What Sire did next

[lemmywinks]

These don't do anything for me but I don't get the reactions, that sparkle one looks fine to me and the other pics just look like flat renders which don't show contouring and rounded edges. Ripping MM off a lot, Lakland off a bit but still looking different enough.

 

Will most likely be a much better option than the financially comparable offering from Musicman.

[ezbass]

5 hours ago, neepheid said:

They've updated the page, now there's a sparkly ray-a-like...

 

The tuners look a bit big on that headstock to me but, other than that, it works from my perspective and would be an easy fix.

[la bam]

Sire - do that sparkly one in fuschia like the bongo and you'll have a winner. Light blue also looks great. Black/Grey though..... 

[tauzero]

On 20/12/2023 at 16:04, Raj_Shredder said:

I thought that Ernie Ball had a patent on the 3+1 MM Headstock? Are there any other mass produced basses out there, other than EBMM, using the 3+1? 

 

I wouldn't have thought that that would be patentable. The headstock might be a trademark, like various aspects of R*ckenbackers, but that would encompass the entire headstock shape rather than the 3+1ness of it.

[tauzero]

14 hours ago, neepheid said:

They've updated the page, now there's a sparkly ray-a-like...

 

 

I have my doubts about the pre- and post-coital horns.

[crazycloud]

I don't mind the F series, but the string spacing on all the 6s is too wide for my tastes.

 

The Zs are likely fine basses, and I'd be amazed if they weren't in the same class as the EBMMs, just a whole lot less expensive. However, pickguards and control plates make me nauseous, so a definite no thanks.

[asingardenof]

7 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

I wouldn't have thought that that would be patentable. The headstock might be a trademark, like various aspects of R*ckenbackers, but that would encompass the entire headstock shape rather than the 3+1ness of it.

Is Rickenbacker a swear word now?

[neepheid]

1 minute ago, asingardenof said:

Is Rickenbacker a swear word now?

 

I think it's OK as long as you don't say it three times whilst looking in a mirror...

[tauzero]

2 hours ago, asingardenof said:

Is Rickenbacker a swear word now?

 

It's a trade mark and I didn't know where to find the ® symbol. Rickenbacker® - that's better.

[Jah Wibble]

On 18/12/2023 at 17:48, Sibob said:

Those lower horns are a swing and a miss aren’t they. Also goes to show that not everyone can design a decent looking single-cut.

G-series could be interesting though, Godin vibes probably.

 

Si

Yeah doesn't look great, but it might be down the not being able to legally do much better due to copyright etc. Not a fact, but might be the case?

 

[Sibob]

11 minutes ago, Jah Wibble said:

Yeah doesn't look great, but it might be down the not being able to legally do much better due to copyright etc. Not a fact, but might be the case?

 

Probably, plus a wish to try and create some kind of design branding…..but hasn’t gone well IMO 😅

 

Si

[Paddy777]

I’ve been saying for ages I wanted to see Sire get involved with MM style basses,that U7 looks awesome too, the U5 is a well underrated and although I am a BIG Sire fan, I don’t rate the Heritage preamp particularly and mostly played my P7’s/V7’s in passive. 
 

I rate Sire over Fender if you’re either doing like for like (MIM v The better Sires like V7/9 etc) or if you’re doing value Sire wins hands down IMO. I’ve stopped buying cheaper instruments and then losing money cos I always end up upgrading to the better one than I wanted anyway, but Sire are the budget brand I really rate.

 

That being said I can’t see the point at all in the V10 - same preamp/pickups as the V7 and same preamp as the £199 V3! Same complaint with the F10 - I really think it’s bizarre to have the same preamp on the “boutique” range that u do on your cheapest Jazz. Apart from having Passive tone in active mode (my pet hate when people don’t do this!) and i guess parametric mids which are ok, I think the preamp sounds crap. The bass is at 20hz and is only useful to cut low end which then means you have to set your mids as low as poss (~80hz I think) to get any low end boost, meaning it only really functions as a 2 band for me, the treble is way high as well, but it’s easily replaced and for a lot of people the Sires are just great mod platforms anyway.
 

