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Sandberg appreciation society


GisserD

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Wishing everyone here a Merry Christmas!!. and for myself this year...a Sandberg VS4  gloss 3 tone sunburst with pearl dots!!! 7lb 8oz apparently! Really wanted the hardcore aged but couldn't justify the extra cost to myself. Hoping for delivery before the big day...pics of my actual bass taken from sellers website-I hope this is allowed:santa2:

VS4.jpg

VS43.jpg

VS42.jpg

Edited by Smirfy
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42 minutes ago, Smirfy said:

Wishing everyone here a Merry Christmas!!. and for myself this year...a Sandberg VS4  gloss 3 tone sunburst with pearl dots!!! 7lb 8oz apparently! Really wanted the hardcore aged but couldn't justify the extra cost to myself. Hoping for delivery before the big day...pics of my actual bass taken from sellers website-I hope this is allowed:santa2:

VS4.jpg

VS43.jpg

VS42.jpg

Nice! Been eyeing up this one myself, Merry Christmas! 😁

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  • 2 weeks later...

Still in love with my VM4 :)

And I've made a 'discovery' this week.

 

I've not been crazy about the 2-band preamp and prefer its passive sound, so my plan (soon) is to properly turn it into a passive beast. I'm taking the Tonestyler from my Precision and will put it here, together with a pot to control the depth of it, plus blend and volume as standard. I've got all the bits, I just need to sit down and do it.

Meanwhile, I took off its original Sandberg strings. I didn't like them when new, but they seemed to dull pretty rapidly and I enjoyed its sound more that way... then dragged my feet to replace them. Finally I did that, putting a set of DR Pure Blues in it. I really like these strings. Very flexible roundcore, I use a 45-100 set. They're not very bright, which is great, probably the only roundwound string that I am happy with from day one (usually I just 'endure' them, and after a while they lose the excess zing and I start liking them).

Now, my discovery... when I bought the bass I had not noticed references to its treble control acting like a passive tone when in passive mode. And when I tried it the strings were too dull. I could notice a very mild effect. But with new strings, it is a lot more noticeable. It's not the kind of range I want, so I'm still going fully passive with a new circuit entirely, but this is pretty cool. Since I restrung it and 'discovered' the passive tone control, I've not engaged the preamp at all. Such a great sounding bass, I find this preamp fails to do it justice. 

I wonder how many people have failed to notice the passive tone control on their bass, like me.

The nickel DR Pure Blues are great for the VM4. They're a bit thinner on the low end compared to other strings I like, but not terribly so and it's easy to compensate for. The low mids are brilliant, and I love how they don't go crazy bright. Let's see how they age (it's my first set, I normally use DR Fat Beams or Sunbeams).

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It won’t surprise you to know that loads of people probably don’t do a full twiddle on something they get.

Me, I like to have a proper sit and play with all dials notch by notch and cover the whole range in anything I get, and reserve judgement until I have done that.

Congrats tho - sounds like it is piecing together nicely

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19 hours ago, Cuzzie said:

It won’t surprise you to know that loads of people probably don’t do a full twiddle on something they get.

Me, I like to have a proper sit and play with all dials notch by notch and cover the whole range in anything I get, and reserve judgement until I have done that.

Congrats tho - sounds like it is piecing together nicely

 

I had no interest in its passive mode, initially, other than as a safety option, and I never thought there would be any kind of passive tone control included. I spent a loooong time trying to learn how the two controls in the active EQ interacted, but didn't bother much with passive. What a pleasant surprise :)

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19 hours ago, krispn said:

Yup I’m another pull/push/twist all controls and dials ever since getting a coil tapped guitar in my youth. Always worth a fiddle and a twist I say!

 

My first Maruszczyk was just a stock Jake P/JJ where I only specified the neck dimensions/profile and finish. It was a couple of months until I realised I could pull the tone control to split the JJ 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I put a pair of Sandberg Black Label PJ Pickups in my Warmoth project. There was a problem with the phase since there was a mistake in the instructions manual which resulted in 21 EUR extra charged by my luthier. I informed Sandberg about this and Holger sent me a set of strings and a leather strap as a "sorry". Awesome customer service.

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Have to say that black bass looks really good.

Holger mentioned he is using Paulownia wood and touched on it being lighter and softer. Warwick were using the same wood for the cheaper end of their Rockbass range (which are themselves the budget Warwick model). I recall it being easily dinged - I guess that's a good thing if you want to relic your bass 😉

Quick check on Wikipedia: "More recently it is used as body material for low-cost electric guitars...as the core body, then laminated under a more durable wood." I think that last point of having a tougher outer protective shell chimes with my own, albeit limited experience, of this particular wood. Be interested to hear views from those more expert on the topic about this particular wood.

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3 minutes ago, krispn said:

Yeah he’s acknowledged that it’s softer and the range won’t be available in any relic versions for this reason. The super light range are ridiculously light though!

Not true I don’t think 

I think I saw a video with a soft aged cream one 

will try to find 

Edited by Cuzzie
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No idea about the Paulowina ones, but my Cedar SL is still 'as new', though I don't think I've ever dinged a bass. I dented my old 10 top PRS guitar when I was 20ish , and that's probably why I'm careful! 

But, I was expecting the finish to wear, as it's kind of matte, which it hasn't at all. It would look the biz with a bit of road wearing though, so I don't mind if it goes that way. 

Edited by M@23
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  • 2 weeks later...

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