chickenjames

sorry. posted this twice and I don't know how to delete the thread :-(

I ended up with flats on them both. Very happy with the results - they sound completely different, good outcome.

so I am now the proud owner of two 4 string basses - EBMM StingRay 4 and a Sire Marcus Miller V7 J bass. I _think_ they're both set up fairly similarly - the MM is as it came from Thomann and I've done the EBMM myself. They both have d'Addario Chromes (flats) and the action seems to measure about the same on them both. I set the truss rod on the Ray so that I could wind the saddles a long way down on all the strings without buzzing, which feels right now. But - and here's the fun bit - they feel completely different. Even before you plug them in or listen at all, they're worlds apart. The Ray feels super smooth, and the MM is beautifully clanky. If you pick the MM up by the top of the neck it feels extremely thin compared to the Ray, and it's just, well, quicker. It feels easier to get more notes in , if you know what I mean. That's not to say that there's anything I dislike about the Ray, just that the MM feels somehow turbo-charged. The touch sensitivity on the Ray is noticeably better though - it's much easier to vary tone and articulation (staccato vs legato etc) with my fingers. I know nothing at all about nut width, neck profile and string spacing so I'd be very interested to see if anyone could explain my experiences by reference to these things! To be clear, I love both of these basses and I'm expecting to use the two of them fairly equally through a set. (Which BTW says quite a lot about the value for money in the MM, considering that it set me back £300 and the Stingray was nearer £1000, new - it's the special edition 2EQ plain version with a gig bag). comments welcome, thanks

so I am now the proud owner of two 4 string basses - EBMM StingRay 4 and a Sire Marcus Miller V7 J bass. I _think_ they're both set up fairly similarly - the MM is as it came from Thomann and I've done the EBMM myself. They both have d'Addario Chromes (flats) and the action seems to measure about the same on them both. I set the truss rod on the Ray so that I could wind the saddles a long way down on all the strings without buzzing, which feels right now. But - and here's the fun bit - they feel completely different. Even before you plug them in or listen at all, they're worlds apart. The Ray feels super smooth, and the MM is beautifully clanky. If you pick the MM up by the top of the neck it feels extremely thin compared to the Ray, and it's just, well, quicker. It feels easier to get more notes in , if you know what I mean. That's not to say that there's anything I dislike about the Ray, just that the MM feels somehow turbo-charged. The touch sensitivity on the Ray is noticeably better though - it's much easier to vary tone and articulation (staccato vs legato etc) with my fingers. I know nothing at all about nut width, neck profile and string spacing so I'd be very interested to see if anyone could explain my experiences by reference to these things! To be clear, I love both of these basses and I'm expecting to use the two of them fairly equally through a set. (Which BTW says quite a lot about the value for money in the MM, considering that it set me back £300 and the MM was nearer £1000, new - it's the special edition 2EQ plain version with a gig bag). comments welcome, thanks

Mine turned up :-) White 4err, alder, with rw fingerboard. First thoughts: plays very well, good setup. Sound is good, easy to get the 2 pickup J thing going. It's better with the actives on. Mine's MIC rather than MII. The fit and finish is pretty good, no complaints but a few observations - the finish colour on the back of the neck is a bit uneven in places, and there's a tiny ding on the tip of the headstock. I've seen a few comments about the weight - no complaints from this player. very pleased!

[quote name='Tvrtastic' timestamp='1453305110' post='2958279'] Sire v7's are now showing 'on stock' on the thomann site, which hopefully means that mine is now on its way to me! Been patiently waiting since July for this. :-). [/quote] coool! which one are you getting?

I emailed Thomann and they told me that mine will come out of the January shipment :-) I thought about changing colour but I decided to stick with my original choice (white with RW), because - I already have 2 black basses - I don't like the look of the maple necks with white block inlay - I was tempted by the sunburst with RW neck but in the end I concluded that having 3 blocks of alder showing through might look slightly odd - I love the red tort scratchplate on white so there we are. Pictures will follow once it arrives - hopefully next week! Anyone got any suggestions on good settings for the controls? Does everyone run it in active? I've never owned a Jazz before so I'm looking for a classic Jazz tone - does that mean both pickups blended with tone on about 50%? I'd also like suggestions on how to get something old school smooth, think motown, classic finger soul/funk. I will probably put d'Addario chrome flats on unless someone convinces me that this is a stupid idea :-)

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1453147690' post='2956887'] Good luck James, I feel your pain having to wait. [/quote] thanks Dave! well things aren't too bad here, I still have my StingRay to keep me amused while I'm waiting...

oo and it's changed again, now most of them (including my 4er white) are showing 2-5 days. this is exciting!

[quote name='Tvrtastic' timestamp='1453072604' post='2956219'] I have a leftie V7 on order that has been put back from Nov to Dec and now Jan delivery date so have spoken to them at length during this time. I have been told that they will be receiving another batch of basses mid March. I get the impression that they will receive a large order at this time. [/quote] a few of the models are still showing as expected in 2-5 days, but most are now showing as due on March 18th. I wonder if I have managed to get my name on one in the Jan 21st shipment? We'll see soon enough I suppose.

