Marcus Miller V7 Alder-4 FL TS 2nd Gen

C'est ma deuxième basse fretless. Je n'ai donc peu de réferences.
J'utilise mes instruments à la maison ou chez un ami avec un petit Markbass Micro (Excellent et simplissime) pour des sets legers et conviviaux.

J'ai été supris de la qualité et de la jouabilité de cette basse, elle est arrivée convenablement reglée, même si j'ai du legerement d"étendre le manche (1/4 de tour sur le truss) et remonter legerement, aussi, le pontet du Mi basse. Apparement toutes les basses Sire frettées ont, selon ce que j'ai essayé en magasin, un reglage tres bas, idéal pour slapper. Là c'est une fretless, il faut pouvoir un peu donner d'amplitude aux cordes pour obtenir à volonté un vrombissement façon contrebasse. Bref 30 miniutes de reglage et le tour est joué (tip :Ne pas oublier de détendre les cordes pendant les reglages !!).

En mode passif elle le joue tres bien et sonne selon les caractéristiques d'une bonne Jazz Bass. Les micros sont equivalents à des American vintage fender.
A noter, et c'est un point tres positif, qu'on a accès au réglage de tonalité en mode passif, donc pas d'inquietude au cas ou les piles sont vides.

Le mode actif est tres bon et permet principalement de legeres corrections sur les mediums (plus de mid en solo sur le Bridge ou moins de mid pour creuser le son pour le slap ou les sons plus moderne).
Les basses et le aigus peuvent etre rétirés ou amplifiés de la meme maniere et de façon super efficace. Pas de buzz meme dans les reglages extremes. La palette de sons proposée est énorme.
Pour ma part je me contente du mode passif ou en actif avec une petite rehausse des mids.
En 30 minutes le fonctionnement du preamp et de son tableau de bord est integré, pas de souci pour moi qui pourtant ne suis pas tres versé dans les instruments actifs ou complexes.
A voir neanmois la tenue dans le temps des potentiometres et de leurs boutons, qui ont l'air assez fragiles.
A manipuler sans bourriner, avec finesse ! (Je retire de ce fait un point pour ce qui concerne la fabrication)

Profil de manche tres bon, vernis satiné, et radius de touche moderne en 9,5 pouces. L'ebene est passé à l'epoxy, un vrai miroir. Les fausses frettes ne sont pas toujours bien visibles selon la lumiere mais pas de difficulté majeure, on trouve facilement la justesse.

Beaux vernis, belles finitions, bon chevalet pontets massifs, mecaniques honorables pour des tirants de cordes standards. Equipée d'origine de filets plats correctes, visiblement du 45-100. Sillet en os bien taillé pour une fretless.

Tres heureux de mon acquisition, un bon et bel instrument, à un rapport qualité prix exceptionnel.

Used at home for direct recording. Good bass on every level - from wood and finish to craftsmanship and electronics. I have used a few from very cheap to reasonably expensive (many copies, Squier Vintage, Ibanez SRF700 with active Bartolinis) and tried some Fenders etc. before ending up with the Marcus Miller V7 2nd generation. The neck (9.5") feels comfortable with no sharp edges, fairly slim. Can be strung through the bridge or through body, useful for someone who can hear the difference). PUPs can be switched between passive and active, though even if you are in passive mode the batteries will still drain with the jack in. With the active/passive switch, the tonal palette is quite broad - within JB territory, still. The body is fairly heavy in comparison with some others but resonant with good sustain. Together with proprietary electronics it provides a very defined sound with no inherent 'reverb' and responds well to effects if you choose to use them, such as reverb, chorus, etc. Tried it with nylon coated strings but went back to original flats. Bright and zingy enough to not warrant roundwounds. Can't see how this bass can be beat for the money.

As an owner of this fretless bass, I can tell you that a lot of people will want to try your bass because it sounds so good and after they've tried it they will be amazed how easy it is to play it and will probably tell other band members how fun and easy to play this bass is. Usually, bass strings are hard to press if you're a guitar or a piano player with gentle and soft hands, but not on this bass, it makes it really easy. So, if you don't like people touching your stuff, this is not the bass for you.
I generally have my strings on mid-low action and it allows me to play faster without too much effort.
I used to own a Squier jbass before this one to which I've removed the frets by myself and I've always had issues with the string action and the neck had a bow that would always bend after a while. Compared to this Marcus Miller bass it's light years apart, it was really worth buying for me and I still prefer it to most basses.
Before purchasing this bass, I was unable to decide if I wanted to buy a passive or an active bass, and I just loved the fact that you can switch between the two any time you want, or if your battery runs out.
The unfortunate part is that it requires two 9V batteries to use the built in pre-amp and considering I have bad habits of forgetting to turn it off and plug out the cable, they sometimes get drained, but that's just a personal problem of mine...
Anyways, there's a lot of different sounds you can create using the pre-amp, especially because it's a fretless bass. Just think of the possibilities with two magnets (You can have one on 29% and the other on 71%), tone, bass, mid, low-mid, high-mid, treble. Truly a fun tool to play with if you're creative.
Overall, it feels really well made for a mid price range bass.
I've had problems with one of the potentiometers, it stopped working after 3 or so years so I had to replace it with another, but that was an easy and cheap fix. Everything else is still in order.
Also, the strings that it came with were decent and I've been using them for a long time.
I really have nothing bad to say about this bass, and I hope if you purchase it you will feel the same.