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Sandberg appreciation society


GisserD

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I don’t disagree with any of the above - The bass is a very very good shell to pop your imprint on - most modifications we have spoken about are completely reversible, so on sale is not a problem, just pop it back to stock.

Glock is a good preamp as stated

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7 hours ago, TRBboy said:

Agree with what you guys have said. The other thing is, if you're looking to buy a used Sandberg there are WAY more active than passive ones about, and the majority of their models come active as standard. 

I will also say there is nothing at all 'wrong' with the stock preamp. They're made by Glockenklang and are superb quality. They are very natural sounding and intuitive. However, not everything is for everyone, and as with anything tone related, it's all subjective, personal and individual. 

I didn't have an issue with the sandberg preamp itself at all, it was more of a general realisation that passive basses with more traditional Alnico pickups give me the tone I want to hear, non-specific to brand. Plus I didn't need the flexibility, I tend to set and forget my bass and pedal controls and shape my tone at the amp. 

Kinda where i'm heading but i wont change my current VM4 cause i really like what it can do. 

I do fancy a 2nd hand VS4 preferably passive but if not i could use it as a starting point for what i have in my head.

Dave

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1 hour ago, MisterT said:

Right, I'm getting the hang of this now... if I may quiz you guys a bit more... (presumptious MisterT? Why yes...)...

Can the TM4 get a similar bridge sound as the TT4 if you bung it in single coil mode?

Close but slightly different. Maybe not quite has honky.

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1 hour ago, MisterT said:

Right, I'm getting the hang of this now... if I may quiz you guys a bit more... (presumptious MisterT? Why yes...)...

Can the TM4 get a similar bridge sound as the TT4 if you bung it in single coil mode?

It'll be similar, but might not be exactly the same. Will certainly give you an idea though. My experience is that a split humbucker won't sound quite as good /full for some reason as a proper single coil pickup. Might just be my experience. 

The main difference may be the positioning; I'm pretty sure on these the coil closest to the bridge is the one used in split mode, and that may be slightly closer to the bridge than the bridge pickup on the TT. 

As I said though, it'll certainly give you an idea! It'll sound somewhere near an active TT, but the Passive and SL models have different pickups. 

 

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1 minute ago, MisterT said:

There's only one way to find out.... I need to try both. I'll have to prep MrsT for TWO basses arriving. I may be some time.

Thanks for the tips, I'm hoping to be among you soon.

Aye i wish you good luck with that one and it was nice knowing you. :laugh1:

Just remember that Hospitals are dangerous places to be in at the moment :laugh1::laugh1::laugh1:

Dave :D

 

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3 minutes ago, Graham said:

I saw today that Opeth bassist Martin Mendez now has a signature Sandberg, a little different to the Fender Marcus Millet played for a long time (though hasn't for a while now)

 

FB_IMG_1593692269977.jpg

Yeah it looks very nice, same colour scheme and fretboard as my Ken Taylor was! 

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17 hours ago, TRBboy said:

It'll be similar, but might not be exactly the same. Will certainly give you an idea though. My experience is that a split humbucker won't sound quite as good /full for some reason as a proper single coil pickup. Might just be my experience. 

The main difference may be the positioning; I'm pretty sure on these the coil closest to the bridge is the one used in split mode, and that may be slightly closer to the bridge than the bridge pickup on the TT. 

I find the soloed split humbucker of my TM5 slightly disappointing, with noticable volume drop and so-so tone. Certainly not much jazz bass honk and the least useful pickup setting. I will add that I've not played the bass through a loud amp and with my band yet, so take my opinion with a pinch of salt.

According to my instruction leaflet it's the neck coils that remain active.

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13 minutes ago, pineweasel said:

I find the soloed split humbucker of my TM5 slightly disappointing, with noticable volume drop and so-so tone. Certainly not much jazz bass honk and the least useful pickup setting. I will add that I've not played the bass through a loud amp and with my band yet, so take my opinion with a pinch of salt.

According to my instruction leaflet it's the neck coils that remain active.

Yeah I have to be honest that on the Ken Taylors I had I found the single coil split pretty weak, and used them in humbucking mode virtually all the time. 

Interesting that the TM splits to the neck side coil, the Ken Taylor splits both pickups to the outer coils (bridge side coil on bridge pickup, neck side coil on neck pickup). 

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I wasn't even aware there was a humbucker with split coils option. Have to say i do like the humbucker solo'd on my VM4. Gorgeous punchy tone thru a loud Mesa Mpulse rig. Not my usual tone but i do love trying it at rehearsals. Normally i have it set mid point or slightly towards the P pick up depending on song. 

The volume balance between the P and MM is pretty close on my VM4.

Ideal for what i play at the moment. 70's Glam Rock covers.

Dave

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3 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

I wasn't even aware there was a humbucker with split coils option. Have to say i do like the humbucker solo'd on my VM4. Gorgeous punchy tone thru a loud Mesa Mpulse rig. Not my usual tone but i do love trying it at rehearsals. Normally i have it set mid point or slightly towards the P pick up depending on song. 

The volume balance between the P and MM is pretty close on my VM4.

Ideal for what i play at the moment. 70's Glam Rock covers.

Dave

TM's and Ken Taylors come with a split switch as standard, VM's do not, but you can ask for it if you're speccing a build. 

