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Sire Z7...here goes


BaggyMan

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9 hours ago, Roseweave said:

i'm so glad a scottish person has weighed in, thank you

 

 

You'd probably rephrase that if you heard me saying that in my natural strong Spanish accent ;)

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I am auditioning for a punk rock ska type of band and my 37” multiscale Ibanez 5er is overkill and too big dimensions for it. 
 

I’ve got a z7 mint on the way from Anderson’s I should receive tomorrow… hopefully the QC is spot on and comes just right!

 

tempted to buy a couple more and return the worst two reading what I’ve read 😅 how was the returns process everyone?

 

Ander. 

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11 minutes ago, Ander87 said:

tempted to buy a couple more and return the worst two reading what I’ve read 😅 how was the returns process everyone?

 

Ander. 

 

Couldn't tell you - mine was A1.

Edited by neepheid
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18 minutes ago, Ander87 said:

So I am auditioning for a punk rock ska type of band and my 37” multiscale Ibanez 5er is overkill and too big dimensions for it. 
 

I’ve got a z7 mint on the way from Anderson’s I should receive tomorrow… hopefully the QC is spot on and comes just right!

 

tempted to buy a couple more and return the worst two reading what I’ve read 😅 how was the returns process everyone?

 

Ander. 

 

No complaints about mine either 

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1 hour ago, Ander87 said:

So I am auditioning for a punk rock ska type of band and my 37” multiscale Ibanez 5er is overkill and too big dimensions for it. 
 

I’ve got a z7 mint on the way from Anderson’s I should receive tomorrow… hopefully the QC is spot on and comes just right!

 

tempted to buy a couple more and return the worst two reading what I’ve read 😅 how was the returns process everyone?

 

Ander. 

Please share when you get it, I love that colour. 

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IMG_9339.thumb.jpeg.c834eebb4b8fd747863f6612c9203a9b.jpeg

 

just when I thought I couldn’t hate on DHL more… no reason or explanation. How whack are these guys really??  
Not even a single automated apology. Literally a 'We've updated your delivery instructions' 🙄

I need to submit videos for this audition, cleared my day for nothing… so annoying. 

 

Edited by Ander87
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3 minutes ago, Ander87 said:

just when I thought I couldn’t hate on DHL more… no reason or explanation. How whack are these guys really??  
 

I need to submit videos for this audition, cleared my day for nothing… so annoying. 

 

 

DHL == D!ck Heads Limited

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Right... so, the bass arrived.

 

First impressions:

 

* Love the colour and bass itself, dimensions... Neck is better than any Sterling I've had or tried, potentially more SLO/Jazz than I remember in the Stingrays

* Weight came in at 4.20kg, I'm happy

* Plasticky knobs are sh!t and would replace them, the volume one came awfully misaligned too.

* The batteries contact are RUSTY AF and have rust on the contacts of the battery cavity - meaning the active circuitry does not work AT. ALL. 

* Passive tones work and they're lovely, very MM indeed - the jazz pickup is lower volume but needs raising anyway as it's pretty low now.

 

Well done Andertons, well done... sounds like either the batteries came with no protective film and storage made its work to rust them, or that Andertons unwrapped them and storage still did its thing.

 

Anyone with insight on this? is is a direct return, or should it work? Arrrrrgh......

 

Ander.

 

PS: of course my first intent is to replace the batteries rather than return, but still... I'll post pictures in a bit!

Edited by Ander87
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Hard to tell, but the battery looks in awful shape, has it leaked?

 

Bizarre that shops are sending out basses like this (still can't get over the Cort/GuitatGuitar thread), but Id assume with this one it just a matter of wiping the contacts clean and sticking two new batteries in and it should all work fine, probably not a returns issue unless anything else is wrong with it.  I'd moan like hell though.

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Those batteries look skanky as hell.  I have the same type in my Z7 but they arrived fine - I know because I removed them to see if the passive mode worked even if the batteries were out.


I'd be very concerned that those batteries have leaked.  The cases do not look too clever.

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34 minutes ago, Kev said:

Hard to tell, but the battery looks in awful shape, has it leaked?

 

Bizarre that shops are sending out basses like this (still can't get over the Cort/GuitatGuitar thread), but Id assume with this one it just a matter of wiping the contacts clean and sticking two new batteries in and it should all work fine, probably not a returns issue unless anything else is wrong with it.  I'd moan like hell though.

 

It doesn't seem like it has leaked but it has heavy rust everywhere indeed. 

I won't want to return as I love everything else (except the knobs) on the bass, and a tedious pack-your-bass-return-await-receipt-send-a-new-one-when-we-check is just far too much that I can bother with.

 

21 minutes ago, neepheid said:

Those batteries look skanky as hell.  I have the same type in my Z7 but they arrived fine - I know because I removed them to see if the passive mode worked even if the batteries were out.


I'd be very concerned that those batteries have leaked.  The cases do not look too clever.

 

Yeah, first time with something like this - I'll start by thinking of rust cleaning and seeing if I can make do, I guess...

 

Any recommendations/products to clean this? Grabbing some qtips and a new pack of batteries...

