Cuzzie

And here it is........

There are lots of reasons, materials, value of pound etc. That you can get into, but you have to look at what work is being put into each bass and that will be reflected in the cost. You have to remember that sandberg is about as close to a single luthier bass you will get from a global company. Wood selection, fixing the blocks together, shaping, top or no top. Neck work, shaping and sanding, routs, finishing, electronics, hardware final fixing. Any form of ageing is a process done by an individual painstakingly recreating the look. Also as mentioned sonic vibration and heat treatment. Lets say the whole process takes 1 man 5 days, a luthier is a skilled professional, so a plumber would earn maybe £200 per day, should a luthier earn the same? If so that’s £1k. If the standard cost of a bass is £1.5k then all the ageing etc is another 5 days work then you can see where the costs are. There will always be that debate of aged vs non aged, and some people say that a bass that has ageing is fake and no mojo compared to one that happened but itself, even if they look exactly the same. Everyone has their price, that’s their own business, but what are the facts, Sandbergs are some of the finest basses around, made with love care and attention to detail and they play and sound fantastic. If you look at their configurator they probably have close to a million different options (that’s no exaggeration by the way!). Moreover they care and they look after their customers. Someone I know broke a tuning peg on a second hand Electra (budget line) bass. He emailed the company asking where he could buy a Sandberg replacement. The owner himself replied simply asking his address and he shipped it for no cost to the punter. Sometimes quality costs, but what Sandberg provides is priceless. I am a massive fan boy, unashamed to admit it, but I like to think I am balanced. And on the new shapes, they are great, a good move away from the ‘fender’ shape although the ‘Fender’ shape is not patented, only the headstock, ageing if wanted is irrelevant of the shape, new, old or a Forty Eight. And yes, the masterpiece is not a label is a massively involved process

And my daughter wants a short scale to play with daddy up to 3!

Well I have accidentally just found a good deal on a Creamery ‘58 P bass pick up and tonestyler pot........ Thats 3 parts

A friend has a spare black pickguard he is giving me so I have the chance to change, or start another build........

Oooo good question I think my body was about 2 - 2.2kg if I remember right, obviuolsy there is hardware, but I will do an inaccurate scale weight at home when I have the chance! May be worth hitting up Rob/Dawn at Status with an email?

@Jus Lukin trust you to look at that!!! Partly I may have slightly positioned the string retainer wrongly and I think it would be OK the other way, but I wound it and then had to carve the Sunday dinner so left it, as it’s staying in contact, it would probably be ok, I hope?! I could talk through my bum and say something clever, but it’s not, but it stays in tune!

i’ll Try to get a proper recording and will do it after shielding and doing another grounding as it’s still a bit noisy Thank you for your kind words

@BigRedX you may be more sensitive, for me, with or without a D tuner. Bass with a Zero Fret, DR DDT strings or if you like flats LaBella 1954 originals which are like ropes. Never an issue

Good man on both our accounts

@BigRedX not sure what basses or strings you use, but drop D on a normal 4 string need not be a floppy mess and can be easily properly tensioned with or without a D tuner

And now finished!! So..... USA Fender Alder Body Olympic White and High Mass Vintage Bridge made String through. Olive White Fender pickguard Status Jazz Neck Hipshot Ultralite tuners 1 Drop D Sandberg String retainer Seymour Duncan APB-1 active pick ups. Inside routed under pickguard for battery, but I have a battery box and will likely rout the back for this. DR DDT strings All that is left is to do another ground wire and shield the cavity (it’s noisy as hell). Thanks to everyone and in particular @HazBeen for lots of advice. Its loud and punchy as hell!! Think I may have to do another....

It will be later this year, maybe next if I am right?!

@SpondonBassedI have a B2ADB it’s absolutely brilliant. I also have a passive Hohner as well. In the summers heat just gone it was my bass that held tune the best out of them all. Personally, I would sell the Steiny if you don’t like it and pick up a B2ADB Hohner, no mods required, should be about even monies, or not to far off. Just IMHO if you don’t mind me sharing

Not in my experience and no more drift than would be expected depending on room conditions if you get my drift

Hipshot bass extended drop D tuner cures everything

There is no groan dad joke emoji or that would get it

Everything becomes a bygone era at some point

Anyway dings are mojo are they not?!

@Al Krow Cedar as we know has various different types but is used from all kinds of things varying from furniture through to garage, garden fence decking and even ship building. You would figure that it’s got to be pretty good to be used for that. Softwood/hardwood yep it’s all about grain etc. Balsar is a hardwood, but brittle as fcuk. Cedar seems to fall into category 2 for the main, so I reckon it’s not too bad. and as one fo your threads says, Warwick quality has not always been top drawer so wouldnt trust their choices!

I have 2 Hohners and know what you mean, but have you seen the new strap from Gruv Gear designed by Dave Ellefson? you can alter the length at both the front end and back end of the strap so that may be good enough to get your placement right. Maybe the Hohner D2ADB with it’s drop D lever May getbyou through when you are needing a little below an E? Also I cannot sing loudly enough about that Sandberg, that bass is pretty much 6lbs.

For all you guys wanting a lightweight bass you really need to keep a look out for Sandberg. They have a prototype bass made from Cedar wood and the whole bass comes in at under 3kg which is hovering around 6Lbs. You get Sandberg quality, their new black label pick ups which are more punchy and have more output, the neck is European Maple instead of Canadian which is lighter and a bit softer. Aluminium hardware. We all know Sandberg is massive quality and this bass absolutely slays, punch and sustain for days, really snappy sound. Aside from inside knowledge the only thing out there is in this video where it comes in at 20mins. https://ru-clip.net/video/9DZ4UNwWlS4/bass-talk-05-holger-stonjek-from-sandberg-at-tgu18.html it is a massive revelation.

Drop D always Quite enjoyed it, pop a few windmills in there, doing some backing vocals is easy as the bass line is not stressful

I have a sneaky feeling he synth was created by the bass

It’s great seeing something other than a Fender - Sandberg esp as I do love them and also a DG head being used for not metal