Sandberg appreciation society

[chris_b]

Has anyone put flats on their Sandberg?

 

If so, which flats did you use.

[juanbcn83]

I used LaBella on my 5 strings bass and I love the result.

 

The sound change completely and the bass are not so versatile in terms of different sounds but you get a "vintage" tone that I love.

 

I'm interested on playing a Thomastik flats but at the moment I'm happy with DR Black beauties.

[Reggaebass]

I had labella LTF’s on my California TT custom, very smooth sound and clear deep bass 

[Aidan63]

36 minutes ago, chris_b said:

Has anyone put flats on their Sandberg?

 

If so, which flats did you use.

I tried a set of Status flats on my Lionel VS4 fretless, they were awful, lifeless, toneless and quiet, I've put the LaBella tapewounds it came to me with back on, I do have a set of Chromes to try. I liked D'Addario half rounds much more than the Status flats. Passive bass with Sandberg pickup.

[dmccombe7]

48 minutes ago, chris_b said:

Has anyone put flats on their Sandberg?

 

If so, which flats did you use.

I put Low Tension Flays (i think they were LaBella) and quite liked the tone but guitarist wasn't so keen so i went back to my usual D'addario nickels.

It obviously doesn't have that top end zing but it made the Glam songs sound very studio like and it reduced any string noise to almost zero.

I'm now using Elixir nickels.

Dave

[LeftyJ]

When I just got my Lionel there were Pyramid flatwounds on it. It sounded very unbalanced on the bass. I liked the A, D and G but the E-string was overly boomy and considerably louder than the other 3 strings. I blame that on a poorly calibrated string set, not on the bass. I have the stock Sandberg roundwound strings on it for now and it's much more balanced, but I don't like the feel and the low tension. I may try a set of LaBella's on it, I hadn't expected to like them but when I played the Gibson LP Jr DC Tribute and Sire U5 of the previous owner I quite liked that thumpy tone and the feel of the strings - and on a P they just make sense to me!  

Edited April 12, 2024 by LeftyJ

[juanbcn83]

14 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

I put Low Tension Flays (i think they were LaBella) and quite liked the tone but guitarist wasn't so keen so i went back to my usual D'addario nickels.

It obviously doesn't have that top end zing but it made the Glam songs sound very studio like and it reduced any string noise to almost zero.

I'm now using Elixir nickels.

Dave

If a guitar player wants to tell which strings I have to use it's probably and wouldn't be very polite. Why do the bass players have to adapt our sound (bass, amp, strings...) for the "good sound" of the band but the guitarists don't? If we are a group we have to work for sounding better but together not adapting to a "reharsal music legend". I'm tired of that comments from other guitarists.

[dmccombe7]

46 minutes ago, juanbcn83 said:

If a guitar player wants to tell which strings I have to use it's probably and wouldn't be very polite. Why do the bass players have to adapt our sound (bass, amp, strings...) for the "good sound" of the band but the guitarists don't? If we are a group we have to work for sounding better but together not adapting to a "reharsal music legend". I'm tired of that comments from other guitarists.

To be honest i did ask what the band thought of the tone with the flats but the guitarist was the one who spoke his mind. I'd rather have an honest opinion in a band than to remain silent.

The guitarist is no longer in the band. (his choice i have to add)

Dave

 

Edited April 12, 2024 by dmccombe7

[Bobo_08]

Hey All,

 

So I picked up first Sandberg this weekend. A 2008 California VS4 Heavy Aged. 

Edited April 14, 2024 by Bobo_08

[DJ '65]

That’s very cool, enjoy!

[Rollin Thunder]

NBD 

Decided to pull the trigger on this, arrived today. New to Sandberg, wanted a new Fender Jazz to replace a Mexican deluxe a regrettably sold 3 years ago, but heard good things about Sandbergs and having shopped around saw this in sale (Bit of a bargain)

 

had a quick run-though, one issue/possibly, it seemed a bit quiet, noticed the pick ups specially the neck was very low only about 2mm above the body and bridge maybe 4-5mm figured this was not right? So lifted them both 2-3mm higher and it sounded allot better., enough that I had to role volume back bit when boosting pre amp to about 75% 

 

strings look like Daddarios but label says Sandbergs own brand, can anyone confirm, they seem a bit on the higher tension side might have to change them, see if they bed in.

add some real photos later, its much more yellowy:butterscotch than the stockings photo (not in a bad way)

 

https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/product/sandberg-electra-ii-tt4-creme/

Edited April 16, 2024 by Rollin Thunder

[juanbcn83]

31 minutes ago, Rollin Thunder said:

NBD 

Decided to pull the trigger on this, arrived today. New to Sandberg, wanted a new Fender Jazz to replace a Mexican deluxe a regrettably sold 3 years ago, but heard good things about Sandbergs and having shopped around saw this in sale (Bit of a bargain)

 

had a quick run-though, one issue/possibly, it seemed a bit quiet, noticed the pick ups specially the neck was very low only about 2mm above the body and bridge maybe 4-5mm figured this was not right? So lifted them both 2-3mm higher and it sounded allot better., enough that I had to role volume back bit when boosting pre amp to about 75% 

 

strings look like Daddarios but label says Sandbergs own brand, can anyone confirm, they seem a bit on the higher tension side might have to change them, see if they bed in.

add some real photos later, its much more yellowy:butterscotch than the stockings photo (not in a bad way)

 

https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/product/sandberg-electra-ii-tt4-creme/

Congrats, it seems a very good bass. Despite the adjustments I think that it's better that a mexican jazz bass.

