Sandberg appreciation society

[BassApprentice]

Maybe try contacting Cool and Classic Guitars, he might know from pictures or a serial number?

 

Either way, fire some pics up here too. Could have been owned by one of us 

[mattpbass]

45 minutes ago, matt_leblanc said:

Hi, i bought an old model california  from a friend. 

He says its a masterpiece, but i dont know, It could be a regular heavy aged model. (He bought It used from a friend of hes).

Is there anyway to know? 

I tried to write to sandberg but i got no answer.

 

The bass is awesome and he sold It pretty cheap, so either way its a win.

Im just curious

Should be able to tell from the amount of relicing. HCA the neck won’t be reliced, HCAR there will be a bit on the back of the neck, Masterpiece will be fully worn with wear to fingerboard as well. 

[TRBboy]

1 hour ago, matt_leblanc said:

Hi, i bought an old model california  from a friend. 

He says its a masterpiece, but i dont know, It could be a regular heavy aged model. (He bought It used from a friend of hes).

Is there anyway to know? 

I tried to write to sandberg but i got no answer.

 

The bass is awesome and he sold It pretty cheap, so either way its a win.

Im just curious

The masterpiece ones are usually heaviest aged, with a little more detail especially around colouration and fretboard wear. The only way to be completely sure I believe is to check the serial number with Sandberg. How did you contact them? I'd suggest trying the service department as they seem most responsive. [email protected]

 

Do you have a photo?

Edited February 22 by TRBboy

[LeftyJ]

Tomorrow I'm picking up a lovely looking lefty Lionel to borrow for a bit, and I'm really looking forward to it! It's being offered for sale local to me, and the seller kindly offered me to try it out for a little while - while he borrows my Fender MIJ 1975 Jazz Bass reissue that I LOVE but don't really use. 

 

[dmccombe7]

1 minute ago, LeftyJ said:

Tomorrow I'm picking up a lovely looking lefty Lionel to borrow for a bit, and I'm really looking forward to it! It's being offered for sale local to me, and the seller kindly offered me to try it out for a little while - while he borrows my Fender MIJ 1975 Jazz Bass reissue that I LOVE but don't really use. 

 

That's nice. What's the 5/10 label about ?

Dave

[LeftyJ]

2 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

That's nice. What's the 5/10 label about ?

Dave

I took a screenshot from the ad, because the website won't let me download any of the pics. The label is only on the site, not on the bass 

[TRBboy]

7 minutes ago, LeftyJ said:

Tomorrow I'm picking up a lovely looking lefty Lionel to borrow for a bit, and I'm really looking forward to it! It's being offered for sale local to me, and the seller kindly offered me to try it out for a little while - while he borrows my Fender MIJ 1975 Jazz Bass reissue that I LOVE but don't really use. 

 

Very cool! The black hardware and PG suit it well 😎🤌

[LeftyJ]

On 22/02/2024 at 12:10, LeftyJ said:

Tomorrow I'm picking up a lovely looking lefty Lionel to borrow for a bit, and I'm really looking forward to it! It's being offered for sale local to me, and the seller kindly offered me to try it out for a little while - while he borrows my Fender MIJ 1975 Jazz Bass reissue that I LOVE but don't really use. 

 

After a few days of playing this, I've decided to pull the trigger. I'm not handing it back 

 

It's a brilliant little bass, it's a fair bit heavier than I would have expected from such a compact shortscale bass but it's very comfortable to play and it sounds huge! Nice agressive mids and lots of attack from the stock pickup. I only have a few gripes with it:

1: the stock gigbag is flimsy, and most importantly: it doesn't fit all too well. It's not shortscale-specific, and the velcro strap to secure the neck in place sits somewhere halfway along the headstock 

2:  the body is very thin where the tummycut and the forearm contour meet. This gets uncomfortable over time when resting my arm on the body while playing seated. 

 

That couldn't deter me from absolutely loving this little beast though! 

