Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String - Overview and Best Prices

Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String Review
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  • From Sire's 2024 F series
  • Marcus Miller Signature
  • Made in Indonesia
  • 6 strings
  • 35"'' scale
  • 12" Fretboard Radius
  • Poplar Burl top
  • Swamp Ash body
  • Hard Maple / Mahogany 5-pc neck
  • Rosewood Edgeless (Rolled Fretboard Edges) fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: Marcus Pure-H Revolution (Humbucker/Passive)
  • Neck pickup: Marcus Pure-H Revolution (Humbucker/Passive)
  • 2 volume and 4 tone Dome knobs
  • 3-way Switch
  • New Marcus Heavymass Custom bridge
  • Bass C-Shape Neck-Through neck
  • 22 Medium Stainless Steel frets
  • Premium Diecasting Gear tuners
  • Weight between 10.25lbs (4.6kgs) and 10.625lbs (4.8kgs)
  • Side-By-Side Comparison
Show Specs
Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String Specifications
Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String
General
Brand: Sire
Year: 2024
Configuration: HH
Strings: 6
Made in: Indonesia
Series: F
Colors: Natural
Left-Handed Version: No
Body
Top: Poplar Burl
Type: Solid Body
Body Material: Swamp Ash
Bridge: New Marcus Heavymass Custom
Neck
Neck Joint: Neck-Through
Tuners: Premium Diecasting Gear
Fretboard: Rosewood Edgeless (Rolled Fretboard Edges)
Neck Material: Hard Maple / Mahogany 5-pc
Decoration: WH Pearloid/Abalone Rounded-rectangular Block
Scale Size: 35"
Shape: Bass C-Shape
Frets: 22 Medium Stainless Steel
Fretboard Radius: 12"
Nut: Bone
Nut Width: 54mm (2.126'')
Electronics
Bridge Pickups: Marcus Pure-H Revolution (Humbucker / Passive)
Neck Pickup: Marcus Pure-H Revolution (Humbucker / Passive)
Switch: 3
Knobs: Dome
Volume Controls: 2
Tone Controls: 4
Hardware
Strap Lock: No
Hardware Color: Black
Show Diagram
Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String pickups switch and push knobs diagram
Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String's switch options

Our Scores and Tone Evaluation

Playability 75
Sound 86
Build quality 80
Value for money 75
Overall Score 80
Tone Evaluation
  • Heavy Metal
  • Hard Rock
  • Jazz
  • Blues
  • Funk
  • Country
Strengths & Weaknesses
Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String
  • Stainless Steel Frets
  • Expensive Wood
  • Bone Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Neck-Through Build
  • Active/Passive Preamp
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in Indonesia
  • No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
  • No Weight Relief
  • No Luminescent Inlay
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Retainer Bar
  • No Strap Lock

Price Overview

Its average competitor's price is $1000, which means that the Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String costs around 80% more than the competition. It might be due to it having additional features, but know that you can find cheaper similar alternatives. This takes into account all instruments of the same category in our database with 6 strings and Fixed bridge that are made in Indonesia.

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User Reviews & Feedback

Not all instruments are created equally. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our users who have played this instrument say. If you've played it before, help others by voting below!

Weight

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Tuning stability

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Neck speed (thickness)

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Neck access to high frets

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Neck profile shape

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Fret edges

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Hand Size Comfortability

After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String's construction favors people with relatively small hands.

Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this bass—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.

Big Hands
Small Hands

Beginner Friendliness

The Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String meets 3 out of our 6 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's not bad for beginners, but it could be better. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players to get used to.

New Player Friendliness

Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String
  • Comfortable shape
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale

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How Lightweight is it?

We found that the Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String weighs between 10.25lbs (4.6kgs) and 10.625lbs (4.8kgs). This was recorded from some online retailers that publish the weight of the instruments they sell.

Playability

Scale Length

Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.