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26 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

I wasn't even aware there was a humbucker with split coils option. Have to say i do like the humbucker solo'd on my VM4. Gorgeous punchy tone thru a loud Mesa Mpulse rig. Not my usual tone but i do love trying it at rehearsals. Normally i have it set mid point or slightly towards the P pick up depending on song. 

The volume balance between the P and MM is pretty close on my VM4.

Ideal for what i play at the moment. 70's Glam Rock covers.

Dave

+1 on the volume balance. My VM4 seems pretty balanced volume-wise with the MM humbucker so I can only guess that you're going to lose a lot of output by splitting it on the models that offer that option.

I also find the solo humbucker to be a great sound - all honky mids. I use that sound if I'm trying to go for a classic Jazz-disco thing.

I have however been disappointed with the blend set dead centre. It just seems to instantly dull things. It's the same on my Yamaha BB616 (P-J config). I'm guessing it's something to do with the physics - cancelled frequencies and all that. I do however seem to lose a more top end than the YouTube demos of the VM4 where the 50-50 blend position still sounds crisp. I might muck about with pickup heights as this is the only thing I can think that would alter the blended sound. In the meantime I just nudge the control slightly off centre and things sound a bit better.

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Boring for everyone I'm sure, but was just thinking back through all the Sandbergs I've had over the past 10 or so years, since I fell in love with them. It's been a voyage of discovery to figure out exactly what makes my perfect sandberg. 

Disclaimer: first few pics are off the Internet, mine are probably on an old laptop somewhere!

Used Sandberg Basic 4 Natural

shopping.jpeg.98373eeeb51c1a3919962945c02941bc.jpeg

Used Sandberg California PM4

Sandberg-California-PM4-blackburst.jpg.31804971a04568c698ff038c4295789e.jpg

Used Sandberg Basic 4 Greenburst (which I later made a trans pickguard for) 

maxresdefault.thumb.jpg.46a9dc49a81eb2fbb9bd81c8ee35fc58.jpg

Used Sandberg Basic Ken Taylor 5

20130923_174125-1.thumb.jpg.38f626b817e03c34ef272239d6317d8d.jpg

Custom order Sandberg Basic Ken Taylor 5

20170906_182528.thumb.jpg.8b3dcbcab21c98b60962fc1ae3d5298d.jpg

Custom order Sandberg Classic Booster 5

20170906_182303.thumb.jpg.9edb933b88224ffc5f91727b84342a84.jpg

Custom order Sandberg California VM5

20181110_160459.jpg.eab82b445de1fa51e2dc3ceb268da089.thumb.jpg.a82f047ae51548bd6c773a573f1171f7.jpg

Custom order Sandberg california TT5 passive

IMG_20200623_130657.thumb.jpg.eea50a90e8d361fc1b58ba6811c30a2b.jpg

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2 hours ago, Baceface said:

+1 on the volume balance. My VM4 seems pretty balanced volume-wise with the MM humbucker so I can only guess that you're going to lose a lot of output by splitting it on the models that offer that option.

I also find the solo humbucker to be a great sound - all honky mids. I use that sound if I'm trying to go for a classic Jazz-disco thing.

I have however been disappointed with the blend set dead centre. It just seems to instantly dull things. It's the same on my Yamaha BB616 (P-J config). I'm guessing it's something to do with the physics - cancelled frequencies and all that. I do however seem to lose a more top end than the YouTube demos of the VM4 where the 50-50 blend position still sounds crisp. I might muck about with pickup heights as this is the only thing I can think that would alter the blended sound. In the meantime I just nudge the control slightly off centre and things sound a bit better.

To be fair i quite like the centre point but i know what you are talking about with it dulling down the tone a bit.

Dave

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1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

That's a lot of Sandbergs @TRBboy.

Your fav one at the moment from that lot i'm guessing the last pic.

Dave

I've enjoyed owning all of them, but yes, the last one is my favourite. 😊

The white Ken Taylor was really nice, the ebony fretboard was probably the nicest I've ever played, and it had a really even tone. The classic booster was very special, lightweight (swamp ash) and super resonant. The neck was glorious! 

The Basics are soooo good, but in the end I missed the girth of a neck pickup too much (although they sounded huge and mega punchy).

They've all played their part in the story, and I've enjoyed the ride! 😊

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16 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

If we are doing journeys......2A6F2360-0A35-493E-923E-F3A52DBE1AD9.thumb.jpeg.4da29ab7f47c8cd6ac37c372c9752cb2.jpeg

Great bass but left the fold

84D22D9B-4D90-438F-A825-E7F611DF673C.thumb.jpeg.6b2da6971036d92d5b94f0c58fe3aa5f.jpeg

Only the DK remainsFC6CEBBE-B283-4F9F-9E51-88AFDC08046A.thumb.png.ce2685a0ed3317546d15a19e2e92a34f.png

This is sitting Around awaiting me to make it up - 5 string

Been fortunate to play a whole heap more tho

Like that passive red one.

 

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Wow @Cuzzie, some nice Sandbergs there!

Does the DK have the bridge pickup fractionally closer to the bridge than a normal TT then? 

And what about that Ken Taylor body? Did you get it like that or have you got the rest of it somewhere?! 😂 What are you going to do with it? 

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