[scrumpymike]

NBD!!  After much deliberation, finally decided to take the plunge on this drop-dead-gorgeous (IMHO) Cali ll TM SL 2-band active that Thomann had in stock. Only just unpacked it but I can report that the build quality and playability are spot on - as I expected, having owned a Lionel. Thanks to its paulownia body and lightweight machine-heads, this one weighs next to nowt and still balances perfectly on the strap. I'll post more feedback when I've got to know it properly.

[fretmeister]

That is bloody gorgeous!

 

Nice one!

 

Now, throw away the god awful strings that come with them!  

[scrumpymike]

33 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

That is bloody gorgeous!

 

Nice one!

 

Now, throw away the god awful strings that come with them!  

Just about to open a new pack of La Bella s-s flats 🙂 

[fretmeister]

Nice!

 

EB Group iv flats are usually my first choice on mine, but it currently has some Dunlop "not at all actually" Superbright steel rounds on it as I have some slappy stuff to record.

[Bonin-in-the boneyard]

Lefty TM5 the older version

Got this in a trade it's an amazing Bass

 

[TRBboy]

Gorgeous Mike, congrats! 😍👌

 

@fretmeister completely with your on the stock strings, I've never gotten on with them either. Been using (not so) super Brights on my Sandbergs for years (40-120 Nickels).

[tobiewharton]

4 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

NBD!!  After much deliberation, finally decided to take the plunge on this drop-dead-gorgeous (IMHO) Cali ll TM SL 2-band active that Thomann had in stock. Only just unpacked it but I can report that the build quality and playability are spot on - as I expected, having owned a Lionel. Thanks to its paulownia body and lightweight machine-heads, this one weighs next to nowt and still balances perfectly on the strap. I'll post more feedback when I've got to know it properly.

This is an absolute beaut!

[Aidan63]

I have made three more attempts to contact Sandberg by email, using their website, service@ and home@ email addresses and still no reply. Why bother having a contact form on the website and hiding your sales phone number ?

Any company that is only open to using social media for customer contact can do one afaic

I'd say it's typical big company arrogance, their way or no way.

What's the point of having a configurator if you won't discuss the details with the customer.

If they can't be bothered to deal with a potential individual customer in order to make a sale they are unlikely to be responsive once they have the customer's money. If they replied and said I need to go through Bass Direct or another dealer they are happy to use as intermediary I'd understand that but no reply at all ? wtf

I love the Lionel fretless but they won't be getting my money for a fretted one, they have lost a sale, I'd much rather give my money to a UK luthier who will actually appear to be interested in making me an instrument, or even give Fender too much money for a JMJ with a finish I hate but a pickup and neck I like 😲🙃

[TRBboy]

1 hour ago, Aidan63 said:

I have made three more attempts to contact Sandberg by email, using their website, service@ and home@ email addresses and still no reply. Why bother having a contact form on the website and hiding your sales phone number ?

Any company that is only open to using social media for customer contact can do one afaic

I'd say it's typical big company arrogance, their way or no way.

What's the point of having a configurator if you won't discuss the details with the customer.

If they can't be bothered to deal with a potential individual customer in order to make a sale they are unlikely to be responsive once they have the customer's money. If they replied and said I need to go through Bass Direct or another dealer they are happy to use as intermediary I'd understand that but no reply at all ? wtf

I love the Lionel fretless but they won't be getting my money for a fretted one, they have lost a sale, I'd much rather give my money to a UK luthier who will actually appear to be interested in making me an instrument, or even give Fender too much money for a JMJ with a finish I hate but a pickup and neck I like 😲🙃

That's a real shame, they've always been a bit flaky on Comms, especially via the home@ email, but I've always had a response from service@, even if not especially quickly.

 

I believe the official line on the configurator is that you need to discuss it or request a quote through a dealer; you can't order directly from them.

Sandberg remain a pretty small operation, and are focussed on building instruments rather than running a contact center. It makes things more streamlined if they can focus on receiving and fulfilling orders from their distributors/dealers rather than fielding loads of individual queries from different customers.

Edited March 15 by TRBboy

[BassApprentice]

We are very spoilt with how we can communicate, and it is very frustrating when we don't receive answer to what we view as a simple question after the standard 3-5 working days.

