tbonepete Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 (edited) Here's my take on the current QC for Sandberg. This applies obviously to this bass, so might not be indicative of deeper QC problems. With my 50th birthday in may this year coming up, a few quid in my pocket, and a hankering for another Sandberg KT (I had a superb 2005/6 example previously, and stupidly moved it on) I set about shopping for one in the UK. All I could find online however were the KT anniversary model, and as time was short for the 24 gigfest in July I bought one........ It arrived with fairly substantial set up and QC problems, namely, with the neck relief set correctly (actually it was fine) it was impossible to get the action remotely low enough, even with the saddles fully lowered, the G string still measured over 3mm!. The neck was to narrow for the bridge making any string spacing over 16.5mm a no no as the B string was just about level with the edge of the fingerboard (so no end of the neck double bass type sound here!), and gaps either side of the neck pocket. The pickguard was cut badly so the gap to the neck was even bigger than the gap from the pocket to the neck. Bridge saddle castings are rough in places on both basses, and meant that palm muting was to be avoided, (although the rough edges have broken off now).That just had to go back, and after much faffing around a replacement was sent..... The bass in the pictures! This it transpires came from another shop, and had all the signs of a fair amount of use, ie, dead strings, no plastic pickguard covering, pick up screws mauled, and two dents on the neck etc, but it was that or a refund. The dealer didn't want to sell me another bass unless I came to the shop in person, but with 24 gigs looming, and the best part of a 400 mile round trip to his shop I wasn't going to do that, so with £100 quid off for the damage this is what I got sent. Just exactly how deep do fret slots need to be? not this deep surely!!! sanding machine marks on the back of the bass under the paintwork. The fingerboard has fine red fibres in the lacquer where it wasn't cleaned properly before spraying. The grain filler in the way too deep fret slots is already coming out, and the neck itself seems to be made of the softest maple on the planet (even chance bumps with a PLASTIC springy stand light yields a ding mark. Then to top it off is the sound..........Yuk, is all I can say. So why did I buy it then you may ask?. Well, as I've already said, I had an older KT5 before, and not being able to find another standard model I settled on this one as the specification sheets are worded identically for the anniversary model, and standard model, so I thought apart from the blingy looks they should indeed be the same bass. WRONG, My original one had Glockenklang 3band active/passive (but no passive tone control), and was precision wired on red circuit board which bore the name Glockenklang on the boards, and the pickups were Delano exposed pole affairs with bags of mid, and healthy output. Contrast this with the flimsy looking wiring of the anniversary bass which is messy, and connected to cheap looking green circuit board which has the name Sandberg only on the mid module, and the pickups which upon removal reveal no name or model at all , I can't be certain but they look like some sort of clone things, just badged whatever the customer wants, (could be wrong mind). Twiddle and fiddle for a whole month using a variety of amps etc (depending on where the gig was, ie, GenzBenz, Markbass, Ashdown, Shure belt pack, and Shure belt pack iems via Roland personal mixers to name a few of the systems used. Incidentally the output is so low with the EQ flat on the bass that sometimes my Boss TU-80 doesn't register a signal, and also when playing one venue (with the Shure/Roland setup) the rest of the band couldn't hear the bass enough even with their controls on their Roland mixers turned full up on the bass channel, so the main FOH had to raise the gain their end which then upset all the other settings. This is not usual for me at that venue when using other basses. Only two more gigs to go until I can have a rest, and pack the bass away in a cupboard and try to forget about the wasted money (I should have taken the refund in hindsight). Some way to mark my 50th! Any way see what you think. Cheers Pete Edited October 2, 2014 by tbonepete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Blimey another Sandberg QC thread and another total stinker of a bass never mind the even more of a stinker you sent back and looking at the other Sandberg thread probably got sold on to someone else! I am not Sandberg bashing but they need to sort this out really quickly or we will see another interesting bass maker go to the wall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 (edited) I had a Basic some years ago, before Sandberg really became a 'go to' brand, that was built like a brick outhouse with what one would regard as typical German tolerances (i.e. minute). Since then, Sandberg have become much more commonplace, largely due, I would imagine, to the California range and their reliced models. I can only imagine that this much increased demand on a small manufacturer has caused QC to slip (I wonder how the new, Far Eastern models fair in this respect). Or could it be that they are letting B grade instruments out of the factory which are then being sold as top quality by the retailers. If this is the case, then they need to take a leaf out of the PRS book of QC and bandsaw anything that is sub-standard (this is what I understand they do in the US). I sincerely hope they haven't merely become complacent. Anyway you look at it, the current spate of QC issues with Sandbergs is only good