 

Real picks will be welcome, thanks for posting

[Rollin Thunder]

36 minutes ago, juanbcn83 said:

Congrats, it seems a very good bass. Despite the adjustments I think that it's better that a mexican jazz bass.

 

Real picks will be welcome, thanks for posting

Photos added

[mattpbass]

Stock strings are usually Sandberg 40-100 so not particularly heavy. 

[Rollin Thunder]

10 hours ago, mattpbass said:

Stock strings are usually Sandberg 40-100 so not particularly heavy. 

Cut cheese with the G string, stock strings rarely stay on any new bass, like tyres on a brand new 🚴 bike!

[scrumpymike]

On 11/04/2024 at 18:53, chris_b said:

Has anyone put flats on their Sandberg?

 

If so, which flats did you use.

LaBella 760FS-S on my Cali ll SL TM 4 SHORT. Band plays drop-tuned by a semi btw.

Edited April 18, 2024 by scrumpymike

[martthebass]

The Lionel in action last night. Still on the stock pickups but they seem to cut through nicely so I’m not looking to change any time soon as yet.

[Rollin Thunder]

On 17/04/2024 at 09:51, Rollin Thunder said:

Cut cheese with the G string, stock strings rarely stay on any new bass, like tyres on a brand new 🚴 bike!

 Well the strings seem to have settled in, warmed up a bit now, not as thin and zingey give them a reprieve until my new set of Newtone strings arrive. 

[LeftyJ]

For those of you with a Lionel, what size Allen key was included for truss rod adjustment?

Mine is a 2023 model that I bought (barely) used and it didn't come with the key, and I can't for the life of me find one that fits! I have a VERY large set of Allen keys in both metric and imperial sizes and it's just not there. I messaged Sandberg on Facebook and got a quick reply from Gregor saying it's 4 mm, but I have tried three different 4 mm keys and they all spin freely. 4,5 mm is too big, and I have nothing inbetween. The hole in the truss rod nut still is very much hexagonal, and definitely not stripped. I can see it clearly and I'm sure of it.

 

I had the exact same problem with a Harley Benton PB Shorty, that had the same odd size of truss rod nut and nothing would fit. I stripped that one, but that was a €50 bass so it sucked but wasn't too bad. The Lionel is in a different league though, so I really don't want to damage anything. 

[martthebass]

21 minutes ago, LeftyJ said:

For those of you with a Lionel, what size Allen key was included for truss rod adjustment?

Mine is a 2023 model that I bought (barely) used and it didn't come with the key, and I can't for the life of me find one that fits! I have a VERY large set of Allen keys in both metric and imperial sizes and it's just not there. I messaged Sandberg on Facebook and got a quick reply from Gregor saying it's 4 mm, but I have tried three different 4 mm keys and they all spin freely. 4,5 mm is too big, and I have nothing inbetween. The hole in the truss rod nut still is very much hexagonal, and definitely not stripped. I can see it clearly and I'm sure of it.

 

I had the exact same problem with a Harley Benton PB Shorty, that had the same odd size of truss rod nut and nothing would fit. I stripped that one, but that was a €50 bass so it sucked but wasn't too bad. The Lionel is in a different league though, so I really don't want to damage anything. 

I’ll check when I get in, I do have the key, but didn’t notice it was in the gig bag but did find one in my standard imp/metric sets that fitted ok.

[dmccombe7]

44 minutes ago, LeftyJ said:

For those of you with a Lionel, what size Allen key was included for truss rod adjustment?

Mine is a 2023 model that I bought (barely) used and it didn't come with the key, and I can't for the life of me find one that fits! I have a VERY large set of Allen keys in both metric and imperial sizes and it's just not there. I messaged Sandberg on Facebook and got a quick reply from Gregor saying it's 4 mm, but I have tried three different 4 mm keys and they all spin freely. 4,5 mm is too big, and I have nothing inbetween. The hole in the truss rod nut still is very much hexagonal, and definitely not stripped. I can see it clearly and I'm sure of it.

 

I had the exact same problem with a Harley Benton PB Shorty, that had the same odd size of truss rod nut and nothing would fit. I stripped that one, but that was a €50 bass so it sucked but wasn't too bad. The Lionel is in a different league though, so I really don't want to damage anything. 

My VM4 is a 4mm. I'm assuming they use the same size for all their basses to keep costs down.

Dave

[fretmeister]

It's 4mm.

 

I suspect you are not getting it into the hole far enough. The first bit is smooth. Can be a bit of a bugger to get in. Has to be at the perfect angle.

[martthebass]

Yep it’s 4mm. As above you have to stick it all the way in to make it latch.

[LeftyJ]

Thanks for checking, all! I'll give it another go when I get home from work. I'm not fully convinced though. I took the bass to a luthier on Saturday and he couldn't get one to fit either, from his extensive range of Allen keys. But as both @martthebass and @fretmeister pointed out, maybe I'm not getting the key in far enough! 

[martthebass]

34 minutes ago, LeftyJ said:

Thanks for checking, all! I'll give it another go when I get home from work. I'm not fully convinced though. I took the bass to a luthier on Saturday and he couldn't get one to fit either, from his extensive range of Allen keys. But as both @martthebass and @fretmeister pointed out, maybe I'm not getting the key in far enough! 

Pic of the Allen key that comes with the bass, as you can see it’s quite a lot longer than a standard key so you can locate it easily