S.F.Sorrow

These are wonderful basses. I just got a brand new one in sunburst. One thing to be aware of though: The neck on mine has just barely enough relief even with the truss rod loosened completely. I'ven seen this on other Tokai basses (and guitars) too. These basses come with 45-105 Boomers which are fairly high tension for 45-105 roundwounds. If you intend to use this bass with lighter gauges/lower tension strings I would make sure the neck can handle it before buying. If the bass has just barely enough relief with the stock 45-105 Boomers and the truss rod can't be loosened much further you might experience severe fret buzz (particularly in lower frets) with lower tension string. There is no dual action truss rod in these basses. I have very limited experience with Tokai but I've seen this on all three Tokai I've had in my possession: two Hard Punchers (one recent, one 80s) + one Springy Sound (80s Strat clone). The neck will have to be removed to access the truss rod so you might have to convince the store to check this for you. If you're gonna use if with 45-105 this probably won't be an issue. Of course I have no idea if ALL Tokai basses/guitars are like this but three in a row with the same issue has made me slighty wary about buying Tokai without inspecting the neck/truss rod.

Agreed. The lower end Ashdown amps have never impressed me when comparing with similarly priced amps from other manufacturers but the more expensive Ashdown amps are amazing! Easily as good as anything out there. The only way they will have a woolly tone is if you either deliberately dial in a woolly tone or if you haven't got a clue what you're doing. Great amps!!!

This is exactly why I tell people to try Sandberg basses before buying. Especially if they are going for the P or J-style models and expect them to sound like a classic P or a J. Sandberg basses are superb instruments with excellent craftsmanship/QC and some of the best necks I've ever played but they will sound NOTHING like a classic, vintage P or J. Sandberg basses are designed for an bright 'modern' tone, and here's why: 1) An active eq will never get you that mid bump resonance when you roll of the highs like a passive tone control will. A lot of that 'woody' sound you're missing is right there in that mid bump. If you want the classic P-bass sound: Rip out the active electronics and go passive. It will leave an unused hole in your bass but you can move the jack output up front and leave the side hole unused instead. It will even LOOK more like a classic P-bass that way and the side hole will probably be easier to disguise (unless Sandberg can provide you with a 2 hole replacement control plate). 2) Sandberg use 500k pots. These are far too bright sounding for the classic P-bass sound. Replace the pots with 250k. Personally I prefer audio taper for both pots in P-basses but that's just a matter of personal preference. The stock tone cap is probably .047 uF which is fine (and what most Fender P-basses use) but if you want a slightly darker/fatter sound when you roll off the tone you might consider .068 uF. Early Fender P-basses had .100 uF but I personally think that gets too dark&muddy too fast on the tone knob and I generally like warm/dark sounding basses. 3) Sandberg pickups are voiced for a bright/modern tone. Pretty much any standard P-bass split coil will get you closer to a classic P-bass tone. But you really need to go passive and replace the pots too if you want that classic 'woody' P-bass tone. You have already gotten some excellent advice in this thread and you are definitely moving in the right direction. Creamery pickups are superb and the '58 is an excellent choice! I've got a passive VS4 myself with a Kloppmann PB63 which is also a great pickup. After I replaced the 500k pots with 250k it certainly delivers that classic P-bass tone/feel (only mine is slightly 'faster&tighter' but I think that might be because I got it custom made with an ebony board). Finally, just to be clear: I'm not saying the bright tone in stock Sandberg basses is necessarily bad. I'm just saying they are a very poor choice if you're looking for a classic P/J tone. The way Sandberg are marketing their California series I think a lot of people expect them to sound like classic P/J-basses but they just won't. Not even close. Good luck!

Great amps and the DI output is amazing for recording!

Sandbergs are great instruments but if you haven't played one I would strongly advice you to do so before deciding. A Sandberg TT4 may look like a Jazz Bass but it will sound nothing like a classic Fender. Sandbergs are VERY bright and "modern" sounding instruments. I personally love everything about Sandberg except for their signature ULTRA-bright tone. The craftsmanship is amazing, QC seems to be superb, the necks are some of the best I've ever played but that insanely bright tone just isn't for me. I thought I might get around this by custom ordering a passive VS4 with a Kloppmann PB63 pickup. You would expect Sandberg to wire up a pickup like that to vintage specs, right? WRONG! They installed 500k pots so even with the vintage '63 pickup the bass was extremely bright. Nothing that couldn't be fixed with two 250k pots and a soldering iron but honestly, Sandberg seems to have an obsession with BRIGHT. I'm not saying this is necessarily bad. Just don't expect it to sound even remotely like a classic Fender Jazz. The other complaint I have with Sandberg is their customer service which in my experience is pretty much non-existent. I tried contacting them directly with questions about specs for my custom order but they insisted that every question had to go through my dealer. Which meant that every question and follow-up question had to go through ME > DEALER > DISTRIBUTOR > SANDBERG > DISTRIBUTOR > DEALER > ME. It took almost two months before I could even place the order! They also took almost 6 months longer than I was promised to build the bass. When I complained I was given a silly excuse about problems with wood deliveries but when I threatened to cancel the order they could suddenly build the bass immediately after all. Right... I love my Sandberg, it's one of the best basses I've ever owned (after I replaced the 500k pots...) but to be honest I will probably never bother with them again.

