grayn

Got this black beauty, this afternoon. I'd played it before, when I got my Panther. And have wanted it, ever since. I was side tracked by a lovely Bullet TM4, if only I could have afforded both of them. But the California won out. It's just superb. It was specced to evoke the spirit of an early 70′s vintage Jazz but with all that extra, Sandberg quality. Alder body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard and Delano pickups. All put together in their special way.

All 3 look cool but with that body, I'd choose the last one.

Just a quick update. This has now been gigged and pretty much become my main bass. Not bad, considering it's the cheapest 4-string, I own. Just annoyed i let my old GB99 go, now. it just needed a pre-amp. Oh well. Lesson learnt.

Nice review and a very cool looking bass. The neck's a bit manly for me though. I wonder what 2 fideltronic pickups would sound like?

That's a real beauty.  I'm sure it'll sound as good as it looks.

I'd originally gone out to buy a Sanberg California TT+, which is a wonderful bass but I spotted this Panther close by and had to give it a try. The first thing you notice, with the Panther, is the gorgeous walnut top. It is in fact a walnut/maple/walnut veneered top, impeccably placed a top a mahogany body. Which itself, has a lovely grain and reflective sheen. I remember asking Chris May, on a visit to the Overwater workshop, what was it, other than the player, that had the most indfluence on a bass's tone. He said "the wood". I was thinking he was going to say pickups but he didn't. And the Panther prooves his point. Apart from some old Gibson and Epiphone basses, I played years ago, all my recent basses have had swamp ash, alder and in one case maple, bodies. Mahogany has a warmer sound. Giving things a fuller, friendlier to the ears, kind of tone. Other things that stand out, with the Panther, are the ebony fretboard and zero fret. Why more, higher-end basses don't use ebony is beyond me. I love the feel of an ebony board. Plus it looks really cool. The zero fret is supposed to make open strings sound closer to fretted strings. I get the theory but I'm not so sure about it, in practice. It does all seem to work well, so I guess Sandberg know what theyre talking about. The way the body is sculpted is also another stand out feature. It retains a solid mass look and feel, yet has some beautiful sculpting around where the neck bolts on and also on the upper shoulder, where your right forearm rests. It is here, where you can also see the 3-wood nature of the walnut/maple/walnut top. The headstock has a matching veneer of walnut. The neck is a well shaped peice of Canadian hardrock maple. It is bolted on to the body, with 5 bolts. The neck/board are more or less Jazz bass in style. The nut being about a mm wider than a modern Jazz bass. And the neck is a joy to play. It has such a postive feel and is very expressive too. The ebony board has much to do with that. I understand the 2 pickups are Delano, in Sandberg clothing. The neck being a split-coil, the bridge, a power humbucker. They both however, have the same, angled soapbar style covering. This does look rather cool. The Sandberg EQ set up is the conventional volume, pan, bass, middle, treble, with the volume also being a push/pull knob, for active/passive. As I said before, the mahogany body has quite an effect on the bass's tone. I tend to prefer using both pickups, somewhere between 50/50 and 60/40. With the Panther, this results in a lovely full bodied tone, that responds very nicely to your technique, including strength and positioning of your plucking/picking hand. The neck pickup, being single/split coil, has a a certain vibrancy to it but with the mahogany body, it doesn't really get a P sound. It's a little rounder and warmer. The neck pickup adds some great bite, that ranges from giving the sound a little more edge, to a really balls out tone. In practice it covers some great tones from rock to jazz. It has a musicality and subtlety beyond many other basses. Down sides? 2 that I've noticed. Through my more "hi-fi", rig (GK & Markbass), the Panther is probably my best sounding bass. Through my band rehearsal "lo-fi", rig (old Ampeg combo), the Panther still sounds great but doesn't have the penetration of my other, 2x single-coil, ash basses. Also, with it's more sculpted, slightly shallower body, the Panther doesn't fit well in my hard case. The Panther comes with a substantial, semi-rigid gigbag. So in conclusion, the Sandberg Panther is very classy in build, design and tone quality. It has the feel of a hand made bass and plays beautifully. It is very much a modern bass. It's stylish looks are not traditional and nor is it's tone. It really is the sum of it's parts. High quality and a little different.

