M@23

Have you always used those tapered strings? It could be because that skinny bit of string isn’t allowing the retainer to put enough pressure on the A string.

There’s so much wrong with the title of the thread.

A £300 HB is never going to be worth much more than £300, even if you spend an extra £350 upgrading it. Which is fine and great if you get a bass you love for £650, not so great if you like to chop and change basses. I’d like a Sandberg VM5, I had a mk1, my only gripe was that it weighed about 11lbs, also I prefer a smaller body and the newer ones have well and truly put that to rest. I know if I got a VM5 again it’d work wonders for me out of the box, be sub 9lbs and come from a cool company. I’d really like a relic’d one as well... heavier relic the better; which will only add insult to injury for some.

Has anyone played a VM5 with Aguilar pickups and preamp? I was looking at VM5s and noticed a very nice shell pink and orange, soft aged, with Aguilar pickups. Apparently this is an option from 2020! I had no idea. But am very interested!

I had a Double 4 and really liked it, especially the size. But, hellll no at the price they are now! I think that’s about double what I paid. It sounded good, very clean, but not even loud enough for an acoustic gig where there’s any type of background noise. Honestly, there’s better options for half the price unless you need it to be the size of a shoebox.

I’ve never taken a spare amp, there’s always been a solution should the need arise. It’s a good idea if you’re playing weddings and use a vocal only PA. I’ve been lucky, never had an issue. Now, I go direct and without planning it so; I’ve got my Stomp, a DI box and a DI out on my wireless unit, or my monitor which could cover a small gig, so I’m pretty well covered!

That’s really, really nice @EBS_freak. Wasn’t sure it could get much better til you mentioned the sound to light LEDs.

Most of my gigs are functions, playing covers and I use a Jazz V. However, I did it for years with a 4 string P bass. It’s perfectly doable. I’d use the octave pedal for that effect though, not to try get lower notes as it’ll likely sound rubbish anyway on the lowest notes. You’re better off just increasing your repertoire and learning popular songs and playing them as best you can with what you have for now. When you get the gig you’re after, you might feel that you NEED a 5, especially if you’re doing lots of 80s stuff. Also, many guitarists are scared of playing in Eb, so you’ll likely do all the usual Eb tunes in E anyway! Edited to say just seen the OP’s last post, great, get stuck in! Have fun with those low notes! It does put you in a better position when a singer wants to drop the song a semi tone too, which for me is far more useful than the extra notes gained.

Valve ones can be flipped to standby, maybe?

I like it too! Also, marmite on toast is top notch. I’ve got an ‘83 Westone Rainbow 2 guitar that is incredible. I’ve had it 20 years and it’s seen off a 335 and 339. They made some really good stuff.

Thanks, that’s great and terrible news at the same time! What a great looking bass. I’ve been digging Spector lately, but the 35” was a bit of a put off.

Oof, that’s a handsome bass! Are they really a 34” scale, or is that an error?

Thanks for that. The Spector doesn’t look too comfy in there. You can see it is best suited to the Precision. My dilemma is somewhat similar, I need a hard case for a Sandberg Superlight, which isn’t an outrageous shape, but the body is smaller than Fender styles and it’s made of cedar, so softer than typical, and I don’t want it rattling around as it’ll do more harm than good being in there! At the moment I use a Music Area hybrid thing which is great when I’m transporting it in the car but probably isn’t van proof.

I get what you mean @ead, it suits a P bass that could be 50 years plus very well. But, I’m really GASing for a TT5 in creme, heavy relic. I think Sandberg are probably the best when it comes to it. I love their relic jobs. Agreed on the FS section too, there’s lots of everything at the moment. Lots of high end stuff too and lots from outside the UK. I don’t know if the lack of gigs makes it a better or worse time to sell stuff.

Please let us know how you find it, I’ve been eyeing these. They certainly look the part!

Dunlop Triangles? They do them in a few materials, I like the heavy Ultex ones.

Love the look of these.

I’ve been thinking about this lately. I barely played during lockdown 1.0. I was pretty annoyed at the whole situation and had the worry of losing my main source of income; whilst accepting it was necessary of course. I did a few weird socially distanced gigs and some live streams last year and was still kind of disillusioned with it. It’s only been the past couple of months that I’ve started playing regularly again and I’m enjoying it more than I have for a while. Doing some remote stuff for people and learning music that I enjoy and find challenging to play has been a nice change. I found it really difficult to get motivated to play, and the break did me good as now I’m excited to get the bass out again every evening.

It’s close to me too! Which hardly ever happens.

Interests sake, the config I made up earlier of my old VM5 Supreme, here they are side by side. I think I prefer the new shape looks wise. Playability, agree with you ^ the newer shape is lighter, comfier and fits better. Credit where it’s due, taking that classic shape and making it subtlety your own isn’t easy!

The configurator seems much less clunky than the old one. Way better to use from a mobile. Just spec’d up a VM5 in the same finish as my old Supreme. Such classy looking basses! Think my mk1 made its way to the US.