Sandberg basic upgrade...

[bottomfeed]

I have a Sandberg basic 5 string which I like the feel of but the original sound I found a little 'hard' & lacking warmth.. So, being a fan of Aguilar, I decided to swap the pup for the Aguilar MM style one.. result, slightly warmer, bit growly.. an improvement overall.. but no cigar as yet..

I'm wondering if the active/passive EQ (Sandbergs' own) could be swapped to something more warm & vintage sounding? 

Any advice or recommendations? 

 

 

[jrixn1]

With my Sandberg (a VM5, a beautifully made and great feeling instrument), I too wanted a warmer, vintage sound.  It took a while, but I did get there in the end - here are the steps I took. First, I put on flatwound strings. It was better, but not quite right yet. So then I swapped the stock pickup for an Aguilar ("designed to capture the vibe and feel of the 60’s").  It was better, but not quite right yet.  Then I removed the preamp and rewired it as passive.  It was better, but not quite right yet.  So I put it all back to stock, sold it, and bought a P bass...

 

[ead]

Have you tried the bass in passive mode and rolled the tone off a bit?  I have a California II Central with the Sandberg 3-band EQ which I imagine is what is fitted onto your Basic and that has the volume pull up for passive and the treble control then acts as the tone knob.  I find that really warms up the tone..

[bottomfeed]

1 hour ago, ead said:

Have you tried the bass in passive mode and rolled the tone off a bit?  I have a California II Central with the Sandberg 3-band EQ which I imagine is what is fitted onto your Basic and that has the volume pull up for passive and the treble control then acts as the tone knob.  I find that really warms up the tone..

Hmm.. I've tried many combinations.. but it still doesn't "warm" enough.. ..I know that there are so many factors in the equation.. head, cab etc makes so much difference.. I didn't know that the treble control acts as tone ..I though in passive.. the tone knobs are inactive..? 🧐

[ead]

13 hours ago, bottomfeed said:

Hmm.. I've tried many combinations.. but it still doesn't "warm" enough.. ..I know that there are so many factors in the equation.. head, cab etc makes so much difference.. I didn't know that the treble control acts as tone ..I though in passive.. the tone knobs are inactive..? 🧐

 

On mine it is definitely a tone control in passive mode.  From the centre detente turning anti clock that is (as if you're cutting treble boost).

[Vanheusen77]

Maybe it’s just the pickup type and position? MM type pickups in that position are usually not what I would consider “warm” sounding. 

[fretmeister]

Put an East retro preamp in it.

[fretmeister]

Or this

 

 

 

[Bigwan]

Add a neck pickup