Sandberg California TM-5 Bass, 5-String, Violetburst
Player's Perspective
Music Store Live is proud to be an official Sandberg dealer! Made in Europe, with the finest German engineering, this bass will slap a smile on your face that you just can't shake. The TM-5 combines classic vintage tones with the ability to also get some great modern and hi-fi sounds as well. This one adds the luxury of only being 8 lbs for a 5-string! So not only does it sound thunderous, play like butter, but it's super forgiving on your shoulder and your back.
As well as being effortless to play, this Sandberg TM-5 comes loaded with a beautiful sounding electronics package packed with loads of versatility and lush tone. The proprietary Black Label pickups sound awesome! They have a little more punch and presence to them and we really love the growl they put out, as well. You can split the bridge pickup for a more J-bass kind of vibe or keep the humbucker at full power for some really great bark that still has some meat on its bones.
A simple 2-band boost/cut EQ allows you to tweak your sound on the fly without ever having to turn around and fiddle with your amp knobs. We really love the way the preamp in the Sandberg basses sounds. They've got it really well dialed in. The mini-toggle switch puts the bridge pickup in either single-coil or humbucking mode. From round and thumpy, to bright and poppy, there really aren't too many tones that you can't achieve with this combination of pickups. In passive mode, the treble EQ knob serves as a passive tone knob where the center detent is the equivalent of having the tone knob 100% open and you can cut from there. This is one of our favorite "hidden" features of this bass as it really does make for an instrument that offers just as much usefulness in active mode as it does in passive.
Sandberg basses instantly became a shop favorite when we first brought them onboard and over the years this has only been reaffirmed.
Special Features
Sandberg Guitars was founded back in 1986 by Holger Stonjek and Gerd Gorzelke. Since then, they have been producing hand-made instruments at the highest quality. This bass features Sandberg's California body shape. The body is made out of paulownia and the neck is Canadian hard rock maple. Sandberg Black Label pickups and a custom wound Glockenklang 2-band preamp, made just for Sandberg, round out the electronics.
Specifications
BODY
- Model: California II TM-5
- Color: Violetburst
- Body: Swamp Ash
- Pickguard: 1-Ply Black
NECK
- Construction: Bolt-On
- Fretboard: Birdseye Maple
- Neck Wood: Hard Rock Maple
- Radius: 14"
- Frets: 22 + Zero Fret
- Finish: Satin
- Neck Profile: Thin C-Shape
- Nut: 1.77" (45mm) Graphite
- Neck Depth @ 1st Fret: 0.83" (21mm)
- Scale: 34"
- Headstock: Matching
ELECTRONICS
- Pickups: Sandberg Black Label Single-Coil and Humbucker
- Preamp: Custom 9v 2-Band EQ (designed by Glockenklang)
- Controls: Volume (push/pull for active/passive), Blend, Treble (acts as tone knob when in passive mode), Bass
- Mini-Toggle: Coil-Split Bridge
HARDWARE
- Bridge: Sandberg Custom 18mm - 19.5mm Adjustable String Spacing
- Tuners: Sandberg Ultra Light
- Hardware Finish: Black
Miscellaneous
- Case: Sandberg Gig Bag
- Made In Germany
- Serial #: 40025
- Instrument Weight: 8 lbs.
Overall Condition
Music Store Live is proud to be an authorized dealer for Sandberg. This TM-5 is 100% brand new and is being sold with a full manufacturer's warranty. Photos are of the exact bass you'll receive.
Our in-house guitar tech will inspect, test, set up, and clean all of our instruments on site prior to shipping. All of our instruments are guaranteed to be fully functional upon arrival.
Along with our amazing inventory, we can custom order any Sandberg bass or guitar you'd like.