Club Sadowsky!!!

[NOLA Bass]

Thx for everyone's comments. I just landed in Dallas, so I won't get to play it until I get home Sunday night. However, I have practice Monday and then a gig on Tuesday, so plenty of pics and review early next week!!!!

 

[BluesyCat]

Cell phone pic in office is best I can do right now.

Very purrrrty!

 

[Fran Diaz]

So How do I join?

I just got my 1st Sadowsky. BEST BASS I EVER PLAYED.

Jazzstick

Stunning, I'm a junky for natural/vintage tint basses.

congrats

 

[johndough247]

Wow! Really?
I wouldn't say my Sadowsky is lacking in the mids at all. In fact, I think that's where a Sadowsky shines in a live mix.
It has the "right" mid content in it's sound to cuddle up nicely in the mix. Almost regardless of wood combos.

Don't know how you run your amp or setting on your bass, but if you want more mids, don't turn them up, turn things around them down.
Seems counter-intuitive I know. But "cut before you boost" EQ wise. That's FOH live sound 101 right there. (Even though the on-board is boost only).
And it hasn't been said in a while, a little bit of EQ on a Sadowsky goes a LONG LONG way.

I would re-visit you amp and bass settings. and give it a shot.
Will Lee had an awesome poster from his early Hartke/Sadowsky days.
The EQ on his amp was a frown and not the typical smile pretty much most bass players would do. And his live tone is always killin' .

The frown (huge mid boost) on Will's Hartke amp, and also the fact that Will had Roger build him a sig model with mid boost circuit, don't exactly support the argument that Sadowsky basses are always strong in the mids...

What fuzzbass said, combined with the fact that most bassists' live rig sound doesn't necessarily have any bearing on the FOH sound cause they grab the bass from a DI that's before the amp in most cases. I play mostly over the neck pickup so maybe that's all contributing to the less exaggerated mids in my bass.

I actually just got my much anticipated mod completed tonight...pics will follow in a few mins: Mid boost with sweepable frequency (currently set to 200Hz - 2kHz, but can be switched internally to 100Hz to 1Khz). An already amazing bass has now become, dare I say, perfect.

So How do I join?

I just got my 1st Sadowsky. BEST BASS I EVER PLAYED.

Jazzstick

PM Fran Diaz, he'll hook u up.

 

[johndough247]

Here it is...gotta have more cowbe...i mean midrange!!

Pic of the cavity:

Recorded some clips before the mod, will record some post-mod samples tomorrow to see whether the tone has changed with the mid EQ set flat (sounded the same to me, but that was through the tech's mesa-boogie guitar amp, we'll see what Pro Tools says...)

 

[TimothyGroovy]

Here it is...gotta have more cowbe...i mean midrange!!

Pic of the cavity:

Recorded some clips before the mod, will record some post-mod samples tomorrow to see whether the tone has changed with the mid EQ set flat (sounded the same to me, but that was through the tech's mesa-boogie guitar amp, we'll see what Pro Tools says...)

What kind of mid-range preamp you have there?

 

[Vic]

What kind of mid-range preamp you have there?

Looks to me like an East Mid Sweep 01.

 

[johndough247]

Looks to me like an East Mid Sweep 01.

you would be correct, sir.

 

[TimothyGroovy]

I will go for E.W.S Bass/Mid Control if I really need an instant mid control.

E.W.S. Bass Mid Control
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Bass Collector]

Just interested johndough, in your pics, I've seen that buck-eye look more green, and, then in other pics, it's more brown, then, in this pic, it's green AND brown? Which is it really???? I much prefer the brown shade at the bottom of this pic.

 

[abassman84]

Here it is...gotta have more cowbe...i mean midrange!!

Pic of the cavity:

Recorded some clips before the mod, will record some post-mod samples tomorrow to see whether the tone has changed with the mid EQ set flat (sounded the same to me, but that was through the tech's mesa-boogie guitar amp, we'll see what Pro Tools says...)

Damn! Too bad I have a Vintage JJ with a control plate...

 

[pilmat]

Must - not - succumb - to - GAS...

But, DAMN, it purty! Trying to think of a good enough reason NOT to. We ALWAYS need ANOTHER JJ, right?

 

[johndough247]

I will go for E.W.S Bass/Mid Control if I really need an instant mid control.

E.W.S. Bass Mid Control
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Yea I thought about external boxes, but having it on the bass is much easier in the long run: no extra pedal to walk with, bending down to adjust mids during the song, etc.

Just interested johndough, in your pics, I've seen that buck-eye look more green, and, then in other pics, it's more brown, then, in this pic, it's green AND brown? Which is it really???? I much prefer the brown shade at the bottom of this pic.

It's whatever color you want it to be, buddy lol

It's a little bit of both but mostly brown i think (it's not next to me right now)

 

[Vic]

Damn! Too bad I have a Vintage JJ with a control plate...

