mcnach

Warning... you'll WANT a Tonestyler after playing that bass. In fact, you might want to keep the bass. I borrowed it for a day or two and it was hard to give it back

If there are heavy cabinets etc that can move about in the van, a hard case is definitely a safer bet. The F1 offers a lot of protection, but it's not designed to withstand safely a PA cab falling onto it

There are some no-particular-brand units on eBay for about 25% of the cost of a Tonestyler (and some cheaper still) although with only 6 positions as opposed to 10. I forgot I had bought a whole wiring loom for a Jazz including one of those a while ago, because I was curious (but clearly not that curious, since I forgot about it!). I plan to install it on my Matt Freeman JJ (both pickups towards the bridge) and see how it goes. I don't see why it would not be good, it's a pretty simple idea/technology. However the 10 position Tonestyler is very nice, so it is a safe bet and it's not THAT expensive.

I can't help there. I use a Fusion F1 to take my bass to gigs and practices. I haven't used any of my hard cases in years.

Someone showed me the light

I've gone for lessons on and off over the years. When I did, I went with a good idea of what I wanted. I approached potential teachers with that idea: I'd like to get better at X, or learn Y... and they would tell me what they think they can do to help me achieve my goal. Some have their own ideas and didn't convince me. Others were happy to stick to what I told them. The best ones were able to understand what my goal was, and they were able to explain to me how to get there we may be better off addressing other points I had not mentioned... Then you choose the one that seems to fit the best. It's important that you get along and understand each other well, so don't be afraid to try a few until you find 'the one'. But the main thing, I think, is to have some idea of what you want to achieve and find a way to communicate that to the teacher. Just showing up and saying "teach me" may be ok if you have unlimited time and funds, but may not be the most practical way to get the results you want.

Yes, I like it, but these strings are still too fresh and I need to reduce the top end, which I can't do in passive mode. Once I put a set of Fat Beams, and wait 5-6 months, it'll be ripe for playing in passive mode I have to say that for all my love of on-board active EQ, I don't use it to extremes, but to tweak a tiny bit here or there. I spent £150 or so on the 3-band MMSR preamp for my Stingray and I asked John to install a bypass switch too. The sound I normally go for turns out to be almost identical to what I get when I engage the bypass switch My ideal controls on a bass would be a passive tone control, and a semiparametric mids control like the John East one that covers 100-1000 or 200-2000 Hz. If there's room, ok, an active bass control too, probably centered around 80Hz, but not really necessary. If I were to replace the preamp in the Sandberg, rather than installing the U-Retro I've already got, I think I'd probably go for something like a Tonestyler unit to take care of the basic tone, and a semiparametric mids unit. But to be honest, I'm enjoying it too much at the moment to think seriously about it. Let me get over the honeymoon phase first, and we'll see That P pickup... is really nice. Have I said that before? It's got great definition. A lot of P style pickups can be a bit too bassy by nature and I find myself looking for ways to tame them and get them to sound full and fat without overpowering low end. Reversing the coils does help to some extent (making the half of the pickup covering the E&A strings closer to the bridge and the D&G closer to the neck), but not every bass in that configuration sounds as good as this one.

One thing that to me became clear last night, on my VM4 with standard Sandberg pickups is that there is nothing wrong at all with these pickups! While it may be possible that I would like it better with other pickups (there's a million out there all slightly different) the truth is that these don't lack in any way. I'm a little picky, I am a serial pickup replacer, what can I say? For comparison, all 3 of my Maruszczyk underwent some kind of change. The P/JJ (stock Maruszczyk pickups) had a P replacement. The reverse P (Delano) , I'm still considering it, but the MMSR preamp helps a lot. The JJ (Haussel) didn't impress me me at all. The stock Sandberg P is very sweet, like a burly big beast of a man can be sweet It's not very traditional sounding but it's got that bark, and it growls (I guess these pickups are dogs 😛) which I can control nicely with the onboard 2EQ (which I'm getting the hang of it, a lot more different from the Stingray's 2EQ than I initially thought). The MM seemed like the weak link., but with both pickups on it sounds very good, and altering the balance slightly towards one or the other gives you a very useable range of adjustment. The MM alone, even, sounds good in a band context once the volume gets to band level (not super loud, but louder than bedroom). The Black Labels may be nice... but I don't think I need them edit: typo correction

That's right, for guitar it was pretty cool. A telecaster sounded great with it

Trouble maker!

