Marcus Miller M2 5 TBL 2nd Gen

Hi. I apologise in advance for the long review,

I purchased this bass almost 2 years ago, as a budget-friendly choice and an introduction to the 5-string world. It is still my only bass guitar. It arrived with a bump on its head and the dual pot knobs were stuck together and they were spinning as one, but that's not the main problem because i asked a luthier to fix it and he did. The main problems with this bass are its electronics, its pickups and ,therefore, its sound. Here are a few ways I found to make it work better, in my 2 years of playing with it:

1. The tone knob was not working, so i asked a technician to make it work. It appears it needed a few more capacitors (3 actually) and it turns out it is not even a tone knob, it's more of a mid booster.

2. The pickups are made almost exclusively for Marcus Miller-style slapping. They don't sound that good in other styles. I had to get an EQ to practically mute the 1kHz frequencies, so now it doesn't sound THAT bad, but it is still bad. I also have the lower frequencies fully compressed the whole time.

3. Even more about the pickups, their circuit was TOTALLY WRONG. Maybe it was a mistake from the factory, i don't know. The wiring of the humbuckers was parallel, when it actually needed to be in series. The technician couldn't believe his eyes! Changing the wiring made the bass sound bigger, rounder and more powerful than before, but still...you know, pretty bad.

Conclusion:
If you slap like Marcus Miller, then by all means go for it. Me, personally, I don't do that. I needed an "all-around" 5-string bass with a pretty descent sound for performances and recording, as many other basses in this price category have. This bass simply can't offer that. I was really close in selling it, but I kept it because I love its beautiful appearance and I got used to playing it. Finally, I put new pickups and now it's all good, but I'm sure you don't want to spend extra 300 euros just to fix your new bass. Maybe something else will suit you better.

Oh and good luck finding strings for this one, it might take you a while.

I just received a Marcus Miller M2 and when I tried to adjust the truss rod I saw that the nut was completly worn out!!
no way of turning left or right.
I am assuming that this isn't Thomann's fault, but the thing is that I have to send it back and wait for the replacment one.
Bottom line, if I was satisfited with the set up of the instrument (as it came from the factory) I would have a bass guitar with a permanent problem of adjusting the neck ,down the road ...
Besides that the sound and over all instrument is nice.
I would suggest to everyone else who is interested in this bass guitar to be very meticulous whith the details, or the function of the product becuse in this price range the quality control is really poor!!

2 weeks Later...

FINAL OPINION:

Today I received the replacement.

CONS:
The bass needs a very meticulous inspection before buying.
The tuning pegs and the fretboard nut are the first upgrades you should do.
There is also an Allen Key which comes with the bass , and is supposed to set up the truss road with it!
BE CAREFUL with that, because is not the right SIZE for the truss road,OR the factory uses the most horrible truss road nut I' ve ever seen!!!!
It's unacceptable!!!...
If you want to adjust the truss road you have to be extremely careful with the given tool, or any other tool because the truss rod nut is not a perfect fit as it should be....somehow it fells cheap, and worn down from the beginning .
The Main volume/ tone knob and the mid frequency knob are turning each other when you try to adjust them but it's an easy fix...
The bridge is ...."ok " you could say that ,it does the job.

PROS:
The Pre amp of the bass is really nice and it gives you a lot of options.
Also the pickups for this price range are nice.
Frets are smooth and even through the fretboard.
The paint job also is ok for this price range...
of course if you trying to find small imperfections you will see them.
In my case is almost not noticeable.

Over all it's a nice "first" bass guitar, which lacks in quality control and it sounds nice because of the pre amp .
Hope that I was helpful .

The bass just feels right. For that price you get solid 3-band EQ preamp, which is also equipped in Sire's higher version M7, except two humbucker split toggles.
Also, compared to elder M7, HH set is different, but taking into account that M7 has those split toggles, perhaps that's the only difference that these two set s have (in frames of sound).
Last difference is bridge (in these two models), where M7 got a better one, which lets you to tune it more precisely.
That's it. Other than that it's a matter of taste and wood combination preference. Just guided by these 3 differences I can state for sure, that M2 deserves a good review having most of the benefits of elder's version (which is twice the price).

