NBD: I'm a hypocrite.

grayn · March 5, 2022

After many a year, saying that relicing and ageing guitars/basses was rediculous, I have gone and got an aged bass.
Last week I went out to try out some short scale basses and had dismissed one, because it had soft ageing.
There were no long scratches or swathes of exposed woodwork. This was a subtle process, that had odd blemishes, pin prick
marks in the finish and matt/worn chromed hardware.. Cleverly done but still fake, in my book. Anyway, I came away with a
very reasonably priced Sterling by MM short scale Stingray and was loving it's tone and playability. Took it to band rehearsal and
all went very well. But in the back of my mind, I was still thinking about that aged bass. Not as as a replacement but as a
brother to my newly acquired shorty.
It was well over twice the price of the Sterling 'Ray but after a good session with it, through the shop's Eich combo, it had to come
home with me. TBH, I'd still have preferred a non aged bass but this baby was so nice and the ageing so subtle, I felt/feel very
good about it.
The bass in question is a Sandberg California II Lionel Short Scale, in virgin white. Put succinctly, it is more or less a very classy,
short scale P-bass, with an alder body, hardrock maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and passive electronics. With Sandberg's
usual, high quality build and hardware. I got it home and put it through my Galien-Krueger/Mark Bass rig, doing a good A/B
test, with my Sterling 'Ray. Obviously the Sandberg had the quality of a higher end bass but there wasn't that much in it.
Playing wise, they both feel so comfortable and easy to play. Tonally the 'Ray has more versatility, with it's 3-way switch
giving series, parallel and single-coil options. I mainly use the single-coil option and it's a very different sound to that of the
Sandberg. The Sterling, unsurprisingly, even in s/c mode, sounds like a MusicMan. A tight, punchy sound, with a s/c clarity.
The Lionel has that split-coil sound of a P-bass but probably the fullest, clearest P-bass sound I have heard. And I have owned
both US and Japanese, Fender Precisions. So enough difference to warrent owning this two shortys. This Sandberg is a
class act.