Marcus Miller V7 Alder-5 BUR 2nd Gen

General:
I did a lot of research before buying this bass. I knew I wanted something traditional looking that still packed a huge punch. The only real option within my budget was a Sire (and some Sterling and a Squier). With all of the appointments of a bass way beyond it's price, I decided to buy it and perhaps return or exchange it if it wasn't what I was expecting.

Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- It is cheap in price but not in quality. The woods used in this bass are top notch. I'm not a tone wood person but boy is the fretboard pretty.
- Amazing action. It has such a low, comfortable action. Everything is playable on it.
- Smooth Neck. The neck is like butter to play, it is ridiculously comfortable to play.
- THAT PREAMP. OH BOY. The 18v preamp is mindblowing. If you need a bass that packs a punch, look no further. It is the best sounding bass I have ever heard, genuinely.

Cons:
Upon unboxing this beast of an instrument, I did notice a couple things different from the listing.
- Ernie Ball strings came on it, not the D'Addario listed. I prefer EB anyways so I don't care.
- Barrel-style Saddles instead of the Block Saddles on the listing. I prefer Blocks so was bitterly disappointed when I saw the barrel saddle. They're great quality so it's okay however I would have definitely preferred Blocks.

I truly recommend you pick one of these up if you're reading this. If not, make sure you try one at your nearest Sire vendor to understand why I have given it 5 Stars on every category.

Great instrument, very high quality, setup well, attention to detail. Downsides - EQ is not that intuitive to me, everything works well but takes some time to learn where the controls are and what they do. Would like to be able to change the bridge but this is not straightforward. Would prefer a high mass bridge not just the saddles. Would prefer nicer looking and lighter tuners but again not easily swapped. Otherwise a great looking and playing machine. I would happily pay another £100-200 for better bridge, tuners and control knobs. They are not bad components, just I'd like nicer ones to fit with all of the other high end appointments like the rolled fretboard edges.