The Incredible Bass Guitar That Made Me Ditch Fender!

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This unbelievable bass guitar is truly a work of art. I finally replaced my Fender Active Jazz Bass Deluxe with this unknown brand. With active electronics, 5-strings and superior craftmanship, this bass guitar can do it all. Whether you play rock, metal, slap, jazz, pop or funk, you can dial in an amazing tone with this impressive bass guitar. After 18 months of waiting, I was finally able to buy one used on Reverb. There are a couple issues I'll cover in this review and how to fix them, but overall I love this bass. After playing on Fenders for 20 years, I've finally found a bass guitar I like better, and it was budget-friendly compared to the American Deluxe Jazz Bass I've drooled over for years. Check out the review and comparison. I was not paid or sponsored for this bass guitar review and purchased it of my own accord.
WIRING FIX: This diagram is for an older bass, but it should give you a good start on how to fix the electronics ground issue: www.bestbassge...
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Sire Marcus Miller V7 5-String Signature Bass Guitar review

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12 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 122

@lockheadanddogrockvideo Месяц назад

I got my sire for a steal, bought it with the intention of flipping it but it's staying in the collection. Peach of a bass.

@vandarth Месяц назад

@@lockheadanddogrockvideo That's happened to me a couple times! I meant to flip a Gibson J-45 acoustic and an SG but I just couldn't part with them lol. The Sire is a beauty to look at and it's comfortable. I can see how it'd be hard to get rid of!

@NiskRanThawll 2 месяца назад

if you are having issues with the B string and saddles/bridge. try tapered strings (not tape wound, tapered windings on the B). I've used warwick black label strings (with tapered B) for 20 years, they are as thin as a D string at the bridge thickening to standard B gauge just after, so you get a better fundamental tone.

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

@@NiskRanThawll that is a good idea! I hadn't thought of that

@Ravenh4wk 2 месяца назад

There are quite a few expensive basses that despite the price, suffer from bad grounding too. I always install copper foil into the control cavity and under the pickups in my basses to solve the problem. Sire are an incredible buy for the money. I have a Sire P7 mark 1 that I bought when they first came onto the market.

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

@@Ravenh4wk I actually took mine to a guitar tech this past week and he didn't exactly what you mentioned; shielded the cavity. It helped a lot, he said those pickups are just really hot so other than the copper foil there wasn't a lot he could do. But I think it did the job. You're right about the value, I can't believe how good the quality is on my Sire. The only thing I would change on them if I could would be to add some weight relief

@-whiskey-4134 Месяц назад

I play Ibanez basses. I have ones ranging from ~$150 to just under $1k. They all play amazing. I have a few “cheap” brand basses too, and they get the job done. And tbh, for me, the thing with Ibby’z is the comfort, not necessarily the brand. The necks and ergos while playing do it for me. If there were knock offs that felt as good to play for me, I’d buy em.

@vandarth Месяц назад

@@-whiskey-4134 I've been impressed by the recent Ibanez guitars and bassists. They have made some really cool designs on top of being comfortable. I think you're right about comfort. I have a really beat up old Gibson SG that I don't like the looks of much. But it feels and sounds so good. I cannot find another guitar as comfortable.

@glennrosa234 15 дней назад

I also play a couple Ibanez, they are great not active but way more push than my 90's Precision. To get any decent sound I need an EQ with boost or a killer expensive Rig? Yup my Ibanez does the job , I believe this statement that anything made in Japan is done so with pride i.....

@glennrosa234 15 дней назад

@VeitLehmann 2 месяца назад

Sire basses are awesome, especially for the price! It's always a good idea to consider something else than the big name brands. I also have a non-Fender Jazz Bass: a Clover Apeiron H.5. Pretty similar to yours: active 5-string in Lake Placid Blue with rosewood board (dots, no blocks). But instead of parametric 3-band EQ, it has a 2-band EQ and a MM/J configuration, similar to Lakland. It's the Delano TheHybrid system which delivers really authentic Jass Bass sounds (with tone blend in passive mode) and very convincing StingRay sounds, both much closer to the original than Lakland. The only things I don't love about it are its 10 lbs weight and the slightly chunky neck. But it sounds awesome and never let me down after almost 15 years! If I ever lost it, I'd get the Sire Z7, or the one you just got.

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

@@VeitLehmann I had a real hard time breaking away from brand bias for some reason. I think it's all those years I spent drooling over the Musicians Friend catalog haha. The Clover looks nice, never heard of that before! The weight is the one downside of the Sire too. But overall I love it so far!

