Baker69

I’m awaiting delivery of a Z7-5 in Natural finish so I have found the postings very interesting and informative, thanks guys! Regarding the control pots and knobs, I have a P7-5 so I’m already aware of the failings and foibles of them. I would concur that the detentes on the pots are variable in their positivity and downright sloppy on one pot! My P7 was supplied with the earlier black plastic knobs which I promptly replaced as soon as I was able to with chrome domed knobs which I bought from Thomann. Very reasonably priced, I think they are Harley Benton one’s? With regards to the one posting on the limited effectiveness of the passive tone knob, I followed lowendlobster’s Youtube video tone cap modification on changing the one on my P7 from a .022 to a 0.047 which gives it a far more effective operation. If the Heritage 3 Preamp still uses a .022 cap it’s well worth doing the upgrade on the Z7. It is a bit fiddly, but do-able. The photos ‘under the hood’ are interesting, on my P7 all of the controls appear to have been coated in a clear wax or resin? I don’t know the reason for this and from the photos you’ve posted it seems like they’ve now done away with it. The wiring on the pots had the resin coating as well. Sire did send me a complete replacement mid control (via Thomann) f.o.c. as I had complained about the poor detente and sloppy movement of it. I still have the control as removing all the resin/wax off the wiring etc to gain access to it would have been a nightmare.

Yes the Stingray SR5 has a string spacing is 17.5mm so it would make sense for the Z7’s to follow suit, however the Indonesian-made Sterling SUB Ray 5’s have a slightly narrower string spacing of 16.5mm which some people struggle with, I have small hands and I’m fine with it though. My Sire P7-5 string spacing is 18mm (I think?) and I imagined the Z3-5’s & Z7-5’s to also be 18mm but it’s a newly designed bridge so they can make them to what they want. I did read however on another forum that some guys are complaining about the outer strings being too close to the edge of the fretboard and can be easily pushed off, so a slightly narrower string spacing would seem logical to me?

Discounting the neck pickup of the Z7, how does it sound compared with the Z3? In theory they should sound very similar but I’ve read that the Z3 has a ceramic pickup and the Z7 Alnico.

All of our band use LD MEI 1000 G2 wireless systems, we have been more than happy with them to date.

My first bass was a Wilson Sapphire Bass, it was white with black pickguard(s) and a black headstock. It was quite a nice bass and was styled on a Burns Bass, I think Watkins also brought out a similar model. I should have kept it but for some reason I didn’t see any reason in keeping after I bought a brand new Fender Precision in 1974.

Here’s a photo of my Sire Marcus Miller P7 5 string. So far mods are: Chrome knobs replacing the existing cheap black plastic one’s, and a custom-made red tort pickguard which replaced the stock one which was de-laminating. I’ve also just replaced the stock .022 tone cap for a 0.047 one, which has improved the tone of the bass. Oh, and I’ve fitted D’Addario strap locks too.

I drove about 40 miles to their shop once as I had seen a couple of left handed basses advertised on their web site that I was interested in, when I got there I couldn’t find any left handed basses at all and when I asked I was told that they don’t keep the left handed basses at the shop and if I want to see any I would have to give them prior notice so they could get them there. It’s a relatively small place and I can appreciate display space is a bit limited, but they only ever have a very small number of lefties. I was a bit disappointed but ended up buying some strings and a couple of other accessories.

I’ve used a Line 6 G50 system for quite a few years now, it’s been brilliant and as it works on 2.4 gigahertz there’s absolutely no loss of tone with the signal and no interference whatsoever from any other devices or lighting etc. I tried a Sennheiser wireless system the once and IMHO it did affect the tone. Battery life is really good too, I use Panasonic Eneloop rechargeable batteries in mine. With the G50 the receiver is of metal construction and is very robust. Some argue that the cable from the receiver to the bass can fail, I bought a replacement on EBay and it has been faultless and still have the original cable as well. I understand that other Line 6 wireless systems are available now, not sure if the G50 is still available but well worth getting one if they still out there.

Yes I remember the shop (and the guy you mentioned), I think his name might have been Gary? I bought my Warwick Streamer from there. I think he works at (or manages) PMT in Birmingham now? Didn’t they move premises away from the arches and to near the Alex Theatre?

Brilliant pickups, I swapped out 1/4 pounders for these on my P Bass and they’re superb! If EMG brought out a 5 string set I’d buy some right away for my Sire P7.

I’ve only ever owned two Fender cables (both received with new Jazz Basses), both were crap and broke within a very short space of time.

You may have read my post on the Forum somewhere about the same issue I had with my P7? The pickguard was de-laminating in several areas, especially around the screw holes. I bought the bass from Thomann who very kindly gave me a Sire Marcus Miller gig bag as compensation. I was going to buy a gig bag anyway so with the money I bought a replacement pickguard from Jack’s Instrument Services in Manchester. The replacement red tort pickguard looks better than the stock one. The black pickguard does look nice on yours though, but on mine I think the red tort looks nicer with the white paint finish.

I fitted a replacement pickguard on my P7 (the stock one was de-laminating), and I also changed the control knobs for chrome one’s. The pickguard was from Jack’s Instrument Services in Manchester, I’m really pleased with it and it looks a lot better than the original. (See photo). I wasn’t keen at all on the stock black plastic control knobs, did Marcus really sign off on those?? The only other thing I would change (at the moment) is the string tree, I like the look of the one’s you’ve fitted and shown on your photos. With regards to the tuners and bridge I think the stock items are fine, not 100% sure on the pickups, even though the bass has a “P” split pickup at the neck, to my ears it doesn’t quite capture that Precision Bass sound? Anyway I’m leaving those for the moment, but if ever EMG bring out a Geezer PJ set for 5 string basses I would get a set without hesitation! I’ve got some on my Precision Bass and they’re brilliant (IMHO).

There was a small strip of neoprene under mine, but it wasn’t thick enough to raise the pickups so I added some sponge material on top. I was surprised there wasn’t any springs under the screws.

I have seen various posts criticising the hardware on Sire Basses, especially the tuners, but in my personal experience with my 2nd Generation P7 5 string is that it stays in tune far better than my Fender American Professional!