Cuzzie

Yep pretty sire they are humbuckers

I have tried all 4 black labels are up there! Old Sandberg - more vintage Hauessel - vintage plus thump in mids Delano - hi fi Black label - a great mash of all the above gross generalisation of course but about right

Good luck and I hope it’s legedary, sure it will be. I been passive until this one, but went for modern slightly mid backward Seymour Duncan APB-1 pick ups. Hoping the Graphite will cling on to those mids and harmonics with a bit of distortion applied, I have not disappointed yet. Cant wait to see yours. Think I also must say a big thumbs up to Dawn and Rob, great people to deal with and a great product. FYI for those that are interested in Graphite but may not like the logo, they are looking to pop it on the back of the headstock instead if you desire. Drive safe

Yes, yes and yes, those black labels are very good

@hiram.k.hackenbacker just read this whole thread, poor you, but great responses from all the chaos in BC here. So today is the day for the Status Flea?! I am going to selflessly promote a Fender/Status mash up I put together as a first time into guitar tinkering drilling holes from scratch and the like (Scary stuff!) and confidently say I bet yours will sound awesome, I like mine.

@HazBeen cool thing about their control plates/pickguards no matter the colour (as in if its not silver, it’s the same colour as the rest of the pickguard) is that they all are removable at that junction with the knobs making changing electronics a dream not having to remove the whole plate. This is for all their variants Its the little things you add all together that make it a well thought out bass across the range But I suppose it suits the new shape better

Yassssss Queen Yasssss

Sandberg are not really offering high gloss finishes any more regardless of density, although I am sure if a customer wants they will do it. Played it - no neck dive and bloody brilliant a well balanced, full and punchy sounding bass with excellent snappy attack and glorious sustain.

@martthebass I wouldn’t worry about Cedar too much they have built garden fences, sheds, garage doors and ships out of it for years. Pretty sure it can stand grubby hands and a spilt drink

Couldn’t agree more with its varied useage profile

@ead Fender make a poor mans Sandberg (the engine is running, quick get in!)

@Muzz well they had to learn from Japan how to make a decent bass with the JV’s, maybe they should learn from Ze Germans too

@Muzz Sandberg has been going for 32years Is that long enough to say the bass may have had some mojo imparted?

With @fretmeister on this seems to be one of those irrational hatreds. Aged finish bad, a bass looking exactly the same but 30yrs old and been in a few shows - mojo. An innocent chip in the paint of a bass and apparently it’s not cared for and may not play well and needs £500 off the asking price. I can’t stand turdburst, think Warwick’s look like a bass which a child has drawn with a chubby crayon of a still life melted wax candle, but some people love em. Markbass look like a swarm of bumblebees have plopped in a daffodil. What do we think about Sandblasting leaving tactile cavities? Fender done this and Fender do custom shop ageing, they don’t seem to get hammered as much for it? I tend not to slam them, horses for courses

Sorry about that, i’d had a bad day at the office, but you were über polite

@MikanHannille scour the usual places like Bax, Thomann, Musik Productiv, Bass Direct butbthere is a new distributor in Coventry as well I hear

Dunno about Shuker. Is it chambered or something of the like?

But they also produce beauties like this less than 3kg, punchy loud and clear. It’s a great playing and sounding bass

And here it is........

There are lots of reasons, materials, value of pound etc. That you can get into, but you have to look at what work is being put into each bass and that will be reflected in the cost. You have to remember that sandberg is about as close to a single luthier bass you will get from a global company. Wood selection, fixing the blocks together, shaping, top or no top. Neck work, shaping and sanding, routs, finishing, electronics, hardware final fixing. Any form of ageing is a process done by an individual painstakingly recreating the look. Also as mentioned sonic vibration and heat treatment. Lets say the whole process takes 1 man 5 days, a luthier is a skilled professional, so a plumber would earn maybe £200 per day, should a luthier earn the same? If so that’s £1k. If the standard cost of a bass is £1.5k then all the ageing etc is another 5 days work then you can see where the costs are. There will always be that debate of aged vs non aged, and some people say that a bass that has ageing is fake and no mojo compared to one that happened but itself, even if they look exactly the same. Everyone has their price, that’s their own business, but what are the facts, Sandbergs are some of the finest basses around, made with love care and attention to detail and they play and sound fantastic. If you look at their configurator they probably have close to a million different options (that’s no exaggeration by the way!). Moreover they care and they look after their customers. Someone I know broke a tuning peg on a second hand Electra (budget line) bass. He emailed the company asking where he could buy a Sandberg replacement. The owner himself replied simply asking his address and he shipped it for no cost to the punter. Sometimes quality costs, but what Sandberg provides is priceless. I am a massive fan boy, unashamed to admit it, but I like to think I am balanced. And on the new shapes, they are great, a good move away from the ‘fender’ shape although the ‘Fender’ shape is not patented, only the headstock, ageing if wanted is irrelevant of the shape, new, old or a Forty Eight. And yes, the masterpiece is not a label is a massively involved process

And my daughter wants a short scale to play with daddy up to 3!

Well I have accidentally just found a good deal on a Creamery ‘58 P bass pick up and tonestyler pot........ Thats 3 parts

A friend has a spare black pickguard he is giving me so I have the chance to change, or start another build........

Oooo good question I think my body was about 2 - 2.2kg if I remember right, obviuolsy there is hardware, but I will do an inaccurate scale weight at home when I have the chance! May be worth hitting up Rob/Dawn at Status with an email?

@Jus Lukin trust you to look at that!!! Partly I may have slightly positioned the string retainer wrongly and I think it would be OK the other way, but I wound it and then had to carve the Sunday dinner so left it, as it’s staying in contact, it would probably be ok, I hope?! I could talk through my bum and say something clever, but it’s not, but it stays in tune!