The Mendez Signature Bass
New Signature Bass of Martin Mendez
This Summer, Martin Mendez, bass player in Swedish prog metal giants OPETH stopped by our workshop.
For years, Martin has SANDBERG basses in his arsenal and was using them live and in the studio for a long time. Earlier this year, he approached us with some specific ideas about a new bass, based on a SANDBERG California 4 string with a 34” scale length.
Martin Mendez in the Sandberg Workshop
We spent two days in our Workshop in Braunschweig and went thru a lot of different woods, wood combinations, and discussed specs and pickup configurations.
Martin was well prepared and had specific ideas about his new bass and so we made a good process within the two days.
Getting the Sound
Martin spent a lot of time with our pickup testing bass moving pickups back and forth to find his sweet spot and the exact sound he was looking for. He wanted a classic and traditional sound with a certain bite!
Finally it’s a Delano JMVC pickups set in a special position that is a little bit closer to the bridge.
Martin was pretty sure about alder being the right body wood. That is the sound he is used to and what works perfect for his musical environment.
Choosing wood and finish
For the neck he decided to go for a Canadian hard rock maple and an ebony fretboard. Both woods are very hard and give the bass a nice bite and fast attack.
The finish of the bass is a beautiful soft aged virgin white with a matching head that, along with the black hardware, looks pretty classy.
Here is the full spec list
Body
alder
Neck
6 bolted / canadian hardrock maple
Fretboard
ebony, 22 frets
Scale
34”
finish
soft aged virgin white, matching head
Hardware
lightweight aluminum machine heads, SANDBERG bridge
Pickup
Delano JMVC pickups
Passive
Volume, Balance, Tone