@timesurfingalien 2 месяца назад

If your paying more than 1k for an electric guitar/bass then your paying too much!!!

@sleepy_andy444 14 дней назад

Most important is a good amp good neck and’s best strings

@daleskidmore1685 2 месяца назад

Enjoyed the story of your journey. The problem with the action on the Fender can be sorted simply with a shim in the neck pocket and drilling out the B string bridge hole. The ebony neck looks perfect, will it fit the Fender body?

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

@@daleskidmore1685 good idea regarding the shim! I also took the bridge piece off the D string and swapped it with the one on the low B string for now, because it has the bottom part shaved off and is shorter. But the D is still high. I'm happier with that for now because the D is the string I use the least. I'll measure the neck tomorrow and check the scale. That's an interesting idea. The ebony does look incredible!

@daleskidmore1685 2 месяца назад

@@vandarth You may be able to create a Frankenstein's Monster, and end up with 2 guitars, ha, ha.

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

That would be awesome!

@user-zs2dk8gl6g 2 месяца назад

Wow ok. Been a studio guy for 45 years. I’d never ditch a Fender for a Sire. Noisy cheap electronics, cheap build quality and sounds nothing like a Fender Jazz and not in a good way. I know a lot of top players. Nobody I know would play a Sire or trade their actual Fender J out for one.i sure as heck wouldn’t for all the many reasons you pointed out. If it’s your first bass and you’re on a budget fine. But to swap a Fender J you already have for one? Why would you do that?

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

I just really didn't like the neck on my J-bass. It was my 2nd Fender 5-string, I was just ready to branch out a little. I like the neck on the Sire a lot better, plus the looks (I know that's not the most important thing but I think I treat guitars somewhat like artwork). It's quite possible that I eventually put Fender or EMG pickups in the Sire, but we'll see, gotta spend more time with it first

@elijahjones2889 Месяц назад

To bad u didnt know about thomann

@vandarth Месяц назад

@@elijahjones2889 I actually do, I bought two Harley Benton guitars from them. I haven't tried their basses yet though. Would like to try their newest one sometime.

@vandarth 27 дней назад

@@mrbassman2400 lol I do not get any money directly from Sire nor was this a paid review. I am just a Guitar Center affiliate. The way the "commission" works is I get a small percentage of anything bought from Guitar Center whether they buy a Fender or a Sire or any other brand, so there was no incentive here to choose Sire over Fender. That was my personal choice. If I really cared about the money that much I would be pushing expensive basses or USA Fenders because that's where the real money is. The opinions shared in this video are purely from my personal experience. Btw my Fender was a Made in Mexico bass.

@glennrosa234 15 дней назад

Yup i hear .you Bro.

@user-wp4cs6eg8q Месяц назад

I’d like to see an update after fixing noise issues. The pickups/electronics have been the only thing about these basses that give me pause about buying one. The necks are absolutely amazing.

@vandarth Месяц назад

I'll consider making an update sometime soon! I've shielded 2 of my guitars as well with good results. I totally get where you're coming from on the pickups. I think I currently have a good bridge pickup tone on my Sire that I really dig, but I can't quite match my Fender with the neck pickup. At least not yet. So many knobs to get used to. The jury is still out on if I swap in some premium Fender or EMG bass pickups to compensate for that, but I decided it was worth keeping the Sire over the Fender even if I do have to swap pickups

@krisjones7985 2 месяца назад

Nice bass mate. On all of my basses I have covered the control and pickup cavities with copper tape and then grounded them together. Even on some of my noisiest basses they are now silent. Hopefully that may be an easy solution to your background hum issues. Thanks for the video I enjoyed it 👌🏻

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

@@krisjones7985 thank you! yes! The copper tape actually fixed the problem! At least enough that I'm happy with it.

@Breeze_b_hard 12 дней назад

When I was looking to get a 5 string Bass, I tried Basses from other manufacturers and ended up getting a Sire V3 2nd gen 5 string that I love, the neck is very comfortable, and I can get a variety of usable tones from it, and it only weighs around 9 lbs. Could I get a more expensive better bass? I probably could have, but Sire has some of the best “Bang for Buck” Basses on the market.

@vandarth 11 дней назад

That's where I'm at as well, they look and feel much more expensive than they actually are! I wish it were lighter but it's only like a half pound heavier than my Fender was so it's really not that much heavier.

@Breeze_b_hard 11 дней назад

@@vandarth I guess I was lucky because my Bass is not heavy at all, weighing in at around 9lbs. But I have the V3 which is made from mahogany rather than Alder which the V7 is made of, and the Preamp on mine doesn’t have the noise problems that you described in your video.