Cheap basses have become so good these days that they've almost lost their quirky charm, lol. But yeah, I love cheap basses too. If you know what to look for you can get a pro level instrument for very little money these days. At least if you're capable of doing a setup and maybe some minor fret leveling. Even if you pay a guitar tech or a luthier to do the work it will still be considerably cheaper than a Big Brand bass. And a Big Brand bass will often need a setup and some fret leveling too! It's getting ridiculous how much extra money we pay for Big Brand logos on instruments that are only marginally better than the cheapest in-house brands. Of course there are some truly exceptional expensive basses out there too but I'm talking about the expensive ones that are mass manufactured by robots, just like the cheap entry level brands. Fender USA would be a very good example. The prices they charge for mass manufactured instruments that are riddled with QC issues and often not that much better than a Harley Benton is absolutely insane. But I guess we are still willing to pay £1500 extra for the Fender decal on the headstock. Don't get me wrong, I love a GOOD Fender but I've just seen far too many shockingly bad ones come out of the Corona factory lately to justify paying more than 10x the price of a Harley Benton JB-75. If anything I've seen LESS serious issues with Harley Benton basses than with Fender USA lately. So yeah, I love cheap basses too and I wish more people would use them in public so we can get rid of the silly notion that you'll need a "Big Brand" bass to sound great.

I love short scale basses and I've gone through at lot of different strings to find the best ones (I should probably add that I prefer warm, mellow sounding strings). 1) My favorite short scale strings: -Pyramid Gold. Very old school flats with a very unusual "dead" but extremely fat sounding E-string. These are my personal favorite short scale strings but probably not for everyone. They have a very distinct vintage 60s vibe, think Paul McCartney, and they take a very long time to break in (especially the G-string). If you want different gauges than the standard short scale set these are also available as singles in every gauge you can possibly imagine. It might be worth mentioning that I'm not a big fan of the long scale sets. These strings are best for short scale IMO. -Pyramid Pure Nickel. The fattest, warmest sounding roundwound strings I've ever played. Good selection of sets/gauges, even for short scale. They do take a while to break in though and they go through a rather nasty, clanky phase before they mellow out. But once they're broken in they last forever. Very, VERY warm and mellow sounding strings so probably not for everyone. -LaBella Deep Talking Flats: Very warm sounding, thumpy old school flats. Very classic, vintage tone but I don't like these on dark sounding basses, it can get a bit muddy. Extremely inconsistent out of the box. Sometimes they are quite mellow and close to broken in, sometimes they are very bright and takes quite a while to mellow out. But on the right bass these are very cool strings for some old school thump. Great with foam mutes. Be aware that these come in regular short scale sets as well as special sets for basses like Höfner, Danelectro, Mustang. -Pyramid nickelplated or stainless steel roundwounds: Very good strings but not as unique as the other Pyramids mentioned above. More similar to standard stuff like D'Addario XLs, etc. A bit bright for my taste but very good quality strings. 2) The short scale strings I've found to be hit or miss: -GHS Balanced Nickels: Extremely inconsistent quality. I've gotten several bad sets where one or two strings went completely dead within days. I'll probably never buy them again because of this which is a shame because they sound really great. Slightly less fat/warm than the Pyramid Pure Nickels but with a "bouncier" feel (probably due to round core vs hex core). I just wish they were more consistent. I've wasted too much money on bad sets with these strings. -TI Jazz Flats: Very hit or miss depending on the bass in my experiece. The gauges are the same as the long scale set except for the E-string which is much heavier gauge. This means that A-D-G is very loose/floppy while the E-string is considerably tighter. The drop in tension from E to A is extreme! On some basses I've found them unplayable. On other basses they've worked better but the huge drop in tension from E to A will probably need you to adjust your playing a bit. They sound absolutely AMAZING but the gauge selection is very strange. -TI Jazz Rounds: Amazing sounding strings but even the TI Jazz Flats are stiff by comparison! Unless you are used to ultra-light strings you will definitely need to adjust your technique with these strings. The E-string is -089!!! That's thinner than most A-strings. They sound absolutely amazing though and have a totally unique, woody, orchestral vibe. A couple of things to be aware of: The ultra-low tension means that on some basses you might not get enough relief even with the truss rod completely loosened. These strings also vibrate with a HUGE amplitude so any problems with the neck/fretwork WILL create buzz. On a perfect neck they sound amazing though, if you can handle the low tension. Truly a unique set of strings. You won't find any other strings that sound even remotely close to these ones. And unlike most other ultra-light short scale strings these actually work great! The short scale strings I've found to be uninspiring: -D'Addario XL: Not my favourite sound, I'm not a huge fan of the characteristic D'Addario CLANK. Decent quality strings though. -GHS Brite Flats: Good quality strings but these strings are one of my least favourite strings ever. Kinda like a cross between flats/rounds with the worst from both worlds. But some people seem to like them??? The short scale strings I've found to be completely useless junk: -ANY Rotosound short scale strings. They are all far too light gauge and floppy, to the point where they can't even hold a steady pitch. Utterly useless! -GHS Precision Flats: Also too light/floppy and difficult to intonate because they can't hold a steady pitch. Not nearly as bad as the Rotos though. But they're still useless IMO. Which is a shame because I like the tone. -Fender 5250: Also far too light and floppy plus they've got that D'Addario CLANK that I'm personally not a huge fan of. Finally it's also worth noting that although all of the sets I've mentioned above are sold as "short scale" the winding lengths can vary a LOT. Some, like the TIs, are meant for short scale basses with tail pieces which means the winding length is closer to medium scale strings from other manufacturers. When buying short scale strings you must ALWAYS measure your bass from ball ends to nut and make sure the winding length will fit!!! Also, please note that this is all based on MY personal taste in strings which leans towards warm/mellow. Finding the "best" set of strings is of course highly subjective and will depend on personal taste.

