TRBboy

I've enjoyed owning all of them, but yes, the last one is my favourite. 😊 The white Ken Taylor was really nice, the ebony fretboard was probably the nicest I've ever played, and it had a really even tone. The classic booster was very special, lightweight (swamp ash) and super resonant. The neck was glorious! The Basics are soooo good, but in the end I missed the girth of a neck pickup too much (although they sounded huge and mega punchy). They've all played their part in the story, and I've enjoyed the ride! 😊

Boring for everyone I'm sure, but was just thinking back through all the Sandbergs I've had over the past 10 or so years, since I fell in love with them. It's been a voyage of discovery to figure out exactly what makes my perfect sandberg. Disclaimer: first few pics are off the Internet, mine are probably on an old laptop somewhere! Used Sandberg Basic 4 Natural Used Sandberg California PM4 Used Sandberg Basic 4 Greenburst (which I later made a trans pickguard for) Used Sandberg Basic Ken Taylor 5 Custom order Sandberg Basic Ken Taylor 5 Custom order Sandberg Classic Booster 5 Custom order Sandberg California VM5 Custom order Sandberg california TT5 passive

Definitely think that's a better use of resources, and kinda what I'm thinking at the moment! Happy with gear, now I need to focus on trying to improve myself!

Hey folks, Does anyone else get to that point where they're totally happy with their gear and thinks "yep, that's me, I'm done. Shouldn't need to change anything for a long time, if ever"...... And then feel like they're just waiting in anticipation for their tastes to change /GAS to kick in /a new 'need' to arise, etc, etc.? Or is it just me?! 😂 I'm totally happy at the mo by the way, shouldn't need to buy anything else ever..... 🤔

TM's and Ken Taylors come with a split switch as standard, VM's do not, but you can ask for it if you're speccing a build.

Yeah I have to be honest that on the Ken Taylors I had I found the single coil split pretty weak, and used them in humbucking mode virtually all the time. Interesting that the TM splits to the neck side coil, the Ken Taylor splits both pickups to the outer coils (bridge side coil on bridge pickup, neck side coil on neck pickup).

Yeah it looks very nice, same colour scheme and fretboard as my Ken Taylor was!

I nearly ordered one, and then thought I'd better have a go at this Ariane Cap book I got 6 months ago instead! 😂

I wouldn't buy a relic myself, but IMHO sandberg are one of the only companies to do it REALLY well. The Hardcore aged masterpiece basses have thermal and vibration treatment too, which makes them respond and sounds much more like an old bass too. I played one at Birmingham guitar show and it was lovely!

Wow, that's certainly less than I would've guessed having read about the work that goes into these basses. And less than an actual vintage fender!

Very nice indeed, congrats! Don't even want to ask how much....

It was so annoying, tried different batteries, cables, bypassing pedal board, everything. Ended up backstage whilst the band carried on, with the control cavity open trying to blow the pots out in case these was some detritus in there. One of them started working again. 🤷‍♂️ And they were both fine after!

It was so annoying, tried different batteries, cables, bypassing pedal board, everything. Ended up backstage whilst the band carried on, with the control cavity open trying to blow the pots out in case these was some detritus in there. One of them started working again. 🤷‍♂️ And they were both fine after!

It'll be similar, but might not be exactly the same. Will certainly give you an idea though. My experience is that a split humbucker won't sound quite as good /full for some reason as a proper single coil pickup. Might just be my experience. The main difference may be the positioning; I'm pretty sure on these the coil closest to the bridge is the one used in split mode, and that may be slightly closer to the bridge than the bridge pickup on the TT. As I said though, it'll certainly give you an idea! It'll sound somewhere near an active TT, but the Passive and SL models have different pickups.

Logical explanation there! Makes a lot of sense. I'm still happy with a passive bass though, it's giving me what I want, and I rarely touched the controls on my active basses anyway. It also gives me piece of mind... For the first time in 22 years of gigging, I last year had both of my main basses (both active) develop some sort of issue whilst playing a show! No output. Still no idea what caused it, and the odds are astronomical, but it happened. Definitely wasn't Batteries. The band had to carry on without me for a few songs. Got one working again, but the whole experience rattled me!

Sounds great doesn't it! If I could only keep one pedal, that would be it. I also mainly use it for the drive sound, but on the clean channel it gives you such a great 'active' tone. Massively underrated in my opinion.

There's not much difference in reality if I'm honest, provided you find the right sound for your needs. I played active basses pretty much exclusively for the past 10 years or so, but in the last 6 months I've realised that passive basses with traditional Alnico pickups have a certain organic purity, response and depth of tone that I was not getting from active basses. I think an onboard preamp naturally adds a certain compression to the sound also. So I've ended up firmly back in the passive camp, and received my new passive bass a week ago. I'm super happy. I do have an MXR DI+ on my pedal board though, which I mainly use as a drive pedal, but if you click it onto the clean channel it does a very satisfying active sound, and has a 3 band eq and a 'color' button (preset scoop). I don't often find myself wanting to use this, but it works really well when I do. I think a lot of it depends on what sort of tone you're chasing, what bass sounds you like listening to, and what the application is in terms of band/style, etc. In my opinion, an outboard preamp gives you more of the best of both worlds UNLESS you need extreme tonal control on the fly; if you're a solo bassist who does looping and a variety of techniques /parts etc, then an onboard preamp is probably more convenient.

Gorgeous mate, congrats!

Well, I don't just play the scale for a fill (😂) , I start at different points and jump around it a bit, but always within that pattern. Am I inverting? 🤔

My biggest issue is when coming up with fills etc, I just get confined to the same sliding pentatonic pattern I was taught 24 years ago!

Of course, that makes sense! Think I just hadn't thought of that as inversions before, even though that's what they are. Need to get practicing then! Sounding more cleverer than what I actually am is crucial to my ongoing success! 😂

BB405 on ebay for £199, virtually the same as the BBN5 I think? Great backup or project bass for someone.

[looks up how to figure out inversions] 😬

I bought Ariane Cap's book about 6 months ago and still haven't done anything with it! 😂

If you're keen on an LPJ or melody maker, you should check out Gordon Smith Guitars - their GS1 model is basically the same, but they're hand-built on the UK, much nicer instruments (IMHO), and cheaper. There's usually some on ebay too. I played one back when I was on guitar duty, and it was epic. Later commissioned a GS2 which was incredible and would give any LP a run for its money. Both sadly now long gone.... 😔