NBD - Sire D5

[neepheid]

Finally!  I had a right good moan about the protracted wait for this bass to arrive, but arrive it has.  I haven't had a chance for war volume playing yet but from the time I've managed to spend with it I'm impressed.  For those not familiar, this is Sire's take on the '51/'54 Precision.  The horns are a little thinner/sharper than a regular '51/'54, kinda reminds me of a Cowpoke for some reason.  Maybe a Cowpoke and a '51 Precision got up to no good...

 

Really good fit and finish. Loves to be played with the thumb and palm muted - very responsive to that and there's a big difference in the sound versus fingerstyle.  How wonderfully simple it is, just like a P should be. No noise whatsoever coming through either my USB interface or my Yamaha Sessioncake.  The neck is lovely - the maple has been well roasted and doesn't even resemble maple any more.  The front of the fingerboard is lacquered but the back of this neck feels almost unfinished and the rolled fingerboard edges feel very premium. Hardware is good - tuners turn smoothly and feel sturdy, the bridge is functional enough - it's a BBOT with brass saddles, what more can you say?  Electronics seem fine, pots turn smoothly and the tone control sucks a good chunk of treble out at minimum.

 

Bonus - setup was decent out of the box, intonation sounds like it's decent, if not perfect then certainly good enough.

Weight - mine is 4.05kg - 8.9lbs. A good heft without feeling heavy, I'm happy with this.  Balances no problem on the strap, no neck dive, for those who are annoyed by such things.

 

It's just a simple, enjoyable, eminently playable bass.  A successful modern twist on the OG Precision.  I can see myself having a lot of fun with this one.

[neepheid]

[Lozz196]

Looks great, only ever played one Sire bass, albeit very briefly, but I was impressed at how playable it was.

[neepheid]

So, I've had it a few weeks now - how goes it?

 

Very well.  The setup out of the box did end up needing a small tweak - there was a little too much relief in the neck so a cheeky quarter turn on the truss rod dialed that out nicely and it's playing great with no buzz but low enough action for a bit of clank if I dig in.  But apart from that, it was pretty much bob on.  I don't ever mark a bass down for the setup it arrives with - I can do it myself anyway and my setup is my own.  I'm not expecting any bass to arrive set up the way I like it, what an amazing coincidence that would be!

 

Again, this is just a pure coincidence but it comes strung with what appear to be D'addario XL nickel rounds.  Which are my strings of choice, so one less job to do.  Dunno what gauge they are but they feel OK to me.

 

I've played the bass at one band rehearsal and a couple of gigs now.  Very happy with the way it went.  The bass is quiet and the volume pot works as expected, any issues that might have been raised with early output of this bass by YouTube reviewers seem to have been addressed.  In our RF hellhole of a rehearsal room, there was a bit of background noise but I have other basses which have been way worse and I've had to get the copper tape out.  This one is tolerable so I probably won't bother, shielding seems adequate for normal use cases and isn't completely thrown by the abnormal case of our rehearsal room.

 

In the rehearsal room and at the gigs, I did note that the pickup is not particularly high output.  It also is very mid focused.  Not bothered a jot about output - turn the amp gain/volume up, big whoop.  But the focus of the sound did compel me to do some EQ tweaks, boosting the lows a bit.  After I dialed that in I was very pleased with the sound I got, it's chunky, it's old school but it's not flat, there's a lot of life in there.  Gigs went great, bass was as good as gold, lovely neck, great balance (never felt like I was fighting it).

 

Looks like this one's a keeper.  I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a '51/'54 Precision shaped object, and at only £369 from Thomann (if DHL don't steal, sorry "lose" it en route) I consider it a great deal compared to the Squier '51 Precision shaped objects out there, with the roasted maple neck, the rolled fingerboard edges and the decent hardware being the obvious "upgrades" from what a Squier could give you out of the box.

[grenadillabama]

I have a D5 in the same color. I had it a while before I noticed what made it different. The pickguard is more pointed like a cowpoke. There is no thumbrest or finger rest. There are more pickguard screws. It weighs less and the body is contoured at the top for your arm and  the back for your belly. The neck is not fat. 

[boristhespider7]

I've heard different things about the pick ups on these, some say they're wound humbucking under the cover, some say single coil.

Any ideas what they are?

Usually the hum gives it away, plus more top end presence that a tradition P pickup

[neepheid]

16 minutes ago, boristhespider7 said:

I've heard different things about the pick ups on these, some say they're wound humbucking under the cover, some say single coil.

Any ideas what they are?

Usually the hum gives it away, plus more top end presence that a tradition P pickup

 

As I've already mentioned, in the electromagnetic hell of our rehearsal room it's quieter than some of my other basses which I have felt compelled shield with copper tape.  Make of that what you will.  But I can't tell visually what the coil configuration of my pickup is - there's tape/ribbon all the way round the coil(s) and I'm not peeling that back, I'm not that curious, sorry.

 

The way I see it, if someone is that bothered about pickups they'll probably want to change the stock pickup regardless of what it is.  At least with the D5 you get a lot of other good stuff like roasted neck, rolled fingerboard edges, truss rod access at the neck heel and a standard 5 screw pattern on the bridge, so that's easy to change as well if one is so inclined.

[GreeneKing]

I’ve got a tobacco burst incoming, hopefully Tuesday Matt. 
 

I’m not averse to some modding if the basics are good. 
 

Peter

[GreeneKing]

Mine has landed. It was a showroom model and Andertons called me to explain this. They offered me a set of strings. 
The bass arrived and it’s lovely. It weighs 8.6lb and although I’m not normally a fan I love the burst. There is however a shallow scratch near the nut. No strings were forthcoming either. Andertons have offered me £30 and strings. I’ve asked for a set of LaBella 760s and gone with that. I suspect I can sort the scratch. 
The bridge saddles were in orbit! I’ve turned the screws down over 4 turns and there’s more to go. 
It sounds lovely, a really woody P bass tone. No noise from the bass either. 
I like that the body resonates when you play. 

The base instrument is very sound and I’m making no apologies for modding the hell out of it. It’ll be my personal 54P in my 70th year. 
So, plans are, bridge, tuners, pickup, electrics and scratch plate. The whole behemoth. 
I could set up a mod thread I guess. The pick-up is going to be something quite different. 
 

[neepheid]

7 minutes ago, GreeneKing said:

Mine has landed. It was a showroom model and Andertons called me to explain this. They offered me a set of strings. 
The bass arrived and it’s lovely. It weighs 8.6lb and although I’m not normally a fan I love the burst. There is however a shallow scratch near the nut. No strings were forthcoming either. Andertons have offered me £30 and strings. I’ve asked for a set of LaBella 760s and gone with that. I suspect I can sort the scratch. 
The bridge saddles were in orbit! I’ve turned the screws down over 4 turns and there’s more to go. 
It sounds lovely, a really woody P bass tone. No noise from the bass either. 
I like that the body resonates when you play. 

The base instrument is very sound and I’m making no apologies for modding the hell out of it. It’ll be my personal 54P in my 70th year. 
So, plans are, bridge, tuners, pickup, electrics and scratch plate. The whole behemoth. 
I could set up a mod thread I guess. The pick-up is going to be something quite different. 
 

 

That looks lovely - your photos look way better than the ones I've seen online.  How can they sell instruments if they're set up like that?  Oh well, money off for you!

 

Yes, please document what you do with this in a thread, I'd be interested for one.