Sandbergs - post your thoughts

[M@23]

Can't wait! Hoping I can get a few mins before soundcheck to give it a go. Or, after the gig. I usually end up with a global bass cut on my amp, so will remove that and start there. Thanks for the heads up 👍🏼

[Ed_S]

I’m just headed to a rehearsal that will be the first outing for my new TM4 SL that I picked up on Saturday, so that should be interesting as I’ve only really had time to put some new strings on it and give it a couple of half hour sessions through headphones so far.

I’m already impressed by the general build quality - especially the finish of the neck - and of course the weight. It’s not the colour that I really wanted, but it’s not unpleasant and I figured it made sense to get the one that’s available off the shelf, see if I get along with it in the medium term and then maybe custom order one that’s exactly how I want it to look later on when I’m sure ..and have sufficiently replenished the toys fund!

My main concern right now is the satin finish; how hardwearing it will prove to be and how long before the first proper ding when I find out!

[Cuzzie]

The Satin finish from what I have seen is pretty good, different from High gloss obviously, but high gloss essentially takes a load more coats and buffing and work to do.

Cedar is a little softer and will dent easier - but we all love Patina!

good luck with rehearsal - be glad to hear how it performs 

[dmccombe7]

If you've got a new bass why not post a wee pic for us.

And remember and post your thoughts after the gig so we can all share in it. Good or bad points welcome on this thread.

Dave.  

Edited May 1, 2019 by dmccombe7

[M@23]

@Ed_S the finish does seem thin. But, I think if it doesn't prove robust, it will wear nicely, a bit of natural 'road wear'. Dunno about yours, but the grain on mine is beaut as well. More so on the back than the front 😂

I just got in, very very happy with the bass! You guys were correct about it being a bit shy for low end. But this suited me well and I didn't actually end up boosting it. I can't believe how comfortable it is to wear. It wasn't just the weight, but the neck and body size and balance. 

Unfortunately didn't mess with EQ too much. But... Punchy! Amazing slap sound, really clean on the higher registers, lovely ring to chords. Great B string and a nice growl to it. I actually liked the stock strings alright too. They're not too rough for SS. 

Blurry spare room floor, un-vacuumed carpet photo to prove ownership ⬇️

[Cuzzie]

A joy to behold and me and @krispn are both legends!

Edited May 1, 2019 by Cuzzie

[Ed_S]

One proof of ownership as is the law:

The grain is pretty nice on both sides - it has a kind of iridescent look to it depending on the lighting - and although tobacco burst is not my usual 'thing', the comments from the rest of the band with regards aesthetics were all along the lines of: "it looks like a bass - you could turn up to any gig with that so it's fine".

I'm really not a fan of any kind of patina / mojo / road wear, so I hope the finish holds up. I don't expect bulletproof but I'll look after it as best I can, and I expect it to hold up its end of the deal! We'll see.

Sound-wise it's very useable just with the volume at full and the balance and eq all on centre detents. I ended up giving the balance a slight nudge towards the bridge pickup for a bit of definition and then adding just a bit of low end with the eq, but certainly nothing drastic. The preamp seems to be quiet, the controls are smooth and definite and the passive mode isn't just a failsafe for a dead battery - it actually sounds nice in its own right. The best thing I can say is that I got it sounding right within the first song and then left it like that for the rest of the rehearsal without feeling like I had to keep fiddling with the sound.

So far so good; it plays nicely, feels like a quality instrument, sounds classy and looks.. acceptable.. 😉

[M@23]

3 minutes ago, Ed_S said:

One proof of ownership as is the law:

The grain is pretty nice on both sides - it has a kind of iridescent look to it depending on the lighting - and although tobacco burst is not my usual 'thing', the comments from the rest of the band with regards aesthetics were all along the lines of: "it looks like a bass - you could turn up to any gig with that so it's fine".

I'm really not a fan of any kind of patina / mojo / road wear, so I hope the finish holds up. I don't expect bulletproof but I'll look after it as best I can, and I expect it to hold up its end of the deal! We'll see.

