Simon C

Hi Owen, I've been a Sire Fretless player for a week and a day (at the time of writing). Mine is a 4 string V7 Alder in the Antique White. It looks very cool with the coated ebony fingerboard, red pickguard (and, if you choose to wear them, a black shirt, red tie, white trousers and maybe some black and white ska braces). The neck is very quick to get round (though calling me quick in any situation would probably be stretching reality a bit), but I suspect this is more to do with the satin jazz neck and flatwound strings than the coated fingerboard. The rolled edges probably make it a bit more comfortable when moving quickly. After reading your post I played it to see if I was actually touching the fingerboard. I think my little finger did occasionally, but I think most of the time fingers are on strings or hovering just above them rather than in contact with the fingerboard. (Edit a couple of days later: no finger contact with the fingerboard on the E string, hardly any on the A, a bit on the D and in contact on the G between the intonating finger and the fingerboard edge). So I think the coating is more to do with aesthetics and giving the wood some protection from contact with strings. The only other fretless I played was an Ibanez in the £350 - £400 range, with (I think) an uncoated fingerboard; it had a narrow width neck and maybe a slimmer profile than the Sire (note "maybe"). It was nice to play though and put a smile on my face. Bearing in mind that it was 6 weeks or so ago that I played it, my impression is that the Sire is quicker. I suspect what I really mean is that the Sire has less friction due to the flatwounds (thus giving the impression of being quick) vs the Ibanez which had roundwounds (and thus probably more friction). Bottom line: the Sire is really nice to play. The coated fingerboard looks really cool, but I suspect the neck and flatwound strings have more influence on how it feels to play. I hope this helps. Cheers, Simon

I bought a L2000 Tribute 6 months or so ago. Due to a screw up with email addresses I can't review it on Andertons web site. So I'll do one here. I agree with all the positive statements above. I've played a number of instruments (Pianos, keyboards, 6 string guitars as well as basses - it's fair to say that piano is still my main instrument). The L2K is my favourite amongst all those I've played on a regular basis. The knobs and switches are easy to get your head round. You can get plenty of really good usable sounds out of the instrument. My live here position is: both pick ups, series, active, bass at about 80pct and treble at about 60pct. I solo the front or back pick ups on some songs. I really like the bridge pick up - tight and burpy - but most of the stuff I play sounds better in my "live here" position. I can get close to an upright acoustic sound (neck pick up, parallel, passive, bass at about 80pct, treble rolled right off). The neck is really nice to play. I had to adjust pick-up balance (lowered the neck pick-up a bit) and raise the pole pieces under the A string on the bridge pup about 3/4 of a turn. But it was easy to do and I haven't had to make any further adjustments. The 3 tone sunburst with Brazillian Cherry fingerboard looks really cool (photo attached and also in my profile pic). The orange one with the maple fingerboard looks cool too, but I couldn't see my self on-stage with it - but that's me, I'm sure others will look great with it round their necks. Mine's a tad on the heavy side (4.9kg I seem to recall), but it is so well balanced that I haven't found it a problem. To give you some idea: I'll have it round my neck for about an hour and 40 mins in 2.5 hours (start of church service practice to end of service) and haven't found it uncomfortable.

Hi, I guess from what you've said you do gig this bass. Do you have any photos or video of you on stage? I'm thinking of either the V7 fretless in sparkly blue or in Antique white (the one with the reddish coloured pick guard) - both with the ebony fingerboard. I saw a V7 earlier this year in the sparkly blue and thought it looked really cool in the Andertons demo room, but am not sure about the stage look. White doesn't look great in shops (IMO) but I saw a couple of people playing white basses live a month or so ago and thought they looked really good on stage. If you'd rather not post any photos or videos that's fine, I just thought I would ask.