Here's the Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String's 35" scale length compared to other common sizes:

Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String Scale Length Comparison
Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String's scale length (at the top) compared to other popular sizes

This is considered a long scale bass, and it's the most popular choice for several reasons. Even though it might be more difficult to play than short scale basses due to their increased string tension, their punchier low-end results in a clear and defined bass tone that can cut through in a mix, making them well-suited for genres like rock, metal, and funk.

Neck Profile

Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String Neck Profile
Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String's neck profile

The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.

It has a C type neck. C-shaped necks like this have been the most popular for the last years. The reason is that they feel good in most hands. It's generally a thin neck that doesn't get in your way when playing fast, but that also has enough mass to give your hands a comfortable grip for chords if they aren't too big.

Thin necks like this make it easier to move your hand across the neck and it helps when playing fast solos, especially if you like to leave your thumb free while playing high on the fretboard. However, thinner necks are also weaker and will need adjustment more often than a thicker neck.

Fretboard Radius

When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.

The Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String has a 12" fingerboard radius.

Here's an image comparing this fretboard radius to other popular choices:

Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String Fretboard Radius Comparison with Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul
Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String's fretboard radius compared to others

This is the same radius that Gibson uses in most of their guitars. When compare to the other popular radius of Fender Stratocasters, you can see that it's a lot flatter. Guitars with this radius are usually made to bring a good balance between single-note and chord playing.

Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String has the same radius across the board.

Nut Width

Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String Nut Width
Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String Nut Width

The Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String has a nut width of 54mm (2.126''). This is within the most common range of nut widths for a 6-string bass. This is what most players find as a balanced width for both playing chords and single notes across different strings. If you have an "average" hand size, or you're not sure what nut width you'd like, this is a safe bet.

Frets

The Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String has 22 frets. Even though 24 frets has become really popular, there's still a good reason to get fewer frets; the pickup at the neck position will be further away from the bridge. This makes the neck pickup achieve a warmer tone. You might want this if you're playing Jazz or similar genres.

However, if you don't care about the warmer neck pickup, more frets will always be better. It's always nice to have the option to play higher notes if you want to.

Finally, these are stainless steel frets. They're the best fretwire available. This means you won't need to change your frets since they should last as long as your bass. Some people also feel easier bendings after swapping to stainless steel.

Fret Size

Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String Fret Size Comparison
Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String's fret size (in orange) compared to other popular sizes

Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.

The Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String's frets are Medium size. With medium frets, you can feel the fretboard more than with jumbo frets, but it's still easier to press the strings cleanly than with small frets; notes might change their pitch just slightly if you press hard on the fret. Also, if you need to do some fret leveling after years of playing, you'll have some room to sand them down without having to replace them.

Playability Score

Bending & Vibrato Ease 75
Chord Playability 70
Solo Playability 80
Playability 75

Tone

Wood will have little influence in the final tone of an electric guitar or bass. Instead, the hardware, especially the pickups, will be the most important thing to look at. Bur first, let's see the quality of the wood.

Wood

Ash wood pattern used for guitar building
Ash Body
Maple wood pattern used for guitar building
Maple Neck
Rosewood wood pattern used for guitar building
Rosewood Fretboard

Ash Body: The most popular Ash wood for guitars is swamp Ash. It has a really light color with beautiful patterns, which makes it perfect for a natural-looking finish. It's not as lightweight as Alder, but also not as heavy as Mahogany. It's known for producing a bright tone with solid mids and lows.

Maple Neck: This is one of the most popular types of wood used in all kinds of guitars. It's heavy, strong and compact, which makes it great for necks. However, it's also used for fretboards, bodies and tops due to its light color, resistance and beautiful patterns. When it comes to tone, it highlights the mid and high frequencies.

Rosewood Fretboard: Since the ban of Brazillian Rosewood, this has become a rare and expensive wood. It's not usually used for guitar bodies because of this, and also because it's heavy. Instead, it's used mainly for fretboards. Sometimes it's also used for necks because it's an extremely hard wood (even harder than maple). Its tonality tends to favor warm tones.

Pickups

This bass comes with pickups from one of the top brands: Marcus. So you can expect well built pickups with great sound that shouldn't need an upgrade anytime soon.

These are passive pickups, so you can expect a rounder sound and a moderade level of output.

