mcnach

Depending on how the pickups are wired, there's an interaction that affects the sound of the P soloed so it's not exactly how it would sound on its own... just how much that matters it varies: some think it's a deal breaker and others don't care. The J adds to the tonal palette available, but just how interesting is that depends, again, on personal preference. Both pickups on can sound pretty good, but it sometimes it's such a mid-scooped sound that I have no real use for it. It depends on the actual pickups, and how they're balanced. I find a bridge J alone to be too thin for me to want to use it on its own, so when I have a PJ, what I do is set the P pickup first so that it sounds balanced across strings and the way I want it (pickup distance from the strings can change things a lot). Then, I just adjust the height of the J pickup until it sounds nice when I have both pickups on together. Sometimes it means the J will be very weak and it's only adding a bit, other times it's louder... I don't care, as I will never use it alone. That's just what I do, not a 'you must do this' rule. I prefer a more powerful pickup at the bridge, to go with the P. Another P works well as long as it's reversed (the DG coil being away from the bridge), a dual J can be very nice, and a big MM style humbucker also works well (my preferred option). Why aren't all P actually PJ? Because there's enough people who prefer it to be just a P. I have a single pickup Stingray, and I'll never buy a dual pickup one. Why? Because the single pickup one does what I want it to do and I like the simplicity (plus the extra pickup gets in the way for me, but that's just me). As with a lot of other things here... it comes down to personal preference really, and there's no one single superior solution.

Pickups are a LOT cheaper and easy to replace and that's crucial.

I loved it *especially* because of the wide neck. Another example of how subjective all this is. After a while, I realised that it's not width that matters the most to me, but depth, which is why a Sandberg with a 39.5mm width at the nut could have never worked for me (my rule was 42mm minimum... I had an interesting chat with Maruszczyk trying to get him the neck *I* wanted, because he felt it was too wide :D In the end I got what I asked for, and was good, because I also specified the depth along the neck at various points)... But when I tried that neck, it felt as if I had designed it myself. It was just right. I so wanted not to like it, so that I could last a bit longer without buying a new bass... but it was not to be :p

All this talk of the pickups seems, to me, a bit like not buying a certain car because the stock tyres are not your favourite. I separate the basic build from the electronics, maybe because I got used to mess with the electronics of my guitars when I was younger and poorer, and found it was a great way to change the sound of an instrument you loved to play but didn't love soundwise. I understand that others want an instrument 'just so' from the start, and that's ok too, but they'll be missing out on some great stuff, in my opinion.

That's my take too. There's a lot of love for Glock preamps in Talkbass, you'd think that it's a great and widely love preamp. I had one with superb specs (3-band, with additional passive tone, etc etc), but I didn't feel it was all that. It's all pretty subjective and when you look at it, the sample size making 'noise' against or in favour is relatively small. When I bought my Classic 50s Fender Precision I was ready to replace the pickup as at the time I read lots of "great bass, if only had a better pickup". I was on a Precision quest at the time and I had a few pickups in my drawer to try. But I loved it as it was and never changed a thing. We're talking nuances here, it's not like Sandberg stock pickups are bad, I'm sure (I have zero experience on this: I have only really properly tried 2, and they didn't have Sandberg pickups)

Electronics do not bother me one bit. If the basic instrument is well made, I'll find a pickup and/or preamp (or different circuitry, does not need to be active) that works well with it. I have to say that I have not been able to love any Delano pickup in any instrument I tried, although the two Sandberg 48 that I tried last week seemed pretty decent and had Delanos of some description in them, according to the guy at Guitar Guitar... I think it will depend a lot of each individual instrument (+ amplifier used). When you order new, you don't have the chance to try it until it's made, and then it's yours... so it's always nicer if you can find what you want in the second hand market, but that's not always an option. I've only tried Haussels once (Jazz), in a Maruszczyk I owned. They were ok, but I can't say I felt they were any better than say a common DiMarzio Area J set, or even Model J (different sounding entirely, but still quality sound).

Most places I play I go DI (pre) and the amplifier onstage is just to be my monitor. In one of the bands I use a few pedals, so the sound is generated before it reaches the DI. I include a cab simulator, for DI, so that my overdriven bass sounds ok and not fizzy. When I play bars and my amplifier is what carries the bass for the whole place, then there's just one sound, obviously. And earplugs.

Superglue! Came to the rescue quite a few times for me.

I've just ordered a Sandberg VM4. I went for their 'soft aged' finish purely because of the cost. I'm not a fan of the relic thing, although when done well it doesn't put me off either, and Sandberg does do it very well. My first choice was a solid colour, high gloss finish. Unfortunately it's not one of their normal colours, so it would add £525 to the price. Now, I liked that colour, but not THAT much. So I asked about the nearest alternative, which happened to be a metallic colour they do do, but only on aged finishes. I asked about getting it 'not aged'. It was possible, but at a cost, because again, for high gloss, it means more work. For an aged finish, they don't need to get it perfectly flat and nice before they 'age' it... so it's like an in-between level of effort and the time it takes. So I got the order in specifying "very light soft aged pretty please" or something along those lines Sandberg is the only company that has made me thought "hmmm, yummy" about their aged instruments.

Yes, but very variable. They wanted £600 for a really battered Stingray a few years ago, with big dents on the back of the neck and generally in terrible condition. That's when a reasonably clean Stingray could be found for 5-700 on eBay, and I bought mine for £700 immaculate including its EBMM hard case. But I've seen some other cool stuff there at much more reasonable prices.