I understand the P-bass love, i really do. But prefer the sound of 2 pickups. So it has to be a Jazz. My Jap Fender Jazz with added Nordstarnd pickups and electrics is just about it, for me.

The GB94 had a quilted maple top, not spalted, I believe. other than that, they are similar.

I know what you mean about Sanberg strings. They seem kind of dead. What did you replace your's with?

That's a beauty. Those soapbars may not have the single coil zing but they are so solid and high quality, in their tone. Congrats.

I've not played this with the band yet. It's a bass that has a really solid feel. The pickups and preamp have a good output yet you don't get extremes from the EQ but the tone stays consistently rich and full. It doesn't really sound like any of my other basses. Which is a good thing. I look forward to hearing it up loud, with the band. It really does have a handmade look and feel. I got this from a retailer, who had ordered the extras (ebony fretboard, abalone markers and Walnut top). Cheers.

Got this amazing bass, yesterday. Specs: NECK: 5 x bolted / canadian hardrock maple FRETBOARD: Ebony with 22 frets and abalone marker dots. SCALE: 864 mm / 34" BODY: Mahogany, with a walnut/maple/walnut top. FINISH: Satin. HARDWARE: Sandberg PICKUPS: 1 Sandberg powerhumbucker and 1 Sandberg splitcoil by Delano. CONTROLS: Volume (push/pull - active/passive), Pan, Treble, Middle and Bass.

The Cort GB4 is loosely based on a Jazz Bass. It differs in that it has a slightly smaller body, the neck is a little narrower at the high end, it has a single coil and humbucker pickup and it is active. Kind of a super-jazz then. It's body is made of swamp ash, with a spalted maple top. The Canadian hard maple neck is bolted on to the body. It has a rosewood fretboard, with pearl block markers and a 12 inch radius. The headstock has a matching, spalted maple front. The pickups (SJB-3N & SMB-4D) and pre-amp (BEQ-3) are by Seymour Duncan. The controls are the usual Vol., Pan and 3-band EQ, plus a mid-scooping "funk" switch. The Hardware is by Hipshot. So it has all the right stuff. And I'm happy to say that all it's specifications have been put together to create a very beautiful bass. The finishing is truly excellent. The neck, sublimely playable. The woods and pickups create an array of tones, to match most basses, at 2 or 3 times the price. I've not recorded with the bass yet, but both playing on my own and with my band, it really produces the goods. It really responds to style of play and is great for rocking out, slapping and more melodic, evocative playing. This mid-priced bass was made in Indonesia and I just can't find fault with it. Tonally it blends Jazz and Stingray type tones, to give superbly useable sounds. It's feel is solid and nimble. Well worth a try, if you want something a little different, that really punches well above it's weight.

Congrats on a cool bass. Sounds like Cyril is going to enjoy your attention.

Brilliant. Recycling at it's best. It must be so satisfying to create beauty from the beast. You should do some pre and post videos. Cheers.

Thanks folks. I can't help thinking that Corts have continued to get better. The B on the fiver is pretty well defined. I'm no expert on fivers but the lower than E notes astay pretty solid. Also, I play with fingers but for fun tried a thinnish plectrum on the fiver and it sounded really good. Some great vintage sounds to be had. Now I've got the basses home, through my own rig, it's more apparent that the pickups and preamps are different. The GB4's are just so good, getting a multitude of classy tones. The GB75's is prone to a more bassy, full sound. That's partly as fivers tend to sound more that way. with some knob twiddling, I dialled in some great single and double pickup tones. They're different but both are really good.

