Ander87

Touchè! haha you're not wrong mate - having said that I'm just trying to diversify portfolio hahahaha I gave myself the luxury of keeping the Stingray Special and 'going sensible' on the other bits (more a high end bass discussion rather than vintage vs. new) As I'm shying away from GAS I am looking to my other passions, watches and motorbikes... At least the first one can hold value or increase a bit; we'll see how a classic motorcycle will hold up post 2030 when ICE sales end... In any case, it seems that if we end up with the good vintage bass / bike / watch we'll end up feeling emotionally attached to it and should hence end up being a family heirloom to pass down to our kids one day... These are crimes of passion after all!

I gotta love this - sharp and solid point! We often wind ourselves in with the 'investment value' of basses we (I?) end up selling months later and won't accrue to the full value potential... and even in that case, low-mid risk investing would return more money than that eventually anyway! Ander.

Sharing the current and latest ‘sensible’ edition. Good pseudo unintended/intentional colour match in the holly P/J/SR trifecta. After all the basses I’ve had I can recommend Sire basses! Despite how many basses I’ve had I can’t have more than 3 basses lol - this is the only number I can manage that warrants I get to play them all!

That looks incredibly nice Michael, congratulations.

Wow Chris. This is something else, tons of mojo!

Ah, had the Ric indeed, it was banging! Having said that I couldn’t justify all that money on gear, I’ve halved my gear value altogether which was much needed…! it did treat me great though, live and on studio…! Ander.

I agree to an extent but I also didn’t want to take from the merit and pioneering they’ve made as a company in the recent times. Personally think they’ve lost their way in the recent years and some gear calls, and often been disappointed by some of their gear but also done plenty right…! completely agree that if you’re eager to dig in for the right pedal/gear etc you’ll find much better options too. for modern distortion this Lusithand is likely my favourite pedal - for a more traditional cut i quite liked Hudson electronics stuff - in between… Fuzzrocious Lil Fella.

I second this. Plus, much as I like the darkglass tone etc I hate how it eats out bottom. With this pedal you do not lose bass and also the EQ control adds a lot of magic.

I just bought and received a JAM waterfall chorus pedal from Bill. Great communication and the pedal is in excellent, as new condition with all paperwork and boxing. Top fella to deal with, can totally recommend! Ander.

I want to dig more into the settings of my Alma. I really do like it but I am a compressor noob and just end up setting it all in that ‘11 to 1 o’clock’ safe range to not mess much up. But maybe that’s the beauty of it and I love that it thickens the sound and adds substance to all strings with that velvety sheen to the D-G strings…!

I think this is a very fair assessment! Capo gets you clean and break up point/hair/ up to distortion. add a heavy distortion / fuzz and you’re all set - and we have a ton of options!

Perfectly valid! I totally get you on that sense - similarly I loved the Motorcycle from Hudson Electronics but admittedly it is a tone I can pull from the Capo so I let it go in favour of the GNP.

Interesting! I had the Lil Fella and really liked it but I found it ate some bottom - as most pedals that don’t have an EQ, I’d say. really good and crunchy pedal but a more traditional cut - the G&P feels more RAT like and fizzy up top. Ander.

Haha cheers Rob too nice of you!

Hahahaha thanks a ton Rob! I was t too sure myself initially before I clicked the order button and has an element of cheesiness to it or make it look like I chose them for the colour… but it just works. The other finishes didn’t call me as much as these on the sire’s and the stingray is my all time ultimate favourite. Ander.

Thanks @ezbass! Yep mine is 3.75kg and feels light but solid too. @Paolo85 is right on Sires reputation but I did research on the P5 and seems like this gen/series of passives has repaired much of this. the P5’s I’ve enquired about before buying new were 4kg dead on in most cases - note also LowEndLobster’s heavier bass (4.25kg I think?) was the 5 string version, could maybe be the carbon rods that Sire 5ers have that 4ers don’t? Asides from the obvious bigger neck and more hardware/extra tuner of course

Ah man praying for them to clear soon, did you order? my guitarist got a guitar from Argentina that spent 3 weeks in stansted last month waiting for HMRC 🤡 💀

Hmm! Mine was about a couple working days. From order to delivered this was 4 working days, 5 working days on the V5R. ah man I hope it gets to you soon, I think at that stage it’s HMRC/DHL troubles.

well coincidentally I’m completing it with the JAM waterfall chorus, Greece!

Loving this!

If the first picture is on the cool side of the spectrum, this is a bit warmer but how my eyes would see it I think. Heck, doesn’t matter, we all know I just want to show these off 😂

The Alma is great! Always on and juicy sustain. Works wonders on pick! and the G&app, Jesus it’s very versatile, especially with that mix/blend. Very impressed so far but needs stage and rehearsal time of course.

Well I can post more detail but this seems to be a keeper to me. Works brilliant with my new P bass, lots of authority, but the treble punch of my Jazz on this is surreal…! loving the natural mix control (rather than the usual blend of volumes) and how the EQ can go either way without losing presence.

I’d say the closest is the first one - I’ve got an LPB and that is very much like the top right, @Happypants has Tidepool and think he’d concur!

Right! so for the second Monday in a row I've a delivery from Thomann. Impressed by the V5R I took receipt of HERE I just had to give this a go...! P5 in the same bloody colour - I know - a Sea of Foam Green should be my theme, but I couldn't resist since this colour for both Sires was nicer than the others to my taste. So, like I did on the previous post... Onto the bad first: NONE. The setup was in this case perfect, neck/truss rod / pitch at 12th fret etc, all spot on - Potentially the bass I've bought new with the best setup, paired only by the Stingray I'd say (again, 6 times pricier...). The frets in this bass are better finished yet than in the V5R too, only one scratches a teeny tiny bit on the 11th fret but again being picky. Weight is a silly 3.75kg, and it balances very nicely, no head dive which is a plus. I had read the pickups lacked bottom, I think they're spot on but I often boost treble on other P basses I've had so maybe it's down to my preference. I find them very balanced with presence in mids and highs, and again I will not be changing them in a while - maybe, MAYBE next year if we pop to the studio, just for the purpose of having things top spec'd in case it shows in the recordings... But then again admittedly more being a snob than needing a change. To illustrate, I took the V5R to a gig on Saturday and it was one of the best sounding live tones I've had. DISCLAIMER: these basses sound amazingly to my ears and considering I have the Capo on my board, which makes everything sound just so so so good as many reviews will verify here. Having an average amp and cab or crappier pedals will surely bring a worse result, but I think I've learnt to spread the demands of a rig across the cab, the amp, pedals etc; I used to put too much responsibility on the bass whilst my view now is that the bass is great long as it's well finished and feels comfortable. One thing to point out that, even if it doesn't bother me, I can see how it'd bother others - the roast of the neck is super super dark - I do think it's potentially tinted as it doesn't make a lot of sense - add black dots and you won't see crap on the face of the board, BUT the dot markers on the side are white. I encountered a similar problem in a Sterling Ray34 where the dark side dots had to be replaced at my cost, seems like Sire got that right here though. The neck is so dark that one could believe it's rosewood - again I quite like it as is down to taste - and the maple board has a very interesting 'light to dark' gradient here, again not sure if down to tinting it or natural, but I like it either way. I will say that I prefer the tort pickguard in person even looking at my own pictures.