Sandberg California V & VS weights - owners insight req'd.

[warwickhunt]

Sandberg California V / VS owners.  What does your bass weigh?  

 

I'm absolutely loving my Cali V (sunburst roadworn & marley blue) basses, especially since stringing with some heavier gauge strings but I find myself wondering how light this range of basses might be and could I find source an even lighter one?  I have a couple of Lionel basses which are even lighter (but I find I lose punch and definition in certain higher ranges and yes I've tried upping the gauge on the strings) and I'm aware of the 'Superlight' series but I'm unsure if the different body woods (paulownia) will adversely affect the tone that I'm enjoying from my current 2 basses.

 

For context my RW bass is 8lb 6oz and my JJ pup converted MB bass is 8lb 1oz... is this as light as they get?   

 

[chris_b]

The Superlite series goes down into the 6lb region.

[LeftyJ]

Wow, that marley blue one is great! I much prefer this bodyshape over the T, so seeing one with two J pickups is a pleasant surprise. Great mod! 

 

My Lionel is on the heavy side, but it's a satin finish which come with an ash body. The glossy and aged ones are all alder bodies and much lighter. I didn't weigh mine, but it's definitely one of my heaviest basses. 

[warwickhunt]

7 minutes ago, chris_b said:

The Superlite series goes down into the 6lb region.

 

Yeah but they are like hen's teeth 'used' and I'm not convinced a SL will have equal tone to buy one new!  

 

7 minutes ago, LeftyJ said:

Wow, that marley blue one is great! I much prefer this bodyshape over the T, so seeing one with two J pickups is a pleasant surprise. Great mod! 

 

My Lionel is on the heavy side, but it's a satin finish which come with an ash body. The glossy and aged ones are all alder bodies and much lighter. I didn't weigh mine, but it's definitely one of my heaviest basses. 

 

I have a pair of Lionel basses (1 of which is very light) but I'm needing to find if the 34" scale basses can be sub 8lb.

 

 

[fretmeister]

I’ve not seen any get under 8lb. That’s why I have 2 Superlights!

[jrixn1]

I saw Andy Baxter has a few alder-body Sandbergs in under 8lb:

 

Weight: 7 lbs 9 oz / 3.43 kg
https://www.andybaxterbass.com/collections/sandberg/products/new-sandberg-california-ii-vt4-soft-aged-tobacco-sunburst

 

Weight: 7 lbs 10.5 oz / 3.48 kg
https://www.andybaxterbass.com/collections/sandberg/products/new-sandberg-california-ii-vs4-high-gloss-marley-blue

 

Weight: 7 lbs 10 oz / 3.45 kg
https://www.andybaxterbass.com/collections/sandberg/products/new-sandberg-california-ii-vs-soft-aged-virgin-white

[warwickhunt]

That's great to see; all under 8lb!  

[ead]

My Cali II VS was definitely under 8lbs; the Cali I P bass I had was just over 9lbs.  I think when they did the modifications to the Cali I to create the Cali II range the body size was reduced and possibly made thinner too, so I guess much of the weight saving was achieved this way.

[warwickhunt]

7 hours ago, ead said:

My Cali II VS was definitely under 8lbs; the Cali I P bass I had was just over 9lbs.  I think when they did the modifications to the Cali I to create the Cali II range the body size was reduced and possibly made thinner too, so I guess much of the weight saving was achieved this way.

 

Yes I agree.  When I got my first Cali II bass (roadworn) I noticed immediately that the overall body size was reduced; when stood back to back with a Fender the difference is marked!