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I have two of them, one is super super light. It does neckdive a bit. My solution was fishing weights inside the control cavity. It's still about 6.75 pounds.
If I could make them, I think about 7 lbs for the SLs would be perfect, given the weight of the tuners (which are also incredibly lightweight).
Thank you for the info, I had a feeling that close to 7 lbs would probably be my best choice because I can not stand a neck diver, even slightly heavy.
I had to add 4 ounces of weight to the body (control cavity) of my lightweight Pbass to make it balance well and it’s got lightweight tuners too. Weight on it is 8lb 4oz.
I’ll probably have to wait until a used unit comes up for sale. But it’s good to know I can add weight to body if I need to and still be under 7lbs.
Regardless of neck diving, the Sandberg SLs are first rate and highly recommended.
That sounds odd to me. Is the neck heavy, or the upper bout short? Warmoth necks are heavy and can neck dive even with lightweight tuners.
When I bought it new it weighed approx 7lb 14oz. Its a Fender MIM. I had to change out the tuners to Hipshot USA ultralites to keep from neck diving. It did help drastically but after playing the bass for a while I decided to add a few ounces of weight to the body to make it balance better. The upper bout is in the correct spot.
I also added an Audere Preamp and a battery box so that added a little weight as well.
The neck in its naked (stripped) state weighs 1lb 10oz. I don’t know if that is heavier than normal but I almost purchased a new roasted maple neck but found out that particular neck was only 1oz lighter than mine so I didn’t do it.
8lb 4oz is still light for a Pbass, and it does balance quite well.
Hey guys! I just listed a really clean California TT Superlight 5 in the classifieds. Check it out...
For Sale - Sandberg California TT 5 Superlight
For Sale - Sandberg California TT 5 Superlight
So, my dear Sanbergers...
What are the 34" scale low Bs like on these things?
Decent?
What are the 34" scale low Bs like on these things?
Decent?
Mine sounds really good.
Not as deep as my MusicMan StingRay Special 5 . But still nice and deep and clear.
Not muddy .
But we are comparing maple /rounds with rosewood /flats.
I'm (at least initially) going to be going with TI rounds, with a B at a fairly skinny 0.118.
Love love love TI rounds on my 4 string.
I don't play heavily.
Thoughts on how I'll fare with the B?
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Thanks @Naigewron, mind me asking what strings you use? Would you say you're a heavy or light player?
Perfectly fine. I prefer 34" scale but have owned many 35" scale 5 strings. Both of my Sandbergs are fantastic. Reminds me of Sadowsky basses I've owned with that regard. I'll see if I can do some kind of shoot out between the basses I have right now for comparison.
I got this California VM back in November. I also have a Sadowsky NYC J 4 string and I think the Sandberg is just as good. This one is a tribute to my hometown baseball team.
Started off with regular Ernie Ball 45-130. Moved to DR Stainless Steel Lo-Rider 45-125 to see if it would help, but it didn't really do all that much for the B string.
Amazing bass, great tone and playability, but unfortunately let down a bit by the B string. It's not horrible, but enough for me to have to think about how to work around it.
I need to edit what I said earlier. I keep Ernie Ball Slinky round on the B string of my StingRay5 Special. Cobalt flats on the other strings .
My Sandberg Ida 5 still has stock strings. I found them to be too bright at first but now they have settled down and sound fine. I plan on trying Slinkys next. If needed, maybe DR Blues after that.I’m a light player.
Not sure about the TI Rounds. You’ll have to try it and see.
What strings have you tried? Maybe something like a taper-core B would help. Or as light of a gauge as you can get; if there's something like a .120 B out there, as part of an extra light set. Or something with an entirely different feel - stiff vs. flexible as an example.
It can be frustrating to keep working at a long cycle experimentation, but then so is having to compromise for an instrument that you're feeling is not at it's full potential.
It's an expensive business experimenting with strings!
I'll let you know how I get on with the 0.118 B of the TI rounds when I finally get the TM (still a good few months off!)
Had to get the nut filled in to accommodate the 4 string set on a J bass, which is another slight annoyance but well worth it IMO.
These:
Like others have said, string experiments are expensive. A 5-string set costs about US$60-70 here, so sadly I can't just try ten different sets to find the best one. At that point, I've spent at least half as much on strings as the bass is worth.
My other 34" fivers (Ibanez SR and Ibanez EHB) have no such issues, regardless of strings, so the main issue does not seem to be my string selection.
I have a 35" Lakland J coming very soon, I'm excited to see how that compares.
Could it be pickup position @Naigewron? I think the VM has split coil but neither of your Ibanez do?
