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Sire M2 Review - The entry-level M series from Sire Marcus Miller! - LowEndLobster Review
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- Опубліковано 2 бер 2021
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Hey everyone! Today we're reviewing the Sire M2, the entry level M series bass from Sire Marcus Miller. Featuring a mahogany body, a 24 fret 35" scale neck, wide 19mm spacing, Sire's signature preamp, and a $450 price tag (for the 5 string), this bass is looking to be the best modern-styled budget 5 string..... But is it? Let's find out!
This bass and all my other basses with rounds are strung with MJC Ironworks Nickel Plated Stainless Steel 45-105(125) unless otherwise noted. Check them out at www.mjcironworks.com
Info on my signal chain, setup and more: • FAQ: My Signal Chain, ...
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Just bought the 4 string version of this from Andertons on Monday. Couldn't be happier. Then again, I've been a guitarist for 45 years, and this is my first bass in 35. Incredible value for money, and great playability.
Congrats! 4 string is 34", I think only the Ibanez BTBs and Peavey Cirrus basses did the 35" thing for the 4 strings. Enjoy the bass!
@@LowEndLobster Yeah, I took that into account. Going from 6 string all the way to a 35" scale length might have been an inch too far. I'd narrowed it down to the M2 and the Ibanez SR300, but the Sire just edged the Ibanez out with the passive option. I don't use physical amps any more, just a Focusrite Saffire and either TH-U or Amplitube 5, which gives me a LOT of options tonally. On that note, I'd be interested in seeing you review either or both of these amp sims, just to get your perspective as a bass player. Thanks for the honest, informed, entertaining, and impartial reviews.
That sounds WAAYYYYYY better than I was expecting! I was expecting a super modern treble cranked to "fucking brittle" and mid scooped to avacado peel. But it has a nice warm, round and a very meaty sound. Tasty sounding bass! DEFINITELY sounds really good for $450. The Pre-amp alone makes it actually pretty damn worth it in my opinion, even though it's too complicated for my preference it's very powerful. I am more of a passive tone control, pickup selector and volume knobs kinda guy but beyond that it's a pretty nice sounding bass for my tastes. I wouldn't mind having one in my Armoury. Nice sounding low B too!
Thanks dude! I agree, this is a very solid package though IMO the pickups are the weakest point. The build, preamp and hardware are all well suited for an instrument of this style though (just need the updated tone cap!)
@@LowEndLobster ahahah! I hope Sire sees your videos and does something about the tone cap! I don't wanna say too much about the pickups because I haven't played it myself in person but in the demo the pickups seem to have a very nice meaty sound for my tastes
Another excellent review! It's amazing that you can get this kind of quality at such a low price point. IMO 20 years ago you were limited mostly to custom builders as mainstream companies weren't tooled up for building bass guitars with 35" scales. The nice thing about inexpensive basses is that if the 'bones' are good - electronics can always be upgraded.
Indeed! Great comment. We're definitely at a time where you can get a TON of quality and features for very little money.
Ended up buying a used Ibanez ATK300 in trans blue with a Maple fretboard over ordering a m2 5 string from Thomann. I had the chance to try a 4 string M2 and while I love the neck on the Sire, the 35" scale, and option for passive mode, the Ibanez just sounds so much better and the preamp is world's better. Having said all that though the Sire is a beautiful instrument that I'd still like to own. Thanks as always for your straightforward demostrative review 🦞
Thanks H3ll0! Congrats on your ATK, I love those basses
Great honest review of a bass I was really considering. Thank you.
Shout out to Bully for hooking you up! I enjoy his channel as well.
Thanks Griz!
I have the blue one. I bought it because i needed a 35' neck bass for my heavy band since i play with the B string 80% of the time. Couldn't spend mutch, but i'm really happy with the bass, i probably wont sell it when i buy an upgrade since it's so fun to play.
Someone said the magic word! I think we'll be upgrading this as well :)
@@LowEndLobster oo booy, would love to hear your ideas, i'm having a hard time finding pickups that fit, lets see what you come up with!
@@Zz0ne the pickups appear to be emg 45 sized, been eyeing the 45 twx
@@LowEndLobster aren't those for 6 string basses?
@@Zz0ne are they soapbars without pole pieces? If so it shouldn't matter ... but if they have poles that don't line up would be a bummer.
Thank you! Neither Sire's Website nor Sweetwater's told me if the neck was satin or glossy. Happy to hear its satin!
You made a very honest review but I have a different opinion that I would like to share. I own this bass in transparent blue, maple fretboard, also 5 strings. Maybe the bass is not for everyone, I'm mostly using it to play metal, and it works really nice with an overdrive effect and the B string sounds really powerful in my opinion (great growl). Also a very important point for me is how confortable and lightweight is the bass. Cheers!
