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Club Sandberg (part 2)

my experience with GC ( a ton ) is that anything bought and returned is now off the table. I've been burned so many times under that circumstance. Generally they won't tell you why it was returned or what store initially bought it in from the public. Those should be your first questions to them. Tons happening behind the scenes. Good news is that if you just make it a rule, as I have, to never buy a returned item, you can get good deals and good gear there. I have, many times. Even last week.
 
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Just got myself a VM 5 Nighthawk, first time owning a Sandberg. Love the feel of the bass but still getting acquainted with the sound. The "P" pickup surprisingly is a bit louder than the bridge "MM" style pickup. Is this common, or do I need to raise the bridge pickup?

Obviously this comes down to personal presence a bit, but I was expecting the output of the bridge pickup to overpower the P, not the other way around. On the center of the blend it sounds like a really nice juicy PJ tone, in terms of the mix between the two. I was expecting a louder bridge pickup, but that might be due to my experience only with Stingrays and not Sandbergs. How do you all feel the volume output is between pickups on the VM?
 
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Just got myself a VM 5 Nighthawk, first time owning a Sandberg. Love the feel of the bass but still getting acquainted with the sound. The "P" pickup surprisingly is a bit louder than the bridge "MM" style pickup. Is this common, or do I need to raise the bridge pickup?

Obviously this comes down to personal presence a bit, but I was expecting the output of the bridge pickup to overpower the P, not the other way around. On the center of the blend it sounds like a really nice juicy PJ tone, in terms of the mix between the two. I was expecting a louder bridge pickup, but that might be due to my experience only with Stingrays and not Sandbergs. How do you all feel the volume output is between pickups on the VM?

in short - The M pick ups is not meant to sound like a Ray - it’s in the wron place and it doesn’t have the same pre-amp - it is there to support the split coil and dial in clarity and cut to the sound.

Its performing the way it was designed
 
Haha!

I should probably save the post I wrote on this, as I have replicated it a number of times, so........This is all preamp aside

Delano - hifi, not sterile, more modern sounding, great clarity, fine TI use with effects but you have to know what you want to do

Sandberg - I am pretty sure at some point there was a generational shift, but, more classic/vintage sounding, lower output, but just the right output to play with pre amps etc and not overload the front end like the G&L MFD pick ups do - very very good sounding, but I think their split coil is the weakest of the lot (dunno why, not as good as their jazz)

Sandberg black label - as above but with even more punch and zing, more of a modern nod and a real punch to the guts - especially good in with SL basses, as they need more oomph being lightweight - very very good pick ups

Haüssel-like the sandberg ones on steroids, huge balls and character and they also do a big pole version I have used in another bass - so much beef that Jon Snow, the TT which @DJ’65 has now solo’d on the neck is practically a P bass sound - very good pick ups, slightly harder to tame with pre-amps etc.

very quick overview IMHO

Thanks for that writeup, very helpful.

I also emailed Sandberg about this and got a very fast response from Holger. He states that the Häussel are more "vintage", and the black labels more "modern and fat" sounding.

I think I will actually go for the black labels, even though that means waiting for a few months for new stock.
 
Thanks for that writeup, very helpful.

I also emailed Sandberg about this and got a very fast response from Holger. He states that the Häussel are more "vintage", and the black labels more "modern and fat" sounding.

I think I will actually go for the black labels, even though that means waiting for a few months for new stock.

Hölger is a dude

glad he agrees with me
 
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It's Finally here!!!!! :hyper:

VS4 California Lionel Green Burst, Roasted Maple Neck.

Number :bassist:
 

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Nice Lionel, congrats! I've had mine about six weeks now and I really love it, a joy to play and sounds great, too.

Agreed! The more I play this one the more I love it! The build quality is amazing and I am in love with the neck on it! Sound wise it seems to pick up more of the dynamics of my string plucking much better than my other P basses. So I am able to get more sounds out of it than I was anticipating. I was really surprised how much hotter the pickups were compared to my other basses as well! All in all an excellent purchase! I am hoping this one becomes my daily driver.
 
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Thanks for that writeup, very helpful.

I also emailed Sandberg about this and got a very fast response from Holger. He states that the Häussel are more "vintage", and the black labels more "modern and fat" sounding.

I think I will actually go for the black labels, even though that means waiting for a few months for new stock.

on the Black Labels, I’d say they’re incredibly versatile pickups too. They do lean more modern, but are so responsive that changing playing style, pickup balance or tone control can really give great and varying results. Cuzzie is right, they are so well suited to the Super Lights. My SL5 is a slap machine and has a very fast and accurate response, but if I roll the pickup bias towards the neck and use my thumb, or roll tone and treble back, maybe even boost the bass a touch it does a very convincing old skool P bass punch.
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It's Finally here!!!!! :hyper:

VS4 California Lionel Green Burst, Roasted Maple Neck.

Number :bassist:

I received my Vm4 with the roasted neck and fretboard a few weeks back. The roasted neck and fingerboard significantly change the sound of the bass compared to other neck woods I have used. Especially if you use a pick. That color looks great!