Gear Reviews
Review – 2nd Generation Sire Vintage V7 Bass
The revolution ushered in by the Sire Guitars company, in conjunction with legendary bassist Marcus Miller, has added another chapter to its story.
The new chapter to the Sire Guitars story is being written by the second generation of basses. These second generation basses are the same models as the first generation, but the entire line of basses has been significantly improved.
Instead of resting on its laurels and enjoying the remarkable worldwide popularity of its line of basses, Sire has improved its entire line of basses. The improvements may seem minor on paper, but that is not the whole story, not by a long shot.
What’s New?
Marcus Miller challenged Sire to add a feature to their basses that is most often found on custom basses. That feature is rolled fingerboard edges. This was a major challenge to the team at Sire. In fact, they ran through a number of prototypes, and eventually had to come up with new production machinery to make this happen. The results are spectacular!
On receiving a 2nd Generation Vintage V7 bass for review, the visual inspection started with the rolled fingerboard since it is a new feature. The look of the rolled fingerboard is very subtle. In fact, you have to look closely to see what’s happening. However, the real impact of the rolled edges happens when you play the bass.
When reviewing the 2nd Generation Vintage V7, I had the good fortune of having a 1st Generation Vintage V7 for comparison. For the record, the 1st Generation Vintage V7 is a spectacular jazz bass at any price. It has the versatility of a modern active jazz bass as well as a vintage passive sound. The 1st Generation Vintage V7 handles itself amazingly well, especially when you consider how affordable it is.
The 2nd Generation Vintage V7 is a significantly better bass by a very wide margin. The rolled fingerboard makes the bass feel like it is a bass that has been in my hands for many years. It is unbelievably comfortable! The comfortable neck profile and fingerboard radius are the same as the 1st Generation Vintage V7 and V7. The feel of the rolled fingerboard edges place this bass as the most comfortable production jazz bass I’ve ever played. This is a big deal folks…and it is something that Sire Guitars and Marcus Miller have to be greatly commended for.
Another improvement is in the pickups. The new pickups are just better by a country mile! Again, the 1st Generation Vintage V7 had great pickups! I routinely got compliments on my tone from recording sessions I did with it, and I was very happy with how it sounded. The 2nd Generation Vintage V7 completely caught me off guard with how much better the pickups sound!
The new Sire pickups have a much smoother sound. However, they have not lost their ability to sound big and aggressive. I found them to be much more musical. The high end is much more pleasing, the mid range is warm and clean, and the bottom end is rich and buttery.
The day the 2nd Generation Vintage V7 arrived, I ended up playing it for more than 2 hours because it sounded so good. I was no longer evaluating it, I was just playing and enjoying how it felt and how it sounds. There is no other way to say this, this bass is just better, a lot better.
What Didn’t Change:
Sire remains committed to producing high quality instruments at affordable prices. This means that the review bass arrived with a flawless finish. The neck has the same beautiful binding and blocks as the 1st Generation. The fantastic preamp is the same as in the 1st Generation basses. The bass can be strung through the body or through the bridge. The neck is firmly attached with four bolts and a plate. This bass arrived ready to gig.
In addition to being committed to high quality and affordable pricing, Sire is also committed to continual improvement. The Sire Revolution keeps rolling on….
For more information, visit online at sire-usa.com
