NBD/Sire U5 Bass

[soulman969]

This one arrived yesterday making it the first short scale bass I've owned since I parted ways with a Gibson EB-3 many moons ago. It's a little weird getting used to playing on a 30" scale again after so many years playing 34" and 35" scale basses. It's mostly getting my hand and head more accustomed to the shorter spread between frets and getting comfortable playing it sitting down rather than standing.

Fully passive with typical P/J Bass like Volume/Volume/Tone controls and a JBass width neck. Alder body with a flamed maple top and body binding. It's very nicely built and finished with rolled fretboard edges not generally found on lower cost basses from other manufacturers and the JBass pickup is noiseless allowing it to be blended in with the split coil at any volume level free of single coil hum.

Now the challenge is to find the right strings for it. It's tough to get the kind of string tension and "fight" I prefer on a short scale bass. Time for a consult with my old friend Jason from Fret Nation to pickup some suggestions and go from there. I'll have more to say and a photo of the actual bass soon.

 

[3bolt79]

Awesome. Can’t wait to see the pics.

 

[syco]

HNBD !!! Looks good !!

 

[Paruwi]

Congrats

 

[soulman969]

Awesome. Can’t wait to see the pics.

Here's a pic of the actual bass sitting next to my bass rig. First time I've ever bought anything with a fancier flamed maple top. Surprisingly it's not all that light either despite it smaller size. It's right at 8lbs.

I need one more bass like I need another ex-wife but having a short scale that's easier to play sitting when giving lessons, sitting around jamming, or playing at unplugged low volume kind of gigs made sense.

As usual the saddle height was set a little high for my liking but the neck adjustment was perfect so I just dropped the saddles down a bit and now it's right where I like it. I just need to seek some stiffer strings.

What I can say is that overall Sire offers a well built product for a fair price. I paid $480 for this one brand new. Their forte has been creating JBass type instruments using Marcus Miller's input so this is much like their V5 but with a hybrid P/J pickup setup rather than dual single coils.

First time I've actually had a bass with a P/J setup and if I tend to use the bridge pickup as a second tone pot it makes for an interesting spread of tonal variations. The split coil pretty much dominates the tonality and the tone control is very broad and responsive with it. Good design. Then I can roll in as much or as little of the bridge pickup as I like to add some "edge". So even though it's a passive bass it still offers a very broad dynamic tonal range and the pickup output is quite strong.

Now I just need to get used to playing a short scale bass again.

 

[Robb]

Great beast, enjoy !

 

[soulman969]

Thanks Robb. So far I am.

 

[soulman969]

New strings ordered. Thanks to the always appreciated expertise of my friend Jason Mendelson owner of Fret Nation I have a set of short scale GHS Bass Boomers on order. They should be significantly stiffer than the stock set which is a fairly light .45-.100 gauge vs the .50-.107 gauge of the Bass Boomers. I anticipate a truss rod adjustment will also be needed once the new strings have been installed. So onward we go.

 

[spupilup]

That's a great bass. I had one on preorder with AMS for what seemed like forever. I finally cancelled and started shrinking my collection of basses. I'll always be curious about Sire but now that I'm mostly playing guitar, I can happily live with my G&L Fallout bass. It's funny, when I was playing bass in bands in the '70's and '80's I would have never thought about a short scale but in my old age I've really come to appreciate them. I also have to confess to being a huge G&L fan, buying my first L1K way back when they were first released at the end of 1980.

Regarding strings, I have used Thomastik Jazz JR-32's with my Fallout and Musicman short scale. I'm sure the JF-32's would work as well if you're into flats. I really dig the lighter guage and the flexibility of the TI's on a short scale but I am also aware that's not everyone's cup of tea.

Good luck with your bass. It's really quite a beauty.

 

[soulman969]

That's a great bass. I had one on preorder with AMS for what seemed like forever. I finally cancelled and started shrinking my collection of basses. I'll always be curious about Sire but now that I'm mostly playing guitar, I can happily live with my G&L Fallout bass. It's funny, when I was playing bass in bands in the '70's and '80's I would have never thought about a short scale but in my old age I've really come to appreciate them. I also have to confess to being a huge G&L fan, buying my first L1K way back when they were first released at the end of 1980.

Regarding strings, I have used Thomastik Jazz JR-32's with my Fallout and Musicman short scale. I'm sure the JF-32's would work as well if you're into flats. I really dig the lighter guage and the flexibility of the TI's on a short scale but I am also aware that's not everyone's cup of tea.

Good luck with your bass. It's really quite a beauty.

Thanks brother!

I am also a major G&L fan. I have ash body Kiloton and M2000 models and had an L2500 I sold a few years back. Leo's MFD pickups are outstanding. I could've just as easily bought a Fallout on sale direct from G&L but I really wanted to try Sire's basses.

I bought a 5 string M2 but there was an issue with it's preamp so I returned it. I wanted to try a 35" scale 5 string again so I did. Other than that electronics issue it was a very nice bass but it made me recall why I went back to 4 string basses to begin with.

So I figured I try the U5 instead. It's equally well made and 100% passive but with a much broader dynamic range than most passive basses. I would not ordinarily play a full bore rock or blues gig with it but for sitting and playing a 30" scale works out much better.

With strings I tend to go in the opposite direction you do. I like a stiffer feel which somewhat rules out TI. I like GHS strings and play or have played their Pressurewounds, Balanced Nickels, Brite Flats, and Precision flats. This time I thought I'd try their Boomers.

If I don't like them I know what direction to go in. Ordinarily I would suggest flats on a short scale as well but this bass has a over abundance of low end from the Split Coil and a very efficient tone control plus the Jazz bridge pickup so I wanted to take advantage of all of that with some rounds to get that piano like clarity.

We'll see how it goes. I'm still within the 45 day "honeymoon" window but so far I've experienced nothing that would tell me to return it.

 

[spupilup]

Here you have it, in a single exchange we find we live similar basses but most definitely not similar strings. It’s the beauty in what makes the world go round. Best of luck with the Sire. It looks like a keeper to me. Cheers!!!

 

[soulman969]

Here you have it, in a single exchange we find we live similar basses but most definitely not similar strings. It’s the beauty in what makes the world go round. Best of luck with the Sire. It looks like a keeper to me. Cheers!!!

I see bass strings much differently than guitar strings as being a major part of the "voice" of the bass and we all have different ideas about what our basses should sound like.