Jokes apart... let me know if you get tired of the Fishman preamp

Used it at rehearsal this evening, at last... I 🥰 this thing. It also sounds a lot better now that the strings are getting a bit older. I still think I'll put a set of Fat Beams on it, but the stock ones are finally losing some of the annoying zing and they don't sound bad at all in the band mix. The Stingray is feeling a bit worried Bring on Saturday: first gig with the Sandberg.

Indeed, I only saw it when Stewblack 'liked' it... and I thought I might as well update it, seeing that my love for the pedal was short-lived

For completeness: I did like it that one time I talked about above. But ultimately was not that nice, so I sold it after a few months. There are better cheap low gain overdrives out there. The TC Electronic Spark Booster, for example. And the Caline Orange Burst which although it seems a bit thin on the low end, it does sound very good (I have been using one for over a year now, the bass control quite high up). edit: the Nobsound Little Bear B3 valve overdrive is pretty cool too, weird little unit. But its power requirements are a lot higher than most other pedals. Mine is going to eventually go in my pedalboard, I just haven't got around to redoing it, but I sometimes use it on its own and I like it a lot. It was only about £35-40 if I recall correctly

Years. I have some that I've owned for at least 15 years. I only stopped using them live because they're black and I lost a couple in very little time, so I started using coloured ones that nobody can easily "borrow by mistake". These have been going on strong for 8 years or so. Buy good quality cables. You can get good ones here in Basschat from OBBM, or there's an ebay shop called "designacable" that uses good cable and connectors and have a lot of colour choices, connector types etc. They are good too. Is the problem the cables you use, or the socket in your bass, 'though?

That's exactly what I thought, even the pickup looks similar with the polepieces sticking out the same way. I still have one. They were £60 at the time. Mine got defretted (frets removed by myself in 20 minutes and then had a luthier friend of mine plane the fingerboard properly, filling the fret slots with sycamore veneers) and I put a DiMarzio Model P in it (decent and inexpensive pickup, comes often in the market place used). It actually turned out better than my fretless MIJ Fender Precision, beautiful maple unline board... and the Fender is long gone. Instruments in this price range are best seen as something to spend some time working on, or simply as a platform for modification. If you enjoy doing that kind of thing, you'll have fun and can end up with something decent. If you just want to play the bass, it'd probably wiser to save and spend a bit more. To be fair, you can't possibly expect great quality at that price...

It certainly does a nice traditional Precision type of sound, I like the P type. The MM is not as nice but it's fine. I was supposed to be playing at a beer festival tonight but there was some misunderstanding and the organisers booked more bands than they needed... and we drew the short straw. So I'm at home alone while my girlfriend is in Malta. It's been a noisy evening here Preamp is fine too, nothing amazing but no urge to change anything. The more I play it, the more at home it feels. I loosened up the truss rod a little bit and now it's got a pretty low action. The fretwork is excellent. I've got a MarkBass SuperBooster pedal, the one with the VLE and VPF controls. It does a good job of emulating what a passive tone control does so I should give it a try.

