Sire D5 incoming......

[kevham]

Just had the notification that my Sire D5 will be delivered tomorrow. 🤞

[uk_lefty]

Just now, kevham said:

Just had the notification that my Sire D5 will be delivered tomorrow. 🤞

Yaaaaaay!!! 

 

My Thomann wishlist is a long list of almost every variant of bass Sire makes. Now to find the cash and the time to play one...

[rasher80]

Exciting times!!

[kevham]

Here it is.

Good things - was nearly in tune and setup well straight out the box. It is very well finished - the neck in particular is lovely.

Not so good things - It is a wee bit heavy, tuners don't look best quality, colour is slightly more orange than I expected (butterscotch blonde).

 

Haven't plugged it in yet so don't know what it sounds like.

[uk_lefty]

23 minutes ago, kevham said:

Here it is.

Good things - was nearly in tune and setup well straight out the box. It is very well finished - the neck in particular is lovely.

Not so good things - It is a wee bit heavy, tuners don't look best quality, colour is slightly more orange than I expected (butterscotch blonde).

 

Haven't plugged it in yet so don't know what it sounds like.

Sounds crap. I'll give you a hundred quid for it, I'm feeling generous 😉

[rasher80]

The BB does look a little bit off-colour for want of a better description, although it's the classic colour on it's Fender counterpart which is a mild shame. 

[kevham]

16 minutes ago, rasher80 said:

The BB does look a little bit off-colour for want of a better description, although it's the classic colour on it's Fender counterpart which is a mild shame. 

I went for this because it is the classic colour and also because I felt the roasted maple looked a bit odd on my favourite colour - the vintage white. 

It is a mild disappointment - one of the risks of buying blind off the internet I guess.

Having said that, it does match the roasted maple quite nicely.

I would say this is better finished than a Mexican Fender but I'm not sure about those tuners......

[rasher80]

28 minutes ago, kevham said:

I went for this because it is the classic colour and also because I felt the roasted maple looked a bit odd on my favourite colour - the vintage white. 

 

 

It's funny how the roasted neck changes the whole visual aspect of the bass isn't it?

 

I find vintage white sits equally nicely with a rosewood or maple fingerboard, but for some reason I find the roasted neck a little much next to it 

[uk_lefty]

Ooooh I think the Sire vintage White looks great with roasted maple and stuffing. Different strokes and all 

[kevham]

Sounds pretty good. Punchy low mids and quite bright.

A wee bit of noise evident and the tone control is pretty much on/off but volume is quite progressive.

Gigs coming up in February. Will I use it? Maybe.....

[rasher80]

Glad to hear you're enjoying it, I know the aesthetics are really important but if the bass sounds good and you can get a useful tone from it, you can (almost) ignore the looks. 

[LeftyJ]

12 hours ago, kevham said:

the tone control is pretty much on/off but volume is quite progressive.

Common lefty issue. Sounds like it may have a linear volume pot and a logarithmic tone pot, which could be wired in reverse to accommodate us lefties... neglecting the fact that you'd then need a reverse log pot. 

[kevham]

Just compared the new v2 tuners with the original Sire tuners off my old V7 Jazz bass. They are definitely more robust than the originals but nowhere near the quality of say Wilkinson tuners on my cheap Vintage brand bass.

Also tried fitting a spare Hipshot extender I had lying around. It won't directly fit - I'll need to fill and drill screw holes to do that. That won't happen until I've had the bass a while.

[whynot]

Loving the roasted neck on the Sires

[rasher80]

How do you feel about it now you're a few days in @kevham?

[uk_lefty]

The real question everyone wants the answer to: have you sniffed or licked the roasted neck yet? 

[kevham]

6 hours ago, rasher80 said:

How do you feel about it now you're a few days in @kevham?

It's growing on me. To be fair it's going to struggle to get pulled off the rack against my Overwater or Spector but I could see me trying it out at rehearsal. I can't really gig it without a working Hipshot though.

[kevham]

6 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

The real question everyone wants the answer to: have you sniffed or licked the roasted neck yet? 

Sniffed yes. Licked no. 🤣

[uk_lefty]

What's the verdict after 1 month?

 

I gigged last night and am thinking a P bass of some type is what I need as an alternative to my Stingray....

[kevham]

4 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

What's the verdict after 1 month?

 

I gigged last night and am thinking a P bass of some type is what I need as an alternative to my Stingray....

I've used it at a couple of rehearsals but haven't gigged it. It plays great and has a nice punchy mid-range clarity.

The neck is truly lovely, so smooth and I was amazed at how much comfort the rounded fret ends give.

The only real downside for me is I need to drill holes to fit a Hipshot (don't really want to do that).

It gets picked up off the rack regularly for practice in the house but it won't be a gigging bass for me.

Great value for money though.

[uk_lefty]

4 hours ago, kevham said:

I've used it at a couple of rehearsals but haven't gigged it. It plays great and has a nice punchy mid-range clarity.

The neck is truly lovely, so smooth and I was amazed at how much comfort the rounded fret ends give.

The only real downside for me is I need to drill holes to fit a Hipshot (don't really want to do that).

It gets picked up off the rack regularly for practice in the house but it won't be a gigging bass for me.

Great value for money though.

Good to hear about the necks! I need a good backup for my Stingray in case I get a bust string, battery goes on me, or just something to take for a gig abroad in a few months. I am very tempted by... well, let's be honest, everything Sire make. If the V10 came in the vintage White that would seal the deal for me I think. But I like the look of all the 5 series, the 7s are ridiculous value but the 9s and 10s are so tempting...!!

[rasher80]

10 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

What's the verdict after 1 month?

 

I gigged last night and am thinking a P bass of some type is what I need as an alternative to my Stingray....

Your P/J not doing it for you?

[uk_lefty]

1 hour ago, rasher80 said:

Your P/J not doing it for you?

Nope, hence it's been for sale for a long time. And I started a thread "does anyone else not get on with PJ basses?"

[rasher80]

13 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

Nope, hence it's been for sale for a long time. And I started a thread "does anyone else not get on with PJ basses?"

 

There's definitely something in this, my first bass was a squier P/J and I thought it was great. A few years down the line I had a CIJ P shipped in by Guitar Emporium (remember them?) and when I plugged it in it just sounded "right". I can't explain it any better. 

[kevham]

16 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

Nope, hence it's been for sale for a long time. And I started a thread "does anyone else not get on with PJ basses?"

PJ is my favourite pickup configuration. Mainly because I rest my thumb on the bridge pickup. I feel lost without it (even though I generally use only the P pickup)