No troll intended here... got an idea that it's time for another go at a super jazz
Why Alleva over Sadowsky or the reverse for that matter?
Lots of guys that I respect here at TB play both, although it would seem that there is less frothing at the bit hysteria with Alleva fans.
Someone fill a brother in
Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving,
I own an LG5, and I've previously owned a Metro RV5, although I was never able to A/B the two.
IMO, the natural sounds of the Alleva and the Sadowsky are very, very different. Jimmy builds his basses to be essentially vintage-style basses with a few modern appointments (the low B, a very nice, natural preamp, and solid hardware). Sadowskys, on the other hand, seem to go for a very modern J Bass sound; the split-coil pickups that I have experience with seem to scoop out some of the mids, and the preamp boosts the bass and treble dramatically, which would seem to favor the modern, sizzly slapper sound.
I've heard the Sadowsky single-coils have more mids than the splits, which is a tone I may have preferred more. Still, the Alleva is right up my alley as far as inherent tone, whereas the Sadowsky inherent tone is more or less the opposite of what I go for. Construction-wise, the Sadowsky was very nice for an import, and I'm sure the NYC models would rival an Alleva for fit and finish.
This is kind of a poor man's comparison; I'm not nearly as versed in describing tone as guys like Ken and Vic are, but to me, the tones of an Alleva and Sadowsky are different enough that once you know what kind of sound you want, the choice is obvious.