Sound-wise it's very useable just with the volume at full and the balance and eq all on centre detents. I ended up giving the balance a slight nudge towards the bridge pickup for a bit of definition and then adding just a bit of low end with the eq, but certainly nothing drastic. The preamp seems to be quiet, the controls are smooth and definite and the passive mode isn't just a failsafe for a dead battery - it actually sounds nice in its own right. The best thing I can say is that I got it sounding right within the first song and then left it like that for the rest of the rehearsal without feeling like I had to keep fiddling with the sound.

So far so good; it plays nicely, feels like a quality instrument, sounds classy and looks.. acceptable.. 😉

Haha, looks great! Nice rig, too. 

[Cuzzie]

Great work - looks fab.

I know some on various places have ratted the Glock pre amp - but one of its strengths (at Sandberg’s request) is that it sounds the same in passive or active mode - active gives a little more ‘push’ and of course an EQ option.

you look after it, it’ll look after you and will always be at your side - congrats

[M@23]

26 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

 it sounds the same in passive or active mode - active gives a little more ‘push’ and of course an EQ option.

That is useful. 

I weighed mine last night, just under 6.8lbs. Lighter than the gigbag it's in 😂

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, Cuzzie said:

Great work - looks fab.

I know some on various places have ratted the Glock pre amp - but one of its strengths (at Sandberg’s request) is that it sounds the same in passive or active mode - active gives a little more ‘push’ and of course an EQ option.

you look after it, it’ll look after you and will always be at your side - congrats

Liking the pics of the basses.

That's exactly what i'm finding with the passive mode. It still has a great tonal range while acctive just gives it a bit more push.

I'm also finding it sounds better with a touch of extra low end boost on the bass but not by much. With the strings being new i had the treble cut a little too but as the strings are starting to settle down a bit i'm bringing the treble back towards centre position.

As for the weight and balance of the bass its perfect for me and can't fault it.

Dave

[Ed_S]

1 hour ago, Cuzzie said:

Great work - looks fab.

I know some on various places have ratted the Glock pre amp - but one of its strengths (at Sandberg’s request) is that it sounds the same in passive or active mode - active gives a little more ‘push’ and of course an EQ option.

you look after it, it’ll look after you and will always be at your side - congrats

Yeah, I liked that about it - it’s not a massive jump between the two modes which I think was a good call on their part. The one thing about the preamp that I wish was different is the positioning of the toggle switch, as I play predominantly with a pick but move to fingers for certain quieter passages and then go back to the pick. The split setting would have offered a way to take a little of the edge off the attack for those sections but it’s too close to the rest of the controls for that - I'd end up changing things I didn’t mean to and causing myself a problem! Of course, I realise there’s only so much space on/under the bell-plate so the switch is where it has to be.

[dmccombe7]

1 minute ago, Ed_S said:

Yeah, I liked that about it - it’s not a massive jump between the two modes which I think was a good call on their part. The one thing about the preamp that I wish was different is the positioning of the toggle switch, as I play predominantly with a pick but move to fingers for certain quieter passages and then go back to the pick. The split setting would have offered a way to take a little of the edge off the attack for those sections but it’s too close to the rest of the controls for that - I'd end up changing things I didn’t mean to and causing myself a problem! Of course, I realise there’s only so much space on/under the bell-plate so the switch is where it has to be.

So what's the switch for as my VM4 doesn't have that. Is that to split the bridge pick up from humbucker to single coil. ?

Dave

[Cuzzie]

3 minutes ago, Ed_S said:

Yeah, I liked that about it - it’s not a massive jump between the two modes which I think was a good call on their part. The one thing about the preamp that I wish was different is the positioning of the toggle switch, as I play predominantly with a pick but move to fingers for certain quieter passages and then go back to the pick. The split setting would have offered a way to take a little of the edge off the attack for those sections but it’s too close to the rest of the controls for that - I'd end up changing things I didn’t mean to and causing myself a problem! Of course, I realise there’s only so much space on/under the bell-plate so the switch is where it has to be.

Now this would depend on how much you used the tone control, or used active.....