@vandarth 11 дней назад

9 lbs is pretty good for a bass! Shielding my Sire with copper tape cut the noise down a decent amount. In their defense, I was running compression and crunch. But I used to run that same setting on my Fender and it was less noisy. More comparable now

@TheFriendlyPsychopath Месяц назад

He traded in a fender for a fender knockoff. 🤦‍♂️

@vandarth Месяц назад

@@TheFriendlyPsychopath try one, if you actually hold one in your hands it's pretty hard not to be impressed

@fladification 2 дня назад

Design issues? Replace the saddles? The only problem with your Fender is it has never been setup properly! Fender guitars are designed to have the neck shimmed, your bass needs one bad, as bad or worse than I have ever seen. The biggest tale tale sign that a guitar needs a shim is when you have to bottom out the saddles to get playable action. Shimming the neck raises the fretboard over the body, as well as changes the angle which it sits, this will force you raise the saddles into their proper positions (i.e not bottomed out) . In 5 minutes I could have your Fender playing as good or better than any other guitar, but then again I can do that with any decent guitar. It's all about the set-up, something you did not take the time to learn how to do or spend the money to have someone qualified do it.

@pumpichank 2 месяца назад

Sires are nice but if you have a few extra $, try a Sandberg. They are everything a Fender dreams of being. And their short scales are near perfect, in feel and tone. My Lionel is the fattest sounding passive P-style bass I own.

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

They look pretty sweet! I had never heard of Sandberg before

@pumpichank 2 месяца назад

@@vandarth They really are fantastic basses. I was looking for a short scale and a friend of mine had a number of 34" Sandbergs. I totally dug every single one of them, and ended up buying one of his TM4s (active). Then I found a great deal on a Lionel (passive 30" P-bass) and bought it sight unplayed, which I usually never do. Had the shop I bought it from put TIJF324s on it and it almost immediately became my main bass. It is a total funk machine, but works great in roots, reggae, blues, garage rock, picked, slapped, fingered. I since picked up a custom PJ short scale fretless Sandberg which also is amazing. They are becoming more available in the US over the last couple of years.

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

That's awesome. I'll have to keep an eye on Sandberg. I've found quite a few international brands that I'm keeping my eye on to see if they'll become available in the States. Over in the acoustic guitar world I really like what Sigma is doing but all of their solid body models are only available in Europe right now.

@kurdtjohn Месяц назад

I used to have a Sire V5, and I dare say it's one of the most comfortable basses I've ever owned. Too bad I had to sell it as: 1) I'm more of a P Bass guy 2) I bought an '81 Precision Special for an absolutely steal price and can't economically justify having more than one bass But if I had enough money, I would've kept the Sire. It's that good.

@vandarth Месяц назад

@@kurdtjohn ah that does make sense. I bet that was hard to get rid of! I always have trouble parting with instruments

@martinladd351 2 месяца назад

I bought a peavey fury and I love it. I used to stan the fender precision bass but for 350 bucks I got the fury bass and its case and it is an American bass

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

@@martinladd351 I've heard good things about their basses

@xenogear88 Месяц назад

For background noise, I had the same bass guitar in 4 strings and a connection was not perfect. I resoldered it, and the background noise was gone

@vandarth Месяц назад

Interesting! Maybe I'll have to recheck my connections

@bigoldnoob Месяц назад

After owning a Sire, I've just got a MarkBass Gloxy GV 5. I prefer it to the Sire I had before. Plays softer, skinnier neck and sounds way better (growls more, barks with much less digging in). Sire Vs are cool tho'. The Ps? Not so much, I have a Squier CV '70s P and much prefer its tone to any Sire Ps'.

@vandarth Месяц назад

@@bigoldnoob those look pretty slick, I especially like the green model. I might have to try one of those and compare tones. Still considering a pickup change but I like the look and feel of my Sire a lot still.

@hashachache 2 месяца назад

My fave bass sound has always been Hugh Hopper's, of Soft Machine......total opposite of buzzy Geddy & Squire......they achieved being historically the only band with "rock drum kit, fretted electric bass, keyboards....." to be chosen to be a night amongst a festival of classical music in 1970......I often wonder how he got his sound, absolutely no-one has ever sounded like him. Contrary to what you might expect, from that classical music festival, they were actually LOUDER than average rock set-ups, that was really the way to hear Hopper.