Thanks Laura! Glad you're enjoying the bass! It's okay to have a different opinion, that's why I provide the clips in as raw a form as possible so that folks can make up their own minds :). I also don't dislike the bass by any means, 3/5 is not a bad score in my system and I think the bass has many positive aspects :)
do you experience any neck dive with this?
The m series is well balanced and will not dive
Thanks!
I would agree with its use for metal. It has a bright pop to it. Can growl nice b string. Pickups work for it
Love the honesty Lobster. I haven't played the M series, but I feel the same with the Sire V3 Jazz basses - too many knobs with a preamp which does very little. Much better to get a passive Squier Vintage Vibe or the active SUB for about the same price IMO.
Thanks Capt :)
Finally sire M2 review !! Good going Lobster!
Bully and I also have M2 reviews up. It’s amazing how all of our fingers make an M2 sound a little different.
Thank you and absolutely! It's a beautiful thing to be able to get so many different takes on an instrument in one place :) UA-cam Bass community rules
I think your thoughts on this bass are pretty spot on. My first Gen M3 is similar and it is interesting to see a slightly updated 5 string version of this same bass. I actually prefer the passive tone of this bass. If only the tone knob was more useful. It looks like the tuners are better than the ones on mine, however my M3 does have the pop open battery doors. Looks like Sire went backwards on that one. I think I paid under $300 for mine new when they came out. Wow! Anyway nice review I look forward to seeing the other one.
Thanks Marks5s! I agree, they definitely took a step back on the battery door situation. The improvement to the tuners moving to Gen 2 was huge. I have a couple Gen 1 Sires here and the difference is night and day.
I really like Sire's, but I wish they would send their designers to headstock school ( if there is such a thing). Anyway, good review. Seems like a lot of bass for fairly short money.
The headstock is my one pet peeve about the M series as well. So ugly.
I agree. My brother has a M5. The thing is really nice looking, but that headstock... I'd kind of like to have an M2 to add to my pile of basses, but I think I'd have to take a router to that headstock.
My M2-4 is sat on a rack with a Les Paul, Strat, and Patrick Eggle Berlin Pro. It looks fine to me. There are certainly much worse headstocks out there (the Sire V range, for example)
I think MonoNeon is on to something with those headstock socks haha
I strongly disagree! I think it's one of the M series guitars' sweetest aesthetic characteristics!
I totally agree with Lobster about Sire's 7 knobs being confusing compared to Sterling's and MM basses with the 5 way switch. I sold my V7 5 Sire for that reason plus it weighed 11 lbs.
Thanks David! I think the preamp works better in the M series, but yeah in the V's it can get a bit cramped and overwhelming
I totally agree with the passive tone control issue. And the 5 way switch on SUB does yield more useable tones that this one’s sweep. If I was after a more modern style, I might consider this look - although in a 4 string, as a low B string would just be an expensive thumb rest for me!!
If your passive tone control doesn't work then it's not really able to run in passive mode. I would just tell the customer that sure it will run without a battery but you're not going to dig it.
LOL Russell
Thanks Rev! These will be getting the lobster mod before they go back to Bully haha
I think for a entry level Bass. This is a good Deal. I have a Squire VM Jazz Bass 5, A Jackson Spectra JSE 5 and Have Played Schecter and Michael Kelly Element 5 string. Its how good a lot of these entry level Basses are. I dont see it as which are Better. I see it as APPLES AND ORANGES AND PEARS. SUBJECTIVE. WHAT YOU MAY LIKE. I ENJOYED PLAYING THEM ALL. The M2 for me. Is a great Bass
Thanks Calvin! Indeed it's a solid deal. IMO in the spectrum of basses in the price range, I think it falls kind of in the middle of the pack (all subjective) but it is definitely not a bad value or bad instrument.
My 1st Gen M2 (the reason bully got his lol) is still my go to humbucker bass in my Arsenal.
Nice! I have his 1st gen here, doing a separate video on the 'differences' or lack thereof between 1st and 2nd gen M2 (there really aren't any?)
@@LowEndLobster no there’s not. Just the rolled edges.
Hi eddie, may i know whats difference the 1st gen and 2ns gen?
@@paspw8954 rounded fingerboard edges and rewound pickups on 2nd Gen. that’s it to my knowledge.
@@sr80bassguy thnks man,
I wanted to like it cause of the 35" scale but there is something about the sound that doesn't quite get me excited. Maybe the M5 and M7 are better. Great one Lobster, as always.
