Marcus Miller V7 Alder-5 FL AWH 2nd Gen

I have this particular bass for a little over a year now. I waited on this review to be as impartial as possible and leave out any "new instrument bias".

First of all, it sounds like a jass bass. It is really powerful in active mode, but still nothing compared to any modern stuff with Bartholinis and Agulars. That being said, it sounds way better that the the mexican Fenders.

Let's talk about the quality of this instrument for a bit because WOW. This bass is absolutely flawless in terms of quality. The bass actually is comparable to american Fenders. No seriously. It is that good. It came setup perfectly out of the box and after a year, apart form the mandatory truss rod adjustments, I haven't touched a screw on it and it plays like a beast. I have this bass strung with rounds and a high C and of course it handled the tuning like a dream. The color, the pickguard, the binding, even the pots are all top noch. The tuners stayed in tune after a lot of abuse. I tested the bass live and forgot I had a tuner on the headstock.

Now, like any instrument, this one also has its flaws. Like I said before the sound didn't blow me away. My benchmark was the bartolini bh2 pickup on a fretted ibanez sr670 and the bart just blows it out of the water. It still sounds better that a lot of jazz basses though. Then there is the preamp. The big selling point of this instrument. Let me tell ya, the preamp is fantastic. The only flaw is that it has too much stuff to fidle around for a fretless. I personally just find a sound that works and keep it at that, but i believe that having for example a swich instead of the mid frequency blend knob would have been more usable.

Also before I sign off, this bass looks absolutely stunning. The white colour goes great with the binding and the pickguard one of the best tort patterns I have seen.

As you can tell Iove this bass. It wasn't love at first sight but it won me over after I got to know it better. If you are thinking about getting one, just do it. It really is that good. You will fall in love like i did and you will not regret it.

I made a choice to try out Sire because they seem to be getting a good reputation, but what I received was very sub par. There is discoloration in the neck wood, 2 nicks on the neck and a gouge in the pick guard. Sound is blah, especially from an active pickup bass. The initial setup is horrible as well. You can't just pick it up and play it out of the box. So be ready to spend some time intonating and setting string height, etc. Or consider how much it costs to get it setup as part of the purchase price. Some of the comparisons to Fenders make it sound like you get a whole lot with this brand, but I think finding a used Fender makes a lot more sense. Probably pay twice as much, but would be totally worth it. I'll probably spend time by changing out some parts on this, including the pickups, and see what I can do with it. Sending it back from the US to Germany doesn't feel worth the effort. Especially since I would have to repackage it as the original packaging was very sub par and didn't protect it very well. I will definitely not be buying another or recommending a Sire to anyone.

As I received this bass, I checked the intonation, action, and such. There was a very little to be messed with, as the factory setting was pretty much my style. I only brought the pickups a little higher, and changed the strings to Ernie Ball cobalt flats.

In passive mode, the bass sounds nice and warm. Fiddle a little with the tone knob and the pickup blend, you almost get the Jaco-esque sound.
In active mode, she turns into a beast. I'm no stranger to massive tones and earthquaking bass, as I primarily run a Warwick Covertte $$, but this bass has more of an embracing low. Don't get me wrong though, as the bass tone is HUGE. Treble is nice to the ears. You can turn it all the way on, and it still doesn't hurt. I spend most of my time fiddling with the mid knobs.

There is a few blemishes in the body around the pickups, as if they were burned. The bass did not come with the Hi-mass style bridge as depicted in Thomann's picture. It came with a Fender jazz style bridge although it looks much more modern and robust. Satin finish neck is GREAT.