I’ll probably buy one of the acoustics and never use it, I look forward to it sitting in the studio unplayed until I inevitably sell it on for 1/2 what I paid!  

Edited December 22, 2023 by Paddy777

[asingardenof]

3 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

It's a trade mark and I didn't know where to find the ® symbol. Rickenbacker® - that's better.

So is Fender, Gibson, Ampeg, and every other manufacturer mentioned on this site though.

[tauzero]

1 minute ago, asingardenof said:

So is Fender, Gibson, Ampeg, and every other manufacturer mentioned on this site though.

 

John Hall® is very precious about his trademarks though.

[asingardenof]

10 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

John Hall® is very precious about his trademarks though.

I'm sure he's not trawling internet forums looking for mention of his brand to sue randoms for trademark infringement though, especially as just mentioning the brand isn't trademark infringement.

[AndyTravis]

I think Ernie Ball will pull the plug on the 3+1

[OliverBlackman]

9 hours ago, asingardenof said:

I'm sure he's not trawling internet forums looking for mention of his brand to sue randoms for trademark infringement though, especially as just mentioning the brand isn't trademark infringement.

He will give it a bloody good go! 

[lemmywinks]

7 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

I think Ernie Ball will pull the plug on the 3+1

 

Tanglewood and Vintage have been doing 3+1 (and 4+1 on the 5) for donkeys' years. Westfield, J&D and SX also did 3+1.

[AndyTravis]

2 hours ago, lemmywinks said:

 

Tanglewood and Vintage have been doing 3+1 (and 4+1 on the 5) for donkeys' years. Westfield, J&D and SX also did 3+1.

Not sure vintage/sx/tanglewood would harm the SUB/Sterling sales as much as Sire…

 

and vintage/tanglewood are much more a UK concern.

 

Mind you, looking more like Nemo than a Stingray may keep these on the shelf rather than harming anyone else’s sales.

[lemmywinks]

7 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

Not sure vintage/sx/tanglewood would harm the SUB/Sterling sales as much as Sire…

 

and vintage/tanglewood are much more a UK concern.

 

Mind you, looking more like Nemo than a Stingray may keep these on the shelf rather than harming anyone else’s sales.

 

I think the companies still have to be seen as protecting their trademarks and not abandoning them regardless of how they're affecting sales, I think they're registered over here as well. At the time Tanglewood etc would have been competing with OLP basses.

 

Tbh the real shots of the Sire Z which show contouring look fine to me, certainly less like a toilet seat that a real MM 4 string.

[Maude]

I confused as to how they're all Marcus Miller signatures. 

[AndyTravis]

1 minute ago, Maude said:

I confused as to how they're all Marcus Miller signatures. 

Miller is known/has been known to ply a Sterling fretless 🤷🏻‍♂️🫣😂

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, Maude said:

I confused as to how they're all Marcus Miller signatures. 

Same with the Larry Carlton guitars, it’s become more of a brand now I think.

[Delberthot]

I have a theory that these have been put on the websites as bait or testers as it were.

 

The company have had a few ideas about what would work next so they post pictures of different potential models. They then sit back and wait for the ensuing debate amongst us here and over on Talkbs. They gather the information and then decide on the design, layout etc of the final product.

 

No focus groups or test groups to pay for, they merely let us decide what we want.

 

Then again this could backfire as very few of us know what we want 😂

 

 

 

 

[Jack]

22 hours ago, asingardenof said:

I'm sure he's not trawling internet forums looking for mention of his brand to sue randoms for trademark infringement though, especially as just mentioning the brand isn't trademark infringement.

Ah, I see you're unaware of how he runs the company. Allegedly. 

 

The contents of this post are the opinions of Jack and should not be taken as representative of the opinions of Basschat or All The Good Names Are Taken Ltd.