Sandberg California TM-5 5-String Bass, Buckeye Burl Top, Ebony Fretboard, Only 8.5 lbs. (NAMM Exhibition Stock)

• Sandberg California TM-5 Rarewood (NAMM 2019 Exhibition Model)
  
• 5-String Bass
• Buckeye Burl Top - Matching Headstock
• Chambered Mahogany Body
• Maple Neck
• Ebony Fretboard - White Pearl Block Inlays
• Delano JMVC5 and MC5FE Pickups
• Sandberg 2-Band Preamp (9V)
• Controls: Volume (push/pull for active/passive), Blend, Bass, Treble (treble knob functions as passive tone in passive mode)
  
• Mini-Toggle for Single-Coil and Humbucking Bridge Modes
• Sandberg Custom Bridge: 18mm - 19.5mm Adjustable String Spacing
• Sandberg Gig Bag Included
  
• Serial #: 32722
  
• Instrument Weight: 8.5 lbs.
• Made In Germany

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. This one is quite the head-turner with a gorgeous buckeye burl top and it's chambered to alleviate some of the weight and comes in at a mere 8.5 lbs. This is one of those basses that inspires you to play more bass! It did suffer a small injury while at the Sandberg booth at NAMM in early 2019. But really it's not even noticeable unless you're looking for it due to its location on the body of the bass and it means the bass has a nice discount to it!

Sandberg basses are already very well known over in Europe and are now gaining popularity here in the U.S. for being some of the finest hand-made boutique basses available. The playability is just simply off the charts. Whether you're a 4-string player or used to 5-strings, you'll feel right at home on this one. The B-string, even though this is a 34" scale bass, is incredibly tight and punchy. The mahogany body also helps to really tighten up the notes while the maple neck and ebony fretboard add some nice brightness to the top end.

As well as being effortless to play, this Sandberg TM-5 comes loaded with some powerful and thoroughly kickass electronics. The first thing you're likely to notice are the huge pole pieces on the Delano JMVC J-style pickup. This is a brilliant adaptation of a tried and true design. The resulting tone is one that will sit perfectly in a mix, no matter how many other instruments are playing along with you, and will never be muddy or indistinct. It's got a bit more mid-range punch to it than traditional vintage single coils as well as being hum-cancelling. Right behind that is a MM-style humbucker (also made by Delano) that allows you to get a growly and thick tone or you can split it to turn the bass into a more traditional J bass vibe. The two pickups combine for a huge array of tonal versatility. Add to that the zero fret (we love this feature) and you truly have a bass with even tonal and playing response across all strings as well as fretted and open strings. 

Rest assured, you can still achieve traditional J bass tones with this as well. In passive mode, this bass achieves more some more vintage J bass sounds, while still maintaining that characteristic of a slightly more prevalent and punchy mid-range. Overall, along with tightening up the bass response and providing fuller treble response, the giant pole pieces on the pickups help produce a powerful tone that is rich with harmonics and responds well to dynamics in your playing syle. 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. The mini-toggle switch puts the bridge pickup in either single-coil or humbucking mode. For a more vintage sound, just pull the volume knob to disengage the preamp and you'll instantly be transported to bass sounds of the 60's and 70's. With the preamp engaged, you can really dial in a huge array of tones ranging from modern hi-fi to old-school and vintage. From round and thumpy, to bright and snappy.

There really aren't too many tones that you can't achieve with this combination of pickups. Add to that the expert craftsmanship that all Sandberg basses share, the uniquely beautiful aesthetics of the rarewood burl top used, all coming in nice and light so you'll always be comfortable, and you've got a true winner here!

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 alder and the neck is Canadian hard rock maple with a maple fretboard. Delano pickups and a custom wound Glockenklang 2-band preamp, made just for Sandberg, round out the electronics. 

Music Store Live is proud to be an authorized Sandberg Guitars dealer. Along with our amazing inventory, we can custom order any Sandberg bass or guitar you'd like.

Music Store Live is proud to be an authorized dealer for Sandberg. This TM-5 Rarewood was used as part of the Sandberg NAMM booth display in 2019. It does have a blemish on the side of the body. It is not noticeable while in a playing position and does not impact the integrity, functionality, sound, or playability of the bass. But we have discounted this down from $3,499 to offer you an incredible deal on this bass.

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.