John Cellario

It is a brilliant melodic line isn't it? Saw them a couple of times back in their day....always had a fantastic live sound with a back-line wall of Orange amps and cabs. Underrated bass player I always think.

Very Classy

I've had an email from Sandberg via the distributor, (see Alans post above), which says they de-fretted the neck, planed it down to remove the warp and re-fretted it. However, a number of people in the shop commented on the fact that they could still see a number of dips in the neck. Anyway, Sandberg have agreed to fit a new neck so we'll wait fto see the returned guitar.

Dingus, you might be right...I'm beginning to think that way. Amazing technique the girl has as she doesn't use her little finger.....could do with a hair band I agree!

[b] My 6 month old California has just been returned from Germany where it had to be returned due to the neck warping. It was to have a new neck fitted as the 'warp' could not be solved with truss rod adjustment. However, it still has the same neck and Sandberg seem to have simply straightened the neck with a 'fret dressing'. It still has minor warping issues. The guitar tech at the dealer was not happy with what had been done, so once more, it goes back to Germany. Sandberg were quick to return the bass (3 weeks), but have not corrected the original fault. Sorry to say I'm losing faith and confidence in Sandberg and my 'dream' bass.[/b] PS. Have a look at this 16 year old girls playing on a six string. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu1wazW17qA&list=RDNoIBY8qtuG8

Both superb! Didn't think there were people of this calibre around any more.

Great choice..is this Mike and The Mechanics?

Thanks for the sympathies men!....the guitar tech guy said he'd only seen one neck like this before but then added it can happen even to the 'big' manufacturers. JapanAxe...just interested to know if your VM4 neck has moved at all, or if you've had to adjust the truss rod...mine only started moving since the summer ended.

My 6 month old custom Sandberg California TM4 is having to be returned from the UK back to Germany for a new neck as the neck action has gone very high at the top end. The guitar tech at the dealer reckons it has warped and twisted and could not be put right with truss rod adjustment. It has not been adjusted by myself or left in any extreme temperatures, and I'm also extremely careful how I treat my gear. Probably going to take a couple of months to put right. Not what I expected from my dream bass costing £1,500. Feeling pretty devastated to say the least! Am wondering if I should have gone for maybe a Lakland with carbon fibre in the neck?

With my six month old Sandberg, I received a bottle of wood oil, which I can use to treat the unvarnished back of the neck, but how do I go about using it on the fretboard without gungeing up the strings? I don't want to slacken off the string tension in case this affects the action. I read somewhere, ebony wood needs virtually no looking after regarding using oils.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202359406811621&set=gm.682566978428839&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf

'He manages to make it work but personally I think it's a pretty horrible sound.......as bass sounds go.' Can't agree with this...I love Andy Frasers sound and have spent the last thirty years trying to get somewhere near it!

Do love Gastric Band...but it's taken...damn!

Thanks for the suggestions....! we're playing 70's bluesy/rocky Steely Dan, Little Feet, Keb Mo, Robben Ford, Crusaders kind of stuff if that helps. I know it's great fun coming up with weird ones but hopefully there's a few more serious ones too!

He might have hit on something here..... http://playbassnow.com/tips-tricks/how-to-get-new-bass-strings-in-2-minutes/

Anyone got any unused band names lying around that we could use....trying to stay away from the silly sort e.g.Gorton Zola And The Crazy Cheese Dreams. All suggestions gratefully accepted...I know there are web sites for this sort of thing but the names on there are junk.

Great voice!

I'm based in Manchester/Stockport and am in a band playing Little Feat, Steely Dan, Robert Cray covers but we need a new singer/singer guitarist. What are the best places/sites to advertise (apart from this one obviously)!

We're trying to cover a Keb Mo song in the band I'm in which has a 5 string, with the bass line all played on a low B...trouble is I'm on a four string. I can take the E down to a D no problem but do you reckon I can get away going down to a B?...or will it sound too 'flubbery'? Also, is it best to think of the note positions as they were, ... (G on the E string is now where a C was) or think in the 'new' notation?

Big RedX Late again with my reply which echoes your post!

Hi JamesBass I forgot to mention, I had played around raising the pick up on the D and G but it hardly, suprisingly, made any difference. I also suspect the 2 guitars in the band cancel out a lot of my notes as their bottom end notes maybe clash with my top end notes making them inaudible. We have an intro on one song just keyboards, drums and bass, and on this, I can hear myself far more clearer.

This has been bugging me for years now and I'm getting very OCD about it...... when I go to play above the 12th fret to step out with the band and put in a tasty little fill, which I hope will jump out in the mix, the D and G string notes seem to die volume wise and be of far less prominence than the other two strings, which is highly disappointing. I'm sure in my younger days, when a high fill like this was played, other band members would turn round and notice! In my efforts to address this, I've gone through one Jazz bass, one custom and now a Sandberg thinking it must be the guitar but it has made no difference..also have bought a 2 x 10" cab to bring out the highs which didn't help. I've got good gear...EBS amp, Hartke cabs etc and go for a Jazz boppy back pick up type sound so not much if any treble EQ wise. Years ago, I had a 3" horn on a crossover on top of my 15" cab which really helped. Anyone have similar problems? My other thought is as I'm getting more senior in years, my hearing may be worsening...a friend of my with hearing problems, reckons you lose the top end in the hearing spectrum as you get older. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Thunderthumbs... Was it Mike Smith doing the PA at The Bridgewater Hall? My wife went along and was seriously impressed.

This guy, Simon Goulding, a local lad, is a friend of a friend but I don't know him personally....seems like he deserves some recognition. Interesting video with 2 others to go with it if you're interested. Wonder if i could get some lessons? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNkduKBqamk