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NBD Sire V7 Betsyish content

Mudpup

By Mudpup,
in Bass Guitars

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Sire V7 Burgundy scratchplate colour  

30 members have voted

  1. 1. Original pearl one or new mint green one? Waddya reckon?

    • Original Pearl
      20
    • Mint Green
      10

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Mudpup Veteran

Mudpup

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Posted (edited)

Lockdown boredom finally got to me.....after far too many hours cruising around on this site I kept returning to the Bass Centre Betsy thread and decided i wanted one. I read all the reviews i could find and watched Guys Lockdown Licks avidly. I've owned quite a few basses but never a 'proper' Jazz (I had a Blacktop Jazz a few years ago but apart from the body shape and the neck there was nothing jazzy about it), it was my birthday, i sold my bike and the missus gave me the ok. The scene was set, credit card poised and off i trotted to the Bass Centre website. This is where it goes a bit wonky....none available until the end of July. Dangnabbit! And i'm not very patient either 😂

During my research I'd spotted a Sire V7 version 2 in a similar colour and it was a bit cheaper. Great reviews in general for them and tbh i've always seemed to end up with active basses so having the preamp kind of appealed to me. Andertons didn't have any left in the colour/fretboard that I wanted and they weren't sure if they could get anymore but a quick look at Thomann secured my new toy. Three days later and it's sat in my front room. It's a difficult colour to photograph and i wasn't sure i would like the pearly scratchplate so i had popped a mint one in the basket along with some nicer metal knobs to potentially (see what i did there) replace the plastic ones.

I'm totally blown away with how they deliver this bass for £400. I've been lucky enough to have a lot of good basses over the last few years - a Spector Euro, various Musicmen, a couple of Fenders, a Sandberg, a G&L (which i've just put in the classifieds as a result) and I still have a Zon. This little £400 bass stands up with all of them. I can't find any issues at all with it and it was perfectly set up and in tune when i took it out of the box. The neck is so easy to play (rolled edges are great) with a lovely ebony board (even with a busted finger!), the preamp is a work of art - it sounds great passive anyway (and what i think a decent jazz should sound like) - but when you kick the preamp in the bass really comes alive. Huge bass, sparkling treble and a sweepable mid makes it seem like you can do anything with it. The tuners seem fine. The bridge looks a bit cheap so that may get a little upgrade down the line but it's just a vanity thing and i need to pop a Detuner on. I've had the bass a week and can't stop picking it up 🙂 The metal knobs made a nice final difference and i haven't decided which scratchplate i like best so i've done a poll. 

I still really fancy a Betsy though.....

 

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Edited by Mudpup
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  • 2 weeks later...
Mudpup Veteran

Mudpup

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Decided to go mint in the end. Bit of a story around the new scratchplate though. I ordered it from Thomann at the same time as getting the bass - it was only £13 so i thought i might as well. Went to fit it last week and there was about 1mm difference in size around the pickup and base of the neck so it wouldn't go on. I mailed Thomann with a few pictures and they think the Sire V2 is either slightly different from the V1 or the plate was faulty. They said to just keep it and they would refund it. Brilliant customer service from them. So today i thought i would get the Dremel out and cut some lumps out to see if i could fit it anyway and it worked out pretty well i reckon. I like it anyway.....😊

 

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la bam Veteran

la bam

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Posted

I have this same bass.

It really is outstanding. Looks brilliant, finished brilliant and sounds fantastic.

Just a slight caution re knobs - i think theyve been designed as plastic as the metal ones can interfere with the pre amp causing buzz, so maybe worth testing at volume first. I know this is why the P7 has almost rubber like knobs, which are slightly different to the v7 tough plastic.

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Mudpup Veteran

Mudpup

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I've tried it cranked up - no buzz issues ☺️  I remember watching a video somewhere - maybe Andertons? - where Marcus was saying the knobs were plastic because it affected the sound of the preamp if they used metal ones. Sounded like marketing hogwash to me 😂  Or at least trying to deflect some criticism over the cheap feeling knobs...

New knobs are way nicer though

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Drax Proficient

Drax

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, la bam said:

Just a slight caution re knobs - i think theyve been designed as plastic as the metal ones can interfere with the pre amp causing buzz, so maybe worth testing at volume first. I know this is why the P7 has almost rubber like knobs, which are slightly different to the v7 tough plastic.


 

4 minutes ago, Mudpup said:

I've tried it cranked up - no buzz issues ☺️  I remember watching a video somewhere - maybe Andertons? - where Marcus was saying the knobs were plastic because it affected the sound of the preamp if they used metal ones. Sounded like marketing hogwash to me 😂  Or at least trying to deflect some criticism over the cheap feeling knobs...

New knobs are way nicer though

Metal knobs here on P7 and no buzz 🐝 - there’s a lot / most BCers who’ve swapped these out. 

Once I know where I am with work planning the Burg 5 to help me through lockdown. Would def be tort though - funny how divisive tort (and 3TS) are on here.. 

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la bam Veteran

la bam

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15 minutes ago, Drax said:


 

Metal knobs here on P7 and no buzz 🐝 - there’s a lot / most BCers who’ve swapped these out. 

28 minutes ago, Mudpup said:

I've tried it cranked up - no buzz issues ☺️  I remember watching a video somewhere - maybe Andertons? - where Marcus was saying the knobs were plastic because it affected the sound of the preamp if they used metal ones. Sounded like marketing hogwash to me 😂  Or at least trying to deflect some criticism over the cheap feeling knobs...

 

That's good to hear.

Hadn't considered they could be saving money using plastic over metal. They had convinced me as the v7 and p7 are completely different knobs, despite tuners, bridge, necks, strings etc being the same. But if theres no issue using metal, that's good.

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Mudpup Veteran

Mudpup

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19 minutes ago, la bam said:

That's good to hear.

Hadn't considered they could be saving money using plastic over metal. They had convinced me as the v7 and p7 are completely different knobs, despite tuners, bridge, necks, strings etc being the same. But if theres no issue using metal, that's good.

If you decide to change yours you need to cut a tiny bit of credit card and put it in between the split shaft pots. It stops the knobs going on wonky...You effectively need to make them like a solid shaft

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bassfan Grand Master

bassfan

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Posted
On 22/06/2020 at 21:22, Mudpup said:

Sorry, just cant stand tort...... I must be weird ☺️ 

I was like that....all of a sudden tort guards appeal on certain colours... my money would be on tort, but if that’s a definite no stick with the Pearl... 😃👍🏻

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CameronJ Mentor

CameronJ

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4 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

Haha. I had 6 jazz basses at the time - it had one of those necks which changed its mind every week.

Oh dear.

 

Still, could’ve got Status to make you a cheeky carbon neck and had it painted to match 👀

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  • 1 year later...
Mudpup Veteran

Mudpup

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Posted (edited)
8 hours ago, CameronJ said:

Any update on this @Mudpup? How’s the Sire Betsy-ish treating you these days?

It bit the dust a few months back and moved north to a nice chap on here. For no other reason than something else I fancied popped up and my gear replacement policy kicked in. My Zon isn’t ever for sale, my Precision isn’t getting played but is rocketing in value so I can’t sell it and Betsyish was last in so first out on this occasion. 

Edited by Mudpup
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