 

37 minutes ago, Kev said:

I'd moan like hell though.

 

MOST DEFINITELY. They will indeed have an email coming, this is just off honestly.

Worth mentioning that the internal wrapping had my name written on it around the headstock, so the box has been opened/bass has been reboxed/ maybe inspected (but how badly?)

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I imagine at this price point, inspected means "is the neck still attached?" and not a lot else.

 

I think the best thing to do would be to unscrew and remove the battery compartment, give it a good clean and make sure there's no damage underneath it, or to the wires connecting to the preamp.  Or, ask Andertons first and see if they would be prepared to pick up the bill if you got a luthier to make good.  But it really depends how bad it is, as it may literally just wipe right off.  These basses are new, they haven't been sat in storage that long.

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Ouch.

 

I think we have to just accept that all our larger online stores here are just box shifters, no new goods are going to be checked and end of line clearance sales are basically customer returns. The idea of ordering a few and keeping the best one is sound IMO, online retailers have basically brought this on themselves.

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I was so genuinely interested in doing this… I still might order a couple more and take my pick really. 
 

 

6 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

The idea of ordering a few and keeping the best one is sound IMO, online retailers have basically brought this on themselves.

 

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In fairness to Sire, the misaligned knob was fixed just taking it out and back in (still plasticky, will replace by John East ones probs)

And in fairness to Sire, the bass is well adjusted and plays very nicely indeed!

The tuners are super smooth and progress nicely, the action and truss rod are in place... The neck finish is just epic, different type of satin from other Sires I've had, I guess more in line with Stingrays

 

Just received and answer from Andertons with a very meh 'you can return it/exchange it/send replacement after inspection'...

 

... I've just bought another one and will sort return for this one soon, at least I won't be without a bass as I do need it - hopefully I can take my pick tomorrow when the new one arrives 🙄

Edited by Ander87
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1 hour ago, Ander87 said:

 

Yeah, first time with something like this - I'll start by thinking of rust cleaning and seeing if I can make do, I guess...

 

Any recommendations/products to clean this? Grabbing some qtips and a new pack of batteries...

 

 

Gutted that you're having these issues on what looks like a really nice bass overall. Fingers crossed your next one is all OK. 

 

If you're still interested in having a go at cleaning the battery points then you might be able to use some things you have lying around the house. I've had a few of the kids toys need looking at and have used.....

 

- Baking soda and water mixture. Get a small pot and combine the 2 to make a paste

- White vinegar. Cleans almost everything. It's like the gaffer tape of cleaning.

- Lighter fluid. Just don't casually smoke or clean the bass near an open fire and you're good.

 

Cotton buds or an old toothbrush should get rid of most of the gunk. If there's stuff that really isn't budging then use a flat head screw driver to scrape it off. The screwdriver could best be avoided here though, especially if you end up returning it and someone looks at the battery compartment, see's scrape marks and blames you for damaging the bass.

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I wouldn’t accept an instrument with battery acid leaked all over to be honest, that’s terrible. I would want a new battery compartment on that at the very least. 
I think I’ll wait a while until these issues are sorted. 

Edited by Minininjarob
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Hey @Jonesy, thanks! Defo noted if ever happens to me...

 

1 hour ago, Minininjarob said:

I wouldn’t accept an instrument with battery acid leaked all over to be honest, that’s terrible. I would want a new battery compartment on that at the very least. 
I think I’ll wait a while until these issues are sorted. 

 

Agree, me neither! I moaned to Andertons and punched a new order - in fairness to them, they emailed me quickly and told me they're ready to do an exchange 'on the fly' tomorrow, with me handing to the courier the faulty bass, and receiving a fresh one at the same time. This means I'm not out of pocket as they processed this as an exchange rather than two orders with one return.

 

They have assured me that they'll have a look on the new unit and will send me the lightest Z7 mint they've got. Crossed fingers I will have a good update tomorrow.

 

So @Minininjarob, I'm happy to buy and keep but keep an eye on QC - everything else was perfect on mine, apart from such battery thing, and the knobs. Now, I do not think those knobs will improve in future iterations...

 

Ander.

Edited by Ander87
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Fingers crossed you don't have the aforementioned Cort/GuitarGuitar issue and you end up exchanging a string of these, each with more issues than the last!

 

It's a good test of who is better at handling these situations to be fair, I've always thought Andertons were decent.  Lets see!

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9 hours ago, Ander87 said:

In fairness to Sire, the misaligned knob was fixed just taking it out and back in (still plasticky, will replace by John East ones probs)

 

 

I know that not everybody likes them, but... plasticky? They're clearly metallic :shrug:

 

 

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1 hour ago, Ander87 said:

So the caps are metallic but the stacked ones seat on a piece of plastic around the shaft that easily makes mine wobble…

 

IMG_9357.thumb.jpeg.421649dd408040301cd65af069fe2cfa.jpegIMG_9358.thumb.jpeg.cf61fe6cff96b7242c9745a05eaad9ff.jpeg

 

They're all like that - the only ones which aren't are the lower rings of the concentrics.  Not a fan.  I swapped mine out for some chrome John Easts.

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