I should probably also add that my SR300E "Iron Pewter" doesn't look like the pics on the Ibanez website AT ALL. It's more like halfway between the pics of Iron Pewter and Cerulean Burst. More like dark turquoise than dark grey. Which isn't necessarily bad but probably not what you would want if it's for extreme metal... But I have no idea if they're all like mine. The online pics look so completely different to mine that I suspect mine could be a mistake at the factory.

I own the SR300E. It's a really nice bass for the price but it does have a couple of issues: Pros: -Very comfortable neck (if you like them ULTRA slim). -Very good fretwork for this price range. -Decent pickups (at least a HUGE upgrade on the ones they replaced a couple of years ago). -Good quality hardware. I actually like it better than the hardware they use on the Ibanez Premium series and I also find it far superior to anything Squier or Fender MIM. -3-way humbucker/split-switch for three different sounds adds to versatility. Cons: -Extremely brittle finish, but I think this is the case for all lower range Ibanez basses with a glossy finish. -The sound has this nasal, honky quality in the mids that can't really be dialed out without completely ruining the tone. This is something I've experienced with many lower range Ibanez basses. My "solution" was DR High Beams which I normally find too scooped sounding. -I personally prefer these pickups in single coil mode but the bass is very poorly shielded and the active electronics picks up at lot of noise with the pickups in split mode. -The tone controls may seem versatile but the eq points are in the wrong places for my taste. Adding lows also add some lower mid mud and things get too boomy with even just a tiny amount of low boost. Scooping the mids doesn't get rid of the nasal, honky quality I mentioned unless you go too far and ruin the tone (unless you're looking for VERY scooped mids of course). Cutting highs remove too much upper mids and things get dull really fast. Don't get me wrong, with all it's shortcomings I still think the SR300E a bargain at this price and in some ways even better than the more expensive Ibanez SRs. Possibly the best value bass in the entire Ibanez range. But you really need to know if this "lower range Ibanez sound" is what you're looking for. For metal or similar genres with some aggressive stainless steel roundwounds? Probably a great choice. I always get that "90s metal"-feeling when I pick up a lower range SR. Using both pickups at full for that characteristic scooped tone actually works very well with this bass. It removes some of those nasal mids. Personally I don't like that scooped "both pickups at full"-tone but if that's what you're looking for the SR300E will probably be a very good choice. For soul, classic rock or anything old school/vintage using warmer roundwounds or flats? Stay away, get a passive P or J clone instead. I've never played the RGB300 but I've tested those Dynamix pickups in my Talman. They lasted about 30 seconds. Very sterile and harsh sounding IMO. Ceramics, not alnico. Not a classic P/J tone at all. But the RGB300 is easy to upgrade. Presumably standard size P/J-size pickup routings which means you will have LOTS of different options if you're prepared to upgrade the pickups (maybe even rip out the electronics and go passive if you don't mind having an unused pot/knob/hole). Without ever having actually played the RGB300 my advice would be to get the SR300E if you're not inclined to do any upgrades and the RGB300 if you think you might be prepared to do a pickup upgrade in the future. I should probably also mention that I'm really more into passive P-basses (and vintage short scales basses) so I'm always drawn towards anything that can be modded into a passive P The lower range SR series will always be more "metal" than "versatile" to me. Which isn't necessarily bad at all. It depends on what kind of tone you're looking for.

