NBD - Sire Marcus Miller V3

pottolom

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.

Bridgehouse

Really nice - good buy!

18v by the looks of it - so it should have a slightly wider EQ range too.. nice!

Bridgehouse

BTW - Hipshots would be the natural choice for tuners - probably £100 for a set tho...!

Winny_Pooh

Bargain

Schnozz

I want one 

Schnozz

Oh you have a Fallout as well! Nice!!

Musicman20

Great price and I've heard good things about these! Very light for a Jazz!

proggy

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?

Bridgehouse

proggy said:

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?

Active circuitry - it'll be vol neck, vol bridge, treble, mids, bass - and the treble, mid and bass will no doubt be cut & boost as well

proggy

Bridgehouse said:

proggy said:

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?

Active circuitry - it'll be vol neck, vol bridge, treble, mids, bass - and the treble, mid and bass will no doubt be cut & boost as well

Wow, that seems a lot of bass for little money.

Bridgehouse

proggy said:

Bridgehouse said:

proggy said:

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?

Active circuitry - it'll be vol neck, vol bridge, treble, mids, bass - and the treble, mid and bass will no doubt be cut & boost as well

Wow, that seems a lot of bass for little money.

It's 18v as well so the preamp will have a better cut and boost range. All in all it's a really good price..

pottolom

proggy said:

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?

Here's the controls layout:

pottolom

proggy said:

Bridgehouse said:

proggy said:

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?

Active circuitry - it'll be vol neck, vol bridge, treble, mids, bass - and the treble, mid and bass will no doubt be cut & boost as well

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.

pottolom

Bridgehouse said:

proggy said:

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?

Active circuitry - it'll be vol neck, vol bridge, treble, mids, bass - and the treble, mid and bass will no doubt be cut & boost as well

Yep! Absolutely right - it's cut and boost on treble, mids and bass.

Bridgehouse

Cor - and even more complex than I thought with blend tone and master volume! Well done! Great buy

proggy

It does seem to be a great buy. I don't even play bass any more but I'm thinking maybe I might like to get one, you never know when you might get a hankering.

Funkfingers

Five years ago, the no-brainer choice for best first bass guitar was the Squier Standard and/or Vintage Modified Jazz Bass. 

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.

stimpsonslostson

Thanks for the review, the possibility of using the active circuit to get growls out of a J bass really appeals. 

I'm REALLY tempted to snag one of these. Probably the mahogany...

pottolom

Hmm. Now up for sale.

  

Bridgehouse

pottolom said:

Hmm. Now up for sale.

  

Why you selling?

Funkfingers

+1

Is there a problem with the instrument or have you decided that bass guitar just isn't for you?