Sandberg Basses California Ida Nielsen 4 Soft Aged Custom Pink

California Ida Nielsen 4 Custom Pink

Built for Prince’s bassist

This is the California Ida Nielsen 4 from Sandberg, out of Braunschweig, Germany. It weighs 3.73 kg, and it’s Ida Nielsen’s signature bass.

Prince didn’t hire bass players casually, right? When Ida joined the New Power Generation in 2010, she needed one bass that could handle sharp slap and deep pocket playing. Moreover, it had to work on a stage the size of an arena, and look like it belonged up there.

The signature bass Sandberg built for her came out of that. However, this one arrives in a custom pink Soft Aged finish with gold hardware that’s not on any spec sheet.

Worked out in Braunschweig

Ida went to Braunschweig herself and worked through the bass with Holger Stonjek. For example, they settled which pickups to use, where they sit, the electronics and the hardware. In addition, there’s the thumb rest between the pickups, which most signature models would never bother with.

What came back is basically a California TM with the details moved around to suit a funk player, rather than a catalogue.

Pink, gold and serious

The standard version is soft aged black. In contrast, this one is Soft Aged in pink, with a matched pink headstock, gold tuners and a gold bridge. Furthermore, it has a cream Asian silk pickguard with a gold floral print.

It’s the loudest-looking bass in the shop before you even play a note. At the same time, it turns out to be a serious working bass underneath, that’s for sure.

Body, Neck & Woods

European alder body

The body is European alder, and for funk it’s exactly the right wood to build on. For example, alder has a tight, controlled low end that stops where you put it. Likewise, it has a present, slightly forward midrange and a top end that opens up without getting glassy.

It has no strong character of its own, which means that what you hear is the pickups, the fingerboard and your right hand. In other words, the wood isn’t pulling the sound in one direction.

The California body is contoured front and back. As a result, it sits closer to your ribs than a slab body and stays comfortable through a long set.

Pink and gold, one design

The finish is a custom pink soft aged with a matched pink headstock. Moreover, every piece of metal on it is gold, from the tuners, bridge and knobs to the strap buttons and even the pickguard screws.

The pickguard is Sandberg’s Asian silk in a cream and gold floral print. Similarly, the white pickup covers and thumb rest keep the whole front of the bass in the same palette. I really like that nothing here is an afterthought, because it looks like one design and not a colour swapped onto a standard build.

Six-bolt maple neck

The neck is Canadian hard rock maple, bolted on with six screws instead of the usual four. That second pair of screws spreads the clamping load across the whole heel. Consequently, the joint doesn’t work loose through years of seasonal movement.

It also couples the neck more tightly to the body, and you hear that as a firmer fundamental and longer sustain. Meanwhile, the C-shape profile is full enough to fill your hand without slowing anything down. Furthermore, the heel is sculpted, so the top frets are actually reachable.

Birdseye maple fingerboard

The fingerboard is birdseye maple, and on a bass built for slap, in my opinion that’s the spec that matters most. In fact, maple is the brightest and snappiest board wood in common use.

It puts a percussive, glassy edge on the front of every note. Therefore a slapped E cracks and a popped G really comes through.

The birdseye figuring isn’t only decoration, however. That swirled grain comes with a density that adds articulation and keeps notes focused instead of spreading. In addition, there are pearl block inlays up the board, and the fluorescent side dots keep the neck readable on a dark stage.

The zero fret

There are 22 frets plus a zero fret at the top of the board, and for me the zero fret is one of Sandberg’s better ideas. Basically, instead of resting in a cut nut slot, the open strings sit on a fret exactly like every other note.

As a result, you get the same material under the string, the same attack and the same decay. In other words, an open E actually sounds like a fretted E.

Furthermore, the action in the first position is set by fret height, not by how well somebody filed a nut. A badly filed nut is the single most common reason a bass feels stiff down at the bottom of the neck.

The scale is 34 inches, and the board measures 39.3 mm at the zero fret. Therefore your left hand is on familiar ground from the first bar.

Vibration treatment

Sandberg also puts the finished bass through their vibration treatment, a mechanical break-in that works the bass the way years of playing would.

The point is a bass that’s already loose and resonant when it comes out of the bag. In contrast, you’d otherwise have to play one in for a season. In fact, on this one you can hear it right away in how freely the body rings unplugged.

Electronics, Sound & Feel

Black Label TM pickups

The pickups are Sandberg’s Black Label TM set, placed where Ida wanted them. Specifically, there’s a T-style single coil in the middle of the body and an M-style humbucker down at the bridge.

It’s a deliberately unbalanced pairing, not a traditional one. For example, the single coil handles the round, vocal, slightly hollow voice that fingerstyle grooves live on.

Meanwhile, the bridge humbucker brings mid punch and growl. Besides, it stays quiet under stage lighting, whereas a bridge single coil would be buzzing at you all night.

Blend and EQ

The blend between them is where the bass really lives. Toward the neck, you get the fat, old-school pocket sound. On the other hand, both pickups together give you the scooped modern sound slap players want, with the maple board putting a hard edge on the attack.

Bridge alone is forward and nasal in the best way. In fact, that’s the sound that cuts straight through two guitars and a keyboard.

Sandberg’s 2-band EQ shapes it from there. In addition, there’s a passive tone control next to it for rolling the top off without touching the preamp.

Active or passive

The preamp switches out of the circuit entirely, and passive mode here isn’t just a backup for a flat battery. In fact, it’s a different bass: softer at the edges, more compressed, springier through the low mids.

Being able to move between the two between songs covers most of what a gig asks for. Moreover, a dead 9V costs you a switch and not the set.

Ida’s details

The details are where you notice Ida’s input. For instance, the thumb rest sits between the pickups, exactly where a player who anchors there wants it. Almost nobody else on the market puts it there.

The bridge has real mass under the saddles and adjusts between 18.5 and 20 mm. Therefore you can set the string spacing where your right hand actually wants it for slap.

There’s a D-tuner on the E string, so drop D is a lever flick instead of a retune between songs. Likewise, the fluorescent side dots do their job the moment the house lights go down.

What’s not to like?

I would say this is a bass for a player who works in the pocket and doesn’t want to be invisible doing it. The alder body and maple board give you the snap and articulation that funk and modern pop demand.

Furthermore, the TM pickup pair covers everything from a fat fingerstyle line to a big slap tone. Meanwhile, passive mode is there when the active sound is more than the song needs.

The signature model normally comes in soft aged black. However, this one came through in custom pink Soft Aged with gold hardware, and we haven’t seen another one. So, what’s not to like?