Thank you Jean-Paul! M5 content coming next week, much better IMO :)
@@LowEndLobster hello thanks for the video. You've talked about the 35 scale, and the fact that this bass is one of the less expensive on the market. I'd like to see a video review of the Jackson spectra bass 5 strings js3, around 370 - 420 € in Europe. 35 inch scale neck, active passive, 3 bands eq and a lot of finish. A review or a comparison with the M2 could be great. 👍
Waiting for your channel to blow up my man 👌
Top quality content each and every time 👍
Thank you Tom :)
Excellent review; it pretty much mirrors what I think about Sires. I really really want to like them but all the little knocks add up and it's enough keep me away. Fingers crossed for the next gen....
Thanks D W! Wait until you see the M5, IMO that's the Sire sweet spot right now :)
I love sires styling. But every sire ive played always has a problem weather its pickups or controls. For the price i expected better qc. Thats why i love stingrays sbmm and ebmm. They just work so well
Thanks Ross! IMO the 3rd gen of Sires (V5, M5, U5, upcoming P5 and D5) are on point in terms of price, value, quality, and features.
You are absolutely right with the tone dial, but if you get used to the system, you’ll get some beautiful sounds :)
Picked mine up a month ago and just sent away the college audition i did on it yesterday.
My second bass and wow it's just fantastic love the neck but my tone knob seems to make even less of a difference than that ones
Thanks Eamon! You can mod or add-on an additional tone cap of you're handy with a soldering iron. Brings new life into the tone knob. Here's a video on the mod I did on my P10- ua-cam.com/video/bCBU765SDYI/v-deo.html
I saw your P9 capacitor mod video and modded my V3 too. I soldered a 0.068uf cap to the stock sire cap in parallel. It sounds really great now. I can have a deep tone on passive and with the treble knob higher on the pre amp I can have a Marcus Miller slap tone with a flick of a switch. Thanks for the tip👍
Thanks Din! Glad to hear it worked out for you
I love 19mm spacing....better room for plucking and snapping. Great vid...thank you!
Thanks Bruce!
a pre-amp will never make up for poor pickups. I'm very interested in your thoughts on scale length. Been watching too many vids on Carl Thompson bases that can go from 36 to 38 inches.
The truth! I've been exploring more 5 strings of varying scale lengths and I think there's a lot of variables that make a good B string besides scale length... but scale length helps a lot.
I agree with your point regarding the pre amp - I used to have one, but sold it due to the tone. I'm currently looking to get the Sire P8 (natural)
Dig it, may be for the 35in scale, but it seems like a very fun bass
Indeed, they feel great too. Not many widely spaced 35" scale basses at this price point.
I Lobster! I have the 4 string maple fingerboard version, in blue and I love it! The humbuckers are punchy and i love the preamp, never had any issue with it. In the mix sounds killer, but it's a very modern sound. Right now I'm starting to look for a 5 string add to my arenal and I liked my bass so much, that probably will end up with the Sire M2, again.
The battery compartment is not very usefull, becaue of the 4 screws, but it's also mande out of wood, wich is a nice touch.
Love the content, cheers from Portugal.
Thanks Francsisco! Great comment, so glad you're enjoying yours. I have some M5 content coming next week, those may pique your interest as they're priced very close to the M2 but have the M7 electronics. Very nice basses!
Is there no way to mount battery box on the plate? I thought these were 18v? I drunk bought on last night after England beat Germany in Football - been looking to get one for a while but they out of stock.
I played one at Andertons - sounds awesome in the room. UA-cam colours the sound. I really like the humbuckers - where I play most conventional passive single coils pick up the induction loop. The EMGs don't do it so much. And the bass stands out in the mix - add a multi FX pedal in front if you don't like the pickups.
I'm not sure on installing a drop in battery box. These are indeed 18v
The band's bass player that my former band shared the rehearsal room with, had exactly this bass. One time he left his case including the bass in the room and I tried it unplugged. I liked the feel, but the looks are not for me. I wish Sire would offer something more classic with humbuckers. 😉
Thanks Al! I agree. My P10 review is coming at the end of the month or early April (I'm SUPER ahead lol, all of March is already filmed, uploaded and scheduled) and I am absolutely going to mention that they should offer the P10 with one of the M5/M7 humbuckers at the bridge position instead of the J pickup. We need some real differentiation and not just a gussied up P7 (which is exactly what the P10 is, $1000 premium for the same hardware, electronics, and body wood minus the top, only differences are the top wood and roasted flamed neck with inlays).
The M7 pickups are infinitely better! Mine is a very comfortable bass to play standing or sitting. Nice balance!
Thanks Joe! I agree, just got an M5 and I loooooove it. Got some great content on that coming next week :)
@@LowEndLobster that is fantastic! Your Sire reviews brought me to your channel, so keep them up! (Now if I can just be brave and mod my V7 shown in the profile picture like you did.....)
