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Club Sadowsky!!!

#32,041
Assuming boost only, fingerstylists (that's me, folks) will favor something in the 200-300 range; slappers will get more excited by the 1200+ range.

Given the 40/4kHz. orientation of the two-band preamp, even allowing for slapper preferences, I'd vote on the low side. I'm not going to pretend to state an informed preference within 200-300 Hz, but guessing the sweet spot is somewhere in there.

A very cool development to add this third option...kaizen ...constant quality improvement...it's the way we all should be!
 
#32,043
Sadowsky said:
I am considering some future revisions to the Will Lee preamp and would like to solicit your opinions.

I am thinking of moving the frequency switch from the circuit board to a 3 way mini toggle. Narrow Q will be eliminated.
Since it is just as easy to make this a 3 ways switch as a two way switch, I would like your suggestions on the 3rd frequency.

We will have 500 and 800.
I am thinking of adding either 300 or 1200.

Opinions and reasons are welcome.

Thanks.

Roger
Click to expand...

I'd suggest giving 200 range a listen. +/- 20hz, somewhere in there. That nasty, thick high lows / low mids boundary, can make for great rock sounds. Ampeg's PRO preamps have a boost around there ... "position 2" that can get great sounds especially with SWR type cabs.

1200 boost ... that seems a little odd to me. That would maybe be useful in really bad sounding rooms, but not super toneful.
 
#32,046
Sadowsky said:
I am considering some future revisions to the Will Lee preamp and would like to solicit your opinions.

I am thinking of moving the frequency switch from the circuit board to a 3 way mini toggle. Narrow Q will be eliminated.
Since it is just as easy to make this a 3 ways switch as a two way switch, I would like your suggestions on the 3rd frequency.

We will have 500 and 800.
I am thinking of adding either 300 or 1200.

Opinions and reasons are welcome.

Thanks.

Roger
Click to expand...

What did Will say of your thought? You did ask him, right :D
 
#32,047
While I don't agree that - IME - 1200 would be interesting for slappers only, and only if it were cut, I do agree that 100-150-200-ish is a nice range to boost.

For slap, you could boost around the points where the current standard pre is centered (40 and 4000). 1200 gives an added (definition to the) attack in my experience. A slight 1-2k boost is sometimes used in the studio if the attack needs to punch through (a bunch of heavily distorted or overdriven guitars and a power drum set, for example).
I do reckon that 300 seems a more appropriate frequency band to boost, but like I said earlier, to me, there's already too much happening there. IMO / IME of course.

Like others said: I'm also wondering where the on/off switch for the mid boost will be.
 
#32,049
Holdsg said:
[...] just impressed, Roger, that you are asking your user community and fans what they think.
Click to expand...

+1! I love this company! Not only their instruments and how they handle building them, but also the customer service and the fact Roger's asking the users directly on a public forum, means all a whole lot to me.

I ordered my first NYC blindly, purely based on the comments and review I read here at TB. Now I'm down to #5, with 4 of them still here, and having heavy seller's remorse over the one that's gone.

As a left handed player in an area that I wouldn't call musician-friendly if it comes down to more high end stuff, there's no much choice. Most of the time the shop has to order it and then you have to buy it, even if it's not a top-notch instrument. I've had this a few times.

With Sadowsky I know it will be good without playing, and that's worth a lot to me. The weight is another plus. When I received my first, I thought they'd sent me just a case with no instrument in it :).

And they play and record SO nice. A few months ago, while doing some freelance job in a studio laying it down with one of my Sadowsky basses, the recording engineer said "I prefer that one. It sounds just like a bass should sound!".

Well, y'all know how nice they are, so I'll stop here :).
 
#32,050
Vic said:
Given the boost-only nature, I would vote 300, or actually, even lower... maybe 250 or even 200.

I pretty much never boost the high mids like 1K and above. 800 is probably about as high as I'd ever boost personally, and honestly, I'd probably rarely even do that, but I love to boost low mids (200-300) if favoring or soloing the bridge and I want the burp to have more cohones, but still remain fairly tight sounding.
Click to expand...

+1.

It's been 8 years without owning a bass with mid eq (it's funny that for years I resisted to try a Sadowsky because they had no mid onboard eq) but I remember that the lower mids were what I used to boost, never the high mids.
 
