timhiggins

I'm another sire v7 advocate nothing touches them for quality and available tones they are every bit the equal of my 1000 plus instruments and they will enable you to pursue whatever you choose to learn without restriction.

[quote name='Gunsfreddy2003' timestamp='1469170929' post='3096226'] It's hard to say - it's a nice sound and I do love the Sire bass and use it a hell of a lot and it is certainly much better with the DR strings on that you recommended but it's like chalk and cheese with the jazz bass with East pre. In my head I know the sound that I am looking for and I just can't get the Sire there, it seems to lack the punch and also the top end is not as bright as it could be. Annoying now as I'm nearly there but just missing a string! A mate of mine has a MM 5 string so perhaps I need to bribe him to come up and let me do some sound testing! [/quote] Strangely i have the exact opposite experience...my v7 is far more punchy and brighter than my fender jazz with j retro pre ...my jazz is alder body and i have the ash body v7 both have maple necks ..my fender has a more old school sound i guess and the v7 more modern ....is your v7 ash or alder version ?

I no longer use my more expensive bass's withe east pre's etc as i have one of these https://youtu.be/cPKV0QF9Scg and all i had to do when i got it was lower the action slightly and the sound and playability is there !

Cheers Paul i shall have to try one when i get the chance

[quote name='PaulKing' timestamp='1466435961' post='3075785'] There are now re-issues of that bass Horace is playing, £500ish. Big sound, only improved with Mojo of a 50s original (massive collector lust for them) Here's mine (2nd left) ... with family. [attachment=221936:5 basses.jpg] [/quote] cool bass are they short scale or long and how do they cope with reggae or are they more ska ?

On second thoughts [ you lot are far better informed than me ] mine must of been an sb 900 if they did one with gold hardware and dot markers...

I had the same bass and i think its a sb 1000 mark 2 the first version had one pickup the second two it came out a few years after the original single p.u. version ,90/93.. i'm fairly sure

The first thing i would do is adjust your string height to equal the Ray and see what its like then no point in spending on strings ect without first ascertaining if its just to low on the other hand it might just be you dont like the brighter sound of a passive jazz bass it took me a while to adjust to a jazz after playing a status for years ,the jazz sounded far more bright and clacky through the same amp [ my old Trace ] with the same settings ...it might just take a while to find the sweet spot with amp eq and bass

What bass were you playing before and are you using the same amp ?

I would recommend the ' FUNK BASS BIBLE ' [ Hal Leonard ] it covers 32 funk classics from simple things like War's Low rider through to full length transcriptions of Marcus Miller ,Victor Wooten etc good luck

I have had 2 v m j 's and they were both heavy, the natural finish was over 10lb the sunburst one was lighter but was at least 9lb they both sounded great though ... The natural had a maple body but the sunburst was something else although i'm not sure what

[quote name='visog' timestamp='1444937420' post='2887561'] So I was in the market for a bass distortion... tried out the range. Marcus set them up and Mark looked over proceedings. Great range to try.. EBS and Darkglass notably. I think Mark is a prickly fish if you go in with a load of old school Fender mojo baloney. He's definitely from the new world of bass which is what are you wanting to do... here's the tools to do it... And there's no better choice in the UK for high end except perhaps the Gallery - close call. All that said, he's never gonna shift that gold sparkle Mayones bass unless Prince comes in the store... [/quote]...seems unlikely now i guess !

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1464813405' post='3062885'] Glockenklang Blue Rock, no sweat. I play in a reggae band too and it is really, really good. [/quote] cheers Chris i'm suffering a lot of back problems these days and may have to go light ,do you use that with barefaced 15 ?

I have had a lot of active and passive basses and never had an active one quieter than the passive ones ...is this unusual ?

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1464719151' post='3061857'] Interesting views so far. From my own perspective, the only amps I`ve used recently that have that real "slam the sound into you" feeling have been an Ampeg SVT2, SVT3-PRO, and an Ashdown ABM (think 500 or 600). There was just a solidity to the sound that although I can get close with my Tonehammer 500 and Sansamp, it`s still not quite there, though the addition of the Sansamp has brought it [b]much[/b] closer. [/quote] I'm using the ABM 500 with one or sometimes 2 15's for my reggae band so i will have to give the TH500 a try

I have tried a few light weight amps and although they are good for most stuff i think the elusive heft is sadly missing I have never found one that can do reggae/dub convincingly ..they are ok for onstage monitor but using one for a gig without p.a.assistance is to much of a compromise for me ! ... if anyone can direct me to a lightweight amp that can get this sort of sound please point me to it..here's the sound i'm after https://youtu.be/ItNYBBQnhKA

If it was me i would go for 2.. a classic vibe p bass with flats and a Marcus miller sire v7 and have change left too !

Im using my Sire v7 over my Fender Jazz with east retro pre especially for funky stuff you will also save a fortune ! The ash body maple neck version is an absolute winner for me.. its well worth considering

and this https://youtu.be/i9pKRf9dNKs

There's lots on youtube like these https://youtu.be/5yLw_p9YcQE