my experience thus far is the opposite but not a direct comparison.
MIM P pickup - excellent
Squier JJ pickups - meh
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Sire P5. Alder with roasted maple neck, bone nut, nice bridge.
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Itās a great deal @MikeC if Iād didnāt already have a P Bass that would be in the very short list.
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I was on the list for one last year. I donāt believe it has been in stock yet
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Absolutely is, @Barney. Iāve got two Sire models and itās mind-boggling how well-built and well-finished they are.
My M5 has a Swamp Ash body, Ebony fingerboard, a 5-piece Maple/Mahogany neck, and great electronics, tuners and bridge - and I paid $684, delivered from Thomann (Germany) in three days! Wha-a-a-at?!
Iāve been on the hunt for an MIJ Fender P, and Iāve got quotes on two models. Delivered, they come in at under $875. There would probably be a slight duty hit, too, but not a lot.
That said, itās damn hard to see this Sire P5 with Alder body, Roasted Maple neck and f-ing great fit and finish for 500 bucks. Hell, even with throwing on Fralin pup on it, itās an apparent steal of a deal.
Thinkingā¦
Again.
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My last wish list bass is a Tele bass with a 50s Fralin or Duncan split pickup. Not in any hurry though.
There was no duty on my FGN fwiw
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Good to know. I thought a price of anything over $800 triggered a duty charge.
I was unpleasantly surprised to get a duty hit on my Mayones. Had just never happened with my Thomann purchases. But the Mayones was a hell of a lot more pricey, so I now know it was to be expected.
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The FGN was under 800, shipping didnāt count towards duty
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This I would like as well but alas, no room.
I got a cull coming. My bass picture got a lot clearer with the FGN
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Yeah, thatās right. I forgot shipping doesnāt count for duty.
The two MIJs I have quotes on cost just under to just over $600, respectivly.
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My son has the P5 in red and V5 in alder. Both are really great. Slight pref for the P5.
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Hereās a review of the Sire P5 thatās well worth a watch and consideration.
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Lobsterās point that Sireās truss rod adjustment is a vast improvement over some Fenders is interesting. I know that my U5 has a heel truss rod design like this and itās easy as hell to do adjustments on the fly.
Unfortunately (for me), my M5 has a traditional headstock truss rod cover system, complete with the ever-annoying need to unscrew the truss rod cover. And keep track of the tiny-ass screws. And the cover. 
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Fender Hybrid II is a normal headstock access. Not my favorite but better than having to dismantle the bass 
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There is nothing wrong with the pickups imo. They got a nice sound and enough oomph. Lobster always nitpicking on pickups is getting a bit old to me. Otherwise fine review.
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@howard How does the tone of the P5 compare to the MIJ Fender Precision Hybrid II?
This is a Marcus Miller model, so I assume itās going to be different.
Lobster did mod this P5 with DiMarzio Sixties P pup and a high-mass Albridge bridge after this review.
I have an Albridge bridge for Sire on my U5. I would take it off and put it on a P5 if I had one.
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Oh lol he reviewed the V5 too
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I liked the Hybrid IIās stock pickup but I wanted a little more mids-heavy punchiness. The Sire actually sounded pretty good to me - lobster seems to go vert nitpicky about the absolute low end, which is kind of a noob approach actually as most sound engineers are just gonna EQ it away anyway because it fights with the kick drum. The really important range for me is low mids.
You can hear the Hybrid II here for yourself 
Almost dry (still using Ozone for managing loudness to get consistent output between these):
With some EQ, amp sim/cabsim:
Not bad at all, I just wanted a little more.
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