NBD: Sandberg Lionel Superlight (now with video)

fretmeister

After 11 months almost to the day my special order bass is here in plenty of time for my birthday. 

After trying a much cheaper shortscale and really enjoying it, particularly when playing with a plectrum I decided to get something from my favourite bass brand. The Lionels are often quite lightweight anyway but they do sometimes get up to a massive 8.5lb...

 

So I asked if a Superlight version was possible and it was, for only a modest extra fee of about £140 over the usual price. I also went for a rosewood board with abalone dots. I am informed that this is the first Superlight Lionel that has been built. 

It arrived this morning and I've had a 20 minute play. 

From previous experience I often find Sandbergs to be quite bright sounding basses and I was halfway expecting to swap the pickup or the pots or both. As it happens this bass is not excessively bright, in fact the top end is pleasingly mellow. I think I'll be keeping the electronics as is, at least for now. 

As expected the stock strings are not to my taste at all. I've got a couple of used sets of strings to try to see what suits it best - Ti Flats and EB Group flats (not cobalt ones) and I'll give each set a proper go before deciding on what new set to get. 

 

Now the big question. The weight...

 

It's just under 2.6kg / 5.7lb !!!

Massive thanks to Mark at Classic and Cool Guitars for the excellent service throughout the process - he's been top notch keeping me fully informed and replying to questions really quickly.

stickyfiddle

Excellent!  

HerbieTheRadDorklift

Looks great! is the body all paulownia or does it have a figured veneer for the open pore style??

LastMantra

Decent!

I love that finish. Almost looks like a well worn pebal on a beach, if you get me. 

fretmeister

HerbieTheRadDorklift said:

Looks great! is the body all paulownia or does it have a figured veneer for the open pore style??

All paulownia.

It is quite soft so it won't be long before it gets scratches and dents!

HerbieTheRadDorklift

fretmeister said:

HerbieTheRadDorklift said:

Looks great! is the body all paulownia or does it have a figured veneer for the open pore style??

All paulownia.

It is quite soft so it won't be long before it gets scratches and dents!

Good point

Sporky

Lovely!

Is it there yet? 

Dave_Mc

   

fretmeister

It now has Ti Flats on it.

They sound very nice. I will still be trying my favourite EB Group iii flats but I’ll give the Ti set a few weeks first.

I spent last night playing along to the only good album John Mayer has done [/StickyBait] and I’m very pleased. 

stickyfiddle

fretmeister said:

I spent last night playing along to the only good album John Mayer has done [/StickyBait] and I’m very pleased. 

Haha I'm not even going to argue. I said similar to my bandmates the other day... 

fretmeister

Just think how much money Pino and Steve Jordan could make from solo artists if they just offered themselves as the "Rhythm Section to the Otherwise Mediocre" 

When those 2 play together, particularly in a power trio or other small ensemble there is just something very special that happens. There's definitely some telepathy going on there! 

bertie

32 or 30 ?

fretmeister

30.

bertie

and there's you telling me not to be a ponce and get a 34" scale   

Sporky

NO HALF MEASURES! 

fretmeister

bertie said:

and there's you telling me not to be a ponce and get a 34" scale   

That's entirely possible!  

But... different tools for different jobs and all that!

equalsql

I do like Sandberg basses. I've got an older active model California that I picked up used from Basschat and the build quality is just perfect, not a single flaw anywhere. It'll be interesting to know what flatwounds you find work best on this bass.

fretmeister

My California 2 TT4 has EB Group iv flats on it. 40-95.

I love them. A bit brighter than an old fashioned flat, but not as bright as the EB cobalt flats. React very well to the tone control. Lovely feel under the fingers after the manufacturing residue has come off (Fastfret FTW) and they last for ages. Great with a bit of sponge under the strings at the bridge for that old short sustain sound.

I tried them when I discovered Joe Dart uses them on his signature EBMM and used them for the Vulfpeck Live at MSG show. I adore the bass sound on that album.

They don’t do a short scale but I will be trying them on the Lionel anyway. It’s usually a bad idea to put flats round a tuning post as they can break easily but as the Lionel posts are full size I’m going to try it anyway at some point.

I did not like La Bellas at all. No note definition, and felt very grippy to the fingers of the right hand. They were fighting me, particularly in hot weather and my hands were a bit sweaty. Same for the Deep Talking and the Low Tension versions. The LT versions were so bad I binned them after a day.

fretmeister

Well, I tried the EB Group iii flats and as much as I love them on my jazz type they are not the right choice for the Lionel.

So far the Ti Flats are winning.

I am still curious about some mellow sounding rounds and after searching through some kit boxes I've got a set of DR Pure Blues rounds. Assuming they are not dead (they are round core and easy to kill when taking them off) I'll give them a try too.

I really wish I liked the same strings on every bass. Would save me a fortune, and avoid my OCD kicking in when swapping basses - a bit of a "urgh that's different" reaction!

fretmeister

I did a rehearsal with round steels on it today.

Flats will be back on it very shortly. There’s just something wrong about playing Duck Dunn lines with rounds! 

I did try some sponge under the strings but it’s just not the same as that La Bella DTF low mid thump.

fretmeister

I've settled on EB Group flats for the Lionel.

I did prefer the TI flats but unfortunately my nickel allergy has got much worse. Most annoyingly I had put a set of Ti flats on the Lionel and on my TT4 and after a week they are off again. Been an expensive week.

Still, on Basschat someone will buy them.