I've got a white 4er on order - Thomann were saying 21st Jan in stock and now that model is 'on request'. I assume that means that all the white ones in that consignment have been sold. Anyone else waiting for one?

hello all (sorry if this has been covered elsewhere). I have 2 basses and I'm just waiting for the third to arrive. I'm looking for advice/comments on string choice so as to get best range of tones from 2 basses. (Other bass is a Spector Classic Legend 5, I'll be keeping rounds on there for now). I generally use it for more rock things. main bass right now is EBMM 4H. I used DR hi beams for a while and much preferred them to D'Addario rounds - better finger feel and tone. However, now I've moved to flatwounds (D'Addario Chromes). I love the feel and the penetrating thump that I can get. I mostly play finger style funk and it's pretty rare for me to turn the Ray's treble boost up past about 50% unless I'm using synth style distortion. Normally I play clean. I'll be adding a Sire MM V7 Jazz in a couple of weeks (once it's back in stock with Thomann!) and so I'm wondering what to string the two of them with. Part of me is thinking that I should go with flats on both, but am I missing something if I do this? Seems to me that you could think about this in 2 ways - put favourite flats on both and reckon that the natural style will come through anyway - it's daft to have a spiky funk machine (the Ray) muzzled with flats - so put the flats on the Jazz and the DRs on the Ray, then I've got maximum variation available What would you do? I'm not keen on doing lots of experiments because in my experience changing between rounds and flats generally needs a setup change, usually a truss rod adjustment. I don't mind doing this once but I've got the Ray playing lovely now... all ideas welcome, thanks!

I looked at like this : yes of course it's cheaper to buy used. I could have had a used one for about £800 in a shop. Or a new one for £950 I'd decided before I bought it that this one is going to be a keeper - so it's not much extra really to start as the 1st owner.

mine is exactly the same as this one (but it's not mine IYSWIM) [url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Musicman_SR4_H_Black.html"]http://www.bassdirec...R4_H_Black.html[/url] it says 'ash'. I'm not 100% sure but I think they're all RW. Mine says it was made in 2010 so it must have been in the shop for a couple of years. It had a pretty nasty setup on it when I bought it, too low and buzzy for me but it's lovely now :-) Ed: I notice though that the gak listing http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Musicman_SR4_H_Black.html says "select hardwood" rather than ash - so perhaps bassdirect have made a mistake.

I've got one of the 'bargain' ones. I love it! I got it in 2014 on Black Friday, 15% off so I paid £950. I think there are still a few of them in the shops. 2EQ, very limited choice of colours (black, red and blue IIRC). Mine's 2EQ, black on black. No frills - no birds eye on the neck and no mutes (as I think you get on the Classic). 1 humbucker. But I think it's got everything that matters: same pickups as the more expensive one and the same sound, feel and build quality. Same bridge, tuners, nut etc. Decent soft case but I never use it. It even comes with a good servicing kit. Honestly, unless you need another pickup or _really_ want a mid on the EQ, I can't understand how it wold be worth spending any more.

pictures will follow in due course. Thomann showing in stock date of 21 Jan

MM Sire is on order :-) 4, alder, rosewood, white, red tortoiseshell

stingray with flats. play really hard.

I have one of these on order http://www.thomann.de/gb/marcus_miller_v7_alder_4_awh.htm

thanks guys. I have tried quite a lot of Jazzes in the shops so far, with varying results: US std - about 1/3 worked and came alive, the others just felt dead MIM okoume (no scratchplate) - didn't like it MIM Jazz, tried a couple of these and they were fine, some better than others. The good ones were loads better than the bad US ones, and not far off the good US ones How is the Sire likely to feel compared to my Ray? I don't mind doing basic setup stuff myself if needed - I'm happy to make minor truss rod adjustment and move the saddles up and along etc, so I don't think this is too much of a ris. Just need to choose colour now...

thanks guys. I'm very tempted by the Sire MM V7, seems almost too good to be true. Seems like the only way to get them in the UK is from Thomann, is that right? They all seem to be out of stock at the moment - should I be worried? Any comments on ash vs alder, maple vs RW? I'm thinking that I should go for alder & RW as I'm looking to be mellow. Any comments on how it's likely to be setup? I don't like buying without trying but I guess there's no choice here. Anyone tried putting flats on one? I have flats (d'Addario chromes) on my 'Ray and I guess I'd want the same on the Jazz.

I'm still struggling here chaps. Looking for a classic smooth thing to complement my EBMM Stingray 4H, which I love but sometimes is just a bit too in-your-face. So I'm looking for something mellow, and the obvious thing seems to be to go for a J of some sort. Budget, well, something up to about £600 ukp. I'd like something that would be a classic, keeper and with a bit of atmosphere about it. Last time I asked for ideas on a Jazz I got a strong recommendation towards the Marcus Miller by Sire. I'm a little nervous of ordering without trying and I'm slightly put off by them being active - but tell me I'm wrong. If I went this way is it better to get ash or alder? Other options - please comment! Local shop has a new MIM 70s Jazz at £540 there's the obvious option of a new MIM Jazz std at about £600 and then the more interesting options... bassdirect has a few 90s MIJ or CIJ at around £650. I'm sentimentally attracted to these as my first guitar is a 1990 Fujigen Strat. The US std Jazzes are nice but just a bit too rich for me. Last time I tried them I found that there was about a 1 in 3 happy rate i.e. most of them just didn't work for me. What would you do?

soul, funk, pop, rock covers we're quite fun but basically naughty and lacking in discipline - each song is an adventure and never the same twice :-)

I'd vote for Mono http://bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Mono_STRAPPS.html I also have a neoprene Sandberg one which I use with a 5er Spector. Both are highly recommended.