I lied. I didn't rush. There was a car crash on the M8 near Edinburgh, but that wasn't me. The weather is beautiful so I drove gently doing 60-65mph, windows down and calm jazz playing (well, at times blasting to compensate for the wind noise but it was actually a nice fun drive, just under one hour to get there). As I arrive there, Teo sees me and smiles, but then his face changes and he says "Yes, the bass is here, but unfortunately..." and my heart sunk. What happened? Someone sat on it and broke it? They sent the wrong bass, what??? There was a problem with the finance. I took the 0% over 10 months finance option because I was going to sell a couple of things and that way it buys me time and I don't have to touch my wallet. It seems that Barclays was only paying if they deliver the bass to me, not if I collect it However, by now I've sold one guitar and two basses that alone more than cover the cost of the Sandberg, so all is good. I asked to cancel the finance and I'd just pay straight. Teo looked very relieved, and we proceeded to look at the bass and give it a quick run through some amp I didn't even pay attention to. The bass is really nice. The colour is better in person than I was expecting from the online pictures, and the ageing is practically non-existent... so very very very pleased with the finish. The neck is just right although the edges of the fingerboard could have been a little less sharp (I guess the more aged ones are a bit more rounded off?) but that's nitpicking, it really feels nice... The bass balances very well, it's 8.1 lbs, so nice and light, yet it *feels* solid. I can't describe it. Really happy with that. Sounds... early days. I like the basic sounds I'm getting, but those strings are not the ones I'd have chosen and they're far too bright, so I'll reserve my judgement until I have some of my favourite strings on it. I nearly returned a Schecter Model T once but I completely changed my mind after I put a set of DR Sunbeams on it... The preamp, I need to experiment and see how the controls interact to find my sweet spot, we'll see. If it bothers me I'll either make it passive or put a John East U-Retro that I already have in my drawer (was meant to be for the Maruszczyk Jake I just sold, but I ended up leaving it passive). Having said that, I am pleasantly surprised as I expected to dislike it like I dislike most 2-band preamps. The treble control does a good job at cutting just the amount of top end that I want. Many preamps just operate way too high or take too much off the mids. This one is nice. The bass is... BIG. I don't see myself boosting much here, but a quick try allowed me to see that I can treat it much like I treat the Stingray's 2EQ to get to the right amount of mids that I want in my sound, but turning down the bass a tiny bit and leaving treble flat or reducing it a bit too I seem to get a nice thick well defined sound with both pickups on. I'll have to play. I like that with the preamp EQ set at the centre detent it sounds just like it does in passive mode, and it's a good sound. The P pickup in particular I am enjoying. It's got a really nice bark, when you dig in it growls, but it can be mellow if you play more gently. The MM may be lacking a bit of 'oomph' on its own but when both pickups are together they sound very good, so I'm not inclined to change anything. I may investigate to see if it's wired in parallel, and see if I can wire it in series for a thicker sound... but I wanted this bass for the P and P/MM sound, and those are good. I have no idea what pickups are these, they are whatever Sandberg uses by default these days and they're good. Anyway, here is the beast...

Classy colour combination! I love the look of that double-P one. The bridge pickup looks pretty close to the position in a Stingray. Nice pair of basses! I went for metallic orange and specified as little 'aged' as possible. I actually went to pick it up a few hours ago... and it just looks like a high gloss new instrument, with a couple of very very very minor marks. It's pretty light (8.1 lbs), feels and balances great. Not a huge fan of the strings it came with but then I don't like new stainless steel strings ever... I'll wait a bit and see. I'll probably end up with DR Fat Beams, or maybe nickel Sunbeams as they're a bit mellower. The colour is very vibrant, much nicer than I thought from the pictures online. Here's a couple of pictures taken outside just now, taking advantage of the sun, as the pictures look just like 'in the flesh'. I haven't yet adjusted anything, I think it needs a *touch* on the truss rod as the relief is a bit higher than I'd prefer... which is not unusual as it was set up in Germany and the temperature/humidity here will be different, but even as it is it plays nicely and feels very "solid" despite its light weight. A quick test made me smile... good start Not sure I love that preamp, there's few 2-band preamps I love... we'll see. I've got a John East U-Retro in my drawer that could go in there if the original frustrates me... but first strings. Never judge the electronics in a bass until you've got the right strings on.