#32,051
Roger, I'll cast my vote for the extra 300Hz boost option. While I agree with the guys suggesting that a slightly lower frequency might be nice, 300 with a medium Q will stay out of the way of the bass boost area sufficiently to still add it own distinctive character to the low mid tone.
I'll volunteer to be one of the first guinea pigs - you can put it on my WL5 build if you go ahead with the idea! :)
Regards,
Ben
 
#32,053
Vic said:
Given the boost-only nature, I would vote 300, or actually, even lower... maybe 250 or even 200.

I pretty much never boost the high mids like 1K and above. 800 is probably about as high as I'd ever boost personally, and honestly, I'd probably rarely even do that, but I love to boost low mids (200-300) if favoring or soloing the bridge and I want the burp to have more cohones, but still remain fairly tight sounding.

Just one question...

Currently, the 2-way switch goes from boost to "flat", with Q and Freq selected on the back.

If you move Freq to the 3-way, and all three positions represent a Freq, how do you get to "flat"? Does each Freq have a boost level on the back so you have to simply adjust one to be non-boosted and sacrifice that Freq?
Click to expand...


Good Question. I hadnt thought about that.
 
#32,056
LutherHeggs00 said:
I think there's an error on the prices for the new Vintage 24-fret 4-string Metros.

I see the designation RV5-WL and MV5-WL in the prices. Looks like the text from the image in the Will Lee models in the center was copied to the 24-fret models on the right.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Click to expand...

Thank you for pointing this out. I just gave Kevin his 2 weeks notice!

Roger
 
#32,057
Vic said:
Given the boost-only nature, I would vote 300, or actually, even lower... maybe 250 or even 200.

I pretty much never boost the high mids like 1K and above. 800 is probably about as high as I'd ever boost personally, and honestly, I'd probably rarely even do that, but I love to boost low mids (200-300) if favoring or soloing the bridge and I want the burp to have more cohones, but still remain fairly tight sounding.

Just one question...

Currently, the 2-way switch goes from boost to "flat", with Q and Freq selected on the back.

If you move Freq to the 3-way, and all three positions represent a Freq, how do you get to "flat"? Does each Freq have a boost level on the back so you have to simply adjust one to be non-boosted and sacrifice that Freq?
Click to expand...

+1 A slight boost (no more than 3db) at around 200 hz would quickly and easily add the 'meat' to a J bass tone that some feel is missing.

Also, per your upper mid point, that 800hz (or a bit higher depending on the built in voicing of the preamp and Sadowsky pickups) center point with narrow Q as a CUT would also be quite useful to many as a 'gank removal' switch for slappers. Can't imagine needing to boost up there with the Sadowsky inherent tone, and especially if you use the Sadowsky strings and/or single coils, which to my ear, have a bit of a rise there. Actually, that is one of the things I like most about the Sadowsky J's... that 'grind' at 1K or so. But, that is also what those peers of mine who try the Sadowsky J and don't a particularly dig it DISLIKE about the Sadowsky tone. A three way switch with 'flat, wide Q 3db bump around 200hz, and narrow Q 3db cut centered somewhere around 1K would be a pretty cool circuit.

That being said, I can also see a slight boost in the upper mids around 1K (with possibly just a bit of low passing above 5K or so) possibly working well to make the stock Sadowsky HC J pickups a bit more 'single coil' like, so lots of possibilities

Of course, Will Lee might not agree at all, and its his circuit:D
 
#32,058
Per my above suggestions, just to be clear, I see no need for any additional switches, etc. on the basic Sadowsky preamp. It is voiced beautifully, and like many others, a slight bass boost, maybe a touch of upper treble rolled off with the passive tone control, and there you go!

I've read somewhere (in an interview with Will) that Will virtually never changes strings, and uses extreme EQ to muscle an even tone out of very old strings. That could explain a lot regarding his preference for additional EQ power on the preamp.... just guessing and musing there.
 
#32,060
With the 200ish mid boost, what i was thinking would be cool is that combined with the scoop from the 2 band you'd get a mid-mids cut but keep the meaty lowest mids a little fuller, it'd be a little more "fenderey".

A 300 boost cold also be useful to just counteract the natural scoop of the 2 band, so your basic tone would be with some EQ rolled in and the switch on, then turn the switch off for insta scoop.

What about using different Q and level for each frequency if that's possible, each designed to create a specific interaction with the 2band and VTC.
 

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