Club Sandberg (part 2)

[NickBassCentral]

Bass Central if you are in the US.

Thanks for the shout out!

 

[andyk]

Might be worth emailing some European dealers like Thomann for quotes too - the quote they provided me for a medium scaled alder bodied VS4 passive back in December seemed a good bit lower than the quotes I got from US dealers, but not sure about duties etc.

I've (US resident) ordered a couple of off the shelf Sandbergs from Europe. One from Thommen which came via USPS, with no import duties, cheap shipping, but took a while. The other from a Spanish dealer who used Fedex; that one had 5% import duty (billed via Fedex), shipping wasn't cheap, but transit time from Spain to my doorstep in upstate NY was 5 days. Very satisiied with both.

At some point in the future, I am definitely going for custom builds. European dealers seem to have a stronger relationship with Sandberg as well as better prices so I won't personally hesitate to go that route. Thommen would be an option, maybe bassdirectuk or bass buddha (Morten is super chill).

For US dealers, I've gotten good responses to questions from CME (Chicago Music Exchange) and Music Store Live. YMMV of course,but I really dislike Bass Central due to their over pricing & over hype; they're competent and reliable but they come across like a used car dealer. I've bought one instrument from Bass Central; although everything was handled well I felt like I had to take a shower afterwards.

 

[Shlabotnik]

For me, MusicStoreLive has been very good to to deal with for ordering custom Sandbergs in the US.

 

[pineweasel]

Same pickup and position as the demonstrated instrument, only this one is available in both 4 or 5 string and 34" or 35" scale and it has 18 to 19.5 mm string spacing (adjustable)

The California Central is now on their configurator with limited options compared to other Californias, but there's a 5 string 35" option. The string spacing adjustment will be there too; it's the standard Sandberg bridge.

 

[jvanoort]

The California Central is now on their configurator with limited options compared to other Californias, but there's a 5 string 35" option. The string spacing adjustment will be there too; it's the standard Sandberg bridge.

Cool, but then the only difference between this and the basic would be the body and headstock shape? What’s the point in that? Or am I missing something?

 

[pineweasel]

Cool, but then the only difference between this and the basic would be the body and headstock shape? What’s the point in that? Or am I missing something?

People like those Fender type designs. I bet they sell way more Californias than Basics

 

[Lesfunk]

Cool, but then the only difference between this and the basic would be the body and headstock shape? What’s the point in that? Or am I missing something?

People like those Fender type designs. I bet they sell way more Californias than Basics

I think they’re simply more attractive

 

[jvanoort]

That may be, I'm sure they know what they are doing. I for one like that my basic isn't a traditional Fender shape.

But choice is a good thing after all

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

The California Central is now on their configurator with limited options compared to other Californias, but there's a 5 string 35" option. The string spacing adjustment will be there too; it's the standard Sandberg bridge.

Is the five string option only available with 35 scale?

 

[Laklandfan]

I’ve been looking at Sandbergs with the Delano xtender pickups. I’ve never played these pickups before, what kind of tone do they have?

 

[Lesfunk]

I wonder if they will reintroduce the central as an Electra

 

[foldyman]

Might be worth emailing some European dealers like Thomann for quotes too - the quote they provided me for a medium scaled alder bodied VS4 passive back in December seemed a good bit lower than the quotes I got from US dealers, but not sure about duties etc.

I just got the same build priced from a few dealers in the UK. Bass Direct came out the best value, Thomann were a tad more expensive and seemed slightly less willing to accommodate a couple of minor deviations from the configurator options. PMT were inexplicably £1k (that's one thousand pounds) more expensive, so they're well off my Christmas card list!

 

[foldyman]

... and while I'm on here, just a general question on active Sandbergs for any current owners who know...

Does the battery still run down if the active circuit is disengaged with the knob, or do you need to pull the cable out (like I have to with my Fender)?

Cheers,
A

 

[foldyman]

... and another thing...

I understand Sandberg file the zero fret. While I can't say I have an issue with that per se, can anyone say what the advantage of doing that has over just using a nut that's the same material?

Cheers,
A

 

[Jughead6]

The California Central is now on their configurator with limited options compared to other Californias, but there's a 5 string 35" option. The string spacing adjustment will be there too; it's the standard Sandberg bridge.

Very disappointing. I was really hoping the Central would be offered with the full range of options. It's like they're only catering for metalheads.

 

[chanson]

Very disappointing. I was really hoping the Central would be offered with the full range of options. It's like they're only catering for metalheads.

As a metalhead, I can assure you those options don't appeal to me either.

 

[mcnach]

... and while I'm on here, just a general question on active Sandbergs for any current owners who know...

Does the battery still run down if the active circuit is disengaged with the knob, or do you need to pull the cable out (like I have to with my Fender)?

Cheers,
A

The socket acts like a switch, so yes, as long as the cable is in the preamp is powered. That's true for 99.9% of onboard preamps. Using the active/passive switch does not switch off the preamp, it only bypasses it.

 

[pineweasel]

I understand Sandberg file the zero fret. While I can't say I have an issue with that per se, can anyone say what the advantage of doing that has over just using a nut that's the same material?

I think the idea is to separate the string spacing and string height adjustment. The height can be set more precisely (or perhaps more quickly!) when the luthier doesn't have to worry about the string's lateral position, or the break angle of the nut slot

 

[foldyman]

I think the idea is to separate the string spacing and string height adjustment. The height can be set more precisely (or perhaps more quickly!) when the luthier doesn't have to worry about the string's lateral position, or the break angle of the nut slot

Yes, I thought that would be the case for a non filed zero fret, and one of its main advantages. If the zero fret is filed though, then is the string's lateral position and height not determined by the fret alone, because that that's the last contact point before the rest of the fingerboard?

I can't really get my head around why a filed zero fret is functionally any different to a nut made of the same material as the frets, and why Sandberg do it the way they do.

I'm sure they have a good reason, just can't figure it out!

 

[mcnach]

Yes, I thought that would be the case for a non filed zero fret, and one of its main advantages. If the zero fret is filed though, then is the string's lateral position and height not determined by the fret alone, because that that's the last contact point before the rest of the fingerboard?

I can't really get my head around why a filed zero fret is functionally any different to a nut made of the same material as the frets, and why Sandberg do it the way they do.

I'm sure they have a good reason, just can't figure it out!

Filed zero fret?
The zero fret on my VM4 is not filed, it looks just like the rest.