TRBboy

Just realised that I seem to have become BC's resident Sandberg evangelist!

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1316423699' post='1377726']I think once you are talking £1000+, id have to have a quality returns policy (which all stores should be operating anyway) which allows a full refund. If that isnt an option, I wouldnt bother. I see why people go and test, I used to do it in Newcastle all the time, but now I dont live near any good bass stores, EVERYTHING has to be by the internet. Once you factor in the cost of travel, a whole weekend out (most the time Id have to stay with the missus in a hotel if its 3-4 hours drive) you may as well try the 7 days returns policy. Id love to A/B the Mayones with the Sandberg. The main attraction to the Mayones is the killer blocks, great old Fender colours, and the J+J in the right place, whereas the M+J on the Sandbergs dont seem to be in the right positions. Apparently the Mayones have Glock pre-amps, which also sells it for me.[/quote] I know what you mean, there's no decent shops near me either! I think with the California series basses, you need to not think of the humbucker in Stingray terms. You're right, the positioning is nothing like a 'ray, you just need to think of it like a jazz bridge pickup, only more powerful and gutsy. The California's are truly a modern take on a classic design. They sound much more modern and "hi-fi" with loads of clarity and definition, but it's never gonna sound quite like a vintage fender. FYI, I think all Sandbergs are equipped with Glocks. Hope this helps.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1316415575' post='1377619']http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sandberg-5-string-bass-guitar-/200648843249?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2eb79a5ff1#ht_500wt_1156 Recently sold.[/quote] Nice! It seems crazy how cheap they seem to go used! I'm so tempted to ring the guy on Gumtree about his Basic.........

I've never been in the store, but on their website they don't appear to have any Sandbergs in stock at the moment, and prior to that they only had one Sandberg bass listed for months. When I spoke to Synergy a few months ago about a custom order, they gave me the impression that PMT is the only official UK retailer, although I guess that's since been extended to GuitarGuitar too. Putting 2 and 2 together (and potentially making 5), I guessed that Bass Direct aren't really selling Sandberg anymore, so they're steering customers toward similar alternatives that they do stock. I'm sure that Mark is a great guy, although I've never had chance to meet him, but I'd love a trip to the shop one day for some serious drooling!

I don't think GW was meaning peoples opinions on here, as they are just personal opinions. I love Sandberg but I've never tried a Mayones, so I can't compare them. I do agree though that you should always be cautious of a shop owner who is keen to change your mind from the bass you thought you wanted, which he doesn't stock, to a different brand which he does stock. As we all know, you just need to get it in your hand and have a thrash (if you'll pardon the expression!)

Sandberg California PM? The Humbucker won't do "Stingray" on its own 'cause it's too far back, but blend some of the p into it to give it a bit more depth and guts and you get a sweet MM tone! Obviously it nails the p tone and you can get a lovely slap tone by blending the pickups about 50/50 and boosting the treble a bit. Looks traditional and it's cheap for a hand built, quality instrument (especially second hand!)

[quote name='Bankai' post='1375816' date='Sep 16 2011, 06:25 PM']After the big day we had yesterday we were out for a meal (us being the GG Epsom staff and a few of the company directors). About half an hour into the meal I started having a chat to the guy sitting opposite me. Turns out he didn't work for GG, but was in fact MD of Sandberg in the UK. Needless to say, we had a good chat [/quote] Was that Alan from Synergy? He's always been very helpful when I've spoken to him on the phone!

The main physical difference I've noticed from a "traditional" bass is that the fretboard radius seems to be a lot larger, i.e. the fretboard is flatter. I LOVE this, it seems to help make the neck feel faster and easier to play. In case you're interested, here's the link to when I bought my Cali PM a couple of months ago; [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=147557&hl=Sandberg"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...amp;hl=Sandberg[/url]

[quote name='lowfer' post='1375447' date='Sep 16 2011, 01:09 PM']I had a Sandberg JM5, infact the one in my avatar. While the bass was well made just never got on with the tone, it neither offered a jazz tone or a music man tone, so moved it on for a music man 5 string and a squire classic vibe jazz. Never played a PM so can't comment[/quote] Another good point....... For anyone considering buying a JM or PM blind; They do not do "Musicman". Because the humbucker is right back at the bridge it works just like a fuller, more gutsy jazz pickup. I find with my PM that it works really well, and there's not the output difference that I've experienced with PJ setups before e.g. the bridge pickup does not sound weak compared to the P pickup.

