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Club Sadowsky!!!

#25,781
Well said.


QUOTE=Ivan M;11911104]Whenever someone states that SADOWSKY Basses are over priced FENDERS, they need to watch this movie ENTIRELY. i will guarantee that they will quickly change their minds about price. Roger is a true MASTER LUTHIER, and i am so damn PROUD to own a SADOWSKY Bass. Roger thanks for an incredible and extremely informative video.

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#25,782
bassclef04 said:
Well said.


QUOTE=Ivan M;11911104]Whenever someone states that SADOWSKY Basses are over priced FENDERS, they need to watch this movie ENTIRELY. i will guarantee that they will quickly change their minds about price. Roger is a true MASTER LUTHIER, and i am so damn PROUD to own a SADOWSKY Bass. Roger thanks for an incredible and extremely informative video.

Invalid Link Removed
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[/QUOTE]

+1
 
#25,784
Sadowsky said:
They did not bring it back. I had the original DVD and uploaded it to my Youtube channel. Behind the Notes appears to be defunct.

Roger
Click to expand...

Hi Roger,

This video clearly illustrates exactly how and why you "get it" when it comes to making a fantastic bass. I arrived at many of the conclusions you've implemented by fixing too many not so good basses over the years. I prefer a bass to have the capacity for flawless low action, and that's just a question of geometry- the interplay of a string with a given neck's relief, the seating of a fret and its height, and the crown of the fret. Invariably, fixing basses to accomodate this has required reshaping the fretboard, careful fretwork, and occasionally shimming the heel in the neck pocket.

Your basses reflect that awareness, and I am grateful that these concerns are addressed before your basses leave your shop. Your basses are delivered ready for service with no ifs, ands, or buts. Thus you have my downpayment on the two Moderns I've committed to. It's much more convenient to buy a bass from a fella who gets it than it is to repair a bass that was sold without these details sweated.

Thanks for your commitment to excellence.
 
#25,786
Hello, Roger-
Thanks for your unending commitment to excellence and dedication to offer quality instruments at affordable prices.
The one hour video was time well-spent, highly informative and shared with those who need to know about your products.
I'm a proud owner of two basses and now understand what all the talk is about. Fran, number please, when you get a chance ?
-GiL
 
#25,787
question for you guys with single coils. when the pre is set flat, what is the gain like compared to the passive setting? i just installed a sad pre in an old fender and the active setting is lower in gain than the passive setting. at first, the active setting was dramatically lower in gain so i figured something was grounding out somewhere. i put some foam between the circuit board and the bottom of the cavity (which has a ground plate at the bottom) and the gain increased significantly. its still not as loud as passive mode though. fwiw, its the sad pre with no vtc and some lakland singles (hottish at around 8.7k each)
 
#25,788
narud said:
question for you guys with single coils. when the pre is set flat, what is the gain like compared to the passive setting? i just installed a sad pre in an old fender and the active setting is lower in gain than the passive setting. at first, the active setting was dramatically lower in gain so i figured something was grounding out somewhere. i put some foam between the circuit board and the bottom of the cavity (which has a ground plate at the bottom) and the gain increased significantly. its still not as loud as passive mode though. fwiw, its the sad pre with no vtc and some lakland singles (hottish at around 8.7k each)
Click to expand...

Something seems wrong there. With mine, there is a moderate boost to overall volume, over and above the bit of low end that seems to be baked into the 'neutral' setting of the preamp.

However, I'm using Roger's singles. Not sure if the impedance or capacitance or whatever of a given pickup differentially impacts the operation of a preamp.
 
#25,789
KJung said:
Something seems wrong there. With mine, there is a moderate boost to overall volume, over and above the bit of low end that seems to be baked into the 'neutral' setting of the preamp.

However, I'm using Roger's singles. Not sure if the impedance or capacitance or whatever of a given pickup differentially impacts the operation of a preamp.
Click to expand...

yeah, doesnt seem right. winding wise, the pickups are ballpark to what the old duncans are and probably more than the pickups carey winds so it seems odd that it would be that. im guessing im doing something funky or sloppy somewhere in the install. its a super tight fit even after widening the cavity so there could be something still touching somewhere.
 
#25,791
KJung said:
Something seems wrong there. With mine, there is a moderate boost to overall volume, over and above the bit of low end that seems to be baked into the 'neutral' setting of the preamp.

However, I'm using Roger's singles. Not sure if the impedance or capacitance or whatever of a given pickup differentially impacts the operation of a preamp.
Click to expand...
Just to add my data point, ALL the Sadowsky basses I've ever played and/or owned, which includes two different kinds of single coils, two different kinds of hum cancelers, and two different kinds of P5's, ALL seemed a little louder in active mode vs passive mode.

narud, something is most definitely at least not typical in your situation, if not downright wrong.
 
#25,792
Vic said:
Just to add my data point, ALL the Sadowsky basses I've ever played and/or owned, which includes two different kinds of single coils, two different kinds of hum cancelers, and two different kinds of P5's, ALL seemed a little louder in active mode vs passive mode.

narud, something is most definitely at least not typical in your situation, if not downright wrong.
Click to expand...

checking it out more and more, when passive the low mids are louder and therefor it seems quieter in active until i boost. a snap on the g string in both modes sounds like the same volume.
 
