Sandberg - eh?

Bridgehouse

Whilst at the guitar show I tried this Sandberg California:



Now this was a top 'o the line uber relic super duper split coil active/passive mega mojo on special by PMT for £2.3k

Tried it through a Darkglass amp and 2x10 cab (which was awesome btw).

Thing is, I thought it was terrible. Action was up at about 4-5mm and there was no adjustment down in the saddles at all. Frets felt like a cheese grater, and no matter what knobs I widdled or pulled, or switches I flicked it sounded the same - a bit like a slightly honky/farty Stingray. I even asked the PMT chappy to swap the battery...

Was it me?


(edit: oh, and the neck was way too thin...)

Sporky

When will people learn not to bother with basses that aren't Stingrays?

Bridgehouse

Sporky said:

When will people learn not to bother with basses that aren't Stingrays?

I've got one! What more do you want??


Do I have to sell the '74 P as well? 


Anyway, what the HELL do I do when I don't want to sound like a generic 80's soft rock band?????

Winny_Pooh

Some of them are ok but they dont feel any better than laklands and the EQ frequency choices sound a bit to modern for my taste.

guitarfishbay

I briefly owned the old style Sandberg Jazz. I ordered it from Germany. I was pretty underwhelmed - took it to PMT and A/B'd with Fender US Standard Jazz basses and bought a Fender and returned the Sandberg.

I don't like Stingray pickups that close to the bridge - a real Stingray has the pickup closer to the neck. With it that close to the bridge it gets too middy without a nice low end.

The Sandberg I did like was the Basic model with a single Stingray style pickup. That was quite a nice instrument.

I like their neck shapes but otherwise I'd go Fender/Music Man

Bridgehouse

The setup was perhaps the most surprising thing, actually.. Either the neck needed a damn good straightening out, or there was something well to cock with the neck angle, as I was amazed how high the strings were given the saddles were on the deck..

Sporky

Bridgehouse said:

Anyway, what the HELL do I do when I don't want to sound like a generic 80's soft rock band?????

You play the Stingray.

Properly.

Bridgehouse

Sporky said:

Bridgehouse said:

Anyway, what the HELL do I do when I don't want to sound like a generic 80's soft rock band?????

You play the Stingray.

Properly.

What, like, without a pick, and like, twiddling the knobs and stuff???


Getouttahere!

fretmeister

I've had 3 Sandbergs and they've all been excellent 

Bridgehouse

fretmeister said:

I've had 3 Sandbergs and they've all been excellent 

Which is what I was expecting. Although my experience was from a sample of 1.

axisus

I was dead keen on a Sandberg relic a few years ago - came VERY close. Not new, but 2nd hand. 

Bridgehouse

axisus said:

I was dead keen on a Sandberg relic a few years ago - came VERY close. Not new, but 2nd hand. 

What put you off?

EricTheWeary

I had a chat with the guy on the Sandberg stand for five minutes, saying lovely things about them. I wasn't offered a go at the end of that so I thought bollocks to 'em. 

Bridgehouse

EricTheWeary said:

I had a chat with the guy on the Sandberg stand for five minutes, saying lovely things about them. I wasn't offered a go at the end of that so I thought bollocks to 'em. 

Yeah - the Sandberg stand looked very sniffy.. I didn't see anyone playing on there at any point in time

TimmyO

Bridgehouse said:

EricTheWeary said:

I had a chat with the guy on the Sandberg stand for five minutes, saying lovely things about them. I wasn't offered a go at the end of that so I thought bollocks to 'em. 

Yeah - the Sandberg stand looked very sniffy.. I didn't see anyone playing on there at any point in time

THEY played, but yeah didn't see any punters with mitts on. 

shame about how it played - it looked fantastic (I took a couple of pics too but they really don't do it justice) 

Bridgehouse

Don't get me wrong - it's one of the nicest relic jobs I've seen - but the setup alone put me off...

guitarfishbay

There was nothing wrong with the one I had, it just wasn't very resonant, and I found I prefer traditional singles to the Delano's that came with it. The neck shape is very comfy IMO, but the instrument itself didn't do it for me. 

Bridgehouse

guitarfishbay said:

There was nothing wrong with the one I had, it just wasn't very resonant, and I found I prefer traditional singles to the Delano's that came with it. The neck shape is very comfy IMO, but the instrument itself didn't do it for me. 

Given how stunning this one looked I did kinda wonder afterwards if the setup/playability was the main reason PMT had it on Special at the show..

digitalscream

Bridgehouse said:

EricTheWeary said:

I had a chat with the guy on the Sandberg stand for five minutes, saying lovely things about them. I wasn't offered a go at the end of that so I thought bollocks to 'em. 

Yeah - the Sandberg stand looked very sniffy.. I didn't see anyone playing on there at any point in time

That's OK, the Mark Bass guys were playing loud enough for everyone.

Bridgehouse

digitalscream said:

Bridgehouse said:

EricTheWeary said:

I had a chat with the guy on the Sandberg stand for five minutes, saying lovely things about them. I wasn't offered a go at the end of that so I thought bollocks to 'em. 

Yeah - the Sandberg stand looked very sniffy.. I didn't see anyone playing on there at any point in time

That's OK, the Mark Bass guys were playing loud enough for everyone.

Lol - he stopped playing when he saw my 'surprising' text from Mrs B

And the Darkglass amp was better anyway... 

Paul_C

Sporky said:

When will people learn not to bother with basses that aren't Precisions?

Listen to no other remarks @Sporky speaks the truth.