johnDeereJack

I've used Roto 55's for fretless for years. They're stainless groundwounds, so you get that brightness without all the fretting noise associated with rounds, and you can slide notes and harmonics easily.

Yeah, I had a 4-string Stingray for ages but ended up selling it. I never played it as I'd moved back to 5's, but instantly regretted selling it. I've been looking for a 5-string replacement for a while now and this Cali Central just nails that distinctive StingRay tone. I A/B'd it in GuitarGuitar against a 4-string and a 5-string EB Stingray and I guarantee you literally could not tell the difference. If you blindfolded Sterling Ball I think even he'd have a hard time telling which is which, it's that good. You should go for it!

Here's my most recent addition - a 5-string Central. This thing is a StingRay killer! 😎

A 5-string Sire V7 has just popped up for sale (no affiliation):

Awesome! 🤘 Whats the cab in the middle? I don't recognise it.

Good ol' Binkies! I know that backdrop all too well, stood up there many a time! 🙂

How about a body modification channel: Six Boobs? Lovely! Or a liposuction-themed channel: Sliced Buttock Lard! 🥳

The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden

SBL: Stop wearing that Bloody gLove! 🙄 Or he could start a cookery show: Scott Buys Lentils Scott Burns Lasagne Screaming Boiled Lobsters Scott Browns Mince Slicing Bacon Lengthwise Strangling Baby Labradors Oh, wait... that's his other show. 😉

Meet the family! MkV AH150 head MkV AH250 head MkV 1048 cab MkV 1518 cab Boxer 65 combo ELF head 2x ELF 2x8 cabs

I absolutely love the sound of a StingRay, and I really regretted selling my 4-string, but it just wasn't getting played at all. I A/B'd the Sandberg in the shop against a 4-string and a 5-string Ray and I tell you man you cannot tell the difference, it's that good. So, yeah, get yourself onto the Maruszczyk website or Sandberg's online configurator and get building! 🙂

Here are my two black basses 🙂 Lakland Skyline 55-02 Sandberg California Central

Cool, I'll give it a bash! 🙂

Hah, you read my mind! 🙂 I was toying with the idea of staining the board and this looks perfect! Cheers fella 👍 (Nice looking bass by the way. I love the white pickup covers against that vibrant orange body. Really cool)

I honestly think you owe it to yourself to place that order and buy one, she'll never know! (Probably! 😉) 🙂

Yup, they are really good basses. I took it to a 3hr rehearsal on Friday and it was a joy to play - not too weighty, well balanced, all round winner! I've been playing it at home all weekend too. The action is a bit low for me so I'll have to tackle that at some point. Thankfully it came with an information pamphlet thing that tells you what the 7 billion adjustment screws on each bridge saddle does! 😄

Yep, you're right, very well balanced basses. I haven't had any hint of neck dive from either of mine. I also use kinda wide-ish/grippy Levy's straps, so that helps too! 🙂

Yeah, I agree, an ebony board would be much better I think - more in keeping with the overall look of the bass. Sandberg offer ebony as a fingerboard option in their online configurator, but I'm kinda impulsive (and impatient!) and the bass I bought was available there and then, so I'll live with the PF board as the bass is excellent. 🙂

Yeah, they're not too bad weight-wise. I can still manage a 3hr set with a wee 20min break thrown in the middle! 🙂

When it's a Sandberg California Central of course! I had a 4-string StingRay for years, and I absolutely love the distinctive sound of a StingRay, but I haven't played 4-string basses for ages now so it was sitting in it's case doing nothing, so I decided to move it on, along with an un-played '58RI Precision, then instantly regretted it! I toyed with the idea of buying another 4-string StingRay, but there would be literally no point as it would never get played, so I've been looking for a replacement StingRay in 5-string flavour. I cannot be doing with the pickguards on 5-string StingRay's so those were out of the running from the get-go. I picked up a 5-string H/S Bongo, which is a great bass, but doesn't have that StingRay sound. So I looked at the Lakland Skyline 55-02 (which is another great instrument - so good that I bought two!) but again doesn't quite do that StingRay sound. Then in walked the California Central... While I was in the shop trying it out I A/B'd it against a 4-string StingRay and a 5-string StingRay , both 3-band EQ like the Sandberg, through a MarkBass combo and then through headphones, and if you were blindfolded I guarantee you would not be able to tell the difference, it's so convincing at mimicking a StingRay. The build quality is excellent, the finish is superb, it comes with a substantial soft shell case, I love that the treble control doubles as a passive tone control while in passive mode, and I love the smoked chrome hardware, but I really wish it had an ebony fingerboard as opposed to pao ferro - it just looks odd. And seeing as I'm nitpicking, I also don't like the massive exposed truss rod route (it's not what you would call subtle!), and there are too many adjustment points on the bridge - each saddle has 5 adjustment screws! Anyway, I can live with the minor niggles as I've now found a bass that scratches my itch - it's half the price of an actual EB MM StingRay and sounds exactly the same. What's not to like!

New toy... just bought it yesterday as a substitute for the 4-string StingRay that I sold a few months back. If you were blindfolded I'd defy you to tell the difference between this and a StingRay, it's that good!

I don't think I've posted this before but apologies if I have! Here's my sparkly orange 5-string H/S Bongo. A fabulous thing even if I do say so myself! (I realise Bongo's are kinda 'Marmite' in terms of their appearance but I think they're incredibly well designed basses!)

I'll play... Here are my two Lakland Skyline 55-02's. I've had them for a while now, and they're absolutely fantastic instruments. Bought the purple one first, then added the black sparkle one as a back-up, cos they're that good! The black sparkle one is just shy of 9.5 lbs and the purple one is a shade over 10lbs.