He's always been good by email to me, even if sometimes it would take a few days to get a reply. However, I'd recommend a phone call if email does not seem to work. He's been really helpful to me with a variety of enquiries in the past.

You'll have to wait until September for that. But it's essentially this one below (metallic orange, very soft aged) with black rather than nickel hardware:

I thought it was about helping each other empty our pockets on bass related stuff... It certainly is like that for me. There I was, minding my own business, reasonably happy with my gear, until I discovered BC. My expenditure skyrocketted after that. But I do enjoy what I discovered along the way

I saw a black/maple V4 on Facebook a few days ago... if I were after a Precision, that's what I would have bought. IN fact, I am not after a Precision and I was still tempted

That's what Teo at Guitar Guitar was telling me. I was commenting on how nice that neck on the red 48 in particular felt and he took note of the serial number and said that Sandberg would be able to check their records and get a pretty good match. Once I decided to order, I could have just done it in Edinburgh, but Teo had been really helpful so it was only fair that he got to make the sale. I go to Glasgow often so it won't be a problem to go there to pick it up when the time comes... around September, I was told. So... if you go to Guitar Guitar in Glasgow, talk to that man.

If by helping you mean making him poorer, yes, you helped a lot. Thanks...

Finalising details... by the order will be official within days, yes. My first choice was a non-aged high gloss solid colour, but I didn't like the colour enough to pay the £525 they wanted for a 'custom colour'. So I'm going with metallic orange. Just checking out a couple of minor details before signing the document. Teo at Guitar Guitar in Glasgow has been very helpful, ensuring Sandberg is aware of the specific 48 bass I liked the neck of to make sure my VM has the same kind of profile (both 48s they had were slightly different). This also means I'll take the opportunity to do a clear-out of a few instruments I rarely use these days... at least 3, maybe 4: "fewer but nicer instruments" is what I want.

It is possible that you are not as 'sensitive' and/or wear the bass lower than other people, as I found that wearing the bass low reduces the neck-dive feel. I haven't found a bass with the strap button levelled at around the 15-17th fret that doesn't have some degree of neck dive.

No, I haven't tried one. I don't like the position of the second pickup, and I don't think I'd want to buy another single pickup Stingray (the one I've got is my #1... there's other lovely basses out there that I like to play, but that's the one: feel, sound, lacquered neck...) P + bridge humbucker is what I'd like...

!!! As long as you don't expect me to dance for them...

Well, I'm no longer a Sandberg virgin, having spent some (good) time with a couple of 48s in Glasgow's Guitar Guitar. The shop was pretty quiet, and the bass department downstairs was pretty cool... I saw a couple of Gibson Thunderbirds as soon as I got there, but nah, not for me, I didn't even try them. The Sandbergs were both very similar, I really liked the neck on both, although the red one was marginally nicer. It may be a thinner neck than what I normally go for but there's meat in that neck. I loved it, it felt great. Soundwise... the 2-band is adequate, nothing more to add. I was using a Mesa D800 with a couple of 112 Subway cabs, which is the closest to what I normally use that they had in the store. I loved the sounds they made. It was good to compare two, as they had slightly different setups and aged strings etc, so they give me a bit better idea of their 'sonic territory'. The bridge humbucker is *very* good. Really nice thick sound, full bodied... and the neck pickup is very very Precision-like. Just what I was hoping for based on what I could get on Youtube, but a bit better (the right amp helps, no doubt). Both had Delano pickups. Neck profile and dimensions, sounds... That was great. Now, the not so great. Balance: not perfect. With that design I was not hoping for perfection, but at the same time I was hoping to be wrong. The neck does pull down a bit, on both instruments. But I have to say, it was very minor compared to what I was expecting and it's something I can live with easily. The worst part is how long the neck feels. It's the ONE thing making me pause and think about it. I played both for a fair bit, standing up, trying to imagine how I'd feel playing it for a whole gig... can't be sure. I don't know. I'll have to sleep on it... Teo at the store was great, he got my details and is going to figure out what it'll be to place an order for the bass configured the way I want it, with the same neck profile as the red one, and we'll see... He thought they could get the bass in 3-4 months only, which I was surprised about. Hmmm. It sounds so good, 'though, and it's a great looking bass. But... I'm not sure... I'd hate to stop using it once the honeymoon period is over just because the neck feels a bit too long. Hmmm. Of course, now I'm thinking if I don't get this I would probably want some kind of VM Sandberg... I should walk away from this forum.

Thank you for letting me test drive one! It's going to go into this: I was going to put a John East U-Retro I've had in a box for ages, but I think this would be just the thing for it. It's a lovely bass to play (Originally a Squier Matt Freeman, that I converted to 'Jazz' and then to... this, that I call 'JJ' because I don't have a better name), and it's got a really cool sound, but it sounds better when I roll off the tone a bit, in any pickup configuration. It's wired just like a Jazz. Very prominent high midrange if you want it, but can be tamed down. I am putting a set of TI flats in there, and with the Tonestyler I hope it'll be fat, defined and creamy. Pickups (DiMarzio Area J) currently wired in parallel (they're humbuckers), but I might wire them in series to make them a bit fatter... choices, choices.

You're a bad influence. Right... see you guys in a few hours!

Rosewood fingerboard makes it a safe trip... I'm a maple junkie. But I have been known to stray edit: I may return after having placed an order 'though 😲