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Sandberg VM5 incoming...(It’s here!!)


CameronJ
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Just creating this thread as a placeholder for tomorrow when I collect what can only be described as an item of pure bass porn. I have photos which the seller took but think I may hold off until I get my grubby mitts on it tomorrow and take some of my own! Watch this space...

Edited by CameronJ
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12 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Ah - I saw that on facebook.

Made me throb a bit, I can tell you! :D 

I’m throbbing as we speak! It was originally listed last October but the seller was based in Wales and wouldn’t ship, much to my dismay. Messaged the current seller this morning and negotiated on price as I knew full well he was asking for a couple of hundred quid more than he’d paid. After a few minutes pondering he agreed to match the original price which made me a very happy bunny.

Edited by CameronJ
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7 minutes ago, M@23 said:

I saw this on FB too! Looks ace. Must've been one of the last of the old shape? New spec tuners on the old shape body is a good find! 

Right?! It’s gotta be one of the very last old shape Californias. Will match my Electra nicely, though they have different shaped pickguards. There will be a family photo at some point tomorrow :D

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She’s here!!

C5A7FE4B-96CE-42B9-AF1A-04A6F0C9E4A5.thumb.jpeg.8d6e4744f26d5a1e4ee3c91f3a2f2c4a.jpeg

 

Obligatory family shot:

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Have just been having a play for the past half hour or so, going through the available tones and I’m very very happy. Classic Precision growl with the split coil, more trebly bark from the bridge humbucker and blending them together kind of smooths out the characteristics of both for a less aggressive sound, at least to my ears. 2-band preamp with a treble knob which functions as a tone control in passive mode. All basses should have this IMO.

So far I’ve got the preamp set identically to my Electra VS4 - treble up about 2/3 of the way and a very slight bass boost in active. Switch to passive and everything mellows out by default. Lovely.

Previous owner strung it with new Rotosound Swing Stainless Steels 45-130 which I’ve never tried before but I like them well enough. I’ve got a fresh pack of Dunlop Flats which have gone churlishly unused for over a month so I’m considering putting them on. Action is perfectly playable but just a touch higher than I’d like so I’ll be lowering that at some point either today or tomorrow. The neck is somewhere between a satin and gloss finish, but more on the glossy side of the spectrum. May have to get that taken down a bit but so far it’s not nearly as obnoxious as a typical “true gloss”.

3CBAD130-55C1-4924-BD3E-124651791128.thumb.jpeg.ef72f2681cc4ea0f5edc30fcb3f06d27.jpeg

 

There’s a scratch on the back near the neck bolts which I knew before buying. A slight downer but who’s seeing the back anyway?? What a back though:

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And there we have it. All in all I got a bit of a bargain for an incredibly well built, unique bass. I’ll be going on tour for a year with a theatre show from July and I can only take one bass with me. This is definitely the one. Now my MTD is feeling a bit of sibling jealousy :$.

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Gave Raven a set up last night (actually at about 3 in the morning) and now the word butter could be used to describe the playability, much to the chagrin of some of this parish xD. Truss rod was all good and the intonation was near enough spot on too so I didn’t mess with it. Just lowered the bridge saddles to taste, made sure there was no rattle up the fretboard and voila. 

Gonna get them Dunlop Flats on soon but I’ll spend a couple of hours today enjoying the lowered action with the Roto rounds.

Edited by CameronJ
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Love the finish, which is why my Maruschyk elwood is pretty much the same (apart from red), mat red with the black grain lines, in between songs i generally trace the lines while I am waiting for them to stop faffing (or the guitarist tuning between songs in gigs, can trace a lot of lines in that time).

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Right, the Dunlop Flatwounds are on! Thought I’d give the fretboard a bit of a clean between string sets but it didn’t seem to need it.

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Really loving the added low mid thump the flats are giving me at every pickup setting. And of course they’re nice and easy on the fingers compared to the Roto Steels - not that the Rotos were particularly harsh but you get smooth comfort for free with flats, obviously. The tension isn’t vastly different from the Rotos and they have a decent amount of high end, giving me a nice clank when switching the preamp to active with the treble boosted. Very, very nice.

 

So, at present my bass lineup is:

Sandberg VM5 with Dunlop Stainless Steel Flats

MTD Super 5 with Dunlop Superbright Nickel Rounds

Sanberg Electra VS4 with LaBella 750N Black Nylon Tapes

 

A lovely trifecta of tone machines!

Edited by CameronJ
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