Preamp

The preamp is an electronic circuit that serves as an intermediary between the bass's pickups and the amplifier. Its primary function is to boost and shape the bass's raw signal before it reaches the amplifier. This allows for greater control over the bass's tone, volume, and other sound characteristics. Preamps often include tone controls, equalization settings, and sometimes even onboard effects, enabling bassists to tailor their sound to their preferences and the musical context.

This bass has a Active/Passive preamp. This means it combines both passive and active electronics in one instrument. This versatile setup allows the player to switch between passive and active modes, providing a wide range of tonal options. In passive mode, the bass relies on traditional passive pickups and tone controls for a warm and organic sound. In active mode, the onboard preamp circuit is engaged, offering enhanced EQ shaping capabilities and sometimes a signal boost. This flexibility caters to a broader spectrum of musical styles and playing preferences, as it allows the bassist to switch between the classic, vintage tone of passive operation and the more versatile and finely tuned active mode, all within the same instrument.

The Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String's configuration is HH. With this pickup combination, you'll get warmer tones and more output than using single coils. Humbucker pickups cancel the noise that single-coil suffer from, which also results in a warmer tone. This pickup combination isn't only for high-gain music like Hard Rock or Heavy Metal. Their warmness is also popular for Jazz, Indie, R&B, Blues and more.

More with the same pickups

22 Frets
Fixed Bridge
Marcus Pure-H Revolution Bridge Pickup
Marcus Pure-H Revolution Neck Pickup
22 Frets
Fixed Bridge
Marcus Pure-H Revolution Bridge Pickup
Marcus Pure-H Revolution Neck Pickup

Versatility

It comes with the popular 3-way switch that is present in most guitars. For more versatility, players tend to prefer a 5-way switch, although it all depends on what you want to use your bass for.

Unfortunately, it doesn't come with more options for coil split or coil tapping. This makes it less versatile than some competitors.

What music genre is it good for?

As a 6 strings, Solid Body bass with HH configuration and Passive pickups, we'd recommend it for genres like Heavy Metal or similar. However, you can use almost any bass for any genre. This is just the typical type of music for this particular one.

Sound Score

Pickups 95
Sustain 75
Versatility 93
Tuning Stability 80
Sound 86

Build Quality

Country of Origin

Knowing where the instrument is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive instruments are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.

The Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String is made in Indonesia. Many people prefer the quality of an Indonesian guitar over a Chinese. Respectable brands like Epiphone, Ibanez and Schecter are building in this country because of the great quality and lower price. Some people like to compare them to the ones built in Japan during the 80s, when Japanese guitar makers made a name for themselves.

Bridge

New Marcus Heavymass Custom: The advantage of fixed bridges is that they don't require any kind of set-up. This makes it extremely easy when changing strings because you don't need to adjust anything besides tuning the guitar. Also, the fact that the bridge is directly attached to the body will help to increase sustain. The disadvantage is the lack of versatility since you can't create the same vibrato effects as with tremolo bridges.

Nut Material

Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your bass. A well-cut nut will make sure it stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.

In this case, the Sire Marcus Miller F10 6-String has a Bone nut. This material is one of the highest quality you can get. It provides excellent sustain and tune stability if cut well. The only disadvantage is that it's an organic material, so it's not consistent. Two different bone nuts, even if made from the same bone, will probably sound slightly different. However, bear in mind that this is only relevant when playing open strings.

Neck Joint

The neck joint is the part where the neck of the bass meets the body. There are three main techniques to attach both parts together: Set-In, Bolt-On and Neck-Through. The latter two provide different advantages, although neck-throughs are the most expensive.

This bass has a Neck-Through neck joint. Many people believe a neck-through build delivers the best sustain because some of the vibrations from the neck aren't lost like with other neck joints. However, no one has been able to prove this. What we know is that a neck-through build is usually the most comfortable when playing the upper frets because there's nothing on your way at the neck-body joint.

Build Quality Score

Quality of materials 75
Features 85
Quality Control 80
Build Quality 80