@tolstoy21 2 месяца назад

I have a fender American Vintage II P bass and Sire P7 (along with a Peavy I’ve had since the late 80s). I really like the Sires and they are absolutely awesome for the money. The neck on the Sire is has the best feel. My fender P definitely sounds better than my Sire, no contest. But does it sound 3x better considering the 3x price tag? Going to say no here. Sire basses may not THE best basses, but they absolutely punch above their weight class in terms of price. You’ll never be sorry buying one.

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

Yeah I agree, the neck feels pretty incredible. If anything, someday a pickup swap may be an option for me. That would make it perfect other than being a little heavy. But I don't think it's much heavier than a Fender, can't remember. Maybe half a pound

@ErnieLeblanc Месяц назад

7:00

@hamishsummers8585 2 месяца назад

Bass players have known about sire for years. Apparently their guitars are pretty good too

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

@@hamishsummers8585 I like their goldtop guitars. Been wanting to try one of those myself

@hashachache 2 месяца назад

@@hamishsummers8585 I wonder if they're often misheard, & occasionally people have thought Suhr is being meant, who are also some people's fave instruments, & more well-known, just been reading about a guy who can't see past them. I don't think that about Suhr, but at that level of expense, it's you like curry, I like Italian......I DO like that Sire, before I watched your filmita (my Spanish girlfriend calls YT uploads filmitas, also filmititas) my personal fave bass is the Gibson RD bass, I did my best to hear everything, like that Nate Navarro, Leland Sklar too......they didn't change me.......I think Gibson are they only people who achieved better sustain......that's my reason.

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

I would love a Gibson bass. I'm a huge Gibson guitar fan. I just can never seem to find a Gibson 5-string and I need that low B.

@hashachache 2 месяца назад

@@vandarth I was contemplating requesting Gibson specially do an RD five string bass, also with a whammy bar.......they charge very large sums of money for guitars made for one person like that.

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

@@hashachache yeah... That would be a dream though!! You don't see too many bass guitars with whammy bars. Although I think I have seen one or two before.

@OrnetteColeman10mm Месяц назад

My Sire hums a bit too, but all of those tones I get out of it make me not care. At all. They're amazing basses. My fender hums, too, btw.

@vandarth Месяц назад

I was actually able to get the hum down significantly by adding copper shielding to the cavity. It made a pretty big difference on mine

@OrnetteColeman10mm Месяц назад

@@vandarth I'll have to look into that. It's such an amazing bass that it doesn't bother me, and I've got other single coils that are louder, but if I could get rid of even some of it, that would be a bonus

@vandarth Месяц назад

@@OrnetteColeman10mm yeah, it made a difference. Course I use some crunch when I record bass so that was part of it. It's a cheap solution too

@barondavis5692 2 месяца назад

I too have a v7, but a 4 and maple finger board. The ebony looks MUCH better, especially with the pearled inlays. For the $, can’t beat sire. Although, I think the USA fender jazz ultra is better; but 1,300 better?

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

@@barondavis5692 yeah, exactly, I pretty much own a bass for recording and a very rare gig where I play bass, so the Fender Ultra just didn't make as much sense for my situation. I do like those though. At least from the look. The Sire maple fingerboard with pearl inlays really grew on me after awhile. I considered buying one of those if I couldnt find the blue finish with ebony at the right price.

@kijekuyo9494 Месяц назад

This is quite a coincidence. I just bought a Sire U5, my first Sire, about the same time.

@vandarth Месяц назад

@@kijekuyo9494 that's a pretty sweet model!

@strummercash5601 Месяц назад

Yes. I AM in space, currently, and I did hear that hiss.

@checho68 2 месяца назад

This video is awesome!

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

Thank you!

@doj8763 Месяц назад

Shadow 2 Sires, and they were so heavy they about wrenched my shoulder out of its socket.

@vandarth Месяц назад

It would be awesome if they were weight-relieved. I wish they were!

@2000SkyView Месяц назад

Truss rod snapping sound like warranty issue to me. Sire is known for having wiring issues.

@vandarth Месяц назад

@@2000SkyView it probably would have been covered by the warranty except I bought both my J-basses used. Bummer. Turns out Sire has fixed the wiring issues on newer basses but the older ones still may have some grounding issues. Not sure when they updated that though

@RubyComet7 2 месяца назад

sire marcus miller. Mine is a 4 string with roasted maple neck and love it.

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

@@RubyComet7 oooh I love roasted maple necks. I had my eye on the green Sire with roasted maple for awhile. Almost went for that model.