 

If you really like your Lionel, I would persevere with trying to get the specs you want. Again, we are spoilt for choice with basses, but if you like something the patience might pay off. I would try either GuitarGuitar or Classic & Cool Guitars as they might have encountered your question before and have an answer, or have a better line of comms to Sandberg.

 

Might not be a quick answer, but it might get you what you want in the long run.

[ead]

Mark at Classic & Cool is super good and I acquired my Sandbergs that way including weird spec requests that were easily dealt with.

[scrumpymike]

5 hours ago, Aidan63 said:

I have made three more attempts to contact Sandberg by email, using their website, service@ and home@ email addresses and still no reply. Why bother having a contact form on the website and hiding your sales phone number ?

Any company that is only open to using social media for customer contact can do one afaic

I'd say it's typical big company arrogance, their way or no way.

What's the point of having a configurator if you won't discuss the details with the customer.

If they can't be bothered to deal with a potential individual customer in order to make a sale they are unlikely to be responsive once they have the customer's money. If they replied and said I need to go through Bass Direct or another dealer they are happy to use as intermediary I'd understand that but no reply at all ? wtf

I love the Lionel fretless but they won't be getting my money for a fretted one, they have lost a sale, I'd much rather give my money to a UK luthier who will actually appear to be interested in making me an instrument, or even give Fender too much money for a JMJ with a finish I hate but a pickup and neck I like 😲🙃

Good for you mate - couldn't agree more and I wouldn't put up with it either!! Luckily for me, those nice (and responsive!) folks (or should that be Volks?) at Thomann had what I wanted in stock.

 

A couple of observations:

 

Following my initial skirmish with the user-unfriendly Sandberg website, I ended up contacting the lovely guy at Classic and Cool. At the end of our nice long chat, he confessed that it's hardly worth his while spending time on the Sandberg brand any more because prospective customers disappear when they find out there's an 18-month waiting time on orders (he was surprised when I told him that it's now 2 years!!). I'd say it won't be long before Sandberg's distribution network is reduced to one company, namely Thomann. There's obviously a special relationship there, presumably based on the fact that they're both in Germany and that Thomann have the funds to buy for stock. 

 

Comms with Maruszczyk are similarly dire!

 

The only reason they can get away with it is that their products are of consistently high quality and generally don't need after-sales support.

Edited March 15 by scrumpymike

[Pirellithecat]

This is a great shame.
Might be the wrong thread, but is there an equally well built/great playing/well priced alternative with better customer focus??   

[LeftyJ]

15 minutes ago, Pirellithecat said:

This is a great shame.
Might be the wrong thread, but is there an equally well built/great playing/well priced alternative with better customer focus??   

 

I wonder if Clover is still around? Their website is still up, but I never see any new ones pop up. Their Apeiron series appeared at about the same time as the first Sandberg California series. I was always intrigued by the first version of their Avenger series, with 3 single coils (2 at the bridge) and a very versatile switching system. I'm not a huge fan of their 20" fingerboard radius on everything, I like a bit of a curve. But otherwise they always looked good to me, and were at a similar price point as Sandberg.

Edited March 15 by LeftyJ

[ead]

25 minutes ago, Pirellithecat said:

This is a great shame.
Might be the wrong thread, but is there an equally well built/great playing/well priced alternative with better customer focus??   

 

For those who like the TT I would heartily recommend an ACG Graft J Type.  About £300 cheaper than the Sandberg and beautifully built and finished in the UK.  Here's mine:

 

[scrumpymike]

48 minutes ago, Pirellithecat said:

This is a great shame.
Might be the wrong thread, but is there an equally well built/great playing/well priced alternative with better customer focus??   

Andyjr1515 and Jabba_the_gut of build-diary fame on here - if they're still taking orders 🙂 

Edited March 15 by scrumpymike

[Aidan63]

3 hours ago, ead said:

 

For those who like the TT I would heartily recommend an ACG Graft J Type.  About £300 cheaper than the Sandberg and beautifully built and finished in the UK.  Here's mine:

 

looks great but 34" scale only......for now