Al Krow

Haha - you and me both, matey! I'll have to 'fess to having got as far as getting in touch with the chap who had one in listed in the FS recently.

Agreed! For me the issue has always been getting a £1.5k to £2k bass such as the VM5, where I'm not going to be totally happy with the pups and / or pre-amp and wanted to swap them out. I've some while back ended up concluding that Delanos were too polite for me (I completely get that's going to be personal taste). But at the Berg entry ticket price point, IMO a bass should be "good to go" so I've balked at taking the plunge with the prospect of adding several £hundred on top. Whereas, as you say, picking up a decent chassis in the shape of the HB MP5-EB for £300 and swapping in a set of pups to suit (e.g. Sandberg Black** Label or EMGs?) and a Glock 3 band EQ, then as @horrorshowbass is rightly pointing out, you're saving a bunch of cash and actually getting a more boutique bass than the boutique bass it's up against. Hmmm...definitely food for thought! **Sandberg Black Label vs Delano etc - Bass Guitars - Basschat

Yeah definitely. But having recently discovered Minotaur straps, off the back off a personal recommendation from Mark at Talking Bass (who is such an excellent online tutor!) 10 lbs seems to be perfectly fine for me and has given my much loved Spector Euro 5LX a new lease of life! So If the Model T is coming in at or below that, it shouldn't be a deal breaker.

Sounds like a really neat solution. Heard a lot of good things about the Glock preamps. And in fact I've also come across folk replacing the Sandberg 2 band preamp, itself, with a Glock 3 band and stacked knobs. Your comment about the bridge humbucker completely ties in with what Bass the World guys were saying on their review. So an extra £100 or so for the Glock 2 band? Not tempted to swap in something meatier pup wise at the bridge for a final upgrade?

If you're fine with the an effective 18 easily accessible frets (from my Sire experience) which was my only real 'gripe' on an otherwise very decent bass, would you not consider getting a Sire P7? Appreciate the colour choice on the Sires are a bit more limited and I don't think LPB is available on them!

Useful to know, thanks. Really bad how? And what did you swap the electronics out for?

Yeah, me too....FFS 😂

Laminate necks are also apparently excellent for eliminating dead spots (as well as providing greater strength and additional protection against neck twist & bow)

What a handsome duo!! They both look great, and I even find myself surprised that I'm preferring the deep red 604 over the natural 605, it's been done so well.

Just as an fyi, here's the 4 string version of same model HB and a pretty decent "warts and all" review.

Agreed the HB is amazing value and @horrorshowbass's link I suspect is going to end up me getting another bass that I hadn't planned on (see the Berg VM5 vs HB MP5 thread just started) but maybe saving £££'s on a Sandberg so I'm not sure whether my wallet is moaning or feeling happy right now! 😁 Exactly! (And the MP5 is pretty much on for the same). At that price, it's worth a punt - if it doesn't hit the mark and you move it on for a 30% discount, that won't mean having to suck up a large loss in absolute terms.

I've had a Sandberg VM5 on my radar for a while - really tempted by the reverse-P / bridge humbucker set up, but have been coming across a lot of favourable comments on here about the HB range of basses. The Harley Benton MP-5EB seems to be as close to a VM5 as they come and, personally, I think they've done a really good job! Both have a reverse-P / M style humbucker, 2 band EQ and 22 frets. Both come in swamp ash (natural wood) or alder (painted finish) options. See what you think! (PS if you find a better review of the VM5 then please share / I'd be happy to substitute).

Or one of these, used, for the same price? Line 6 Helix LT with backpack £675 - Effects For Sale - Basschat

I had the P7 Mk2 which is pretty similarly configured to the V7 - liked it a lot. sounded really good weight was fine value for money - superb parametric mids - how often do you get get that on bass, regardless of the price?! no issues with the low B string for me didn't gel with 'only' 20 frets and not great accessibility of the 19/20 higher frets, so it felt more like an 18 fret bass to me - probably my single 'gripe' found in the end it wasn't getting played that much in comparison to the rest of my herd (but tbf it was up against some very decent competition, some at several times the price point of the Sire), so I moved it on to a chap who turned out to be pro bass player who wanted to add a P7 to the V7 Mk2 he had as his goto bass. But the fact that a pro-bass player was really happy to have a V7 as his mainstay, is probably all the recommendation you need to hear!

Interesting on the Sandberg VM4. A non-Delano VM5 would be on my list of contenders for a P/MM 5er. But the fact that you're finding your Schecter is going toe to toe and at half (or even one-third) the price of the Berg, also says a lot for it.

Wow - that is seriously high praise! Must admit I'm more than a little tempted by the 5 string version of this (as I'm guessing you might be having discovered that "5-string basses suddenly make a lot of sense" 😊). In my case I've got very comfortable with both the 35" scale and the effectiveness of a 2 band EQ, which feature on the Schecter 5 string, from playing my Spector Euro 5LX. That's pleasantly surprised me me because, like you, I've always been a fan of having explicit control over the mids. But that's obviously something that can be dealt with pretty easily on the amp instead, which tends to have a more sophisticated preamp and EQ anyway. I'm therefore left me somewhat exposed to the PJ format and design charms of the Schecter Model T 5er! I came across this little clip and it sounded full and warm i.e. the opposite of anaemic and sterile that I've come across elsewhere (decent headphones recommended). Remind me - did you swap out the EMG preamp on yours?

Fixed 😉

But would we agree that there is a difference in "feel" between a "played in" instrument and one that's brand new? I think that's what the Yamaha vibration treatment is seeking to achieve. I think three of us on BC have separately owned a Yamaha P35 which has been through such a treatment and all of us felt that it was a fantastic bass in terms of sound and feel (sadly that particular one was a touch on the heavy side, which is why we all ended up moving it on). And let's face it some basses "sing" in a way many others can't touch. Neck through, top notch electronics, fantastic craftsmanship all play their part in making that sound available to the bass player and, yes, a KS does bring all of that to party. Superbly.

How are you liking it? @mcnach is your 4 string still going strong?

Gunmetal grey can look really good on a car IMO. Isn't that another name for pewter? But maybe it's more geared to cold metal rather than the 'warmth' of wood? Totally agree that if you're paying top dollar for a bass you want to be able to get it in the finish you really like and think "wow" whenever you see it. Saw a perfectly spec'd Spector NS5 the other day at BD in tobacco burst ...*sigh* / massive relief on wallet (delete as applicable).

Have to admit I'm with you on that one, white or black do look stunning on that model. But clearly pewter has its fans too, evidenced by @marleaux62specifically wanting that colour. I saw a really lovely Shuker for sale recently, but couldn't get passed the orange-brown Essex tan, but which clearly must have appealed to the owner at one point!

So you have one?! Pics please! This one was traded Yamaha BBNE2 Nathan East Limited Edition - TRADED! - Basses For Sale - Basschat So that leaves 47 to track down

Yeah, I'm biased but I think the NE2 is a really attractive design!

Just take the low B string off. It's only there as a thumb rest after all...😁

How about a Pewter NE2 to add to your collection? Limited edition, I believe.