Thanks for the review. Cool info. 
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Impulse buy - maybe this should go in the GAS thread - but I think I’ll get more understanding here in short-love-land.
Sire Marcus Miller U5 in natural:
I’ll need to thin some stuff out to justify it. So the beautiful, but almost never played Schecter Diamond Elite 2007 with neck-through in trans red has to go - and the pretty little Daphne blue short scale Sterling Stingray will be on the chopping block soon enough. If this U5 lives up to the hype, a Sire P7 is next on the list.
(Anyone else shamefully order ship-to-store so you can pick it up under the radar vs. your wife finding the package on the doorstep? – embarrassing! 
)
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I like the headstock, it’s Sires version of a Tele headstock. Have the same on on my D5s. Like it more than their standard headstock
Let us know how it sounds. I like my D5s
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Congrats! I’ve got a Sire U5. Great little bass.
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nice, they get a ton of rave reviews
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I’m very happy with my Sire P7, and I have been thinking about a short scale bass. I don’t really need one but that doesn’t stop the urge!
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I want to share this info in case it is useful to someone. If you own a top-load Mustang Bass the correct flatwound sets for it are
Info taken from a mail I sent to La Bella.
To those who have wondered about Pyramid flatwound strings, for a Mustang top-load the following sets (with no set number) are Set .040 .060 .080 .100 and Set .045 .065 .085 .105. Pyramid has to custom make them and they are aware of the needed lengths. The price is under €47 without tax or shipping. The sets for through body Mustangs appear on their page. This is also information sent to me by Pyramid.
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I’ve been delaying writing anything about the Sire U5 that came in last week. I don’t want to rush to a conclusion. I’m not disappointed, but I’m also not completely blown away. I’m trying to give it a few more days of playing - and I’m making one major adjustment (flatwounds are on the way).
First impressions: build quality is absolutely top notch, beautifully thin body, it’s got a gorgeous finish, super smooth satin neck, and fast/easy neck in general. Great tone in general… but that leads me to my three “not-quite-a-problem-yet” issues: 1) the variety of tones available through the Sire’s PJ setup and three V/V/tone knob are surprisingly narrow - I feel like my Squier CV70’s P with Seymour Duncans has more tonal range with its single tone knob. But my Squier has flats and that might be the difference? Concrete example: Often play Bill Withers Lovely Day and Use Me and want a mid/deep Motown sound - on the P-bass I can just roll tone to about 10-20% and I’m good and still have wiggle room if I want to really get murky for something like old Otis Redding - with the Sire I had to roll tone off completely and then select a Motown setting on my Zoom B1Four to get the same sound. 2) The Sire is very sensitive to where your plucking hand is - big volume drop if your hand strays even an inch or two closer to the bridge. I haven’t done a setup - so maybe it will help if I need to adjust the P/J’s jazz pickup higher? 3) Ergonomics of body - the Sire is just a bit smaller and thinner than what I’m used to and now my arm rests on the slightly more severe edge of the body at just the right angle/location to be uncomfortable. I might just get used to that?
Before I pass any final judgement: setup properly and play, then add flats and play, and finally just play a bit more to see how my arm feels. (But in my gut - I feel like I should maybe just be keeping my eye out on a deal for a nice MIM or even MIA P as an upgrade to my Squier).
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The Sire U5 definitely has a smaller body than a P. Sire designed it that way intentionally to make it proportional with the shorter neck and reduced headstock and tuners.
Mine is set up with low action and it’s a hot rod compared to a P. It’s a perfect gateway bass for a guitar player. But for Motown? I’d say not. It’s designed with strong influence from Marcus Miller, who prefers strong mids instead of a thump-y sound profile.
The Sire U5 is a modern PJ bass. It is versatile for playing rock, jazz, country and even blues. It can thump, big time. I’ve done ‘em all plenty. But it was never meant to have a P tone, which is unique. A PJ is just its own thing.
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Thanks - I’m a smaller guy and really appreciate the proportional body - and where my arm rests on the body is something I’ll probably just get used to. I’m really happy with the U5 tones for anything other than Motown. I play a ton of more modern rock/punk stuff as well so Motown sounds are probably less than 10% of what I need and honestly I’m in some kind of unnatural love with that dumb cheap Squier CV70s P so I can just use that when I need it.
Does your U5 have the volume sensitivity to hand placement I noticed? Or is that something that I’ll probably eliminate with a good set-up? Right now, if I play above the bridge pickup my volume is at least 30% lower than if I’m playing over the neck pickups. I know that happens on all basses - but this is dramatic.
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The volume situation you describe is not right. Plucking positions closer to the bridge or neck should only affect tone, not volume.
I bought my U5 as my B2B bass. I owned several basses many years ago, but it had been a long time since I’d messed with one, so I followed Josh’s advice and took it to a luthier (not a GC monkey) for a setup.
The bass was brand new and I asked him to give it a thorough probing as it was well within Sweetwater’s return period. Once he was done with the setup, he hooked it to his amp and cranked it! Man! Did that little bastard boom!
I’ve got a Zoom B1 Four, too. I can fake a Motown tone out of my U5, but a full-scale P just sounds like a P more than anything else can or will.
Bottom line, get your U5 checked out by a knowledgeable pro. If there’s an issue, you can deal with it then. The Sire U5 is a stunningly beautiful bass. Good luck, Ken.
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i’m not sure if this new body contouring applies to all the shortys or just the candyman one. really pretty though 
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That’s a beauty, its like a SS Fender Aerodyne look, with. Better headstock.
Great color, I love it
I have yet to play a Sire, but I sure want to
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I really Love short scale too, for me they do the job perfectly and they are very light.
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wait, have i mentioned bite here? love the headstock.
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The headstock is really cool
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I’ve checked out Bite from an article mention. They look interesting.
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That is a truly outstanding headstock. 2+2, nice shape, excellent and inspired branding. Love it.
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Not sure if there is a separate topic for it, but I was recently thinking about short-scale players and I don’t have too many names that would spring to my mind.
Do you have your favourite short-scale players or songs initially recorded on a short-scale?
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Paul McCartney, Bill Wyman, Jack Cassidy, Jack Bruce, Tina Weymouth, Mike Kerr of Royal Blood. None of them played short scale exclusively, but did play short scale on significant recordings.
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