I own a V7 Vintage four string, five string and the M7. Half tempted to get the P5 that just came out as well.....
Hello, I have both basses and the M7 in parallel sounds practically the same as the M2 and the balance practically the same too...
Thank you for playing using the entire necks we can hear the total sound of the bass, not just "slappin' and popping'" all over the place.
Hey Lobster!
Do you personally prefer this bass or the Musicman Sterling stingray sound?
Sterling sound, feel of this
Re. The controls. I haven't played this bass.
When I was shopping for my first good bass 17 years ago or so (I ended up with a Spector Legend and do not regret it one little bit), one I tried was an Ibanez BtB.
Sure it had great tonal flexibility. But I found one little tweak on the wrong knob made it sound horrible to me. I prefer simple.
Thanks S6g2k! I appreciate you sharing your experience
Great review broski
Thanks brometheus!
I wouldn’t think Sire at first glance, It has some nice tones. I think, perfect guitar player bass. IMO. Thank you for sharing...damn, every once and while you get a real nice tone out of that. Cheers
As a guitar player of 40+ years, who's just bought a 4 string M2, I agree.
Thanks Tommy!
@@NiqScott I’m a new convert too...38years. I don’t know why, but I find it necessary to constantly give the...”hi I’m Tomm, and I’m an ex-guitar payer” speech. Cheers Niq, welcome to the fun instrument.
I agree with Lobster the Sterling Ray 5 HH is easier to dial in tones with a 5 way switch. I have that bass and had a Sire V7 5 string. I sold it because it weighed 11 lbs and had 7 knobs to adjust to change tones and no switch to do it faster and better. I would like to know how much basses weigh in the videos. Nice work, Lobster
Thanks David!
I get why you don't jive with the tone, but i think in the rock metal context it fits quite well. Maybe playing in the intended style would make it shine far better?
Judging a fish by its' ability to climb a tree and all.
Thanks James! Though you have a point in regards to this bass potentially shining in other genres, my goal is not necessarily to make basses shine, but to present them in a neutral environment with as few variables present as possible. Other reviewers do try to make every bass they review sound as good as possible, but I think that keeping a simple signal chain with consistent EQ levels, consistent string types, and consistent style types help illustrate the differences in instruments. I definitely appreciate your input as always and appreciate your longtime support my friend!
This fish has claws ... I suspect he could climb trees :-). I really like the tone of this bass - there are so many.
Would improve the pick-ups and pre-amp, for the money the G&L tribute series five string bass has some booty. Of all the Sire basses this model has more clarity, give it a B for design.
Thanks Ralph! I def want to check out more Tributes, I have one coming this weekend :). The M5 that we'll be checking out next week is a looooot better
Hi buddy :-) how r u? I'v been quite a bit offline for a while, it's really nice to see your channel going on.
That's a gorgeous bass, but the issue on the passive tone control for me is a deal breaker.
You're the first one who shares my thoughts about this minor issue but, when you analyze it under the point of view for a total tonal control, it's definitely a big flaw.
Hope that one day we could come back to regular life, we seriously need to play the low frequencies' beasts live on stage!
Cheers,
Joe
Additional detail: for my personal experience, the 5 string M7 is the best model in the Sire brand.
Long scale, versatility, humbucker/single coil switch, nice finishes.
The faults are in the electronics as always: disappointing passive tone control, too boomy active electronics.
For a brand who focuses its main characteristics on tone control, that's seriously disappointing!
I don't like the other series that much.
I've owned the P7 but...man, the work done on the frets was just a huge mess!
In every case, Marcus Miller is among my favourite Top 5 bass players of all time.
Cheers,
Joe
Hey Joe! Great to hear from you. I dig the M7, but the M5 has caught my eye. it suffers from the same tone control 'issue' that the other active Sires have, but it's essentially a stripped down M7. You'll be seeing a vid on that next week :). Stay well my friend!
Is it me, or are the cutaways different from the photos I've seen from Sweetwater? I've noticed that the cutaway for yours (Bully's) starts at the 21st fret, while the images from Sweetwater show that they start at the 23rd fret.
BTW, nice vid Lobster! I just got my first bass- a Squier Affinity PJ Precision in Black. I know there are better options, but I couldn't resist thinking about swapping the pickguard for a tortoise shell and future mods, being that a majority of aftermarket parts are for Squiers 😅. What are your thoughts on that particular Squier? (Sorry for the long comment 😆)
Hey man, did you happen to weigh this bass? I have a friend going through some back problems looking for a light-weight 5 string bass and I've heard these are pretty light.
It's been a while, I believe it's around 9 lbs.
@@LowEndLobster thanks man!
