TRBboy

Very cool! The black hardware and PG suit it well 😎🤌

The masterpiece ones are usually heaviest aged, with a little more detail especially around colouration and fretboard wear. The only way to be completely sure I believe is to check the serial number with Sandberg. How did you contact them? I'd suggest trying the service department as they seem most responsive. [email protected] Do you have a photo?

@Richard R I've bastardised the black one you did to make my own terrible personalised pass 🫣

Sounds like a great idea!

Looks like I'll be going on the Saturday, my guitarist buddy has just confirmed he can do that day, and it was my preference anyway. I know I joked before, but is there any way we could identify each other? Is BC merch still a thing? I'd buy a T shirt if so, or something cheaper 😅 Might make myself something if not. Would be good to say hi!

Soooo.... Which day are you all going guys? I'm leaning towards Saturday to see Cici's band. 🤔

Finally think I've got everything squeezed onto mine after weeks of wrestling with it! Flat patch leads are definitely the way to go, I got some Sonicake ones off Amazon. I had tried making my own using some basic metal pancake plugs I had knocking around, but they're rubbish 🤣 (the plugs). Sonicake wah modded to be bass friendly, and I've just had to replace the DC socket on my Chakra comp as it had fallen apart. I replaced the knobs at the same time as the old chicken head ones kept falling off. Oh, also a somewhat obvious lesson learned: It's a great idea to buy a mini wah, but you need to realise that you still need enough space for your foot to operate it! 🤣🤦

Mike, as I see it (and if I'm understanding correctly), you have two options to get what you want, if you don't want to place an order via a dealer, and buy a stock bass. 1) Buy a TT Passive to get the Alnico V pickups, and later retrofit an active preamp (Sandberg/Glockenklang or other) IF you feel you need it (I don't think you would) 2) Buy a regular TT and be prepared to replace the pickups IF you don't like them. Regarding weight, they vary as any basses do, but generally the painted alder bodied versions are slightly lighter than the stained ash bodied versions. The other advantage of ordering what you actually want is that you can request a 'light' piece of wood. I've done this before and it worked out well. If you wanted a stained finish, you could upgrade to swamp ash and request a light piece. My Classic Booster was very light, and my current TT5 Passive is pretty light. I think it would be well worth you getting some quotes to order what you like, just to understand what that looks like. It might not be as bad as you think.

I would contact [email protected] and pose the question to them. I had a similar problem with one of my previous Sandbergs, and it turned out to be a fault with the blend/pan pot. Apparently there was a known issue with some they had. They posted me out a replacement free of charge. Good luck!

I would've thought it's dictated by the PJ pickups being standard sizes, e.g. for 18/19mm spacing at the bridge. Bearing in mind this is a budget instrument, I would've thought completely custom pickups including custom moulded covers wasn't even an option. Which begs the question why didn't they just use the soapbars like on the SR300/400 series? 🤷

Looks fantastic, especially for the money! 👌😍🔥

Big shout out to Jim Dunlop Guitar Products! I've been using Super Brights for probably around the last 10 years, they've been a revelation to me; REALLY easy to play, with lower tension than anything else out there, without feeling floppy, GREAT tone, and they last a super long time! I've never had any problems with them, however in December I was stringing my bass and the cores in a couple of the strings snapped. I contacted Jim Dunlop, and they sent me not one but TWO replacement sets! Now that's what I call customer service! 😊👌❤️

I think our aural tastes are similar: those pickups in the Marlowe DK are the Alnico V ones, the same as in the TT Passive 😉👌 I too think they're absolutely fantastic

Generally, 'active' basses have passive pickups and an active preamp. The main exception being EMGs, although various other active pickups exist but seem rarely seen in comparison. In very generalised terms, Alnico pickups will give you a warmer, more traditional sound, and ceramics will give a more modern, aggressive sound. The inductance of the pickup i.e. how hot it is also plays a part. Hotter pickups clearly will provide a more powerful sound, but that can be at the cost of 'tone' and being natural sounding. If I was looking to order a TM or VM, I think I'd go with @fretmeister suggestion of looking at alternative pickups. However, if you don't have much knowledge or experience of different types/brands of pickups, you're entirely reliant on the testimony of others to decide what you think will be best.

