I’m looking for a cheapish bass that I could use to play hard rock or metal and to complement the J-bass that I have (Sire V3) and it eventually boiled down to those two. I’ve seen a lot of good things said about both. I got to test out the Yamaha in a store and I was a big fan of it and the little tone switch it has, BUT no straight up tone knob that I like to have, “only” a 2 band EQ and it’s more expensive. On the other hand, the Sire M2 is cheaper, has a passive/active switch in case the battery dies, a tone knob and a 4 band EQ BUT it doesn’t have the cool little switch that the Yamaha has and the guy at the store said that the Yamaha had a better, heavier sound, but I didn’t get to test out the M2 so I can’t tell. They’re about 100€ apart and that’s a pretty big deal for me because I’m a little short on money, so is the Yamaha really worth 100€ more than the Sire?
I have owned a TRBX304 and it is a great bass… That said, I would tave an active/passive with a 3/4 band EQ over its switch+2-band every time. In fact I upgraded to a 604 just for that reason.
There’s no particular pickup configuration associated to rock or metal. I really like the sound of a P bass for those genres. You could try shaping the sound of your J using a preamp to fit more to your expectations, for example a Behringer V-Tone Bass BDI21 (+/- 39$). That might be an option if you want to watch your budget.
If you’re just looking to buy a new bass, I think that both options seem fine
I just posted a video in Listening To where Haraguchi-san is playing a Jazz in a metal song. There’s a lot of Jazz basses in rock and metal, Priest recorded British Steel on a Jazz. I’m not saying stick with the jazz as much as saying you can get a rock/metal sound out of anything.
Having owned a TRBX304 in the past, I’d go for the Sire. That tone switch on the Yamaha has five positions, and I didn’t like any of them. I think you’re better of with a three or four band EQ when it comes to flexibility.
Yeah. As much as I loved the 304, a mids knob on the EQ beats the switch every day. I really dislike 2-band EQs.
Other than that and the active/passive switch, I would go Yamaha over Sire, but that’s just brand preference. For all intents and purposes they are equivalent quality; Sire makes great stuff.
Two quality product lines but I will always opt for the instrument that gives me the most tonal control which in this case would be the Sire. I tried one out and liked it well enough but not as much as my G&L M2000 which also has an active 3 band EQ.
It’s true that 3-band EQ are much much better than 2-band and in the end that’s why I upgraded to the 604. The Sire looks like a great bass too but still given with my experience with the 304 it’s really hard to not strongly recommend it - it’s fantastic.
Well, I STILL haven’t purchased either of them because life got in the way, but I’m gonna go with the Sire despite still not having been able to test it out, simply because I love its look, it’s cheaper, it has a 4 band EQ and the differences in tone probably don’t matter THAT much at my level, plus my current bass gave me enough faith in Sire to trust them on that one.
and the guy at the store said that the Yamaha had a better, heavier sound, but I didn’t get to test out the M2 so I can’t tell. They’re about 100€ apart and that’s a pretty big deal for me because I’m a little short on money, so is the Yamaha really worth 100€ more than the Sire?