The restrictions on rosewood were relaxed. Or to be more presise: Exceptions were added for "finished musical instruments" and "finished musical instrument parts". Most species of rosewood are still listed in CITES Appendix II. The exception is Brazilian rosewood which is listed in the even more restricted Appendix I (and does NOT include the exceptions for musical instruments). Madagascar ebony is listed in CITES Appendix II (but with no exceptions for musical instruments) which means export/import permits are needed. But I don't think ebony is really an endangered species. I think this CITES listing is connected to illegal logging of ANY wood in Madagascar rainforests rather than specifically aimed at ebony. After all, ebony from other countries is not CITES-listed. With a 30 year old bass there's probably no proof of origin for the wood but there's a good chance it's Madagascar ebony. And if that's the case it will need CITES permits for import/export. But then again it might be ebony from somewhere else and be 100% legal for import. That's the problem with old guitars. You can't always tell and if any problems occur in customs the burden of proof will be on YOU. I would recommend contacting your local Environmental Agency about this rather than ask advice on a bass forum. I would personally not risk shipping guitars containing exotic woods without the proper documentation. And there's an ethical aspect to this too of course.

That's great news! Reversing the E-string saddle might work I suppose. I would be slightly worried about string breakage when having the break angle of the string over the "sharp" end of the saddle though. Filing it smoother will essentially mean moving the point of contact slightly forward again (as well as lowering the E-string slightly)... But I'm sure your luthier will find the best solution. Reversing the saddle will definitely give you a little more room for adjustment but if your bass is identical to mine (and I think all the faulty ones were the same) I doubt you're gonna get the E-string 100% intonated without actually moving the bridge. But then again, it might be so close that your choice of strings can be the difference between success and failure here. I've got Roto Swing Bass 66 steels 45-105 on mine. These strings need the saddles further back than most strings so they actually make the problem worse. Even after moving the bridge back a bit I still need to adjust the E-string saddle ALL the way back with the Roto steels. But these Rotos are pretty extreme. There are other strings that could work better. If you can get A-D-G close enough without moving the bridge but the E-string is still a bit off you could perhaps try a set of Thomastik Infeld Superalloy. These strings need the E-string saddle slightly more forward (towards neck) than any other strings I can think of. They actually need the E-saddle to be more or less in line with the A-saddle (at least on every bass I've used them). So if you can get the A-string close enough without moving the bridge the E-string should be fine too...at least in theory. I can't promise that this will work 100% though. I've never actually tried the Superalloys on my Embassy. All I know is that on every OTHER bass I've used them they needed the E-strings saddle surprisingly far forward. So much in fact that it caused problems in the opposite direction on an Ibanez Premium... The Superalloys are great strings btw. They're probably my favourite "modern" sounding roundwound (bright but in a very smooth way, not ultra-bright/harsh). Very good allrounders. The problem with this type of bridge is that the room for adjustment is somewhat limited. So the position of the bridge really needs to be spot on. A bass SHOULD be able to use different brands of strings without having to move/re-install the bridge. A bridge that's installed in the wrong position should be covered by warranty IMO, even if it can be somehow sorted out by a creative fix. But whatever works...👍 Good luck!

Just a slight correction to my previous posts: I think I may have exaggerated slightly when I said the bridge on the faulty Embassy basses is 1-2cm out of position. I think it's probably more like 1cm or maybe even SLIGHTLY less. But it's more than enough to completely ruin any chances of intonating the bass properly.