news for their competition. Edited August 2, 2014 by ezbass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subbeh Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Has to be worth getting in touch with Sandberg, even if they end up sending you back to the less than helpful retailer at least you'll get to vent a bit. Sandberg's customer service can't be any worse than their non existant QC! I'm currently waiting to hear back from them and curious to hear what they have to say about the poor quality of the basses I had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbonepete Posted August 3, 2014 Author Share Posted August 3, 2014 [quote name='Subbeh' timestamp='1407015479' post='2516747'] Has to be worth getting in touch with Sandberg, even if they end up sending you back to the less than helpful retailer at least you'll get to vent a bit. Sandberg's customer service can't be any worse than their non existant QC! I'm currently waiting to hear back from them and curious to hear what they have to say about the poor quality of the basses I had. [/quote] Hi Subbeh, I have contacted Sandberg via Facebook (private message) as per Ghost bass' suggestion, and a chap called Gregor messaged me back. Long story short is he wants to pass the tale on to the UK distributors, however I've not really found any joy dealing with them before, and it was them who replaced the first duff anniversary bass with the used one I'm stuck with now. I get the feeling that they think I should be grateful for this........... Hope you get much more joy than I have. I must say it's really taken the shine off what was to be a special present for me. Let me know if there's a happy ending to this! Cheers Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbird Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Thats a stinker sorry to hear of your ruined birthday and sub quality bass hope you get it sorted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbonepete Posted August 3, 2014 Author Share Posted August 3, 2014 [quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1407044451' post='2516823'] Thats a stinker sorry to hear of your ruined birthday and sub quality bass hope you get it sorted [/quote] Thanks Thunderbird, I did so want a new Sandberg of the quality that my first one was, but sadly for me I seem destined to be stuck with this ugly duckling! It turned out to be a special present for all the wrong reasons,........very sad. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbonepete Posted October 2, 2014 Author Share Posted October 2, 2014 Update, I got a reply from Sandberg after some time starting with an apology for the late reply. It seems that my email to them had got caught in their spam filter. From there on in I was in regular communication with the service dep't, and after a faff getting the bass back to them it has undergone a remarkable transformation. The fret slots have been attended to with obvious care, the pickups replaced with units from the normal Ken taylor bass instead of the much lower output ones in the bass originally, and the preamp has also been replaced completing the transformation. A totally different bass now, and it's all smiles here. Once a connection with Sandberg was made their service department gave a first class service explaining their findings, explaining the required work to rectify the issues, and discussing options where applicable, and of course carrying out the work to a high standard. Faith restored here! Go team Sandberg! (IMHO of course!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subbeh Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Genuinely pleased to hear that it's all sorted [size=4] [/size][size=4] good on Sandberg for taking responsibility and putting things right when the retailer wouldn't.[/size] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 I'm glad you are happy but what about "the softest maple neck in the world, fibres in the laquer, sanding marks in the finish"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbonepete Posted October 3, 2014 Author Share Posted October 3, 2014 (edited) [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1412318693' post='2567711'] I'm glad you are happy but what about "the softest maple neck in the world, fibres in the laquer, sanding marks in the finish"? [/quote] Just giving credit where it's due. I'm satisfied, and thought I should say as much rather than leave a negative thread hanging in the air when it's actually been resolved. I thought that the bold type NOW SORTED at the beginning would be enough, but to answer your specific questions, the fibres are gone, and the neck has a different finish on it now just like my first KT5 and should be alot harder. this was part of the comms between myself and Sandberg. The sanding machine marks are still there, but are really negligable and were only mentioned in the original post as part of a cumulative gripe on QC. So in summary, the bass is NOW SORTED, (at least to my satisfaction, and as the owner I guess that's good enough). Others may disagree, and are free to do so, but it's all smiles here EDIT to say that upon closer inspection in bright daylight the diagonal machine sanding marks are no longer there! so the body may have been refinshed,polished, or even replaced (they did extensive work to the rest of the bass to make it top drawer, so............?). Even more smiles here then! Cheers Pete Edited October 10, 2014 by tbonepete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 I understood the now sorted but as you can see there were issues not easily rectified, but its your bass and you are now happy so thats cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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