Difficult decisions! Both great pickups. After having a PJ set made for my bass build last year, I'd be going straight to Allan at Catswhisker pickups, best sounding, best value set of pickups I've ever had.

Sandberg's web shop says this in the description, which aligns with my experience: For more aggressive and modern Sound Ceramic Magnet with Ferro Pole Pieces Deep and Clear Sound

Yeah they didn't deliver quite what I was expecting. I've had pretty much every Sandberg pickup variant over the years, but can only speak from my experiences. I found the stock Sandberg 'Delano style' pickups to be a bit more organic than the black labels, but they're still pretty modern sounding.

I watched this video SOOOOO many times in the months I was waiting for my TT5 passive 🤣

I guess it all depends what you like tonally, the black labels are maybe okay if you want a modern, powerful, super clean and neutral sound, but I've come to realise that I prefer a much more organic, 'soulful' tone and dynamic response from pickups. I do highly recommend the Alnico V J pickups in the TT passive, they sound superb. If you want an active preamp, I'm sure they'd be happy to make you a TT5, but with the pickups from the passive model. Good luck in your endeavours! Oli

That's a stunner! 😍 You may well like them Mike, a lot of people do. Plus as long as you like the rest of the bass, pickups can be changed (admittedly it would be frustrating to have to on a new, expensive bass though).

Ah okay, gotcha. Well if it's on VM/TM pickups, that will be Sandberg Black Label pickups, and I've absolutely no idea who makes them 😅. I was really excited to try them, ordered a gorgeous VM5 I waited 9 months for, and then absolutely hated them when I got it! 🤣 Each to their own of course, but they were my least favourite Sandberg pickups I've had. I just found them to be HUGELY powerful and aggressive, too much so to my ears (and I like a hot pickup), but they just didn't have enough actual tonality for me, it was like a loud, angry lot of nothingness. All anecdotal and subjective of course, weren't for me though. After waiting ages for the bass, I sold it immediately (not solely because of the pickups).

I've been using lighter gauge for years now, it really helped reduce tension in my left hand. 40-120 5 string. Furthermore, I use Dunlop Super Brights, which are lower tension than anything else out there, and feel SUPER easy to play, whilst still having monster tone and lasting absolutely ages. Oli

I've tried in the past coaxing the info out of Mike at Sandberg service, and also Gregor Fris, neither were willing to give it up! 😅 Clearly Sandberg have had a long-standing relationship with Delano, and given that they sport the large pole pieces that Delano are known for, my money would be on them, probably wound to Holger's specs though, so slightly different to any stock Delano models. It's a bit like the preamps; they're definitely made by Glockenklang, but the EQ frequency bands are different to their stock preamps, according to Holger's specs. Despite my love for Sandberg, I'm personally not a huge fan of the large pole piece models. It's taken me 9 different basses to find my favourites, which are the Alnico V Jazz pickups found on the TT passive basses. I highly suspect these are made by Kloppmann, as they also have a close relationship with them (as featured on Gregor's custom spec TT passive). I'm not completely sure what you mean by the single and double pole designs, do you have a link or pics? Oli

Completely agree, yes it's not too my taste, but I really appreciate that Ibanez are always innovating and trying to change things up, it's refreshing compared to a lot of other guitar companies. They have loads of different choices at every price point. I'm most pleased that they're now doing more finishes in the SR500 series, which HAS to be about their biggest selling range. The old brown stain was pretty tired, but the black and black aurora burst in particular look awesome. I keep flirting with the idea of an EHB... Every time I pick one up in a guitar store it feels superb! 😍