@marcoquen1441 Месяц назад

I have a Marcus Miller Sire V10. I love it.

@vandarth Месяц назад

Those look awesome!

@rohnleidigh213 2 месяца назад

And that switch made you the best player and got you instant worldwide fame... Haha

@anthonyturner9927 Месяц назад

Sire m5 ash, is my favorite, i have a v7 also, sire m5 and the m7 are light.

@vandarth Месяц назад

@@anthonyturner9927 I might look into the M5 or m7 if I ever start playing bass live more. In recent years I've mostly just had a bass for recording. The v7 is so amazing but I could see it being hard on my back.

@AndrewHaverson Месяц назад

Clicked on this video because I knew exactly what this video was about #AlsoOnMyDreamBass

@93greenstrat 2 месяца назад

I used to have a Dekuxe Active Jazz Bass V and it was nowhere near as comfortable as the American Deluxe. Heck; the Squier Affinity Jazz V was better. It's hard to believe that the Mexican and the American models were built by the same company! The newer ones (Player Plus) are pretty nice though.

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

@@93greenstrat interesting! Maybe that's why that model got discontinued. The neck was clunky.

@troytroy3066 2 месяца назад

After playing your Sire for 6 months, you'll get tired of it and miss your Fender. You will get tired and confused with all the knobs. Most people love the fact that they have 7 knobs to get different sounds. However, during a gig it can be a major headache. That's just my personal opinion. I prefer a less complicated bass with 2 to 3 knobs. Marcus Miller basses are cool, but Mr. Miller continues to play his same Jazz Bass hmmm.... Cool bass and I hope it works for you and your style of music.

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

@@troytroy3066 interesting. I can see where you're coming from, I have a tricked-out SG and 90% of the time I still only use one tone setting. I would imagine I will end up doing the same with the Sire, one or two main tones but not much tinkering after that.

@charlieburns1385 2 месяца назад

I have a sire p5 4 string precision I don't like the pickups

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

@@charlieburns1385 ah, I see! Is it just the Sire pickups that you don't like or the p-bass style pickup sound in general? I used to have a Fender P-bass but found I liked the J-bass sound a lot better

@carlosdrfx 2 месяца назад

Sire, "a brand I've never heard of"! 😂 dude!

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

@@carlosdrfx haha. In my defense I'm primarily a guitar player. Glad I came across Sire though!

@StevenDoyleLuke 2 месяца назад

AGREE!

@greyguy69 2 месяца назад

The thought to upgrade the pickups will give you a bit differant tone. Not particularly better tone.

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

Yeah that's probably right once you get to this level of pickup. I've actually thought about putting Fender pickups in this bass to get the sound I liked from the J-bass in the Sire. Or trying EMG's. Not completely sure. I'm still getting used to these pickups so I will wait awhile to decide. The Sire has some tones I really like, they're just different than what I was used to

@topa1798 17 дней назад

are you somehow related to scott weiland?

@vandarth 17 дней назад

@@topa1798 hah no, why? I did grow up listening to Stone Temple Pilots though

@AndrewAHayes 2 месяца назад

Why do you need new pickups? you have an EQ system on the instrument! shape the sound you want!

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

I can get close to the sound I liked on the Fender but it's still a little different even with EQ. It's hard to match another pickup perfectly. I have to sit with the new sound for awhile though and see if I get used to it first

@RootsBassCanada 2 месяца назад

Im hoping to ditch my Fender and never own one again.

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

@@RootsBassCanada interesting! What made you want to switch? I used to love Fender but I have had some quality issues with two of their bass guitars and my Acoustasonic electronics failed in the first year. I wondered if they're having some quality control issues.

@TraversClark 2 месяца назад

I like how a jazz bass looks, but I don't think Fender are good at building instruments. Congrats on the Sire.

@vandarth 2 месяца назад

Thank you! Yeah, I have always loved the look of the jazz bass too. I was happy that the Sire was close enough in looks to a Fender since I've always liked their designs. I'd be curious to see what years were best for Fender and try something made during that time period

@thebassclef007 4 дня назад

Congrats on ditching the original for another F copy that couldn’t come up with their own look or design.

@pierrebenoit-j1q 2 месяца назад

Fender rules, the rest drools...

@dirkjanklijn9949 Месяц назад

No more Sire for me, had three and can't seem to get used to all the overtones it gives, where my Squier basses don't, honestly, even my shortscale Harley Benton sounds better and indeed the string tentioners are but ugly.

@vandarth Месяц назад

Hmm I'll have to keep an ear out for that. I wonder what caused it?