GrammeFriday

[quote name='Clarky72' timestamp='1415897122' post='2605015'] So here's my dilemna - they look great, I've seen a lot of good looking basses coming out of there. They make some lovely options and finishes, their relic/aged finishes look better than most companies. My problem is that I see more for sale second hand than anything else. The second hand market is flooded with Sandbergs. Bass Direct posts a second hand one almost every day it seems! Are they any good? Or is everyone sucked in by the plethora of options and finishes and then they're pretty average basses that you want to move on within a few weeks of delivery?? [/quote] Having no gig and thus time on my hands this evening, and being a bit sad anyway, I've just decided to put this perception to an empirical test, by counting the number of basses for sale by different manufacturers in the first two pages of the 'Basses for Sale' thread as it appears on my computer screen. Results suggest that perceptions are a bit different from reality: Fender 26 Warwick 9 Music Man 8 Ibanez 6 Squier 4 Yamaha 4 Self build/Custom build Fender copy 3 Status 3 Aria 2 Fernandes 2 Fodera 2 Lakland 2 Ritter 2 Spector 2 Aquilinia 1 Alembic 1 Alleva Coppolo 1 Carvin 1 Celinder 1 Clover 1 De Gier 1 Dean 1 Epiphone 1 G&L 1 Gretsch 1 Harley Benton 1 Hofner 1 Hohner 1 Lag 1 Line 6 1 Manne 1 Modulus 1 NS 1 Overwater 1 Peavey 1 Sadowsky 1 Sandberg 1 Taylor 1 Washburn 1 Methinks "sucked in by the plethora of options and finishes and then they're pretty average basses that you want to move on within a few weeks of delivery" may be a better description of some other manufacturers in this list than it is of Sandberg!

Aha! Lovely bass - congrats!

[quote name='GrammeFriday' timestamp='1415921740' post='2605382'] ... and have long been lusting after a Basic Ken Taylor ... [/quote] It's just occurred to me that this could be seriously misconstrued. Not that I have been inundated by messages from any Ken Taylors asking me how basic I want them to be, but anyway ...

[quote name='njr911' timestamp='1415980039' post='2605823'] The bass player in 3rd Eye Girl was using one whe I saw prince live..looked tasty!* And the bass wasn't bad either!!!???!!! OI OI [/quote] Ida [s]Neilson[/s] (oops) Nielsen. Agreed on all counts. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VKUs4lfsHs[/media] Sandberg recently released her own sig model: [url="http://www.sandberg-guitars.de/basscat-overview/calv-series/california-ida-nielsen"]http://www.sandberg-...nia-ida-nielsen[/url] Bass Direct had one recently but it's already sold!

[quote name='Mudpup' timestamp='1415922392' post='2605389'] I have a custom PM4 and its a keeper. Really nice modern gritty rock sound with the actives on, a little like a Stingray on the bridge pickup and a great Precision sound on the neck one. Pop the volume control and it woodies up a bit in passive mode. Great build quality too. I really fancy a hardcore aged white one too. [/quote] Oooh, lovely - yet more GAS! You should post this to the 'Sandberg Love' thread in 'Gear Porn', if you haven't done so already.

Further reassurance: I had a TM4 fretless and absolutely loved it. Amazing tone and top notch build quality. Only sold it because I moved to 5 strings and needed to raise cash for a fretless fiver. Currently GASsing for a VM5 and have long been lusting after a Basic Ken Taylor. Sandbergs are ace - no doubt about it.

