Got this a few days ago. A Sire Marcus Miller V3 in Tobacco Sunburst. £234 new and delivered.
It's a mahogany body, maple neck, nice dark rosewood 'board. Jazz type bass, with an active preamp. Made in Indonesia. Poly finish in tobacco sunburst.
I'm not a bass player (bought it for adding some bass to some of my recorded tracks), so I don't know what I'm looking for really, but as a guitarist - the fit and finish seem superb for the price, and the grain of the mahogany body looks superb. Looks like 2 pieces, too (I guess at this price it probably isn't really, but it's not obvious if so). Satin neck, but with a gloss headstock face.
Controls don't feel cheap at all, and it sounds pretty good to me in both passive and active mode.
Really, I can't quite believe how little it cost. I've had Squiers in the past that cost considerably more than this, and this looks and feels a grade above. I'd put it in MIM Fender territory.
I think Indonesian guitars seem to be really good at the moment. I've got a G&L Tribute, also made in Indonesia, and that's a superb guitar.
The whole thing only weighs 7.7lb, which seems obscenely light for such a big bass! I actually couldn't quite believe it when I first picked it up.
Oh, it sounds pretty good to me, too. Sounds like I expect it should in passive mode. In active mode, it's possible to get a lot of different tones out of it and it can really growl.
The tuners, though, do feel a bit cheap. Don't think I'll replace them unless I absolutely have to, though.
Pics below.
Comments
18v by the looks of it - so it should have a slightly wider EQ range too.. nice!
What a lovely looking Jazz Bass.
When I was a bass player I had a Fender Jazz as my main bass, I remember it only had 3 knobs.
Why has this one got 5?
Wow, that seems a lot of bass for little money.
It certainly seems that way to me.
There's also a V7, which has blocks rather than dot markers, an alder body (or ash for a bit more £), tort pickguard and a full gloss (rather than satin) neck. Also has slightly different pickups. There's a video here which has a comparison between the V3 and V7 from about 04:30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=112&v=MUd9TBYKXf0
The V7 though is almost twice the price and I just didn't think the differences warranted the price differential. I prefer dots to blocks, too.
IMO, the Sire V3 shows the passive Squier VM (and the active Squier Deluxe) where to get off. Lee Anderton is right to wonder how Sire crams in so many features for the asking price. Better buy them before the prices go up.
A Sire P3 would be interesting.
I'm REALLY tempted to snag one of these. Probably the mahogany...
Is there a problem with the instrument or have you decided that bass guitar just isn't for you?