Pinball Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 (edited) Somehow I have ended up with pro-European bass tastes (German actually) It wasn't planned but I'm a happy bunny so thought I would share now that I got around to taking some pics. I have even stopped looking at basses for sale on Basschat. Edited January 6, 2014 by Pinball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Very nice sir! I've ended up in the same boat in a way, took a punt on a s/h Sandberg nearly two years ago and haven't looked back. Before then my main bass of about 13-14 years was a USA Jazz, and I also had a 4 and 5 string Yamaha TRB which got used a lot (plus obvs others that came and went...). The Sandberg was like a breath of fresh air, and suddenly made my ol' trusty Jazz feel awkward and uncomfortable! The Jazz was sold soon after....! I've had 5 Sandbergs now, two 4 string Basics, a California PM4 (as was) and I've now settled on two Basic Ken Taylor 5s. I liked the Cali, but it didn't have quite the same feel as the Basics for me, and was a bit heavier. When I got the first Basic KT 5, I really found "the one" for me, sold the two Basic 4s and ordered a custom spec KT5, which arrived just before Christmas. I think they're incredible instruments and massively underrated, especially the Basic series (the model name doesn't help IMHO!). When you can get a hand built instrument to your spec with such great build quality, feel and sound for the same price (or less) than a std USA Fender, I don't see why everyone hasn't got one! In would recommend anyone to try a Basic Ken Taylor if they can get their hands on one, ignore the name and any preconceptions they have, and I think 9/10 people would be blown away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinball Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 Thanks TRB, yeah its interesting. that you like the Basics so much. I haven't played one but they look great. Sfter trying a load of Sandbergs I was saving up when I was lucky enough to bag a high end California off bass chat. That left me with a bit of cash so I then bagged the Umbo (above) off Spanish ebay. They were both great but I always picked up the Umbo because it handles beautifully, was lighter and the sound was just what I wanted. The California sounded amazing but I was for ever fiddling with the controls and have come to the conclusion that masses of control options is not for me.. I then did some trading and got the Panther, which again felt and sounded right and gives active options. The Esh was a trade for my Carvin 5 string. I loved the Carvin dearly but never played it-that is certainly up there in terms of class but I wanted 4 strings. The Esh is a very natural sounding bass that gives a different option. If you use the preizos in the mix it can almost sound like a fretless at times. It's a different beast entirely and more specialist but feels and sounds really good. I couldn't be happier with them. I would be really upset if anything happened to either of the Sandbergs in particular. There is a Sandberg thread somewhere I'll put some pics up on there if I can find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBboy Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 I'd love to try an Esh sometime, they look great and supposedly sound monster. In general I'm very happy with my basses at the moment though and I'm (pretty much) gas free. There is a "Sandberg Love" thread in gear porn if you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinball Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 (edited) The Esh is interesting. I was told it was produced just before the company changed hands in the early 2000's. The controls and pup set up are unusual. It has 4 pots. One volume, one tone, one with several "Eshtronic" sound options and one with pickup combinations. With some of the pup combinations you get very little or no tone control due to the [font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828]preizo (hope I's spelling that right). The other settings use the "Eshtronic system" and vary the tone quite a lot. with passive/active/recording etc. Some of those add a lot more "pop" and once you know what your doing there are a lot of variation, all be it in a more narrow range than say the Panther. On the other hand all of variations sound good to me.[/color][/font] [font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828]Note: [/color][/font][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]If you don't know how it works it would be easy to pick it up set on a Preizo setting and think that the tone and Eshtronic system don't do that much.[/font][/color] [font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828]The body finish is also interesting. It has a nice flame maple front but the edge has what I believe is a sandblasted finish so that the ash? wood grain stands out. Run you finger down the edge and it feels corrugated. Construction is good and solid. My only gripe is the back control cover looks flimsy and doesn't have enough screws.[/color][/font] [font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828]It's a worthy addition to the Sandbergs and very usable/gig-able. I like to have something different as it inspires me and this does-especially the Preizo settings. [/color][/font] [font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828]I haven't played it enough to decide if I really love it or not but am impressed by it.[/color][/font] Edited March 7, 2013 by Pinball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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