No offense to johndough247, but I'd probably just get an outboard unit or deal with that kinda' thing at the amp.

I rarely find myself adjusting mids on a bass from song to song. Mostly what I do is add a touch of bass if I'm strongly favoring or soloing the bridge pickup, or maybe mellow out the highs in one way or another.

Fortunately for me, my tastes in mids are satisfied by varying how close to the bridge pickup I play and/or how much I might (also) favor it in the blend. In fact, I have another high end J5 where the maker offers many different preamp configurations, and I pretty much stuck with the Sadowsky approach... vol-blend-VTC-treble/bass. The only real diff is that preamp is boost/cut, so I have a couple options on mellowing out the highs.

 

[johndough247]

No offense to johndough247, but I'd probably just get an outboard unit or deal with that kinda' thing at the amp.

I rarely find myself adjusting mids on a bass from song to song. Mostly what I do is add a touch of bass if I'm strongly favoring or soloing the bridge pickup, or maybe mellow out the highs in one way or another.

Fortunately for me, my tastes in mids are satisfied by varying how close to the bridge pickup I play and/or how much I might (also) favor it in the blend. In fact, I have another high end J5 where the maker offers many different preamp configurations, and I pretty much stuck with the Sadowsky approach... vol-blend-VTC-treble/bass. The only real diff is that preamp is boost/cut, so I have a couple options on mellowing out the highs.

Well Vic, no offense to u, but some would say all u really "need" is a volume and tone knob, if that at all. I've done pretty well in the past with passive p and j basses, I know how to adjust technique to change tone...however it stands to reason that you can achieve even more tones with technique and EQ combined...in other words, how exactly is having the mid knob "hurting" me? Some of us don't have a dedicated amp and find themselves playing through various amps, or mostly doing studio work. How does it "hurt" to have that control on hand, all the time, sans pedal, sans amp (lol), sans carrot...?

If course, this all pales in comparison to the simple fact that I'm not you and probably play in different musical situations than you LOL I'm glad your Sadowsky is everything you wanted it to be, so is mine...cheers :-D

Again, no offense meant, seriously

 

[Bass Collector]

It's whatever color you want it to be, buddy lol

It's a little bit of both but mostly brown I think

Nice! it's an AMAZING looking bass that's for sure

 

[Kwesi]

[del]Hey there folks. I was wondering how close the neck pickup of the older model M5-24s was to the Stingray sweet spot. Thanks in advance for any answers.[/del]

Now that I take a closer look they don't look to be s close as I thought. Nevermind, haha.

 

[Fuzzbass]

So this is why I love P-basses: no mid boost necessary. I had the onboard EQ close to flat, some bass and treble boost from my tube preamp, and that's about it. My band hadn't played this tune in awhile and we botch the beginning and ending rather badly, but the middle is decent.

Born Under a Bad Sign - YouTube

P.S. Sorry Blair, had to put rounds back on Red. The flats sounded cool but I just can't get used to the feel of 'em. I'll have 'em back on eventually, I'm sure.

P.P.S. Strings are Elixir Nanowebs. We have a heat wave out here on the east coast, and the coating keeps my profuse sweat from ruining the strings by the end of the gig (sometimes by the end of one set).

P.P.P.S. The mid boost thing was tongue-in-cheek of course, some folks find P-basses too middy

 

[johndough247]

Funny thing though Fuzzbass, is that I do have a P-pickup in there (reverse P but still ), still wasn't in the frequency range I wanted.

I definitely get the whole "it sits well in the mix" thing from my Sadowsky, but cutting through a dense mix (i.e. or sitting slightly on top of the mix) without help from the amp/recording console/DAW is what I mean mostly.

Oh i did 2 simple recordings of the bass before and after the mod (playing E major up and down the neck). the strings are Sad. blue label SS, athough they're half dead right now. Straight from the bass into Pro Tools, active mode, equal blend on pickups, volume and VTC dimed, no EQ boost...the preamp gain on the audio interface was left in the same spot in both recordings (oh and I cut my fingernails somewhere in between too LOL):

Invalid Link Removed

I did tighten the trussrod ever so slightly (less than 1/8 turn) between the recordings so there's a little more fret buzz on the after recording, but I think they sound pretty much the same, all changes considered (oh and please excuse the timing, was trying to match up both recordings for A/B purposes...unsuccessfully )

 

[Vic]

...in other words, how exactly is having the mid knob "hurting" me?...

Wow. For the record, I NEVER meant to imply anything like this AT ALL. Sorry about the confusion on that.

Some of us don't have a dedicated amp...

At least for me, that doesn't change the story... at least on a J bass with the current Sadowsky controls. Maybe given a different bass, the story might possibly change tho.

I'm glad your Sadowsky is everything you wanted it to be, so is mine...cheers :-D

+1!

Again, no offense meant, seriously

None taken!!!

When I said "no offense" I just was trying to make it clear that I wasn't being critical of your choices with my post. That's all.