@@LowEndLobster as the expert on these things, what's the lightest 5-string bass that you would recommend? My friend is looking at the Ibanez EHB 1505 but I wonder if there's a more affordable one that weighs about the same amount.
@@nathanminert3119 The EHB1005 ;P. Mine is .2 lbs lighter than the 1505 I had.
Very dark sound. Even with just treble, it is like listening through ear plugs. Looks good, but I think in that price range there are much better options.
Thanks! I agree, and it's totally the pickups. The M5 that we'll be seeing very soon has much more balance and clarity to the tone.
I love the look of this bass, but I agree that the tone control is lacking. Maybe I'll pick up a used one and swap out the preamp.
Thanks Jake! We may doing some swapping with this one in the future :)
Will soon put Seymour Duncan SSB-5 set in my M2. Think that will make it sound more alive. Current pickups of M2 need some treble to not sound dull. Still miss some character. Hopefully the SD set will change that!
Nice! That's a great mod idea! Best of luck, definitely let me know how it turns out. We have some potential mod plans with this M2 as well :)
@@LowEndLobster changed the pickups today and much better sound, especially in active mode. Clear, powerfull and thick sound! Still with some M2 touch because of the wood of the M2. Didn’t expect it to sound so differrent from the ESP with same pickups. Guess wood choice does a lot to the sound. Also had to take out the blend pot to solder the pickups correctly. Very little space to do it in the cavity itself. Happy with the result!
In passive mode there’s a uge volume drop. These pickups sound perfect with a preamp.
@@stevenvanveen3651 Nice! Congrats on the successful mod!
@@stevenvanveen3651 those are the "NYC" ones right?
Very cool and great sounding bass. I do wish it had just passive electronics instead, that's just a personal opinion though.
Thanks Befu! I agree, a passive M series would be a pretty sweet piece of kit.
I thought the little toggle switch puts it into passive - that's what it seemed to do when I trialled one in the shop.
I get why they made theses basses from a business point of view. There are a lot of bassists who play rock and metal and they want something that looks a little "sharper". So Sire making theses bassists means they can tap into a perilously untapped market for them However. Marcus miller is not a very rock or metal guy. I just can't imagine him playing this of his own will while I just can imagine him using any of his Jazz or P basses. Good review tho! keep up the good work!
Can you imagine Leo Fender playing punk or hard rock?
@@rl-ub9hx Nope. I can't even imagine him playing guitar because he wasn't even a guitar player. If he did play guitar tho it would probably be jazz because jazz musicians where the main people he consulted when designing the first fender guitars and basses.
Thank you Nathan!
Why I even watching this?
I should be a drummer that play also guitar, but I couldn’t resist and I bought also a bass, a Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage Pro.
Such a nice bass (what are your thoughts about it, btw?)
So why I’m watching this?
Because I love music, I love bass and you are great!
Man, so entertaining!
Thank you! So glad you're enjoying the videos :)
I think it sounds good! The preamp does go HAM though for better and worse.
Just got this bass now, and the preamp is pretty wild, but good once you tame it.
@@iamgribs would you recommend this for a beginner? i have to pick between this one and the yamaha trbx304. I really REALLY love the design of this bass, but yamaha seems easier to get the hang of it
i don't mind updating the sire in the future too
@@aribuwu It's funny, but i am crafting a review of this bass also. Personally, I would not recommend this bass for a beginner player. It sounds great, plays great, but the electronics are pretty elaborate and the EQ controls go from 0 to 100 real fast. Worse , my midsweep knob sticks to the mid knob. So, i can go from a nice tone to nails on a chalkboard by accident pretty easily. Some have said they had the same issue.
As a beginner, you want very simple controls. You do not want to be overwhelmed by options. This bass here is very versatile but that is not what you need: you need a simple inexpensive bass that plays well and sounds good. If you can, I would recommend a passive bass with a simple blend or two volumes, and one tone control. When you are new, you are developing your touch and your ear, which is more important for finding your sound than fiddling with 7 EQ knobs.
I owned two Yamaha but i am not familiar with that one. Yamaha are excellent, Sire also. I would suggest looking for a passive Jazz style or Precision style, and both brands make these.
I wish you continued success in your bass journey.
@@iamgribs thanks man! i *guess* i'll go with the yamaha since it's pretty versatile and not that complicated. maybe i'll get a sire m5 in the future, if they'll release one with a black finish :'(
I'm curious how it would perform with parallel/series/north/south switches and fixed tone knob. Maybe that's a good idea for the next movie..? :)
Hey Jonathan! That is a great idea... but we're going to take things in a different direction. Full replacement of the guts! New pickups and preamp... you shall see!