If you used active but never rolled the tone off You could probably turn the tone control into a rotary type switch to perform the same function as the switch rendering that as a dummy.

Or if you used passive only you could use a spare knob in the same way.

Or I suppose leave as is!

I do sympathise I alternate pick and finger as well, and pick the way I hold the bass naturally gravitates my hand towards the bridge end

[Cuzzie]

Come to think about it, depending on how long the wires are you could conceivably take the plate off and drill a hole elsewhere on the lower part and re-site it - no messing about with a re-wire

[krispn]

I was gonna suggest this too. Pretty simple and if you don’t have the gear a local metal work shop could do it in seconds. 

[Ed_S]

5 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

So what's the switch for as my VM4 doesn't have that. Is that to split the bridge pick up from humbucker to single coil. ?

Dave

Yeah, I believe that’s what it’s doing. It’s probably all written in the instruction ‘leaflet’ hang-tag but I have to admit I put that to one side and just jumped in ears-first 🙂 The only other option I can think of is some kind of preset mid shift, but it doesn’t sound like one of those.

2 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Now this would depend on how much you used the tone control, or used active.....

If you used active but never rolled the tone off You could probably turn the tone control into a rotary type switch to perform the same function as the switch rendering that as a dummy.

Or if you used passive only you could use a spare knob in the same way.

Or I suppose leave as is!

I do sympathise I alternate pick and finger as well, and pick the way I hold the bass naturally gravitates my hand towards the bridge end

Heh, I think ‘leave as-is’ will win to be honest - it’s only a minor thing. I can still make use of it for whole songs where it’s a more appropriate tone, and of course recording sessions where you can pause between sections to flick as many switches as you like 🙂

[mcnach]

1 hour ago, M@23 said:

That is useful. 

I weighed mine last night, just under 6.8lbs. Lighter than the gigbag it's in 😂

 

That's crazy light, nice!

[Ed_S]

14 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Come to think about it, depending on how long the wires are you could conceivably take the plate off and drill a hole elsewhere on the lower part and re-site it - no messing about with a re-wire

 

4 minutes ago, krispn said:

I was gonna suggest this too. Pretty simple and if you don’t have the gear a local metal work shop could do it in seconds. 

It’s a fair shout - I think I’ll live with it for a while, though, and see how I get on. Pretty sure it’ll be fine and I’ll just change hand position to achieve the tone I want. And nobody in the audience will notice 😉 

[Cuzzie]

Knocking it out the park.....

[thisisswanbon]

Bit the bullet on my Sandberg and have local pick up makers Ghost pick ups making me a PJ pick up set to replace the Delano's. Hes also going to remove the glock and add a new passive only circuit. Exciting times indeed! 

[Al Krow]

14 hours ago, thisisswanbon said:

Bit the bullet on my Sandberg and have local pick up makers Ghost pick ups making me a PJ pick up set to replace the Delano's. Hes also going to remove the glock and add a new passive only circuit. Exciting times indeed! 

Congrats - sure you'll love it! But your need to replace the Delano pups and Glock pre used as stock by Berg summarises ALL my Berg hang-ups in one short sentence!

[Al Krow]

On 02/05/2019 at 20:35, Cuzzie said:

 

@Al Krow bass you had for 4 years and had no idea it had an active passive pull push knob till I told you about it. 

I've finally identified the culprit who transformed me from a contented passive chappy to an active knob puller.

I hope you're proud of what you've done?

 

[Cuzzie]

10 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

I've finally identified the culprit who transformed me from a contented passive chappy to an active knob puller.

I hope you're proud of what you've done?

 

Nope

[thisisswanbon]

6 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Congrats - sure you'll love it! But your need to replace the Delano pups and Glock pre used as stock by Berg summarises ALL my Berg hang-ups in one short sentence!

I certainly fall into the category of "I've paid £1700 for a bass, I shouldn't have to spend more replacing pick ups" it's taken me years to come to this decision after almost selling it several times... 

Thing is, it's so light, plays like a dream, and every time I look at it I get all warm and fuzzy 😍