Your Sadowsky Discovery!!

[bikeplate]

HI

Thought this might be a fun thread.

What turned you on to a Sadowsky bass? When did you first hear about them? Did you play one before you bought one? What lead to your purchase?

Rob

[Fran Diaz]

First time I heard of Sadowsky basses was at Bass Player magazine. Many studio cats were playing them in the studio even if they were later seen on promo shots with Fender basses.
Back then they were out of my price range, especially to buy sight unseen.
In 2005 the first Metros arrived to Europe and I bought one of those. It got to my office in a very cold, snowy, Feb. afternoon and I took it straight to that evening's rehearsal.
Right out of the case the bass was in tune and setup was perfect (that was after travelling from Germany to Spain).

I plucked the first few notes and the rest is history.

[Marlat]

Roger Sadowsky's arguments with Peter Duncan on alt.guitar.bass in the mid-late nineties. Roger was always classy and respectful notwithstanding it wasn't always a two way street. Based on the praise of his basses on that board and the way Roger conducted himself I was sold on the brand.

[thisSNsucks]

When I first started playing bass I was pretty much teaching myself. I ended up going to Barnes&Noble to buy whatever books they had on bass.

I ended up picking up "The Bass Player Book" Which was basically a bunch of highlights from bass player mag over the years.

I was really into Metallica at the time and they had a really cool pic of Jason Newsted in his home studio. He had a bunch of gear around him, but in his arms was a cool LPB Jazz with black hardware. I loved the look of the bass and saw "Sadowsky" on the headstock.

Went online, looked up Sadowsky and have been hooked ever since.

[Fran Diaz]

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

Roger Sadowsky's arguments with Peter Duncan on alt.guitar.bass in the mid-late nineties. Roger was always classy and respectful notwithstanding it wasn't always a two way street. Based on the praise of his basses on that board and the way Roger conducted himself I was sold on the brand.

Oh, man! I had forgotten about alt.guitar.bass. Peter always stated that Zon basses with composite necks were superior in any way and that Sadowskys were overpriced part basses. He ended up buying some Sadowsky basses and IIRC there are some great sounding sound samplers of him playing his Sadowskys on Sadowsky.com

[marchone]

I first saw a clip of Tal Wilkenfeld playing one, came here and got intrigued. Still have yet to go to the shop.

[jmeyers44]

When I first started playing bass I followed Marcus Miller very closely (still do) I was intrigued by the now famous story of how Roger upgraded his bass. At the time I couldn’t afford a Sadowsky but I always had them on my radar and was always impressed with the time Roger would take to answer my email questions about general bass maintenance, adjustments etc. I finally had an opportunity to buy a high end bass and ended up buying a Fodera. While I liked that bass very much it wasn’t perfect for me. There was no “magic” for lack of a better word. I sold my Fodera for some middle budget models thinking I was overpaying with the Fodera. Still I wasn’t happy. I saw that Sadowsky started offering a 24 fret 4 string and quickly fell in love with that model. Near that same time Roger made the “Behind The Notes” video and I blown away by his thinking and reasoning behind every aspect of his instruments. Knowing it was time for a change I put my order in for my Modern 4. The quality of the bass plus the awesome sound floors me every time I pick up the instrument. I finally have that “magic”

[joinercape]

Right here on TB....I had heard of Roger's work of course, but had not seen any. But after reading all the raves here, when I needed a new 5 string, I just picked up the phone and called the shop. Kevin's professional, knowledgeable, and courtious attitude did the rest. A month later I got my second one. I felkt like a dummy for not having checked them out sooner. Would have actually saved me a lot of time and money.

[JimS]

Around 1984 I was giving Marcus Miller a lesson in Brooklyn. Poor Marcus, he was all thumbs. Anwway, he had this cool J bass with a huge sound. Marcus gave me Roger's number and that was it.

[JimS]

Seriously and this is a testament to how modest Roger is:

I was looking for a superstrat guitar in 1989 and read David Lawrence review of a Sadowsky guitar in GUITAR WORLD. I went to NYC 48th street music row back in it's golden day and tried Pensa Suhr, Tyler, Kubicki, Fender, etc, etc.

Not only did I like the Sadowsky more than the other guitars but those guys treated me like I was on the cover of Guitar Player magazine.

About 1999-2000 I decided to play bass too. I had another Sadowky strat on order and mentioned to Roger I was thinking of playing bass and was shopping around. Roger asked what styles I was interested in and modestly said verbatim "I think we can make you a bass you'd be happy with." He was right.