If they have any more in stock it's probably from the same batch but it could be worth checking. Yeah, the old holes will definitely need to be filled. If I remember correctly the old holes will overlap slightly with the new holes so it's not just for cosmetic reasons. There's no way around it. Mine looks really great after fixing it. It's impossible to see the old holes unless I get very close and know what to look for. Mine is black though so probably easier to make the filled in holes look good than with a transparent cherry finish. But the old holes are more or less hidden under the bridge when it's in the new correct position so I'm sure it will turn out fine. I personally wouldn't mind a very slight cosmetic flaw as long as the problem with intonation is fixed. It's a really cool bass. I would probably have returned it if I didn't like it so much but I absolutely LOVE it! It's currently in my studio (and I'm at home) so no pics today I'm afraid. I'll see if I remember tomorrow. But there's not much to see really. Unless I take a really close look under the bridge the bass just looks like a flawless Epiphone Embassy Pro.

I'm sorry to say this but it looks like you've got one of the bad ones with the bridge mounted too close to the neck. They all came with the saddles adjusted all the way back like that. It will be impossible to intonate the bass properly unless the bridge is moved back a bit (roughly around 1cm). With the bridge in it's current location you've probably got decent intonation for G and maybe D but very far off on A and E. The E-string is probably more than a quarter note sharp in the 12th fret (but this will obviously depend on what type of strings you are using). I could be wrong of course but looking at the pics it looks very much like you've got one of of the bad ones. The production date is a match for the faulty ones too. On the positive side: This can be fixed. Mine was one of the bad ones. I contacted the dealer (Andertons), explained the problem and got a partial refund to cover the costs for moving/re-installing the bridge (of course Andertons could have done the repair too but I'm not in the UK so it was much easier for me to get it fixed locally). It's not just a matter of drilling a few holes. The bridge is installed with studs so this needs to be done by a pro and the stopbar tailpiece needs to be moved too of course. If you purchased this bass new from a dealer my advice would be to contact the dealer ASAP and explain that this is a faulty instrument and that Epiphone is 100% aware of this manufacturing flaw but have chosen to ignore it. Epiphone should cover the costs to fix this! But YOU shouldn't have to deal with Epiphone of course, that's the dealer's job. The dealer should either offer you a return+full refund or cover the costs for repairs IMO (provided that you purchased it very recently of course). This is NOT how these basses are supposed to be. If you google pics of this model you can easily see that the bridge is mounted further back on older batches (look for the distance from the tailpiece to the edge of the body, the tailpiece should be VERY close to the edge, not 1-2cm inside). There are LOTS of these faulty ones out there so probably half the pics you will find are these bad ones. The ones with the correctly installed bridge should be easy to spot though. They have the stopbar/tailpiece 1-2 cm further back, practically in line with the edge of the body. It's a very cool bass when it's set up correctly but the bridge really needs to be in the correct position or you won't be able to intonate it properly.

If you're still considering these two basses here's my opinion on them: Embassy Pro: -Far more comfortable body shape IMO. Easier to reach the lower frets. It's also a LOT lighter than the TB (which unfortunately also means a bit of neck drop). -Not quite as nice build quality as the TB. It feels like a cheap, quirky vintage bass (but I happen to like cheap, quirky vintage basses!). Generally a bit rougher feel to it than the TB. -Less sustain than the TB but similar tone (same pickup same wood). -Slightly chunky neck. -The fretwork isn't quite as nice as on the TB but it's perfectly adequate. -VERY IMPORTANT: At least one entire batch of the Embassy Pros had the bridge installed too close to the neck, making it impossible to intonate. Make sure you don't get one of those!!! It's really, really bad, we're talking 1-2cm out of position and the bass will sound awful unless the bridge is moved back a bit (which will require a luthier unless you have the skills to do this yourself). Epiphone was totally aware of this but didn't seem to bother when I asked them about it. They basically just told me to wait until that batch had sold out before buying one. And then they discontinued it. Very poor. If I remember correctly a late 2018 serial number is a red flag, possibly other serial numbers too. Thunderbird Pro: -Generally higher build quality and slightly better fretwork. -Much more sustain but the tone is quite similar (same pickups, same wood). -Very bulky, extremely heavy, very uncomfortable IMO. -Slimmer neck but also harder to reach the lower frets, especially when sitting. Personally I prefer the Embassy, even though the TB is slightly better quality overall. I like the rougher feel and the quirky charm of the Embassy. My TB is one of my least used basses, simply because I hate the bulky body. Very uncomfortable. Thunderbirds just aren't my thing, even though they look insanely cool!!! But avoid the faulty Embassy Pros with the bridge mounted too close to the neck!!! They are total junk unless the bridge is moved (which is of course possible but will add extra cost if you need a luthier to do it). Also be aware that there are several different versions of the TB Vintage Pro. Some have rosewood fretboard, some have pao ferro and some have that compressed/heated/dyed pine stuff they call Blackwood Tek. I'm fine with both rosewood and pao ferro but personally I wouldn't touch a bass with blackwood tek even if I got it for free.