I've jumped in to the bass from LTD B-404SM (which is still with me of course) and I may say M2 is decent and can stand in line with my oldie LTD. LTD equipped with Aguilar soapbars and MikePop FlexCore pre-amp and of course variation of sound you can get out of it is way more bigger than from M2, but M2's own pre-amp impress at least a half of tones you can get out from it. The "out-of-the-box" sound is pretty warm and full of sustain. Lack of attack is noticeable, but can be compensated by pre-amp tune for genre you play.

If not talking about the price, here are mine pros & cons
Pros:
1. Amazing pre-amp which would suit variety of genres
2. Build quality + color finish. Looks fantastic and pretty modern
3. Easily comparable with elder's versions.
Cons:
1. Lack of attack out of the box
2. Generic bridge. I have not tuned it yet for a week I have the bass (except the day it has been delivered), so can't complain much, but I guess there may be some issues tunning it precisely for someone :)
3. Plastic pre-amp knobs are made not so good.

I can recommend this bass to anyone.

Overall it's what I've expected to get for this price. The look is pretty decent and this transparent blue finish (actually more of a green for me) is really beautiful. With the preamp built-in you have many options for a sound, but eventually I ended up with everything boosted up to a maximum. Sounds really bright and full so I'll go with it as an everyday bass.
The neck profile is quite strange for the bass defined as a modern one. It's much more thicker comparing to the one of my Musicman bass and it takes some time to get used to it.
The build quality is not as good as it looks like. I have corrosion traces on a first few frets. There are some little painting defects on the edges. And preamp knobs are poor quality too. First the tone knob doesn't have much affect on the tone itself. I've even not sure if it works at all. Next is that dual knobs don't work as designed. When you turn one it always turns another, so you can't adjust it with one hand. You have to hold one knob with other hand while you turning another. So it's not something that I'll request for a money-back for but this is a bit disappointing for a bass named after Marcus Miller.

I've alredy have few Harley Benton guitars. They very cheap and well builded.
BUT, after buying THAT bass, im just sitting and playing few hours already!!! SOMEBODY HEPL ME!!!!1

Cons:
1) Poor knobs quality: They spinning together. When u spinning upper knob (for example), the lower knob spinning too.

Pros:
1) Cheap. (Yes it is)
2) Nice looking. (She's sexyyy)
3) PERFECT fretboard (rounded), and frets (rounded too). After Harley benton basses that's god's bless rays on my hands, told u!
4) PERFECT neck! Nice action!
5) 24 FRETS, YAY BABY!!!1
7) Active bass.
8) No ugly fret dots (actually they exist, but transparent).
9) And finally: PERFECT SOUND!
I've got already few basses, maybe 7. And this is first bass with so clear, punchy and strong sound. Even unplugged it sound SO LOUD, ROUND AND NICE! Trust me!
I don't know how about u, but for me it's new world!
After that bass im going to sell all my HB guitars.

Yes, HB doing very nice and cheap stuff, BUT just try THAT bass, u will never regret!
Last i want to say : Sorry for my English and BRAVO MARCUS AND SIRE!

First impressions out of the box - it looks and feels great. I really like neck profile, it is kinda rounded and feels really nice (for me). Actually I think it is the most comfortable 5er I've ever played. Transparent blue finish looks really nice.
Quality - well, not so great. Few painting defects around the edges, plastic knobs are just awful, finish is really fragile and chips easily. Pickup cavities is so tight that you can't event get pickups out, not mention change pickups height! So prepare your chisel for that. It had few high spots on the frets. Also nut slot for A string has been cut too low.
Sound - didn't really like it, maybe just not my kind. Of course it has a lot of features, like active preamp with parametric EQ, but I found it really not that usable. Frequencies bandwidth is unnecessarily wide, so boosting low end, for example, makes it mutter. In fact, I liked it the most in the passive mode.
All in all - it is a decent bass. It required full setup (including fret leveling, fret end dressing etc.), but after that it plays really great. As for sound - well, it is a matter of preferences after all. IMO not really great.