Would be great to hear it in steps like:
1. new pups + stock preamp
2. new pups and new preamp :D
I own the version with a maple fretboard. I'm happy with the sounds you can get out of it especially when playing around with the mid sweep. It can easily fit in the mix.
Cons? I can't get used to the 35" scale.
Great review!
Yeah, That's a deal breaker for me, LOL.
Thanks B@ssICS!
Find a used one for a good price and drop a Fishman Fluence system in it! Looking forward to the M5 review.
Now there's an idea. Fishman's do come in the EMG45 size I believe. It's a 4 knob system, I wonder if there's an additional control that could be used to occupy the final hole
I Think they make a M2 in bright white that i thought looked nice . I like the preamp system but I do like passive basses better. I just bought a Sire V3 5 string ( now I can play in E flat and D !) looked at a V7 too did not see enough of a difference. I guess I should have looked at a M2 or M5.
Thanks Michael! Congrats on your V3! The M5 is a solid bass as well, we'll have some stuff on that next week
Hi, in passive mode can you remove the battery from M2? Still works?
Yes
@@LowEndLobster thanks man, very good job with the review, is usefull
Make a Review from this Bass with darkglass b7k or olther darkglass preamp drive pedal !
Thanks! We'll be doing some more pedal vids in the future (trying to branch out a bit more) :)
@@LowEndLobster i wait!
I feel like the electronics are the same but the pickups are kinda..meh. I had the four string but sold it to get a better 5 string. But then again, the 35' on the 5 string with..lets say some EMG's would be amazing imo. Someone here with some experience?
Great question John Bob! I actually just filmed a video where I gutted this very bass and installed EMG TW-X pickups (DC45) and their BQC preamp. The result is epic, but they make the pickup cavity just barely too small. I had to widen it slightly which was a bit of a pain. I thought they'd fit just right but it's barely a mm off. Video on the modded bass coming probably next week (this week is a different project in the same vein, but in a stingray).
@@LowEndLobster Wow, sounds awesome! Here in Germany, the M5 5 string costs nearly twice as much as the M2. And I doubt that it's worth twice the price...
But I'm really eager to see the results man. Keep doin your work! During your last couple of videos you became one of my go to bassists on UA-cam and I really enjoy watching your content. You rock \m/
I follow your channel with great interest: excellent quality content, great reviews made with undoubted ability and intellectual honesty. Thumbs up!
I ask you an opinion: in the (almost) price range of the Sire M2 which bass do you consider the best value for money for features, construction, versatility and playability? I'm thinking about basses like Squier PJ, Jackson Spectra/Concert JS2/3, Yamaha BB234, Sterling SUB, Ibanez TMB100 or ... your alternative.
Who deserves the five claws as the best affordable/advanced beginner bass on the market? Grazie mille! Ciao.
Ciao! That's a great question. I feel like we are still exploring those basses, so it's hard for me to give an answer until I try the Yamaha, Jackson and Squier. Thank you for your support :)
I remember you said that the quality of the tuners in the Sire V3 is not so good. How are the tuners of the M2 compared?
The Gen 2 M2 tuners are completely different, smaller enclosed units similar to Gotoh style bass tuners. They were solid, had no problems. The V3 tuners were just bad though (same with the Gen 1 sire tuners)
I like it, but I think it needs a different tone cap like you did on that P10.
Hehe, indeed! Bully has formally requested the Lobster mod in all of the sires of his that I currently have :)
Jackson Spectra Bass JS3V has a 35" scale and sells for 325.00 +-
Thanks BP! I need to check out those Spectras! I appreciate the info
@@LowEndLobster I have had two of them but their necks are too thin, they do have carbon fiber in the neck...
Sounds like it would be an excellent mod platform if you can snag one on the used market...
Mods!? What channel do you think this is!? ;P..... yeah we might be modding this.
Velcro on the battery cover (2nd edition of this bass). No screws.
Can you do a sire m2 with 2 3ways switch like m5 and m7? i really want to know what is the tone of the single coils and combinations of that M2 pickups
Do you have the individual tone controls flat throughout the master tone knob demo? It sounds like the treble is boosted, which is why the master isn't darkening the tone like it should.
Yup, tone knob is centered. It's cause of the .022 uF tone cap they use in the preamps. I like putting in a .1 uF with the Sires, but a .4-6 would work great as well.
Great review 👏👏👏
Thank you!
Nice review, I always appreciate your honesty. I've been planning on getting this exact bass for my "modern" bass, and I think I'm going to stick with that plan but replace the passive tone capacitor with a nicer one. Maybe replace the pickups too. It's good to hear that the 35" scale makes the B string tight and clear.
Thanks Nathan! We may be doing some major mods on this bass before it goes back to Bully heheheh
Great review. Thanks.
Thanks Dave!
Have you tried the Yamaha TRBX 305 My pick for the price range and style !
