Sire V7 Marcus Miller 5 String bass

PVO_Dave · May 2016

Firstly, I'm not really a bass player, I can just about play a little bit of slap, but really I'm a root notes with a little bit of fill for messing around, just to help with song writing or whatever.

I fancied getting a 5 string bass just for noodling on at home and some recording maybe, I didn't want to spend a huge amount so started looking for a secondhand 5 string Jazz on eBay. Turns out they are quite rare!

I asked a bass playing friend of mine, who suggested the Sire v7, based on all the good reviews it had. A quick Google confirmed how well liked these are, to cut the story short, I ended up on Thomann and bought one

- Alder body in vintage white. A total of £370!

It arrived around 4 days later, the first thing that struck me is just how good quality this is for the money, this is easily on par with my Mex 4 string Jazz, maybe better! - It plays great straight out of the box, arrived in tune (well, with it's self) and is fitted with D'Addario strings from new.

I'll get round to some proper pictures at some point, but this is it:

Here it is next to my Mex Jazz

It comes with a 3 band eq which I haven't messed around with much, but this will let you dial in some great tones.

Positives:

Amazing value for money, the fretwork seems great, the finish is flawless, decent strings, great sounds etc... This is punching way above it's price tag.

Negatives:

No manual supplied (just would have been handy for the eq)

At this price point the hardware isn't premium, but it's certainly up to the task. The tuners all work smoothly, the bridge seems to be a take on a 'badass', so maybe a cheapass?

- Either way, it works

I wouldn't hesitate in recommending one of these, this would be my first call if I was considering a J style bass 4 or 5 string in the up to £600 range (basically, this over a Mex).

Here's a very quick clip of me messing around, the controls are all set to neutral, so no eq dialled in, using an Ampeg Kemper profile:

Excuse the ropey playing, bit of slap, riff with the B and a run to show all strings.

Dave.

Van_Hayden · May 2016

Interesting - I'm thinking of ordering a 4 string Jazz instead of a Mex, thanks for the insight!

Kebabkid · May 2016

I've got the 4 string version and I'd echo the OPs comments. Superb value and great bass,

Cheers for the review

PVO_Dave · May 2016

Van_Hayden said:

Interesting - I'm thinking of ordering a 4 string Jazz instead of a Mex, thanks for the insight!

@Van_Hayden Nothing to lose really, Thomanns return policy is easy enough, but can't see you being disappointed

Check some of the YouTube reviews by people that can actually play bass

Kebabkid said:

I've got the 4 string version and I'd echo the OPs comments. Superb value and great bass,

Cheers for the review

I saw your thread after I'd ordered, was nice to have the reassurance!

EricTheWeary · May 2016

If I ever decide to upgrade the Weary family bass these are on the list.

PVO_Dave · June 2016

Still extremely happy with this bass - finally got my photography setup going:

JezWynd · June 2016

Nice headstock shape. You see some horrors as makers try to avoid the Fender outline, that one looks great, balanced somehow with the 5th tuning peg. Very cool bass.

BGG · June 2016

Our bass player has just bought the fretless and it's amazing quality and tone for the price.

He's had some great high end basses through his hands over the years but he's loving this so much he's on about buying the fretted one.

Here's a clip of him, you can hear it on the intro.

paul_xt · June 2016

I've just ordered one of these! Can't wait to get my hands on it!

DrJazzTap · July 2016

Thanks for the review. These have piqued my interest for some time.

EricTheWeary · July 2016

Probably says on thomann but does a gig bag come with these?

PVO_Dave · July 2016

paul_xt said:

I've just ordered one of these! Can't wait to get my hands on it!

@paul_xt - how did you get on?

DrJazzTap said:

Thanks for the review. These have piqued my interest for some time.

No worries!

EricTheWeary said:

Probably says on thomann but does a gig bag come with these?

No gig bag sadly

EricTheWeary · July 2016

Cheers

paul_xt · July 2016

Mine was B stock as its out of stock till August. All was great on it except the volume pot was broken. Thomann sent out a replacement and I had it fixed in no time.

The bass is unbelievable for the money. It plays as well if not better than basses I've tried in the £1000+ category. It's incredibly versatile and looks great too.

Highly recommended!

Kebabkid · June 2017

Hi Sire-users or potential ones.

Just to let you know that Andertons will be stocking them and they appear to be similar prices to Thomann. Whilst no ETA, it would be great to try them first as I'd imagine most of us who took a punt on buying it mail order from Thomann didn't get that opportunity. However, straight out of the box and 2 hrs after arriving, I was up and running with mine and using it at a rehearsal

https://www.andertons.co.uk/c/5/bass-guitars?p=1&q=5&by=5&v=0&me=_No-of-Strings&f=No-of-Strings:4-String-Basses|Brand:Sire&x=Brand|No-of-Strings

I still absolutely love my V7 Marcus Miller 4 string but if you look closely, there appears to be a new one in the range - the P7- and that's a hybrid precision/jazz bass pickup configuration

Fretwired · June 2017

BGG said:

Our bass player has just bought the fretless and it's amazing quality and tone for the price.
He's had some great high end basses through his hands over the years but he's loving this so much he's on about buying the fretted one.

Here's a clip of him, you can hear it on the intro.

Is this your band?

Bork · June 2017

Can anyone comment on the difference between swamp ash and maple fingerboard vs alder and rosewood? I'd be interested if I could find one with a lot of midrange snarl. I'm guessing it'll be in the swamp ash bodied ones.

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Sire V7 Marcus Miller 5 String bass

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