High Fade’s Ollie Sentance Breaks Down His Custom Sandberg Bass Rig with The Bass Nerds
High Fade bassist Ollie Sentance has the kind of tone that sounds like it must come from a huge pile of gear. In reality, his touring rig is compact, practical, and built around a very loud right hand.
When the Scottish trio rolled through Chop Shop in Chicago, The Bass Nerds caught up with Sentance before the show for a full Bass Breakdown. High Fade was only three days into a run of 50 shows spread across 86 days, so this is the gear Sentance depends on night after night.
The centerpiece of the rig is Sentance’s custom Sandberg California TM5. The bass has a pink burst finish, a Marley Blue headstock, a two band EQ, active and passive operation, and a coil split for the bridge humbucker. Even the pickup covers were painted to match the body, although they are currently hidden beneath blue electrical tape.
The bass also features a custom finger ramp. Sentance previously played a Sandberg Panther, whose long pickups gave his right hand a continuous surface to work against. When he moved back to a more traditional pickup layout, he asked Sandberg founder Holger Stonjek to add a ramp that would recreate that feel.
It is a small detail, but one that makes perfect sense when you watch how aggressively and precisely Sentance attacks the strings.
The bass runs into a Gallien Krueger Legacy 500 head and a Laney DBV410 cabinet. Sentance keeps the amp controls almost completely flat, relying on the GK for clarity and the Laney cabinet for a tight low end.
What stands out is how simple the whole rig really is. Sentance has a highly recognizable sound but there is no complicated chain behind it. It is a great bass, a handful of carefully chosen pedals, a punchy rig, and a player who knows exactly how hard he wants to hit the strings.
Check out the full Bass Nerds breakdown below.
No Treble CEO Jody Miller is a Chicago-based bassist, guitarist, engineer, and producer best known for his bass gear demo videos and as the co-host of The Bass Nerds podcast.
