Sandberg California TM5 5-String Cherry Sunburst RWFB

After being founded in 1986, Sandberg quickly made a name for themselves in creating 5 and 6 string bass guitars using only the highest grade of rare and exotic woods. Now, more than 30 years later, they may have branched out into other areas but their best instruments are still (arguably) their 5 and 6 string bass guitars, with the Sandberg California TM5 being one of their crowning achievements. These awesome, hand-crafted examples of low-end perfection look familiar, but are more than unique enough to stand out in a crowd - that's even when they're not being played!

Familiar, but different...

The general body shape of the California T series is instantly familiar to most bass players, bearing a striking resemblance to one of the most popular bass guitars in history - the Jazz Bass. That is where the similarities end however, with Sandberg's own incredibly constructed hardware adorning the bridge and headstock, a Single Coil & Humbucker pickup combination, a preamp which allows you to switch between active and passive modes, and (in this case) 5 strings worth of tonal bliss at your fingertips.

The Pickups

Let's have a look at those tasty Delano pickups:

• The J series neck single coil is a classic reconstruction of the vintage Jazz Bass pickups from the 1960's and 1970's, and grants you a nice blend of woody low-mid growls and warm articulate midrange as well as that trademark funky "twang" that the pickups became famous for.
• Then there's the awesome M series bridge humbucker. This humbucker is based heavily around the popular Stingray style humbucker pickup shape, with a very wide string sensing area to pick up as much tonal colour as possible. This gives you fat and grinding tone when in humbucker mode, but at the flick of a switch can be converted into a bright and clear sounding single-coil instead. With a warm bass and low-mid response, and extra voice on the mids and bright percussive top end, this pickup is as versatile as you could want or need it to be.

Not only is he humbucker on a coil-split circuit, but there's also the Sandberg 2-band preamp, which gives you the option of switching between Passive and Active in addition to the exquisite tone control - the versatility of this bass knows no bounds!

Made to be Played

With the ergonomic and solidly constructed chassis, this guitar is most certainly one that you could grace a stage with. The curvature of this relatively lightweight body rests comfortably against you as you play, making even the longest of shows and studio sessions pass by that bit quicker. Add that to the perfect sounding tonal spectrum supplied by the solid wood body and awesome electronics system, and you will fast be running out of reasons NOT to buy it.

Having been lucky enough to have played Sandberg basses in the past, I can honestly say that you will be pushed to find anything better within the same price range. In fact, in my experience I'd put the California TM5 up there as my favourite, and I'm still trying to convince my significant other to let me buy one. They're comfortable to play, produce incredible tones, and feel every inch the professional instrument.

Features

• Neck: 6 bolted Canadian Hardrock Maple
• Fretboard: Rosewood, 22 Frets, White Pearloid Block inlays
• Finish: Matt Cherry Sunburst
• Hardware: Sandberg, Nickle plated
• Pickups: 1 x Delano T-Style single coil, 1 x Delano M-Style Humbucker (coil tapped)
• Preamp: Sandberg 2-band, active / passive, passive tone control