I have not, I definitely will be checking out the TRBX'ers though- they look weet!
looks very similar to Ibanez BTB
I have this bass in the blue colorway , I just got it and wanna mod it but I was wondering what mods would u do? Electronics wise …
Check out my mod video on this bass
Another great review. Thanks
Looking forward to this sir
Thanks Dom!
How do compare m5 5string versus m2 5-String in feel, sturdiness, real humbucker pickup sound. It sounds like the m2 has more humbucker pickup realness than m5. True? I believe the m5 is a better built and quality. Correct? They are both backorder til December. Hard to find for sell that's not over priced
Do the m2 feel cheaply built? Do it feel like it will last?
7:05 if these are only 300 bucks and they play nice then see below to get really crazy...TIL that G&L sells their parts, up to and including strap buttons and guitar bodies...
From G&L's parts site...
ELECTRONICS - CONTROL ASSEMBLY - USA L-2000, L-2500, ASAT BASS
$119.00
Control Assembly - Right Hand - USA L-2000, L-2500, ASAT Bass
Quantity
1
Complete pre-wired bass control assembly as used on USA L-2000, L-2500, and ASAT Bass models. Includes all pots, mini-toggle switches, preamp circuit board with chip, and mounting nuts. Simply install and solder the leads to the pickups and output jack. Will fit early control-plate L-2000 basses with additional mounting hardware included.
PICKUP - L-SERIES - FIVE STRING
$109.95
Quantity
1
G&L Magnetic Field Design humbucker for 5-string L-series basses as used on US and Tribute Series L-2500 and L-1505 models. Includes mounting hardware.
Also this...wait what? Does everyone have 10 year warranties and I just never noticed it?
INSTRUMENTS - CLF1911017 YEAR: 2019
$2,450.00
Quantity
1
Serial number: CLF1911017
Year: 2019
Model: L-2500
Weight: 10.2 pounds
Condition: Near new, chip by bridge (see photo)
Included: Standard G&L Tolex case, Certificate of Authenticity, Spec sheet.
Shipping: Free
Warranty: G&L 10-year warranty
for all the people that go "great bass, just this little thing X" it's always in my mind that even at $400 you can still build a solid platform at Warmoth or other upper tier body/neck manufacturers - domestically manufactured, as well, so bonus in both cost, craftsmanship, and support/service. Not everyone can, but Warmoth is literally like a 40 minute drive or something from here and they have answered the phones when I've called with questions.
I already have a pair of 5 string MFDs and 4 stringers too... for ... uhh... reasons. ;)
great review - just be careful of those lobster claws ;-)
You kidding me? I just borrowed a Sire M2 from my cousin today and now I saw this video. :))
Woah ;P
It's vehemently clear you really don't care for Sires, I think they are some of the best sounding basses on the market, keep up the reviews though!
Hey! I'm sorry I give that impression, I really like Sires actually and we'll be checking out one of my favorite ones next friday :). I gave the U5 a 5/5 and the V5 and V3 4/5. I definitely have my qualms with certain aspects of some models (and all... the damn non standard bridges!), but overall I think they're excellent packages. I was critical of the V7 Vintage Ash specifically because I felt it didn't offer much additional value over the lower-end V models which are superb. However, swapping out my V7's preamp for the Sadowsky pre has made it one of my go-to J basses. I think my take on the M2 is pretty fair (I'm a bit biased though heh), as it's an excellent instrument that is a bit overshadowed by its competitors in that particular price category IMO and think it's an average value.
Kind of reminds me of an Ibanez BTB series.
Indeed! Very similar. The BTB 4 string is one of the only production 4's in 35" scale (along with the Peavey Cirrus).
where is the pick play? i want buy this but 4 string version to play punk xd
This was before I used a pick in my reviews haha but I'll revisit this model at some point :)
Looking at the saddles your intonation looks normal. I got my M2 5 this week - the stock relief is about 8/1000 at 8th fret and the strings were way too high @ 8/64 or more.
I left the relief as is because there was little or no obvious fret buzz - dropped the B to 6/64 with other strings at 5/64 and G as 4/64.
When I intonated to the 2nd octave:
B is 35.5"
E is 35.25"
A is 35.25"
D is 35"
G is 35"
How well was your bass intonated at the 24th fret? Or did you not touch the stock setting?
This and the bridge are the only odd parts of the bass so far. I am loving the stock pickups as is on my Orange amp.
Thanks Stephen! This is a friend's bass that he's had for a couple of years and has probably seen a setup or two. I did not adjust the intonation
@@LowEndLobster Bully's right? I love watching what you two do with bass. The Sea foam LTD slap machine almost reduced me to tears of joy - and I don't do emotion. I'll ask Bully - maybe he changed the strings too?
