Sandberg California TM-5 Super Light 5-String Bass, Redburst

Player's Perspective

Made with the finest German engineering, this awesome Sandberg California II TM-5 in Redburst will slap a smile on your face that you just can't shake. For those that need to be conscious of the weight of their bass... How's 7 lbs for a 5-string? And here's the thing, it balances very well, is not neck heavy, and sounds thunderous. Compromise nothing and save a bunch of weight!

They use a paulownia body so the end result is a bass that is beautifully balanced, but yet only weighs 6.9 lbs! This is the solution for all the bass players out there that need to be mindful of how heavy their instrument is. You can rock for hours and hours and you'll barely even feel it. For these, they also use a Norwegian maple neck instead of Canadian maple and aircraft grade ultra-light hardware. The result is a surprisingly even balance and lack of neck dive to help combat some of the typical issues with overly light basses.

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. Sandberg's Black Label pickups have become their new "go-to" and for good reason (our purchasing director personally has them on two of his Sandbergs and loves them). They offer plenty of punch while still having the ability to get a bit of an old school sound to them as well. It's a great blend between a modern hi-fi tone and something straight out of the 60's. The pickups are paired up with a 2-band EQ that is subtle, but powerful. The bass and treble frequencies are notched perfectly for a punchy bottom and snappy top end.

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. 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.

But of course, the big question is how did they manage to build this and have it still be so light? The paulownia body sounds like a hybrid, in tonality, between alder and swamp ash. It's got great clarity and a very pronounced natural attack. You may have also seen paulownia referred to as empress wood. More and more builders are experimenting with this. The bass balances surprisingly well and still feels like a real, pro-caliber instrument, despite this weight that is hard to believe. This is going to allow bass players to play for longer periods of time in complete comfort. Young or old, everybody can benefit from this!

The build quality is amazing, and now you don't have to sacrifice any of your tone to get a bass that is so light you might forget you even have it on! Another big score from Sandberg, for sure!

Item Specifics

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 with a pau ferro fingerboard. Sandberg Black Label pickups and a custom wound Glockenklang 2-band preamp, made just for Sandberg, round out the electronics.

This bass comes with an extra white pearl pickguard.