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Post by grayn on Feb 14, 2014 20:03:30 GMT
Crafter do knock out some very nice guitars. And their range seems to change a lot, so there's plenty out there, with not a lot of info. Good luck with your purchase.
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Post by grayn on Feb 9, 2014 17:27:41 GMT
Thanks. It's never troo late to learn
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Post by grayn on Feb 9, 2014 16:14:04 GMT
I'd originally gone out to buy a Sanberg California TT+, which is a wonderful bass but I spotted this Panther close by and had to give it a try. The first thing you notice, with the Panther, is the gorgeous walnut top. It is in fact a walnut/maple/walnut veneered top, impeccably placed a top a mahogany body. Which itself, has a lovely grain and reflective sheen. I remember asking Chris May, on a visit to the Overwater workshop, what was it, other than the player, that had the most indfluence on a bass's tone. He said "the wood". I was thinking he was going to say pickups but he didn't. And the Panther prooves his point. Apart from some old Gibson and Epiphone basses, I played years ago, all my recent basses have had swamp ash, alder and in one case maple, bodies. Mahogany has a warmer sound. Giving things a fuller, friendlier to the ears, kind of tone. Other things that stand out, with the Panther, are the ebony fretboard and zero fret. Why more, higher-end basses don't use ebony is beyond me. I love the feel of an ebony board. Plus it looks really cool. The zero fret is supposed to make open strings sound closer to fretted strings. I get the theory but I'm not so sure about it, in practice. It does all seem to work well, so I guess Sandberg know what theyre talking about. The way the body is sculpted is also another stand out feature. It retains a solid mass look and feel, yet has some beautiful sculpting around where the neck bolts on and also on the upper shoulder, where your right forearm rests. It is here, where you can also see the 3-wood nature of the walnut/maple/walnut top. The headstock has a matching veneer of walnut. The neck is a well shaped peice of Canadian hardrock maple. It is bolted on to the body, with 5 bolts. The neck/board are more or less Jazz bass in style. The nut being about a mm wider than a modern Jazz bass. And the neck is a joy to play. It has such a postive feel and is very expressive too. The ebony board has much to do with that. I understand the 2 pickups are Delano, in Sandberg clothing. The neck being a split-coil, the bridge, a power humbucker. They both however, have the same, angled soapbar style covering. This does look rather cool. The Sandberg EQ set up is the conventional volume, pan, bass, middle, treble, with the volume also being a push/pull knob, for active/passive. As I said before, the mahogany body has quite an effect on the bass's tone. I tend to prefer using both pickups, somewhere between 50/50 and 60/40. With the Panther, this results in a lovely full bodied tone, that responds very nicely to your technique, including strength and positioning of your plucking/picking hand. The neck pickup, being single/split coil, has a a certain vibrancy to it but with the mahogany body, it doesn't really get a P sound. It's a little rounder and warmer. The neck pickup adds some great bite, that ranges from giving the sound a little more edge, to a really balls out tone. In practice it covers some great tones from rock to jazz. It has a musicality and subtlety beyond many other basses. Down sides? 2 that I've noticed. Through my more "hi-fi", rig (GK & Markbass), the Panther is probably my best sounding bass. Through my band rehearsal "lo-fi", rig (old Ampeg combo), the Panther still sounds great but doesn't have the penetration of my other, 2x single-coil, ash basses. Also, with it's more sculpted, slightly shallower body, the Panther doesn't fit well in my hard case. The Panther comes with a substantial, semi-rigid gigbag. So in conclusion, the Sandberg Panther is very classy in build, design and tone quality. It has the feel of a hand made bass and plays beautifully. It is very much a modern bass. It's stylish looks are not traditional and nor is it's tone. It really is the sum of it's parts. High quality and a little different.
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Post by grayn on Feb 7, 2014 18:06:15 GMT
I had one in a Tanglewood, some time ago. Good sound but nothing amazing. I read somewhere, that they were made by Belcat.
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Post by grayn on Feb 1, 2014 20:09:05 GMT
What is the current stock of basses you have right now? Only the Gordon-Smith Gryphon survives, as a bass with a non-Jazz Bass type neck. Basically because I love the bass too much to trade it and it's very nice to play. The Japanese Fender Jazz is a phenomenal bass and the added Nordstrand Pickups and pre-amp, are truly superb. The Levinson Blade 2, designed in Switzerland and made in Japan, in the 90s, is another testament to how good basses from the Land of the Rising Sun are. And it's so cool. The Cort GB4 is as good as most basses, twice and thrice it's cost. No joke. No skimping on the wood and hardware either. Sounds great at home and even better, with the band. The Cort GB75, unlike the GB4, is not even top of the Cort range. But it really plays so nicely, with that gorgeous neck and fretboard. Fivers IMO, are not just 4-stringers with another string. They have a sound and feel of their own. If I ever get around to recording another prog/space rock CD, I'll probably use this on more than 1 track. The Sanberg Panther, I just got today. It's made in Germany, with a mahogany body, a walnut top, matching headstock, ebony fretboard and Delano pickups. This is some bass. Need more time.