I tried nearly every manufaturer under the sun: Alembic, Modulus, Fender, Music Man, Fodera, G&L, Ibanez, Warwick, Spector, Pedulla, Suhr, Ken Smith, Sei, Lakland, Tobias, MTD, etc.

[Cory]

The first experience I had was in a recording studio in 1990. I was recording tracks for a radio/tv commercial on Tenor Sax and on bass.

After I was done tracking bass, the engineer asked for grins if I would record the same track with his new bass. I said sure.......it was a Sadowsky J.

I was completely blown away by that bass! After that, it was over. I've been hooked on Roger's stuff ever since! Got my first one in 1991.

[Joeykun]

I had been playing Modulus 5 string basses for years. I wanted a 4 string bass with a different vibe. So, I was looking on ebay and saw this beautiful NYC Standard 4 and was like wow. Went to Roger's site and after some reading I knew that THIS is the bass I want.

The Standard 4 belonged to Matt Malley from the Counting Crows. I sent him a few messages and he called me. We talked for a while and he couldnt say enough great things about Roger's basses. Long story short, I won the bass off ebay.

After playing it and totally digging the sound I sold one of my Modulus basses and bought a Metro Standard 5. I then saw a NYC Standard 5 on ebay and was like I gotta have it. Sold my other Modulus 5 and got that one. At one point I had 3 Sadowskys. I ended up selling the Metro on here. I still own the 2 NYC Standards.

I am sold on Roger's basses and cant see me using anything else. I hope to order a New one in the very near future. I just cant descide if I should get another 4 or upgrade my 5er. Thats why I always sweat when I get the in stock update email.

I have called the shop many times and spoke with both Roger and Kevin and I am always impressed with the way they treat me. First Class operation! I hope to get to the shop this summer. It is on the top of my to do list!!

[bigtexashonk]

I had been aware of Sados for a good while, but the info on Talkbass was instrumental in my checking them out. Had to drive to Bass Emporium in Austin to actually play one, but I finally gave in and ordered an RV4 in 2007. It's been my main go to gigging/recording bass ever since. Just acquired an early number RS4 a while back as a backup and love them both!

[ElMon]

When I was DEEP in my GAS-addicted trading, I seemed to gravitate between MTD's and Smiths (3 Smiths, 4 MTD's all in all). I was in love with the feel and playability of these instruments, hooked to their classy and truly boutique appearance, and yet I wasn't anywhere near satisfied with the tone as I used to be with my old 78 Pbass that I cut my teeth on. And everytime I tried to chase that fender tone in a five string, I was faced with bad electronics and floppy b strings from Fender's 5 string models.

A lot of my GAS was inspired by what I was reading right here on TB. All the descriptive and glowing reviews of various basses/cabs/amps/etc had a great effect on me, and increasingly the name Sadowsky kept coming up. Well, I took a leap and traded a beautiful MTD for a Metro MV5 from simongpaez. I was in Houston to pick it up, and didn't have a chance to immediately plug it into an amp. Still, the playability and b string clarity on a 34 inch scale, the way the notes lept off the fretboard and the overal acoustic volume: all very promising.

When I got it home to OK, I literally went straight to a gig before plugging it in and messing around with sounds. When I played the first run across the neck, I vividly remember my drummer's head turning toward me, and he had this shocked look on his face. Seeing firsthand my rampant bass-trading he told me 'don't EVER trade that bass!' That night I had the best sound I had achieved up to that point. Big and fat notes with complete clarity that wrapped around the mix perfectly, making the whole band sound better in the process.

Now, my GAS still got ahold of me several more times after that, and after going through 3 more Metros (RV5, UVRW5, Modern 5) and an NYC (alder/rw PJ5), I found my 'one', and haven't felt a twinge of GAS since!!

[DylanB]

I bought one because I was sick of compromise. I'd been buying and trading basses and, with any bass I received it was always ALMOST what I wanted. There would always be something wrong, be it poor electronics, bad B-string, etc.

Having been a member of Talkbass, I knew about Sadowskys but didn't think I could afford one. This christmas I realised that my financial situation wasn't dire, and that I should probably try to get a really decent bass. I had never played a Sadowsky, but I had done extensive research based on what people had said on talkbass. I pulled the trigger on an RV5 that was in stock in late december.

I've never been happier with a bass. There's nothing I don't like about it, it's the ultimate J bass. My next acquisition will probably be an RV5 P/J string in Sonic Blue, but it'll be a long way away. I'm still feeling the pinch from my current Sad.