As if I didn't have enough basses, I went out this morning with the intention of probably getting a Japanese Fender Jazz, with PJ pickups. I'd played this particular Candy Red bass, a couple of months ago and really quite fancied it. First thing I realized when I got to the shop was, they'd sold it. @%*!! Well, they had the same bass in sunburst but I already have an amazing sunburst jazz. After sulking for a few seconds, I decided to try out every bass in the shop, that 1, I liked the look of and 2, was in my price range. So I tried some great Fenders, including an unusual Precision, that had a lovely, Jazz neck, with a maple F/B and block markers. An Overwater (Inspiration 4, I think) that was beautifully made but had the skinniest neck (all the way up) I've played. No support for your hand. A US Musicman Sterling, that had a beautiful neck but like one I'd previously owned, I couldn't get a sound I liked. Far too aggressive. I even went out of my price range and tried a Yamaha 2024X, that was on special offer. Superb bass but just didn't have any magic. Then I spotted a Cort. A GB4 Custom. Some time ago, I'd owned a GB99, that was a beautifully made bass. It's only weakness was it's sweet toned, passive pickups had very little output. But the GB4 is active. Soon as I picked it up and played (unamped), I liked it. It has a Jazz type neck (my favourite), though it's not quite as wide, up the top end. Lovely, low but solid action, with a lively, responsive feel. Also IMO, this bass is rather beautiful and the finishing is as good as pretty much anything else I've played. OK it doesn't quite have the quality of my old, hand made, English Overwater but it's up there with many a "high-end" bass. Time to plug in and yes, there's plenty of power here and tone too. The volume, pan, 3 band EQ and "funk" switch, all come together to give you a very tasty range of tones. I dialled in my usual set up; Vol-full, Pan-55% mid pickup & 45% bridge pickup. EQ - Treble and middle-flat, bass +1 or 2, funk switch off. And wow! Through the shop's Mark Bass combo, things sounded delightful. I'm ashamed to say that a little snobbery struck me then. All my recent basses were made in the US, the UK or Japan. What was I thinking, buying down market? Fortunately sense prevailed and I realised this was a great bass that suited me down to the ground. What was the problem? None at all, as it turned out and as another plus, I had some cash left and I'd been thinking of dabbling with a 5-string again.I tried a lovely G&L Tribute but nah! Then I picked up a Cort A5. Now here's a top 5-string, for not a lot of cash. It played beautifully but just didn't make me want a 5-string again. I was going to give up, when, on a whim, I grabbed a Cort GB75. It's cheaper than the A5 but as soon as I played it, I knew it was the one for me. Superb set-up, string spacing and neck. Very solid but surprisingly light. It just felt right, in my hands. Responsive and musical. Amped up it pretty much sounded like a 5-string version of the GB4 Custom. So I was there. 2 lovely, inspiring basses from an unexpected source. A good day indeed.

Nice buy. There's something very musical about a fretless. Congrats.

I was talking to a dealer recently, who stocks US and Tribute G&Ls and he reckoned the US models are no more than 10% better, than the Tributes. I'd just bought a US Musicman, so he wasn't trying to sell me a Tribute. Sandbergs are great basses and they do a cheaper range too. I don't agree with the buy cheap buy twice comment. I've bought from all price ranges and there are some amazing "cheap" basses around, these days.

Quality bass and real purdy too. Congrats.

Here's my 2. Hopefully more to come.

Just traded for this bass, from fellow forumer, ebenezer. Very tastey bass, in great condition. Plays very nicely too, with a clear, powerful, jazz bass tone. I think ebenezer left the original strings on though. Blimey they're old. New set, straight on. Very pleased with this Japanese made bass.

Bum notes! Wouldn't be a gig without a few of those. I'll have to try one out now.

Seriously gorgeous bass there. Sounds like it was made for you. The Chinese are getting very good with gear, these days. It's only the short/medium scale that puts me off. Congrats.