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Where in the US can I buy Sandberg SS strings????

vindibona1

vindibona1

Apr 18, 2015
3,149
3,510
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#1
I just got a Sandberg Basic Ken Taylor bass and in the little brochure it says "Your Sandberg bass was strung with Sandberg Stainless Steel Strings".

I bought this bass pretty much because of the sound and I don't want to change anything. Everything is perfect out of the box. So at some point I'd want some strings in my bin for that time. The problem is that I haven't found anyone in the US who sells these Sandberg strings. But it wouldn't be the first time Google has let me down.

Can anyone point me to a retailer that sells Sandberg strings? TIA
 
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#2
I'm seeing them for sale from Denmark. But I would try GHS or Lakland strings. Both are going to be a close alternative. I think Lakland gets the stock strings from GHS too. It's a shame I don't see a US distributor anywhere. Maybe contacting Sandberg would help. They should be able to tell you if they have a distributor here or can find you someone that will ship to you.
 
#3
GTHintz said:
I'm seeing them for sale from Denmark. But I would try GHS or Lakland strings. Both are going to be a close alternative. I think Lakland gets the stock strings from GHS too. It's a shame I don't see a US distributor anywhere. Maybe contacting Sandberg would help. They should be able to tell you if they have a distributor here or can find you someone that will ship to you.
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I did write Sandberg. It seems they are truly a Mom and Pop company. They seem to know how to build basses, but don't seem to have a lot of business acumen. If they have bass retailers in the US you would think that they would push their strings. I also don't know if they have a warranty facility in the US either.

I really have only one gripe other than the lack of string availability. I'd like to have the tuners looked at as they are stiff and a bit difficult to make precise and accurate adjustments, seemingly no different in function as my Gio 6 string. Kind of a contradiction for a quality $3300 bass to have such cheap feeling tuners. The same style of tuners on my Yamaha are way, way, way smoother. I'm not sure how the tuner thing will play out by I talked to my sales guy at CMX and he is going to look into it for me.
 
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#4
vindibona1 said:
I did write Sandberg. It seems they are truly a Mom and Pop company. They seem to know how to build basses, but don't seem to have a lot of business acumen. If they have bass retailers in the US you would think that they would push their strings. I also don't know if they have a warranty facility in the US either.

I really have only one gripe other than the lack of string availability. I'd like to have the tuners looked at as they are stiff and a bit difficult to make precise and accurate adjustments, seemingly no different in function as my Gio 6 string. Kind of a contradiction for a quality $3300 bass to have such cheap feeling tuners. The same style of tuners on my Yamaha are way, way, way smoother. I'm not sure how the tuner thing will play out by I talked to my sales guy at CMX and he is going to look into it for me.
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Good luck on that. You could try checking the screw that go into the tuner. Sometimes it's easy to over torque them and make the tuner hard to turn. I'd be checking all them as well as the nut that snugs the post to the ferrule. For what it's worth I've had a similar gripe with Warwick tuners. My Corvette bass ended up needing tuners recently and I decided to go after gotohs which were the standard on which Warwick used for their in house tuners. And you've seen the price tag on some of the custom builds. Just as much as anything Sandberg charges. It's a shame they don't use higher quality on such an important yet overlooked piece.
 
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#8
It's really strange to equip a bass like Ken Taylor with these tuners. They are cheap tuners, €10. The more common open ones made of aluminum cost €40, are much better and fit the most common Sandberg basses. It's incomprehensible. But they seem to be standard tuners, I think you should exchange them for Gotoh or Hipshot.

Sandberg is a small company, but they always responded to my emails quickly, solving my problems. I requested the replacement of a control plate that had finishing problems, it was sent to me free of charge within a week.
 
#9
OP to your point about the stiffness of the tuning machines. That will go away after a few months of tuning. I have had my TM-4 for doing on 4 years and they are very smooth and accurate without hiccups but were also stiff in the beginning for me.

Regarding the strings, why not order them from overseas?
 