Yes indeed, two absolute stunnas. GAS is really welling up here, too. Always wanted a Spector - and for this I can now blame you as well as Doug Wimbish: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUw0qksHbZY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUw0qksHbZY [/url]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1415316299' post='2599259'] Smith is the epitome of 'modern' to me and nothing sounds like them...altho' I've gotten ball park with a Sei Flamboyant. If you want that Smith sound, it just has to be a Smith but if you don't, there isn't really anything else you can do with the bass, IMO. I've gone off signature sounding basses..or rather, all variations of, as I am in the 'Leo got it right with a Jazz' vibe these days... [/quote] Yes, Leo certainly did get it right with the Jazz, but the Jazz sound is just as much a signature sound (or set of 3 signature sounds, to be more precise) as the Ken Smith sound. And the same is true of the Precision sound, and the Stingray sound, and many others. For me, all the truly great, iconic basses/bass builders have a signature sound - Fender, Music Man, Alembic, MTD, Rickenbacker, Ken Smith, Wal, Warwick, etc. etc., … but Fodera? Nah. This is where Fodera fall short, in my view. Sure, they look incredible (if a bit bling for some tastes) and their playability is second to none, but they don't have a characterful or distinctive enough sound to make me want to spend lots of money on them. Too vanilla for my ears! OTOH, that may be one of the reasons why they are so popular with many pro players, who might be after something that has a very transparent and versatile sound palette, and fair enough. But I prefer a bit more sonic character in a bass, and Foderas simply don't do it for me in that department. Oops sorry, straying a bit off topic! Are they worth it? As others have said already above, yes of course they are worth it to anyone who wants one and can afford one. But I reckon skej21's analysis at post #28 above may well be correct as well - i.e. the prices simply reflect the fact that this is what it costs to do what Fodera do.

[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1414515351' post='2590119'] If it looks like a 'P', plays like a 'P' and sounds like a 'P', I'd say stick with it [/quote] ^This.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1411744726' post='2562496'] It could indeed . . . [attachment=172588:JRHartley.jpg] [/quote] Ah, J.R. Hartley, if I'm not mistaken!

OK, Tubby time! Glenn Brown & King Tubby - Version 78 Style [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91V27YLjTRg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91V27YLjTRg[/url] Augustus Pablo - Rockers meets King Tubby's In A Fire House [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSCHPwOnLew"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSCHPwOnLew[/url]

Nailed it!

3eq - the even more correct choice!

Just received my copy in the post today. Thank you, Spongebob!

Iain is an absolute pleasure to trade with. He sold me his copy of the Steve Hanley autobiography for what I suspect is almost nowt if you subtract the postage. Expertly packaged, super fast postage, super friendly communications - great stuff from start to finish. Thanks a million-ah for the book-ah, Iain-ah, as MES would say! Cheers Nick

TC HOF

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1413328708' post='2577310'] Classic Vibe gets my vote. Put TI flats on the fiesta red one and you have a cheap Pino bass! [/quote] +1 But I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.

Excellent!

Yes! Descendents! Now, if we're talking old skool skater music ... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QZtywRfgN4[/media] (Trivia corner: the Dad in the video is played by Timothy Leary. Yes, [i]that[/i] Timothy Leary.)

Thanks, Kirky. Hmm ... Still undecided!

Is it illustrated? Wondering whether to get the hardback or the Kindle version.

As you might guess from my avatar name, this is very good news for me. On my Xmas wish list! Totally agree with you, Spongebob - MES is a genius, no doubt, but I've never agreed wirh his line that "if it's me and your granny on bongos, it's The Fall". The Fall ain't The Fall without Steve Hanley (or Karl Burns or Craig Scanlon).

4: EBMM SR5 MTD 535-24 fretless MTD Kingston AG5 MTD Kingston Z6

Thanks for posting this - you've made my day! Lovely improv from Tom, and really interesting to see him doing the same kind of wordless singing that appears on a lot of TTT's stuff. Ah, TTT - not only my favourite band with no bass player, but one of my favourite bands, period. Been in love with them since I first clapped ears on them round about EP2. Have seen them 3 times since, and they are never less than astonishing. (Last time was at Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath, Brum, where they were fearsomely loud, and I had forgotten to bring my earplugs!) 'Attitude and ability' very nicely sums up all three band members, I think - in fact it's hard to think of another band where the playing styles and talents of its members fit together so well. I remember reading an interview with Matt Calvert somewhere, where he was describing Betts' amazing drumming - he said something to the effect that "he's technical, but he rocks at the same time". I think that sums up Matt and Tom as well. Yes, they are not afraid to put virtuoso playing into their material, but it is never there just for show - the velocity is an integral part of the visceral thrill that they generate. New album coming soon - can't wait!