NBD Sandberg California TT SL

[Lozz196]

So new (to me) bass day, a rather nice Sandberg SL. Been looking for one for a while due to back issues and when I saw this up for grabs, in my favoured black/black/maple it just had to be.

Just played it for about an hour and even without being set up as I like, and without my favoured Elixirs (currently has Elites steel rounds) it’s simply a dream to play. 
 

Not usually a fan of matching headstocks but I think it really suits it, plus - and shows my levels of OCD - it matches our guitarists Ibanez like this so I’m more than happy.

 

I’m giving up gigging so this will be used at home and with my non-gigging classic rock band, this 6lb bass will make 4hr rehearsals a lot easier.

 

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 17:14 by Lozz196

[Geek99]

Waiting on those pics …

[Clarky]

Nice one Lozz, that's a fabulous weight and a fine looking bass. By comparison my CIJ P bass, which I thought was light at 7.6 pounds, appears to be a boat anchor, haha! 

[HeadlessBassist]

That's lovely, Lozz. I was playing a rather nice Sandberg PM 5-string earlier today - I've never seen the J-type before. Very smart!  😎👍

[fretmeister]

Lovely!

I love mine. Long gigs are much easier with that low weight.

[Lozz196]

Thanks chaps, I know it’s New Bass Honeymoon at the moment but it’s one of those basses you don’t have to convince yourself about, you just play it - it virtually plays itself - and find yourself immersed in the playing, rather than thinking about the bass, this to me is the sign of an instrument you “get”.

For me the Fender US Standard Precision is king but this bass, like Musicman Stingrays, is a notch above in quality imo, it just feels ergonomically more thought out. The neck at 40mm feels like a very comfortable Precision/Stingray, again very well thought out.

 

Sound-wise, well I’m using it passive, 90% front pickup/10% bridge, with tone halfway which will most likely change when I put a set of Elixir nickels on it, as these are warmer and less toppy than the Elites steels it’s come with. Puts me in Precisiony territory. But being active, with bass and treble controls it has a lot more versatility to it, though I doubt I’ll be making much use of this aspect.

 

 

[Grahambythesea]

6lb are you kidding? What’s it made of? Balsa?

[fretmeister]

2 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

6lb are you kidding? What’s it made of? Balsa?

 

Paulownia body.

Norwegian maple neck (lighter than Canadian)

Lightweight aluminium tuners and bridge.

 

Mine is a 1st gen SL so it's a Cedar body and weighs about 6.7lb.

 

My Lional Shortscale SL is 5.7lb!

 

Zero neck dive on either of them. 

[fretmeister]

12 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Thanks chaps, I know it’s New Bass Honeymoon at the moment but it’s one of those basses you don’t have to convince yourself about, you just play it - it virtually plays itself - and find yourself immersed in the playing, rather than thinking about the bass, this to me is the sign of an instrument you “get”.

For me the Fender US Standard Precision is king but this bass, like Musicman Stingrays, is a notch above in quality imo, it just feels ergonomically more thought out. The neck at 40mm feels like a very comfortable Precision/Stingray, again very well thought out.

 

Sound-wise, well I’m using it passive, 90% front pickup/10% bridge, with tone halfway which will most likely change when I put a set of Elixir nickels on it, as these are warmer and less toppy than the Elites steels it’s come with. Puts me in Precisiony territory. But being active, with bass and treble controls it has a lot more versatility to it, though I doubt I’ll be making much use of this aspect.

 

 

 

I wasn't mad on the Black Label pickups so I swapped them for EMGs. The original EMG J pickups were modelled after 1960s jazz pickups without any hum so they are not high output metal things. I did put an EMG preamp in as well as I like to be able to tweak when I'm miles away from my amp.

 

As it happens I've just got my first set of Elixirs to try on it. I installed them last night. I expect I'll need a little truss rod adjustment today as it's settled in but they sound good and feel very nice under the fingers.

[Supernaut]

Couldn't get on with the active circuit but a lovely bass for sure. 

[Highfox]

29 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Couldn't get on with the active circuit but a lovely bass for sure. 

With my Sandbergs, I think I've been able to match the passive tone with tiny tweaks of the preamp. I nearly always use them in active mode now.

I have both 2 and 3 band eq's.

[Supernaut]

I always feel active circuits have this built in scoop you can never dial out, even when boosting mids. YMMV.