#10
vindibona1 said:
I did write Sandberg. It seems they are truly a Mom and Pop company. They seem to know how to build basses, but don't seem to have a lot of business acumen. If they have bass retailers in the US you would think that they would push their strings. I also don't know if they have a warranty facility in the US either.

I really have only one gripe other than the lack of string availability. I'd like to have the tuners looked at as they are stiff and a bit difficult to make precise and accurate adjustments, seemingly no different in function as my Gio 6 string. Kind of a contradiction for a quality $3300 bass to have such cheap feeling tuners. The same style of tuners on my Yamaha are way, way, way smoother. I'm not sure how the tuner thing will play out by I talked to my sales guy at CMX and he is going to look into it for me.
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If they're a smaller company, I'd bet that outsourcing the string production (to their specs) and rebranding them would save them quite a bit vs. doing it in house. Therefore.... I'd also bet that whoever makes the strings for them likely has a similar set for sale under a different name. Pyramid maybe? Not sure. Galli Strings is another European manufacturer. Based on these assumptions... I'd look for European manufacturers that carry similar spec'd strings. I could be wrong though.

Edit: Dogal strings has a "carbon steel" set that's round core. Thanks for the little bunny trail of strings. little bit of research entertainment outside my normal.
 
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#15
GTHintz said:
I'm seeing them for sale from Denmark. But I would try GHS or Lakland strings. Both are going to be a close alternative. I think Lakland gets the stock strings from GHS too. It's a shame I don't see a US distributor anywhere. Maybe contacting Sandberg would help. They should be able to tell you if they have a distributor here or can find you someone that will ship to you.
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Is DE Denmark or Germany (Deutchland)?
 
#17
I finally found a place in Europe to get the strings. With shipping it looks like $35USD or thereabouts. The shipping was only 6 Euros, so I took a chance on a single set. I don't really need them right now. But since the geometry on my Yamaha TRBX605 is so similar to my Sandberg, I may just throw them on the TRBX for comparison sake. My fear is that these strings might scare me into returning the Sandberg- but even if it becomes a real challenger, I think I'm keeping the Sandberg anyway, but might be of interest in the TRBX club. I dunno. What I don't think I'm going to do is stray from the Sandberg strings. How would I justify trying to improve near perfection?
 
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#18
vindibona1 said:
I finally found a place in Europe to get the strings. With shipping it looks like $35USD or thereabouts. The shipping was only 6 Euros, so I took a chance on a single set. I don't really need them right now. But since the geometry on my Yamaha TRBX605 is so similar to my Sandberg, I may just throw them on the TRBX for comparison sake. My fear is that these strings might scare me into returning the Sandberg- but even if it becomes a real challenger, I think I'm keeping the Sandberg anyway, but might be of interest in the TRBX club. I dunno. What I don't think I'm going to do is stray from the Sandberg strings. How would I justify trying to improve near perfection?
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If you really like the strings on both basses then I would say it's worth it to keep with them. I'm at the point where I'm really zoning in on just a couple brands and sticking to them. This is after going nuts all last year trying different strings. The alternative is spending lots of money on trial and error like I did.
 
#19
GTHintz said:
If you really like the strings on both basses then I would say it's worth it to keep with them. I'm at the point where I'm really zoning in on just a couple brands and sticking to them. This is after going nuts all last year trying different strings. The alternative is spending lots of money on trial and error like I did.
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I've had a love/unlove relationship with my Yamaha. I had put it up for sale, then changed my mind. Again, I am so surprised at the similarities with the Sandberg. Perhaps I'm a bit OCD with my gear. I don't think I can get the Yamaha to simulate the Sandberg 100%, but close enough for rehearsals.

The Sandberg might sideline my BTB675 and Fender Jazz 5? I don't know. I get too emotionally attached to my instruments, even if I don't play them.
 
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#20
I'd say keep them all and try them out when the Sandberg isn't sounding pristine to your ears. It'll just keep things fresh and probably keep you from impulse selling some day. It's probably a good thing that your Yamaha doesn't emulate the Sandberg 100% because that gives you a wider tonal spectrum and is useful. Each bass has it's own flavor and the unique way you bring out the sound so that's a good thing to have a few nice basses to turn to.
 

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