TRBboy

Sounds great doesn't it! If I could only keep one pedal, that would be it. I also mainly use it for the drive sound, but on the clean channel it gives you such a great 'active' tone. Massively underrated in my opinion.

There's not much difference in reality if I'm honest, provided you find the right sound for your needs. I played active basses pretty much exclusively for the past 10 years or so, but in the last 6 months I've realised that passive basses with traditional Alnico pickups have a certain organic purity, response and depth of tone that I was not getting from active basses. I think an onboard preamp naturally adds a certain compression to the sound also. So I've ended up firmly back in the passive camp, and received my new passive bass a week ago. I'm super happy. I do have an MXR DI+ on my pedal board though, which I mainly use as a drive pedal, but if you click it onto the clean channel it does a very satisfying active sound, and has a 3 band eq and a 'color' button (preset scoop). I don't often find myself wanting to use this, but it works really well when I do. I think a lot of it depends on what sort of tone you're chasing, what bass sounds you like listening to, and what the application is in terms of band/style, etc. In my opinion, an outboard preamp gives you more of the best of both worlds UNLESS you need extreme tonal control on the fly; if you're a solo bassist who does looping and a variety of techniques /parts etc, then an onboard preamp is probably more convenient.

Gorgeous mate, congrats!

Well, I don't just play the scale for a fill (😂) , I start at different points and jump around it a bit, but always within that pattern. Am I inverting? 🤔

My biggest issue is when coming up with fills etc, I just get confined to the same sliding pentatonic pattern I was taught 24 years ago!

Of course, that makes sense! Think I just hadn't thought of that as inversions before, even though that's what they are. Need to get practicing then! Sounding more cleverer than what I actually am is crucial to my ongoing success! 😂

BB405 on ebay for £199, virtually the same as the BBN5 I think? Great backup or project bass for someone.

[looks up how to figure out inversions] 😬

I bought Ariane Cap's book about 6 months ago and still haven't done anything with it! 😂

If you're keen on an LPJ or melody maker, you should check out Gordon Smith Guitars - their GS1 model is basically the same, but they're hand-built on the UK, much nicer instruments (IMHO), and cheaper. There's usually some on ebay too. I played one back when I was on guitar duty, and it was epic. Later commissioned a GS2 which was incredible and would give any LP a run for its money. Both sadly now long gone.... 😔

Yeah it's difficult, I know my freedom on the fretboard is nowhere near as good as it could be, but I just don't know if this is worth the cost. I kinda feel like it should be easy enough to figure this out myself? It just seems to be linking triads from each chord tone of the key to form a pattern? I maybe wrong though. Plus, my discipline for practicing at the moment is terrible....

After having owned various basses for perceived 'needs' in the past, I have just now got to the point where I have one great bass that does everything I want, and a cheap backup. I'm happy. 😊

I keep looking at this course, but it's a lot of money. It does appeal to me though, I find myself stuck in the same patterns.... Has anyone else signed up?

Very nice! Also, I love the De Gier 😉👍

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.

Do you mean generally, or are you asking jrixn1?

Good shout, they sound superb! The necks are quite a chunky profile though, which won't suit everyone. I had one back when I was doing some theatre work, and the sound engineer said it sounded better than my fender jazz or my Yamaha TRB!

I've played a couple of Electra's briefly and they felt great, and having owned a Cort Arona previously (which were a similar deal), I can attest to the quality. If I had to liken them to the Fender range, I'd say they fall in the quality point maybe between the Mex and US range, possibly like a Japanese Fender? If that makes sense. They're great instruments. 😊👍

I have to say, after loving all my previous Sandbergs, I am REALLY loving this TT Passive SOOOO much, it is literally my perfect bass! ❤️

All the hardware is the usual sandberg stuff though, it's just the bodies and necks made in the far East I think, and I think the bass assembled there, but then setup and QC in Germany. I believe.

How did you find it with a proper passive loom in?

Yes there is, one is active, one is passive.... Joking, just the pickups really. Although even though it's a true passive bypass on the preamp, it may affect the tone somewhat... Maybe..... I guess?

😬 Not an entirely popular opinion as they have a lot of fans seemingly, but..... I didn't like them! I ordered my last build (a Cali VM5) with them, and I wasn't a fan at all. VERY loud pickups, but just not toneful at all for me. The P neck pickup was missing any P character to my ears, and in fact there seemed little tonal difference between the P and the MM! But all that is subjective, and at I said I know a lot of people rave about them. Weren't for me personally though. 🤷‍♂️

@ped I meant never considered moving it up a string to miss the G, obvs I've done foam under the strings before! 😂 Just to clarify....

I've not noticed any intonation issues, but then the beauty of this DIY design is that you cut the slots to your string spacing, so the strings aren't having pressure applied on one direction (like with foam under the strings), the foam is literally just damping the string vibration. 🤷‍♂️