mudmover Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 Previously I had a Ray34 which was great BUT I always had a cravin for a P bass but with an active sound option. I really wanted a Fender Deluxe P bass BUT they don't offer this in left handed - like a selfish lover!!! A few shops suggested the Sire P7 version 2. Before I trade in an acoustic bass and buy this please advise what other options I should consider... It seems there is not a lot of love for Sire here OR is it because of brand snobbery? Please thro and ideas / comments in the mix please....Also will be looking for decent combo... Help please! ATB Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 25 minutes ago, mudmover said: It seems there is not a lot of love for Sire here OR is it because of brand snobbery? There's a fair few of us that have got or have owned Sires, though I think most of us have/had first generation V7s rather than Ps. I've got a fretless V7 that isn't going anywhere. Generally opinion is overwhelmingly positive, the only negatives that come up are to do with the hardware. The tuners and the bridges, whilst perfectly functional, feel a bit cheap and flimsy and the same could be said of the plastic knobs. That was specifically on the first generation V7s though, I think some of those issues have been addressed on the more recent models. But overall you get a lot of bass for your money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M@23 Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 I had a mk1 V7 5, and it was very good. Good enough that I sold my Sadowsky, the bass it was due to play backup to. Realised that I preferred 18mm string spacing and genuinely loved the sound of it, active and passive. The only downside to it was the weight, which is why I sold it. I really want to try a mk2. I hear about the tuners and bridge complaints, but I never had any issues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverBlackman Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 1 hour ago, mudmover said: Previously I had a Ray34 which was great BUT I always had a cravin for a P bass but with an active sound option. I really wanted a Fender Deluxe P bass BUT they don't offer this in left handed - like a selfish lover!!! A few shops suggested the Sire P7 version 2. Before I trade in an acoustic bass and buy this please advise what other options I should consider... It seems there is not a lot of love for Sire here OR is it because of brand snobbery? Please thro and ideas / comments in the mix please....Also will be looking for decent combo... Help please! ATB Matt Have you done it yet? Hit the button Matt, hit the goddam button. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 I have a V7 fretless, the lined maple neck looks and feels gorgeous. The hardware on mine's fine - the bridge is a pretty standard/functional BBOT with vintage style threaded saddles, and is as good as any other of the type. The tuners are nice quality, with cast bodies & torque adjusting screws, similar to some Gotoh & Schaller units. Mine's not an S2 and I don't really understand why the components get the criticism that they do. I only have a couple of niggles - mine (metallic red) has a bit of finish checking under the clear coat, which bugs me a little - and it's heavy. Very heavy! Otherwise it's a lovely bass, and unlike every other fretless I've owned, a keeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineweasel Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 There aren’t many active P options for us lefties. As far as I know the Sire stands alone in its price bracket. A Sandberg would be a more expensive option, and probably require a wait too unless you found one with the right spec at a dealer. Another thing to consider is adding a preamp to a passive P bass, something I’ve thought about trying myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 There's generally lots of love for Sire on here and pretty much everywhere else where they get mentioned! I gig a V7 5 string as my main bass and it's been fantastic, there's not a sound I want that I can't get out of it just by using the preamp which is outstanding on a bass in that price range. The stock hardware is functional and gets the job done but if you're used to nicer stuff on other basses you might feel like it is too much of a cost saving measure especially if it is your main bass, I did and upgraded the tuners and bridge with Schaller and Gotoh units respectively. No brand snobbery, just wanting something I really like to have no drawbacks really. A few people have had snapped intonation screws on the original MkI bridge but I'm not sure if they changed it for the MkII. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyJ Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 16 hours ago, pineweasel said: Another thing to consider is adding a preamp to a passive P bass, something I’ve thought about trying myself. Fender made a lefty Hot Rodded American Standard Precision around 1999-2001 with PJ pickups, all passive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 I loved my Sire, go for it! I had a lefty vintage V7 fiver because the options on a £500 bass just weren't available in lefty at under 1200ish. It was my main gigging bass until a tax rebate bought me a Stingray!! I felt bad about having two jazzes and thought the Stingray would be my go to so sold the Sire. Now I'm sorely tempted to buy a version 2 lefty Sire jazz in 4 string, a satin finish neck, ebony board and some of the new colours are very tempting. They also look after us lefties incredibly well with almost everything available to us, unlike most brands. You won't regret it, but I think there was a P7 at a great price on the forum, why not go second hand to see if it's your thing and you wouldn't take much of a loss if any if you move it on? I took quite a hit selling mine which I'd bought new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmover Posted November 25, 2019 Author Share Posted November 25, 2019 OK so I made the big purchase of a P7 Version 2 from Andertons along with a Rumble 100. The variation of sound is quite massive and its certainly a nice bit of kit. I tried a MIM P Bass and while lighter I prefered the narrower neck on the P7. Now to get practising :) Thx for all the support, Matt 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baker69 Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 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! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 8 hours ago, Baker69 said: 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! Agreed. No issue at all with the hardware on the Sire that I had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 (edited) Tuners are fine, just not particularly good if you are used to better ones. Same story with the bridge although that has (or had) a couple of design flaws with the oversize saddles and cheap intonation screws. Would be interesting to know if they changed these parts for the version 2 models. The original design for the 4 string bridge left users with no option to string through the body due to hole location and saddle size.The 5 was tight as well although the bridge was a different design so not as bad, through body stringing was possible but the angle coming off the saddle was very sharp. Tbh just putting new saddles would fix it rather than swapping out the entire bridge, as I said not sure if they have changed the design since the early days. This is from their own website: Edited April 2, 2020 by lemmywinks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 Also here's a photo from this forum where someone couldn't intonate their V7 Vintage (different bridge to the standard model) due to the design and positioning of bridge itself and through body holes: Again, not good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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