cost.

I'll see what I can do in the future :)

Thank you friend!

One may or may not be coming to my doorstep today and I may or may not be making an unboxing and initial impressions video that may or may not drop tomorrow... hypothetically speaking of course ;).

@@LowEndLobster hahahaha you always pull through! By the way, are the electronics on those USA built or nah?

Thank you Micheal! Of course I do. I try and watch as much bass content as possible to understand what's going on in the bass world :). I enjoy the Andertons guys, goofy lads who love music and instruments.

Thanks Paul!

These are very sick indeed! IMO I'd start with the tuners and take it from there as you see necessary. The stock electronics are above average, but there's always fancier things haha. The drop in preamp game is also strong right now, a definite possibility!

@@LowEndLobster collect all the Jaco-like things and stitch a special event together. :-) I think I just figured out big and small contents. nice...but I'm hoping you'll also demo the Vintage J74 Icon fretless, as it is another Jaco-like thing and a liegit organic Jaco-like trend is invariably a great thing to have on a bass channel :-)

Vintage also makes a "Geddy" relic'd model as well. I guess the ultimate would be to rip the frets out of the Geddy model and then I'd have the Jaco model but in black with black block inlays... :-) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bPz86IFYaOY.html BTW I received my '92 Washburn MB-6 and it's crazy how simply natural 6 string bass feels. The C string is not weird feeling at all like everyone seems to think when they are picking up a 6; it feels *right* and all I'm doing now is working on programming my brain to hear the correct mapping of pitch to fingering...fretless makes things so easy. I'll be glad when I can do all skills on a fretless and I can just forget about the other sort. Much less effort - like reading standard notation instead of tab; just had that argument/discussion with another very skilled streaming guitarist and they basically told me in front of 100 people that I was insane and then someone in chat popped off and said "yeah, my gf says the same thing, reading standard is easier than tab, and I don't get it" after someone else started accusing me of *flexes in standard notation* when I literally get a headache reading tab - it's the extra conversions, my neurons collapse on them. After you spend years trying to map your fingers to ear to pitch to speed to fingering tone and clarity, tab is confusing as hell because I worked hard trying to understand where my fingers go...if I did my proper practice, then I would know where my fingers go when I understand what they're supposed to express. *Just show me the pitch and expression and let me use my fucking instrument please*

There's a bass that's been on Reverb for months that nobody has bought and I want. It comes with BOTH necks, factory OEM. :-) Then again, I'm a sucker for reasonably priced high quality japanese vintage... :-) It's even maple and I adore maple basses (my TL5 is maple and it's kind of epic with the thick/heavy super ferrites on it), the color scheme is rad af, and yes I literally said RAD. I love my 78 fender fretless P/zebrawood original boogie body (Boogie split and Warmoth resulted), but it's heavy AF and you're going to pay a couple kbucks for one now. It was my only bass for years, I got it for like $450 decades ago and it was a steal then. Anyhow, there are some great instruments out there. Some of the Westone gear is really good - and some of the period electronics can be surprisingly voiced in a great way, Matsumoku built Aria are a great example. A good fretless FGN from that period is going to run you 2-3x a Matsumoku build. Alternately, you can just buy a bass you like the sound of at dirt cheap and replace the neck or remove the frets yourself, which is a much easier process to do than people think or putting them back on. Or - hit up Warmoth or another seller of *finished* necks and just bolt it on. You can buy an OEM spec fretless P bass neck, *today*, for about $250 if you want high quality and don't buy up for flaming, special fingerboard wood, etc from a few suppliers. RARE Matsumoku Westone Spectrum LX 1986 Bass w/2 Necks Fretted & Fretless Comes with original hard shell case in average condition. It’s rare to find the SPECTRUM LX X695BK with both necks and the case. A great addition to any collection. ABOUT THE INSTRUMENT: TOTALLY UNIQUE FEATURING INTERCHANGEABLE NECKS -- FRETTED & UNFRETTED From catalog information: Westone Spectrum LX bass (X695) Unusually this model came with two necks, a fretted and a fretless. It was also available with just the fretted neck (22 fret, 34" scale). The fretless neck had position dots along the top side , white in all the normal positions (3, 5, 7, 12 etc) and red for the rest. Two Westone Magnaflux unbalanced coil pickups (One Magnabass II, one Magnabass IV), active tone controls, coil tap and phase switches. Thanks to the unbalanced coil pickups, switching on coil tap doesn't result in any significant loss of volume. NOTE - NOT ORIGINAL PICKUPS Maple body, Canadian Hard Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, graphite nut.

@@russellzauner right now im just window shopping for the frettless cuz i got my jazz ultra like a month and a half ago and my wallet is still hurting. I will check out these westone basses man, i really appreciate the help and orientation! A big part of my search has been finding my own the price-quality sweetspot for these frettless bass models. Have you seen the Status Graphite that lobster has? That was the frettless i really really wanted but finding it on reverb is nearly impossible. FGN also has been on my radar since lobster did his mighty jazz review. Ive never played one since they dont import them where i live, but in the summer (if im covid vaccinated by then) im going to japan and one of my days is going to be dedicated to crashing the FGN factory/workshop and getting a bass to take back home. Hopefully they put out some crazy frettless model by then and i can try using my latin charm to get them to give me a good price 🤷🏼

Thanks James! I agree 100%. Some folks were hating on my rating of the Squier... THIS IS WHY ahahaha. This thing is NUTS. If you go by the US price, it's 50% more than the Squier but IMO feels much more premium than its price would suggest.

Check out my P7 fretless video! It's a really great bass and the lacquered fingerboard makes for a stellar fretless experience

Thank you! I will be making a vid at some point on my signal chain and how I record... I've been slackin on that one hahaha. I plug into my basement amp (Orange Crush 50 BXT), and use the line out to go into my focusrite. I am utilizing the pad on that focusrite input so I can dial in the gain better. The EQ on the amp is at 12 o'clock across the board for all three bands and I don't alter the signal at all. I generally don't mention weight unless it is extraordinary. My Sterling Ray34 being 11 lbs is definitely worth mentioning. This one is in the 9's from what I remember.

Personally, the stacks confuse me when on the go. When things are laid out with like a vol/blend and then a 3 band with smaller knobs, that makes sense in my brain. Maybe I'm getting old :P

@@LowEndLobster Probably :D I'm 22 and I can adjust things without looking. But I'd rather sacrifice the treble control and make the tone a separate knob.

Thanks Jason!

That's a great point! I'm hoping that they eventually move to roasted maple across the board

Thank you! I have a new set of strings waiting for this once it's done making the rounds to my friends. I don't want to mess up the beautiful lacquered board so I'm going to try pressurewounds - never used em before!

@@LowEndLobster Try GHS Brite Flats. It's a "ground roundwound". I've been using them for 30 years.

@@RodneyGurdal Thanks Rodney! I already have a set of the GHS Pressurewounds, though I may try those brites as well. I appreciate the suggestion!

I think you're right. I have LaBellas on this now. Will be doing a follow up post mods, this bass is a BEAST

Thanks Stephen! I'm definitely looking to check out a V5 fretted at some point! :)

Thanks Ras! Honestly, the levels of fun are very close. The Sire V5 fretless is a VERY responsive instrument that gives a lot of rewarding feedback, just like my 'Ray! Tonally, they're completely different but they both capture the same fun fretless spirit that I like to see in these instruments.