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Post by grayn on Feb 1, 2014 7:12:13 GMT
Another fine looking bass you've got there Graham. What's the control layout on this one? Keith Thanks Keith. The layout is Volume, Pan, Treble Boost, Bass Boost. Unlike many active basses, these EQ controls only boost, no cut. So completely anti-clockwise = flat eq. Oh yeah, the small switch is an active/passive switch. You may have noticed that I have acquired/traded a lot of basses recently. This is mainly because I am a dimwit. In that, after a couple of years, with my previous band, playing very contentedly, an Overwater Jazz bass, the band split and I sold the bass. Then i quickly got the urge to play again and started buying numerous excellent basses. But it wasn't until very recently that I got another Jazz and realised that was the neck type that I really, much preferred. As I said, what a dimwit. So now I'm slowly trading, to mainly own basses, with Jazz bass type necks. OK, I'm slow but I get there, in the end.
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Post by grayn on Feb 1, 2014 7:01:15 GMT
Thats a gorgeous bass , loving the badass bridge and mahoosive frets ill bet its real easy to whizz about on . You must have quite a collection of guitars now grayn , where on earth do you keep them all ? Thanks Siggy. And yes, the bass is very easy to play. Tha Badass bridge isn't original, these came with Gotoh bridges. But it's a quality bridge, so I guess a previous owner wasn't as keen on the original. My instrument collection kind of changes rather than expands. It wasn't long ago, I only had one bass, with a load of electric and acoustic guitars. Then, after nearly 40 years of being a bassist, I finally got the bass GAS. Now i have a load of basses, with just 2 electrics, 1 acoustic and my beloved Octave Mandola. I have a small music/computer room, where I keep my gear, doing my best to stop them clonking into each other.
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Post by grayn on Jan 21, 2014 17:52:23 GMT
I find your tone a little patronising. You obviously feel that your view is the right one. Enough to repeat it. I can't be bothered to justify myself or my judgement to you, so let's just leave it.
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Post by grayn on Jan 18, 2014 17:35:59 GMT
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Post by grayn on Jan 18, 2014 17:28:34 GMT
As far as I know, the Tak is laminate. As I said, in my review, this guitar was built as a pickup and play sofa guitar and is also very nice amped up. It is a very well made guitar and doesn't try to compete with guitars for projection and massive tone. In my view it was well worth it's price, for looks, playability and a very sweet tone.
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Post by grayn on Jan 18, 2014 17:23:51 GMT
Agreed Keith, the preamp is a minor eyesore. I think when I was concentrating wholly on acoustic guitar, it put a lot more pressure on what ever guitar I owned. That and seemingly perpetual GAS caused a lot of lovely guitars to pass through my hands. Most of them were probably too good for me any way. The Takamine certainly isn't the best guitar I have owned, by some way. That would have to go to the Goodall. But a friend of mine, who owns a load of acoustic and electric instruments, played the Takamine, a few months ago and absolutely loved it. Horses for courses and all that. I certainly love the Tak's looks and it really is ideal for the odd pick up and play moment. Goodall? Goodall, did you say? What model? I have an Adi/Mah concert jumbo which is a fine, fine guitar. Bright and shimmery - a pleasure to play. Was considering moving it on, what with a couple of Tarans coming along but… I posted a link for it on another thread but damned if I remember where! I'd love to hear from another Goodall owner. Alasdair. PS This Tak looks beautiful. I had a Taylor all Koa GS that was sold last year. The wood is just sublime - more like Tiger's Eye than wood. I sometimes regret having sold it - it was beautiful to look at! The Goodall I owned is The Goodall I owned is reviewed here: acousticsoundboard.co.uk/thread/658/james-goodall-koa-grand-concert
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Post by grayn on Dec 24, 2013 15:01:37 GMT
Merry christmas to all, on this very excellent board.
Must play more mandola, next year.
:serenade:
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Post by grayn on Dec 21, 2013 20:48:05 GMT
Can't see why the Korg wouldn't be just what you're looking for. I never use pedals without a power supply. Can't rely on batteries. Just figured the Artec would be good for stage, with the additional eq and signal boost it offers. And who says the pedal has to go on the floor?
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Post by grayn on Dec 21, 2013 9:24:52 GMT
Sorry, no experience of that pedal but I've always found Korg gear to be very good. I use a Boss tuner. This one looks like a great idea: artecsound.com/effect/se-geq.htmGraphic EQ and tuner.
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Post by grayn on Dec 15, 2013 18:15:23 GMT
I have mixed feelings. Some great technique and interesting chordal structures and of course, showmanship. I'd prefer more attention to tone and less rattley, unclear notes. He's having a great time and overall it's was an enjoyable montage.
Thanks for the post.
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