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Club Sadowsky!!!

#25,581
Back to basses, I had my first chance to try out some metros side by side with my NYC 24-5 JJ. We have a new dealer here in Colorado and no one has ever carried them before, very exciting!

I was interested in contrasting the tone woods as I've been wondering whether my ebony/alder combo was really the best choice for me.

I was surprised at how close the ebony was to maple- much closer than I expected. It was only a little less snappy than maple. I have been feeing like my NYC is a bit too bright and "finger" sounding for my tastes, and playing the rosewood metros was definitely more my style. Too bad there was no brazilian rosewood to hear, that's what I'm most interested in.

I also have been toying around with the idea of getting a p/j combo instead of my 60's J/J. Played a lot of basses today and things are not so cut and dry though. I've got to go back with fresh ears and my Fodera for reference next time.

I actually called and spoke with Kevin a bit yesterday about the possibility of a P/J 5 with rosewood, and my test results today were pretty much what he told me and what I expected more or less- that an ebony bass on alder is still pretty bright and that rosewood might be better for what I want.

Fingerboards seem to make a huge difference on Sadowskys, more so than on the other basses i played. I wonder if this is in part because the body mass is relatively smaller compared to the others, and therefore the fingerboard has a bigger impact on tone?
 
#25,582
bongomania said:
Nope. In fact I make a point of the fact that the Zaolla cable has higher resistance, meaning lower conductance, than any other cable I tested. Silver wire, skin effect and the litz cable concept all look good on paper, which is what Analysis Plus counts on when they trot those ideas out for customers. But in practical application, they have no effect at/on audio frequencies. Skin effect, "current bunching" etc. come into play at radio frequencies, at long distances like a mile or more. This is a detail glossed over by cable vendors.

My high opinion of the Zaolla is based 100% on the specs I describe in the chart. If its silver content has anything to do with those qualities, I'd be surprised--but I suppose it's possible.
Click to expand...

Just a sincere thank you for all the valuable input you've offered. It's been fun.
B.
 
#25,583
I dunno, interesting question, though:
All of the Sadowskys I've had have been in the 9lb-9.5 range.
All the other 5 strings I currently have are in that same 9-9.5 range...
Is that what you mean by body mass? Weight?
Or do you mean a physically smaller body?

Robin Ruscio said:
Fingerboards seem to make a huge difference on Sadowskys, more so than on the other basses i played. I wonder if this is in part because the body mass is relatively smaller compared to the others, and therefore the fingerboard has a bigger impact on tone?
Click to expand...
 
#25,584
Chef said:
I dunno, interesting question, though:
All of the Sadowskys I've had have been in the 9lb-9.5 range.
All the other 5 strings I currently have are in that same 9-9.5 range...
Is that what you mean by body mass? Weight?
Or do you mean a physically smaller body?
Click to expand...

Wow, you've got some heavy Sadowskys! Mine 5 is 8.25 or so, may last 4 about the same.

By mass, I meant that there is less weight, density, and size of the of alder or ash body compared to other basses, and therefore the fingerboard has a disproportionate influence on tone compared to bass that has a larger, denser, heavier body and similar size fingerboard. I guess this wouldn't be true on your 9-9.5 lb range.

Imagine the various pieces of wood and how they are ringing, and the influence the relative size would have. Either that, or the character of the fingerboard just exerts more influence than the more neutral tonality of the body.

This was just conjecture. I'm just saying that the fingerboard wood type seems to trump the body wood in terms of tonal influence. This is what Kevin had told me on the phone the other day as well.

My ebony/alder sounded more like maple/ash than rosewood/alder.
 
#25,585
Hi all, I just wanted to show off a Sadowsky TYO I have bought :hyper:.

The serial number is 4071 (I don't know if the TYO serial numbers are the same as the metro series though I suspect they are not).

I previously posted a thread asking whether I should swap the OBP-3 and EMG-X's for stock items. Here I just want to join the club!

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#25,586
Can I get in?
 

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#25,587
You are #367. welcome. :)

jmiyairi said:
Hi all, I just wanted to show off a Sadowsky TYO I have bought :hyper:.

The serial number is 4071 (I don't know if the TYO serial numbers are the same as the metro series though I suspect they are not).

I previously posted a thread asking whether I should swap the OBP-3 and EMG-X's for stock items. Here I just want to join the club!

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Click to expand...
 
#25,590
Hello all,
To make a long story short my Fender Marcus Miller bass' electronics have seen better days. After 3.5 months sitting on some jerks table, one wire soldered and a new pickup later it now officially sounds terrible (sounds like a run over duck). The best part is he hands it back to me with wires hanging out from under the pick guard along with it bulging out from his hack attempt to put everything back into the compartment.

At this point I'm taking the loss, sparing him his life and just walking away. Walk the middle path right?

So my question is, has anyone here ever owned one of these basses and added the Sadowsky preamp and Hum canceling pickups to it? With that said, is there any routing that might be required or any other mods needed to make it fit?

I love my MV4 and the sound and at this point a total overhaul to the "Marcus" couldn't be a bad thing considering it's current condition.

Thanks!
 
#25,591
While the Sadowsky preamp would surely work and you admit you know and like it's sound;
you bench tech is a moron.
With that bass, I'd be inclined to get a schematic from Fender, and take it to a qualified bench tech.
 
#25,592
Chef said:
While the Sadowsky preamp would surely work and you admit you know and like it's sound;
you bench tech is a moron.
With that bass, I'd be inclined to get a schematic from Fender, and take it to a qualified bench tech.
Click to expand...

Yes he is. Something happened that blew out the pickup in the first place and I'm thinking it affected the preamp as well. I gave him a copy of the schematic when I brought the bass in but it would appear to be too much for him to handle.

Oh well.
 
#25,594
gillento said:
I think the Sadowsky HCs have different dimensions than the PUs in the Fender bass.
In fact, both Sado PUs have the same dims whereas the MM's PU's bridge PU is longer than the neck PU.
Click to expand...

Our 4 string pickups are the same size as Fender. Our 5 string pickups are not compatible with Fender.

Roger
 
#25,598
gre107 said:
Hello all,
To make a long story short...
Click to expand...
Dude, I would not pay that hack one penny first off. Secondly, are you SURE that pickup is damaged? Was that HIS assessment? Thirdly, not to take away from Roger's great electronics, personally, I would strongly urge you to fix it back to original GOOD working order BEFORE you consider changing it. I suggest you don't have good basis to make a proper choice until you do that.

IMHO.
 
#25,600
sps500 said:
+1

Tried the Zaolla back to back with my other cables and IMHO they're pretty much what I want in a cable.
Click to expand...

++1. I've not messed with any other high-end cable. The Zaolla was recommended to me by a trusted luthier, and it's great - very even (no bass lump like Monster), seems to permit more microdynamic expression, and just plain "more" in all senses. One night, did a swap with a jazz guitarist using Monster on his L-5; he bought my Zaolla from me after we finished up, which I replaced ASAP.
 

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