Nice stuff to try? Oh sure there is... but as soon as I get that bass in my hands I'm running back to my car and back home with it!!! There may be some reports of an unidentified object seen as a red blur on the M8 today. Besides, I should not be tempted for a while now. I've got a couple of little projects on the go right now to keep me away from serious gas [1] and I don't want to be spending more money. I funded the Sandberg by selling a Fender Stratocaster, my Classic 50 Precision, and the Maruszczyk Jake (The P/JJ one which the Sandberg is kind of a straight replacement for... I wanted to be able to own both for a while to ensure the Sandberg was the one to keep but the Maruszczyk received enough attention and the right offer was made, so I sold it... yesterday!) I'm just going to finish my coffee and I'll be on my way. [1] The little little projects, just because there's Tonestyler content 1.) Put that Tonestyler on my Squier Mike Dirnt Precision, FINALLY. Yes, I bought it months ago and it's still sitting there... 2.) I'm so disorganised and/or busy... I forgot that over a year ago I bought a wiring loom for a Jazz. It has a 6-position Tonestyler type of control. I bought it because I was curious and it only cost around £30. It's meant to go into my old Matt Freeman Precision, which now has 2 Jazz pickups close together at the bridge position. The plan is to use flats on this one, I've got a set of TI Jazz flats for it. 3.) One Maruszczyk left... the reverse P one. Slightly closer to the bridge than normal, but it doesn't make a LOT of difference. I meant to ask for it at the MM position, because I tried that and liked it, but I thought it sounded too much like a Stingray, so I figured I'd try it somewhere in the middle... and ended up not sounding like either, but much closer to a Precision than anything else. I'm installing a John East MMSR preamp that I had in my magic parts drawer... I need to remove a little bit more wood (the finish on this bass is the strangest thing that flakes so easily, and I damaged it a little bit, although it's largely covered by the metal plate (Stingray style) I am using on it... So that's 3 sort of new basses to play with, coming soon, to keep me away from temptations. Oh, no, there's a fourth one: 4.) Fretless precision! I want to put a piezo bridge on it. I just found a suitable buffer for it, and I'll have to make space for it under the pickguard, with a battery, and install a blend control. I love piezo bridge pickups on fretless. I use black tapewounds on this one and it's a lovely sound but miss that slightly 'woodier' sound you get from a piezo sometimes. With the buffer I'll be able to blend the magnetic pickup and use the passive controls. Too many ideas, too many bands, and not enough time, as my girlfriend keeps reminding me! (But I don't abandon her at all, which is why these projects never get done... and she's sort of invaded 'my workshop' with her art projects...) Aaaanyway... coffee over. Back in a few hours

I've come across this little buffer which sounds like something to have, and not expensive. It is $49, although there's also $17 for postage... but I like the idea, form and function of it. Essentially a little buffer with a trim control, to bring the impedance in line with that of a magnetic pickup. It should be easy to mount onboard in a Precision (a few minutes with a chisel under the pickguard and that's it). Then just add a passive blend control (or a switch if not interested in blending), and use the existing passive volume/tone controls. I could even use a stacked vol/tone potentiometer and keep the bass in a 2-knob configuration. That and one of the many piezo bridges available. The Hipshot one looks good and not so expensive... if you can find it. Graphtech saddles are a possibility for an existing bridge. Ghost make nice bridges with Graphtech saddles although not cheap. There's some decent looking on eBay for around £60, but they're in the US and postage & import duty brings the cost up a bit, so I need to see if I find an alternative within our own continent (and before Brexit... but let's not go there ) Here's the PZP-1 buffer: https://cafewalter.com/pzp-1/ And here's one possible bridge: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Piezo-4-String-Bass-Bridge-Pickup-Chrome/372637793027?hash=item56c2f17b03:g:6tQAAOSw1ZBboCkQ Another alternative is, if blending is not required, installing the bridge with no controls on the bass except for a switch to act as a mute and use an external preamp (input impedance must be in the 10 MegaOhm range, which is close to an order of magnitude higher than many preamps out there, so that's something to consider). That would be the easiest thing to do, but it would be a strictly magnetic or piezo situation and no quick changes between both sounds. I don't see that as much of an issue, given my intended use, but if I can get a suitable buffer like the PZP-1, I think that's a neater way to go about it.

That's very close to the colour I wanted originally... but I didn't fancy it enough to pay the £525 extra they asked for...

Trip to Glasgow tomorrow morning!

Sounds good, looks stinky poo... For that amount of money I thing I'd rather go the Warmoth route and assemble it myself.