Sandberg California II TM5 MN NT

WOW! this is an amazing bass!!! I?m very happy!
As soon as I unpacked it I was smiling :-)

I ordered from the UK so took a bit of a chance on what the wood grain would look like (I?m choosy about how the grain looks) but its actually a beautiful body, feels great and looks fantastic - I?m really happy with it.
The bass generally feels really good, its a nice lighter weight, and the control knobs have an really smooth weighty action? they remind me of hi-end hi-fi equipment.
It was playable right out of the box (although I did have to tweak the intonation a little) and was setup with a really low action and no buzzing - I think thats because of the Plek setup. It certainly feels amazing to play and has a nice balance with no neck dive.
The light strings seem to give a much better slap response too (the manual/leaflet say they are guage 40-128).
I?m still experimenting with sounds I can get out of the bass, but I really like the switchable bridge pickup (switches from humbucker to single coil) which greatly increases the range of sounds possible. I play funk/soul/disco genre, but it seems like it has a sound for everything.

The only downside is that the low B is a bit ?dull? sounding. I think this is because it is 34? scale and a light guage string. However this is something that will affect every 34? bass so its not a ?fault? of this particular bass.

The service from Thomann was excellent - good response from the personnel there and the item is tracked all the way, in detail. I?ll definately buy from Thomann again.

I love this bass!

This is my third Sandberg bass. They really are hard to beat. In particular, this model is solid, comfortable very handsome(!) and pretty lightweight (compared to my older California I TM5, but this may just be me...). The range of tones is vast and the entire spectrum is very useable and musical.
It plays brilliantly. The machine-heads are upgraded from the California I (they now have a nut that secures them firmly into the headstock whereas the older model simply had a bushing that seemed to occasionally pop out of position).
Arrived quickly and in perfect condition. All PLEKd up!
Thanks you Sandberg. And thank you Thomann (superb as usual).

Playability and setup was awesome from start, being a Plek'd instrument.
I think I will stay with the stock guage of strings when eventually changing - really fluent and nice feel.
.
Being my first active bass, I was stunned over the range of sounds also using bass control - not that passive mode lack anything balancing the two pickups with or without split.

One thing that I don't get is why gigbag, and not hardcase with this instrument. With different brands, gigbag is usually for second level instruments - and this one is first rate. If gigbag with Electra series would be appropriate.

Another thing seems to be that you consume battery, if plug inserted, even playing in passive mode. But it's really easy to remove battery, so not a biggy. Tried contacting Sandberg, but haven't heard back if this could be modified without voiding warranty. Pulling volume knob to passive mode really disconnecting battery would be nice for studio work, not having to unplug things with amps and stuff - just pulling volume knob, or a notch when reaching zero volume.

My history of basses are Washburn, Fender Mexico Precision, Fender Am Precision and now this one is the first 5-string and I cannot praise it enough.

Thanks to Thomann team configuring and selling this beauty.