[bass12]

A local guy used to play a Sadowsky and I remember asking him what kind of bass he was playing (this was around thirteen years ago). A couple of years later a friend told me that he wanted to buy a new bass and that he was considering a Sadowsky. From then on I was aware of the name and noticed the various ads in the backpages Bass Player. On a trip to New York City a few years ago I picked up a Metro in a store and, for whatever reason, wasn't all that taken with the instrument (this probably had more to do with the fact that I'd been playing Warwicks for years than with any shortcomings on the part of the Metro). Around five years ago I found myself feeling frustrated with my Warwicks and bought a Fender 62' Jazz reissue. I suddenly fell in love with the Jazz bass vibe and decided I'd like something in an ash/maple combination as well. Around this time I began sniffing around the Sadowsky website. I called the shop at one point and inquired about one of basses on the in-stock page. The price was around $4,200 and I just felt that I couldn't drop that on a bass. I started saving my money for my future bass (whatever that was going to be - probably a Fender, I thought) and would keep revisiting the Sadowsky site out of some masochistic (tempted to say "Sad-istic") impulse. One day I came across #4746 on the in-stock page and I just knew that bass was for me. Suddenly I didn't care about the price. I called up Kevin and closed the deal. Opening that case when the bass arrived was a beautiful thing and my first gig with that bass was a revelation. I distinctly remember saying to myself during sound check, "That's why I spent four-and-a-half thousand dollars on this bass!".

[bikeplate]

HI

Great stories, people.

Mine is entertaining, too. I had owned an Alembic since my late teens. About 12 years ago, I had the urge to try some other basses. I started, over a two year period, buying selling and trading pretty much anything I could get my hands on. The only bass I avoided was a Sadowsky. I just figured they'd be like the Lakland or Pensa I owned. Nice but nothing spectacular. I was checking bass online stores one day and found a used NYC for sale in San Diego. I called and gave a deposit right away because the bass was selling well below market price. Worst case, Id resell and make a couple bucks. I drove there on my day off the check it out and pick it up. It was pretty. Cherry burst over flame, morado board 4 string. I took it home thinking "nice bass". A couple days later I took it to rehearsal. At the end of the first song I did a slide to finish and my guitarist looked at me and said "what bass is that?" I couldnt believe how punchy, clear, and round it was. No loss of definition, great sustain, lightweight, looked cool, killer jazz neck. That was it. Over the next few months I slowly started selling off a nice collection of 16 basses. MTD's, Spectors, Celinder, Older Charvel's, Roscoe's, Fodera's, etc. I moved back to NY with 3 and never looked back. Ive had approx 25 all together the last 9 years and have enjoyed them all. Im fickle plus my gigs change which is why Ive tried so many. Not to mention Roger always has cool new models to try!! I now have a Will Lee and two metros. They all kill. I sometimes think it would be cool to try something but reality hits me and I know nothing would sound "right" to me when gigging.

Rob

[Yvon]

august '96

I think I bought 10 basses the year before and I was tired, I said to myself, I'm going down to new york to find the ONE. No matter how much, it will be cheaper then buy 10 basses a year and sell them after that.

I didn't go to new york but Toronto. Club bass.
I see this amzing Sadowsky on the wall, swamp ash body, quilted maple top, maple neck, black hardware, cherry sunburst.

I tried every basses they own carruthers, Roscoe, wall, etc...
And the Sadowsky sound much better then anything else, no comparison!
I bought it.
Had to sold it later because I needed a 5 string really bad and also I'm not really comfortable with the thin Sadowsky neck.
I need to buy Sadowsky 5 string now!

[P. Bass]

I can't remember the exact year but I saw Will Lee playing on Letterman & was taken in by the SOUND of his bass. I looked closely at the headstock & realized it wasn't a fender. After finally seeing the headstock again in an annual basses mag, (on a pic of a carmel burst 4) I cut out the small photo, surfaced it w/ packaging tape & put it in my wallet. I have never been so impressed w/ ANY other bass! Now IT's ON!!!

[Steve Clark]

I got back into playing after a long layoff in 2004. At that time I had a Kubicki and another PJ Kramer from my high school/college days. I bought a Fender MM5 which was a great bass. I first heard of Sadowsky when I found Talkbass. I bought a MS from Club Bass in Toronto. Since then I have done some experimenting with Roscoes, Rob Allen as well as playing a lot of double bass. Most of the other basses are gone but I now have two Sadowsky Metros; my original early MS 5 from CLub Bass with HC pups as well as a recently acquired RS 5 with singles. I'm hooked on Sadowsky and J bass tones now.