I have an existing Fender Player series P-Bass, but I decided that I wanted to get some variation on my existing tone. Originally I was seriously considering the Sire P8 series basses with the PJ configurations, because of the the tonal variations this could have offered, but I was never convinced about the blended tone of the two pickups, and I would not use the J pickup by itself.
So after allot of research I decided on getting a J-Bass instead, because of the wide spectrum of tonal variation you could get from the J. But with the demos I’ve heard on the Sire J-Basses, it wasn't sitting quite in the correct tonal spectrum for the type of music I am doing. There has always been some harsh and brittle overtones with the maple fretboards that I don’t quite like. I initially didn’t know it was the tone from the maple fretboard that was the issue. But then I stumbled upon a video from Bass Gear Magazine where the guy compared the Sire V7 and V5 basses in the same video and the lights came on for me. He was demoing the V7 with a Maple fretboard and a V5-24 bass (24 frets instead of 22) with a Rosewood fretboard, and the V5's tone jumped out at me. It was balanced and clear with the melodies he played on the neck without the harshness that was present on the V7, and I realized it was the rosewood fretboard that made difference, because the pickups were the same.
So I pulled the trigger on the 5-String J-Bass with a Rosewood neck. And I got everything I wanted from the Bass. The bass that I received was flawless in its build setup and finish, just as most reviews on the other Sire range basses have said. Its an incredible instrument irrespective of its cost. The caveat is the bass is heavy in weight, with a strong neck dive because of the wide maple neck of the 5-string. But the neck’s satin finish feels amazing under the hands and the tone is everything that I was hoping for. Its sweet and melodic on the high strings with a powerful growl on the lower strings.
If you read the reviews on the Sire P-Basses on Thomann’s site, the ones with Maple fretboards, many say the tone lacks some bottom end. Then read the reviews on the same basses with the Rosewood fretboards and people talk about the full growl of the bass. That also added to my conviction that the neck really makes that big of a difference.
In conclusion, I'm very happy with this pro instrument and I could not ask for anything more.