Was just odd (I posted the details on my channel to show I did measure the intonation - never seen such a difference in any bass to date).
I'm stuck deciding between this Sire M2, Ibanez SR305 and Yamaha TRBX 305 :( Does anyone have any opinion about these three that could sway me towards one of these or rule one out? (It's strictly for recording purposes and heavy tones if that matters). I might consider a 5 string Squier 70s Vibe J, or Sire V5 if they really do sound better.
Would you by chance be able to tell me what you think between this bass and a Jackson JS3V
You need to do your capacitor mod on the tone control😉
I have like 3 of Bully's Sire's here and he wants the mod on all of em!
@@LowEndLobster
There you go!😎
Really good for the money. Not digging the flat black. BTW, love your shirt.
Thanks Rich!
Has anyone used these for death metal I’m just wondering what they would sound like for that style
I play more traditional metal but it could do that style yes, preamp can dial in a gnarly tone. I would also say the string spacing is kind of wide so tech stuff may be challenging if you're not used to that.
Pretty cool body shape
Thanks Mike! Your name is always changing haha
@@LowEndLobster Gonna stick with this one 😂❤️🐢
I am thinking buying one of these tomorrow. Too expensive here in Brazil. R$4500. About $900 U$. Im really rethinking 😭
The M5 is a much better bass out of the box IMO if you can score one
He Did mentioned sterling by musicman like 50times in a Marcus Miller bass review.. ok
Oh yes, Sire M2... Used to own one of these. And the only good thing to say - they're comfy. And looks good, I guess, but thats subjective. Everything else is dissapointing. Finish (transparrent blue version) had some quality issues. And that finish was very fragile - after few months it looked beaten as hell. Didn't like sound as well, and I'm not a big fan of that preamp either. Had some high frets. And at last - pickup cavities was too small for the pickups. They wasn't even moving. I mean yes, I have chisel, but come on, that bass isn't THAT cheap. So yeah... Sorry, Sire, but no.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Yury!
Damn that bass such a fire, can i have that please. Btw new subscriber here 😁
Shortcomings aside,you sound great.
Lobster,the m5 and 7 have better pickups and parallel/single/series and are way better
Yes! I just got a m5 and loooove it. Vids coming on that very soon! I think Sunday or next week sometime (already scheduled)
Yess
Can it be in passive mode?
LET’S GOOOOOOOOO
WOOOOOO!
First coment First like! Cheers from Brasil
beat me by 4minutes
@@dm4728 hahahhahahahahhahahaha show to me First kkkkkkkk peace Man!
Loooooooool
For me i like more the pickup of m2 than m7
M5 and M7 have the same electronics, everything is the same on V and M series except wood it's made of, it's basically the same bass for inappropriately much more money. There's no point in looking at their expensive basses because of that, because mahogany is good enough, the only thing they screwed up on mahogany M series is the finish. It needs a thicker finish, something more resistant
This is incorrect. The preamps are shared throughout the Sire line but the pickups here are not used in the M5 or M7 (nor is the bridge).
@@LowEndLobster What exactly is different that justifies the 100% jump in pricing? Must be a hell of a magnet. I don't get their logic, because one could buy a much better pair of magnets for waaay less and get an overall better sound
@@LowEndLobster Also I asked Sire about pots, electronics and hardware, they said it's all the same, which boggles me even more if pickups are truly different
@@aspyr5681 often a bit of FX can also help the pickups. This M2 is exactly what I want from a 5 string. Quiet at rest, nice feel and pipe output via a B1XFour to tweak - plus a real slap monster.
@@stephenhookings1985 Thanks, I am still considering it, there's no good choices in $800 range so I'm currently keeping an eye on an M7 and hoping to grab it at around 40% off, because realistically that's what it's worth
string spacing?
18mm
The current M2s have doors for the batteries it seems
I take that back, finding a picture I can zoom on, instead of a lid with 4 screws, it now has two smaller compartments with lids that have two screws each. From the first picture they looked like doors. Nevernind
Correct! No problem, there's the plate with four screws. Kind of a pain vs using a battery door. Sorry for missing the back-side here (I think I did haha)
I have one on order. Either I will look for putting the battery box in the lid itself or use a magnet to hold the control lid.
Nice :D
Thanks Ruben!
Sire BTB?
Sire MTD BTB?
Sire MTD BTB BBQ
@@LowEndLobster 😂
uninspiring look, uninspiring sound, probably uninspiring to play....... pass for me. but super awesome video!!! thanks Lobster-san!!!!
Thank you tkotmk :). M5 video dropping this upcoming Friday that is much more inspiring. Their latest series (V5, M5, U5) is killing it!