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Sadowsky Ultra Vintage P/J 5-String ('59 Burst with maple fretboard and neck)
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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$3,800.00
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10.0
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Description:
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Wood: Swamp Ash
Fingerboard: Maple, 12" Radius
Pickguard: Mint
Hardware: Chrome
Pickups: Sadowsky Humcancelling P/J Set
Weight: 8.8 lbs. (4 kg)
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Author
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alotabass
Registered User
Registered: March 2005
Location: New Jersey New York
Posts: 145
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Review Date: Tue November 8, 2005
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $3,800.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very Light Chambered Swamp Ash Body, Very Round Ultra Pro Tube Phat Bass Sound
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Cons:
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Expensive, playability is not as easy and fast as all my other basses but it also sounds better than all my other basses. I have learned to live with this.
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(Note to readers: This is not a Metro Model this is the Premium NYC Model which you can only purchase in Brooklyn directly from Sadowsky)
Since this was going to be a major purchase I wanted to make sure my hard earn money was spent on something that I knew for sure I wanted and would not regret later. I wound up spending about 5 months playing every bass I could get my hands on and traveled to every bass shop known to man between Boston and Philly.
I played several models from each of these bass manufactures; Dingwall, Ernie Ball Music Man, Sadowsky, Gibson, MTD, KSD Ken Smith, Pedulla, Alleva Coppolo, Lakland, Spector, Ibanez, Fender, Warwick, Alembic, G&L, Modulas, Zon, Roscoe, Schecter, Mike Lull, Fodera, OLP, Carvin, Yamaha, F-Bass, Samick, Pensa, Ritter, Peavey, Sukop, Parker, Paul Reed Smith and Ristola just to name a few off the top of my head. After my extensive research I narrowed my decision down to the Pensa, Roscoe, Alleva Coppolo, MTD, Sadowsky and Dingwall. Of these it came down to the Sadowsky and Dingwall. The Sadowsky won.
Why did the Sadowsky win? I look for consistency of notes and found that the Sadowsky had the best balance and fullness from the lowest to highest notes. On closer inspection it was very interesting to learn that the Sadowsky, unlike all the other basses I have tried and mentioned, has a unique body design approach where the entire body is full of resonant chambers. I believe this has something to do with its unique sound. This body chambering is not available in the Metro line and is only available in the NYC line of Sadowsky basses.
I had a chance to compare the Metro Line basses directly with the NYC line of basses at Sadowsky’s shop in Brooklyn New York and was convinced that the premium price these models command was worth the price. Another noticeable difference was the neck construction. The NYC line offers a much stiffer neck (graphite reinforced) and thicker head stock. By the way of all my 15 basses the Sadowsky rarely needs to be tuned out of the case. The neck is extremely stable.
I wound up with the Vintage 59 Burst finish, Jazz Style body and PJ pickup configuration not because of its appearance but because after playing every bass in his shop this one had the best sound to my ears.
The bass comes with a rectangle soft case that doubles as a large gig bag to really keep the bass protected. This case is much better than a gig bag. If you drop your bass with a normal gig bag you can expect some damage. With the Sadowsky case you can bet the bass will be in perfect condition in its case after a fall.
The onboard electronics consist of a Master Volume, Neck/Bridge Pickup Blend Control, Stacked Bass and Treble Boost only controls and a vintage passive tone control knob. The EQ is not very versatile and is a one trick pony in my opinion but its a very good trick. When I track with this bass the low end is very deep and the highs can add just the right amount of snap. The only sonic thing that is missing from this bass is a nice semi parametric to dial in just the right about of mids to make the bass have that horn like sound that we sometimes crave in a jazz setting when the bass needs to be more up front. I have a Fender Jazz 5 string with a J-Retro preamp which allows for these nice mid range bumps but then again the Fender does not have the weight sound wise of the Sadowsky so I can live without this feature in favor for just one killer bad ass studio pro sound that the Sadowsky wins hands down on.
Lastly i prefer the playing comfort of 34\" scale basses. Manufactures claim a tighter B string for 35” scale and above but on my Sadowsky the B was as tight if not tighter than all of the 35” scale basses I tried. I can not say enough good things about this bass.
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myspace.com/ricardobassist
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