#25,793
I was just about late for work because of watching the video this morning. One thing that I noted was Roger's take on Midrange boost.

I am just curious how you guys operate your preamp. I know a lot of ppl run bass and treble flat. But is there any of you guys that boost bass and treble on your preamp?

I run my preamp flat and sometimes boost my midrange on my amp.(depending on the room)

Roger has me rethinking or second guessing myself. I think I will try experimenting. I normally line out my amp instead of micing it. The Full Range FOH speakers do not color the tone like a Bass cabinet does. What I am hearing thru my cab may not be even close to what the crowd is hearing.
 
#25,794
Hounddog said:
I was just about late for work because of watching the video this morning. One thing that I noted was Roger's take on Midrange boost.

I am just curious how you guys operate your preamp. I know a lot of ppl run bass and treble flat. But is there any of you guys that boost bass and treble on your preamp?

I run my preamp flat and sometimes boost my midrange on my amp.(depending on the room)

Roger has me rethinking or second guessing myself. I think I will try experimenting. I normally line out my amp instead of micing it. The Full Range FOH speakers do not color the tone like a Bass cabinet does. What I am hearing thru my cab may not be even close to what the crowd is hearing.
Click to expand...

50-75%, both treb and bass, and its awesome.

its not quite the andrew gouche "every knob turned to 11" setting, but to say the least, its a hot mother of a signal. thankfully, the soundmen, with whom i've worked, have been nothing but pros, and dig the fatness.

and while i came from the ol' more mids more mids jaco school of tone, the sadowsky preamp has since turned me around, and makes all other basses seem midrangey and thick guitar string like. and only the sadowsky pre gives me my slap sound. all others seem clacky or not nearly as solid in the low end. and strangely, the sadowsky pre really brings a certain weight to my tapping. hard to explain, but again, the feel and bigness of each note just feel better than any other onboard pre i've owned/used.

and frankly, the onboard is so insanely awesome, i'm still waiting for a sadowsky 1u preamp anyday now.
 
#25,796
Hounddog said:
I was just about late for work because of watching the video this morning. One thing that I noted was Roger's take on Midrange boost.

I am just curious how you guys operate your preamp. I know a lot of ppl run bass and treble flat. But is there any of you guys that boost bass and treble on your preamp?

I run my preamp flat and sometimes boost my midrange on my amp.(depending on the room)

Roger has me rethinking or second guessing myself. I think I will try experimenting. I normally line out my amp instead of micing it. The Full Range FOH speakers do not color the tone like a Bass cabinet does. What I am hearing thru my cab may not be even close to what the crowd is hearing.
Click to expand...

Like many, I typically boost the bass just a smidge for fatness. That setting doesn't overwhelm the nice midrange presence of the Sadowksy J's (especially with the wonderful single coils). I've never, ever used the treble boost at all, and I love a bright tone. However, my cabs are very full range, and don't need a ton of goosing.

And, as you point out, a ton of bass and treble boost would do some very nasty things IMO to your sound through a large front of house tone.

This clip is from a while back, but here is a demonstration of the Sadowsky pre I did a while back with a relatively full range and somewhat 'bright' rig. This clip also demonstrates how you can get a pretty good 'pickup solo'd' tone while still keeping the single coils hum canceled by just moving the blend control 1% or so off center.

FYI! I can't imagine boosting the treble on most full range cabs. However, if you have an old school cab with no tweeter, it can bring out a nice 'top of the driver' grind to your tone.

Probably my favorite preamp. As I say in the clip, it is not a 'transparent' pre, but it is a darn good pre!

Sadowsky On-Board Preamp Demonstration - YouTube

The F500/Bargantino AE410 remains my favorite 'Sadowsky rig' for a nice punchy, grindy, articulate tone in a mix. Fabulous!
 
#25,799
Hounddog said:
I am just curious how you guys operate your preamp...
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Keeping in mind all my Sadowsky basses are ash/maple...

I sometimes boost the bass just a little, especially if I'm favoring the bridge pickup, and a lot of times, especially with new strings, I'll drop the VTC down 25% and even up to 50% (going by knob travel, which note is not linear, so maybe more like 10-25% effect). I never ever boost treble, but like Ken says, that's probably because all I use are full range cabs.

Everything else I do tonally I do with the blend control and right (plucking) hand position. I literally move my right hand all the way back and forth from right over the bridge, and maybe even behind it (!!) to up over the fingerboard around the 15th fret or so. Massive range of tones, especially when factoring in the blend control.

In general, on an ash/maple J type bass, all I've ever needed is a bass boost and passive tone (and/or active treble cut - tho they are pretty different). I've generally never needed mid boost/cut or treble boost.

IME anyway.
 
#25,800
Chef said:
While I'm mostly like Ken and boost very little, if at all; I've also found joy in the "active treble boost, passive tone cut" position, and use that too.
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With my upper midrange bright rigs, I haven't had the need to do that, but that is a nice way to boost the lower treble/upper mids on the Sadowsky. Boost the treble and then chop off the upper treble with the passive tone control. Nice effect with a cab like the Epifani UL's or whatever, that can sometimes use a bit of upper mid/lower treble to grind a bit.
 

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