Marcus Miller - P5R 4 Cordes LH Natural

The Sire Marcus Miller P5R left-handed 4-string in Natural immediately reveals its true nature: a tight-grained North American alder body in an unmasked blond hue, whose medium density generates a round attack with a full-bodied bass and organic midrange that imposes itself in the mix without any mixing effort. This tonal profile contrasts sharply with the Jazz Basses in the range - more mass in the lower end of the spectrum, less brilliance at the peak. The Precision Bass Sire body carries the classic asymmetrical silhouette, and the tortoiseshell pickguard dresses the top in a reddish-brown flaky texture that visually warms the natural wood. The ivory dots on the fingerboard remain in this economy of warm hues, without seeking sharp contrasts.

The axis of the neck rests on C-profile torrefied hard maple, heat-treated to lock the internal structure of the wood against humidity variations - geometric stability guaranteed from the rehearsal rooms to the outdoor stages. The Edgeless™ rosewood fingerboard, with its rounded fret edges, glides under the thumb without resistance across the 863.6mm scale at 241.3mm radius, and its tight grain restores a dense organic feel under the fingers. The 2.4 mm medium frets cut each note firmly without damaging the strings, and the 42 mm bone nut - wider than on the Jazz models - perfectly frames the 20 mm string spacing. The 4-screw steel plate welds the body and neck together, the premium chrome open tuners lock the tuning, and the chrome-plated metal knobs complete a coherent set of fittings from the first to the last detail.

The circuitry consists of two pots - volume and tone - in full passive mode. The Marcus Vintage-Fat Precision Revolution single large-coil pickup produces what the archetypal Precision has always produced: a powerful fundamental, a defined attack under the pick or thumb, and an organic colour that sits naturally under a rhythm guitar. There's no preamp to feed, no mode to switch - the P5R belongs in the category of basses where the tone comes from the wood, the pickup and the hands, in that order.