[quote name='Spoombung' post='1375138' date='Sep 16 2011, 08:21 AM']You should also consider the Polish GMR basses - they have them at Bass Merchant. They're infinitely better designed than Sandbergs - shaped ergonomically with slimmer necks and better balance[/quote] I'm sure they're nice, but they are at least double the price of a brand new Sandberg! In what way are Sandbergs not well designed, not ergonomics and not well balanced? Which Sandberg models have you owned!? My Basic is extremely well balanced and comfortable even after playing for 3 hours. The Californias are about as balanced and well designed as..... well, a Fender, only they feel much, much better! Like I said, I'm sure the GMRs are great and all, and I know a lot of people like that sort of thing, but I could never justify paying a massive premium for a "blingy" bit of wood (plus I'd feel like an ar*$hole playing it in a rock band!). One man's coq au vin is another man's chicken in a basket!

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='1374941' date='Sep 15 2011, 10:06 PM']If you are ordering or looking to find a Sandberg bass please note that due to obvious copyright issues they have had to change the names of all their models and here is a page on their website which explains what is what now: [url="http://www.sandberg-guitars.de/news/current-news/425-pickup-names"]http://www.sandberg-guitars.de/news/curren...25-pickup-names[/url][/quote] Ah yes, good point GW! T = J pickup and V = P pickup. So a PM is now a VM, JM is now a TM.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1374889' date='Sep 15 2011, 09:26 PM']I think for that price, it's not bad. Ive seen £1000 Fenders with bigger issues. [/quote] +1 At least the neck, pickups, and bridge are in line on this one!

It'll definitely be metric. Just pop into your local DIY and pick up a set for a few quid, and then you'll have one for your truss rod too, and flat pack furniture, and anything else you might need a hex key for!

Just spotted a Basic on Gumtree for £400! In your part of the world too. No pics but would be worth ringing about for sure! [url="http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/sandberg-basic-4-string-bass-guitar/87536115"]http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/sandberg...guitar/87536115[/url] (sorry on my phone and can't get hyperlink to work properly!)

By the way, you could also try contact the UK distributor, Synergy Distribution about info on nut measurements, etc.

Finding Sandberg has been a complete revelation to me. Like a lot of folk on here, I've had many, many basses pass through my hands over the years, and I've played loads of others as well in a never ending quest to find "the one". When I bought my Sandberg Basic, that was it. It really can't get any better for me in terms of feel, sound, build quality, everything. I've played some "boutique" basses costing bucketloads more, but I've never found anything that feels as comfortable and effortless to play, and responds to my playing as well. Getting my Basic was the final nail in the coffin for my trusty old Jazz, which just felt like hard work to play in comparison. I have since purchased a PM4 which is awesome, but for me the Basic really is the one. I guess it depends whether you want a Fender look-a-like or not, but I would strongly suggest trying a Basic if you can get your hands on one. The neck on the PM is a little fuller and more traditional feeling than the Basic (which is very flat and slim), but it feels slimmer (depth-wise) than my Jazz neck, and is just as effortless to play as the Basic. I am a true convert, and I'd be surprised if I ever own a Fender again! I've bought both of mine S/H, and I would suggest looking on here and eBay as they don't seem to be holding their value at all well, despite being great instruments. You should easily get one for about £500-£600 in good condition. I got my PM4 for stupid money....... like, ridiculously cheap. Let me know if you need any more info, or if you happen to be in my area you're welcome to have a try.

It would be Sandberg for me definitely, you just can't go wrong with them! You could probably order a custom spec one for that money, or buy one off the shelf and have a load of change!

If it's strictly between a P and J, I'd say go for a jazz and stick some Dimarzio Ultra Jazz in! They're SOOO punchy and powerful, but defined and articulate too. Loads of guts, but they really cut through the mix too. If you're open to other options, I would go for anything you like the feel of that's loaded with MM humbucker(s). Try a Sandberg if you get chance........

[quote name='hen barn' post='1342192' date='Aug 16 2011, 06:02 PM']Just got new deluxe jazz with the option??? What's best??[/quote] Manufacturers generally say that string-through will give you more sustain, and top loaded will give more attack........ there can't be THAT much in it though, although I have always found top loaded basses to have a little more bite and attack. It's a little bit like bolt-on vs thru-neck.

I put on a Wilkinson bridge with brass saddles; £15! Made a great difference to the tone and sustain but wasn't disproportionate to the cost of the bass. In fact it made more difference than a Gotoh which I put on a previous Yamaha. The only place I spent more was the pickups because I knew that they would have the biggest impact on the sound.

I went for Dimarzio Model P/J set, and they are awesome! Because the J is split coil humbucking , you don't get any unpleasant noise when you solo the bridge pickup. They sound monster! There is a thread on here somewhere from when I did my RBX270 project called Best £200 bass ever!!!

