Sandberg California JM4

This is a Sandberg California JM 4 built in Germany in 2008. The slim jazz neck is hand carved maple with a rosewood finger board and has 22 medium jumbo frets. The body is made from alder cut in the classic Jazz bass style & finished in a stunning high gloss "cherry burst" (damn it looks good)! The JM4 features 2 Delano pickups, 1xJ pick up on the neck & a powered humbucker near the bridge. Electronics are active with a volume, 2 band eq, PU split & active bypass switch. Strings & hardware are by Sandberg & it came complete with a quality gig bag.

Sound-wise this thing is very very versatile; you can recreate pretty much any kind of tone you like. The overwhelming impression of this bass is how resonant it is, even played unplugged is sounds loud and rings really nicely. The Delano pickups are very beefy and offer a full range of sounds from the classic Stingray bite when favoring the bridge pick up to the fat/warm James Jamerson finger style when rolled onto the neck pickup with approx a 70/30 split & some low eq. I play through an Ashdown ABM500 head driving 2x10 & 1x15 abm cabs & with this set up the pick ups are very quiet & I'm able to achieve a really rich sound.

The neck profile & fretwork on this bass are absolutely stunning. The neck has a satin finish and is smooth as silk making fast runs a doddle and the standard of fretwork is really high class with no rough edges or uneven finishes. The factory set up on this bass was very low (all the Sandbergs I have tried are like this) which may not be to everyones taste but I love it. As far as I can tell the general build quality is very high class, controls & hardware feel very solid & the finish on the body is a thing of beauty. This bass is pretty heavy.

It's to early to comment in detail on this but it is built like a tank from high quality materials so I see no reason why there would be any problems in this area.

This is my second Sandberg & I've never had any need to make contact so no opinion here!

I have been playing for 10 years & have played a number of basses including Fenders, MM and a number of years on a Warwick "thumb" bass Bolt on 5 & this thing blows them all away. It sounds great, oozes quality craftsmanship, looks stunning & is very very playable. The wonderful sound & general feel of thing means I'd definitely buy another if it were stolen & in comparison to a lot of the high end bass competition it offers really good value for money.

Made this year (2006) in Germany. It has a 22 fret maple neck, rosewood fretboard. It's a 4 string model with Ash body (jazz shape) which has a beautiful Blackburst finish. The (active) pickups are made by Delano (another German company), configuration is J/H and the controls feature volume (with push/pull pot to bypass the active eq), blend, treble, bass and pickup selection switch. I really must add again how gorgeous this finish is, if you go to Sandbergs site and go to basses>California JM>matt/rarewood, you will be given a picture of the very bass I have and it really is stunning. It's heavier than my Warwick but I like that, you know its solid =]

When I first gigged this thing I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The Delano's must have some real power. This thing is thunderous like you would not believe. It had so much more low end than my old Warwick Streamer. I play in a metal band and our guitarist uses a Blackmachine B2 into a Framus Dragon, a very bass heavy guitar through a very bass heavy amp, and it was totally masked by the Sandberg. It carries such a full sound and cuts through beautifully. I use no gain at all really (even though I play in a metal band =]) and it has just the sound I am looking for which is lots of low end growl to thicken the sound up when I drop to simpler stuff and when I do any slapping or tapping, just add a lil more treble and the eq is so responsive and versatile. There is no buzzing/crackling/noise from the pots which is a common annoyance for many.

You can also get a real nice dub sound out of it too which is a favourite of mine for acoustic jamming. It's incredibly versatile!

When I ordered the bass I asked for 45-105 strings as I like the extra beefyness for slapping. It came with Sandbergs own strings which were way way thinner. Probably a mistake on their part. However, it plays like an absolute dream for it and I am now converted to the thinner strings (I think they are 35's). The only problem is I have a string endorsement and my endorsers don't do 35's!! I may have to have a lil word with Sandberg =)

As for the setup, it was perfect. Low but not too low, which I specified as my style changes so much through basic finger style, slap and tapping during the course of our set. The pickups were adjusted perfectly and I cannot see any flaws in it whatsoever and I have tried to find them! The only thing I can say is I would have liked the burst on the finish to be a little more predominant, but I have seen photos taken from the gigs and the finish does come through nicely. That's just me being nitpicky!

It is a very heavy, sturdy feeling bass. I can't see anything falling to bits on it, but I haven't had it that long really. There is no lacquer or anything on the finish so there's no problems there. All the hardware is Sandberg's own and that all seems pretty good, but time will tell.

I have spoken to people from Sandberg and dealt with Peter Brown and Alan Greensall who are the chaps at Synergy Distribution who are in charge of Sandberg stuff in the UK. I didn't buy it through a shop as I am a Sandberg endorsee and had to get it through them. Both Sandberg and Synergy are extremely helpful and responsive. I can't imagine having any problems with them really. They are also very patient even when I am getting all excited like a schoolkid =)

I have been playing a few years now and have owned Musicmans, Warwicks, Peaveys and this thing just wipes the floor with them. I regret nothing about this bass and if it were lost or stolen, first of all there are hardly any blackburst JM4's about so I would find it pretty quickly and then inflict a slow and painful death on the perpetrator. The sound just blows me away everytime I plug it in. I love this thing. I actually asked my girlfriend if she didn't mind me sleeping with it on the sofa the first night I had it. I was serious too.

The only thing I need to share - buy one. The prices in this country can be a little steep (I was lucky enough to receive a nice discount through my endorsement) but you can get them for a reasonable price from thomann.de I believe. Basically, UK outlets are supposed to price within 5% of the RRP but they get greedy. Especially the Bass Centre (I hate them guys, don't buy from them). But if you want a quality instrument, this is it. They tend to be around the ??1000 mark in this country and to be honest, they are good enough to warrant that tag, specially when you consider a Fender USA Jazz can retail around ??800, (good) Warwicks/Musicmans are ??1000+. My Sandberg owns them all.