I've always felt that a case which is a very snug fit is worse than one which is a bit loose. If it's a very snug fit, a serious impact will mean that the force of the impact is transferred straight through to the bass. If the bass is a looser fit and can move a little, the force will be dissipated more quickly and allow the bass to move instead of absorbing all of the impact. Hiscox STD EBS cases are great (and pretty much industry standard) but not shaped at all inside. Never heard of this causing a problem. Just my thoughts......

[quote name='BeLow' post='1327823' date='Aug 4 2011, 09:29 PM']TRB Boy - In answer to your question about whether a compressor will help you it is a bit difficult to say as we don't know if you have a fairly uniform playing style or not. I have watched the answers as they have come through on this thread and some tend to add more heat than light on the subject. Using a compressor is not right or wrong, it is a choice - which ends up being an individual decision, most sound engineers who are recoridng or using big sound rigs will often use some compression on your bass to 'tidy it up' the signal, whether you are aware of it or not. I think compressors are useful tools when playing live, as they allow you to operate your gear to operate closer to the peak capacity of your amplification without overloading. It usually also allows you to sit better in the mix especially if you go through a PA and the sound man is worrying about you maxing out his system's headroom with your bass playing spikes. They can also be quite good at 'thickening' up your tone, but this is more subjective. I note that some people dismiss compressors, this is maybe because a well applied compressor is quite a subtle effect. Some basses and rigs seem to have a level of natural compression, and some players either have very good technique (or a limited dynamic range depending on how you look at it) so may benefit less. I tend to rehearse without a compressor but record and play live with one. Perhaps mistakenly I believe in rehearsals it is good for me to be more aware of the changes in my playing, whereas when people are potentially paying to hear good quality reproduction I add the additional quality control. One of the reasons I think that bass players debate the topic is that the audience subconsciously hear the benefits more than bass player, they might say things like 'the bass sounded clear / loud tonight' but are less deafened by the wasted energy of the amp spiking and distorting unintentionally. As the bass player you will tend to be 'homed in on your sound' in isolation and hear it less well in context than maybe the audience. When people say that you can't hear the best units working what I think they mean is that they are not so crudely set up that it is obvious the signal is being compressed (usually referred to as 'squashed'). Some people actually like this effect, but others prefer a natural sounding processor which evens out peaks. Setting up a compressor always involves a degree of compromise, the unit has react quickly enough to catch the very fast volume increases which the 'front' of a note (bass guitar signals are notorious for this) so that the spike of energy does not ‘get past’ the processor. However if the signal is 'capped' to aggressively the intentional variations in your playing style can also get compressed, and it feels flat. The simpler units generally set some of the parameters for you. If their sound suits what you need that is fine but given that we all have our own preferences that is quite limiting (could make a compressor joke there but won't). I think at the end of the day you do have to go and try some out. It is tricky as I have said we are not always aware of the benefits and honestly it is difficult to assess how the unit sounds set up in isolation and how it will work in the context of the live band. The website in the link above is good, but it does represent the views of a single individual testing in some cases single units which might actually have faults. I use a boss CL50 which has adjustable parameters and metering very similar to the rather impressive looking new MXR unit, it gets pretty well panned by the website owner but it works for me at the moment in the band context, as did the optical compressor on my floor pod when I was doing some recording last week. So if you can try some units out then it is worth a go. Might be worth trying a search on 'how audio compressors work' I found this which might help you get a bit of background. [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range_compression"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range_compression[/url] if you can get the basics by reading up a bit it will probably help in the long run.[/quote] Thanks very much for that, probably the most well balanced and informative post so far. I like to think that my technique is pretty good, and I have experience in quite a lot of different styles and situations (live/recording/musical theatre), but I'm always quite concious of the differences I perceive in the output(?) of the three main techniques. I generally find (and I'm sure that most other players do) that fingerstyle is fuller and punchier, pick style seems a little louder and obviously cuts through better, and slap never seems to cut through well enough and is quieter. This usually results in me playing far too hard when slapping in a band context because I feel like i'm not being heard. Obviously I adjust the eq and pickup selection on my bass, but I feel that it's more the changes in dynamics than the tonality. I really don't like to have to fiddle around with loads of settings live though, I set my amp up and then don't touch it, and I don't like to have to fiddle around with pedal settings all the time. That said though, and despite my previous post, I am now favouring the MXR because it has a greater level of control and is specifically designed for bass. I would like to just find a setting that works for me to cover all techniques and then leave it set. Interestingly, I was reading about Flea's pedal board yesterday, and he just uses an MXR micro amp as a boost for slap parts. I might try doing something like this first as I can do it without buying any more gear!

I've always pronounced it [i]basewood[/i], I figured that [i]basswood[/i] was more of an Americanism. I say tomato, you say tomato