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Club Sadowsky!!!

#3,561
Visirale said:
I know I've come here several times before about this, but here I am again.

My M5-24 is by far the best feeling and playing bass I've ever owned. I absolutely love how it feels. The sound just isn't cutting it for my band (straight ahead 90's, 2000's rock). I've fiddled around with the blend, the EQ, the VTC, but no matter what it just isn't sitting in the mix. I don't know how to describe the sound besides "boxy." I think I'm just not a soap bars kind of guy. I really want the deep and juicy J pickups. I love playing on my marcus miller signature, I love the sound, but the feel and everything else aren't there like they are on the M5-24.

Will some big singles give me a more jazz-ish sound? Or am I doomed to never be satisfied with the sound because of the pickup locations?

Perhaps a MV5 is in my future?
Click to expand...

I would say try some nordies before forking out for a new bass. I think that the Sadowsky modern sound does not come from it's pickup locations, but the pickups themselves.

For example, in this video which i found:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=6icKaesIDOc

Despite the jazz positioned pickups, to my ears it still sounds like a modern. Try some different pickups, then decide whether you need a new bass or not. I also played a NYC modern, and also loved the feel. I heard almost no variation when panning between it's two pickups though. It sounded like a modern wherever the pickups were.

EDIT: after watching the whole video, I did hear some difference in the slap tone due to the different positions, but it still had that modern slap 'pingyness', and fingerstyle still sounded like a modern to me.
 
#3,563
Visirale said:
I know I've come here several times before about this, but here I am again.

My M5-24 is by far the best feeling and playing bass I've ever owned. I absolutely love how it feels. The sound just isn't cutting it for my band (straight ahead 90's, 2000's rock). I've fiddled around with the blend, the EQ, the VTC, but no matter what it just isn't sitting in the mix. I don't know how to describe the sound besides "boxy." I think I'm just not a soap bars kind of guy. I really want the deep and juicy J pickups. I love playing on my marcus miller signature, I love the sound, but the feel and everything else aren't there like they are on the M5-24.

Will some big singles give me a more jazz-ish sound? Or am I doomed to never be satisfied with the sound because of the pickup locations?

Perhaps a MV5 is in my future?
Click to expand...

I would not bother with a pickup change. As has been mentioned by others, the pickup placement has a LOT to do with the tone of the Modern. And, as you heard from the clip posted above, soap bar pickups have a tone all of their own. I find that, for example, the Nordstrand Big Singles sounds much closer to a typical HC soap bar pickup than to any true Jazz pickup I've experienced. Even in the correct 60's or 70's J positions, the Big Singles don't really do a J type tone. They REALLY won't in that 'tight to the bridge' spacing of the modern.

An MV5 with single coils would scratch your itch in a big way IMO!
 
#3,564
the JT said:
I would say try some nordies before forking out for a new bass. I think that the Sadowsky modern sound does not come from it's pickup locations, but the pickups themselves.

For example, in this video which i found:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=6icKaesIDOc

Despite the jazz positioned pickups, to my ears it still sounds like a modern. Try some different pickups, then decide whether you need a new bass or not. I also played a NYC modern, and also loved the feel. I heard almost no variation when panning between it's two pickups though. It sounded like a modern wherever the pickups were.

EDIT: after watching the whole video, I did hear some difference in the slap tone due to the different positions, but it still had that modern slap 'pingyness', and fingerstyle still sounded like a modern to me.
Click to expand...

In the first part of the video it sounds like he is using only the bridge pickup.
 
#3,566
KJung said:
I would not bother with a pickup change. As has been mentioned by others, the pickup placement has a LOT to do with the tone of the Modern.
Click to expand...

+1 I was going to make this exact point, but Ken beat me to it (typist! :spit:). :smug: :p :D

I will throw out the suggestion of a P/J setup, though. Not that the single coil J/J options previously suggested are not good recommendations (they definitely are, IME/IMHO), but more to toss out another option to consider. My P/J 5 is more versatile than my 24F5, and it definitely sits in a mix very differently.

Tom.
 
#3,567
tombowlus said:
+1 I was going to make this exact point, but Ken beat me to it (typist! :spit:). :smug: :p :D

I will throw out the suggestion of a P/J setup, though. Not that the single coil J/J options previously suggested are not good recommendations (they definitely are, IME/IMHO), but more to toss out another option to consider. My P/J 5 is more versatile than my 24F5, and it definitely sits in a mix very differently.

Tom.
Click to expand...

+1 here. I own all 3 and the P/J 5 is probably going to fit more of the rock vibe you are looking for.
 
#3,568
jonno1707 said:
I recently picked up this killer NYC5 with SC's and have been absolutely blown away with it...
Can I join the club???
sad-jj-007.gif
Click to expand...

HOLY CRAP Jonno... what a stunning bass! Where'd you get that one? :D
 
#3,569
tommixx said:
The MV5 sounds like your answer...
Click to expand...
Absolutely.

Visirale, as others have said, it's not as much the soapbars in the M5-24 that's preventing you from getting that fat sound, it's their location in the bass. For the sound you want, the neck pickup just has to be closer to the neck, and the bridge pickup should also probably be a bit further out.

Again tho, in short, you need the J (or a P/J). That'll solve the "problem".

I have both a 24F-5 (which is pretty much the same as the M5-24) and an MV5. HUGE difference. HUGE. I definitely use the MV5 a LOT more in my cover band.
 
#3,572
Thanks everybody for the advice!

I'd love to be able to keep the M5-24 as it is outstanding for my church playing... but then again I'm working with a college budget! I'll probably hold on to it until I can afford a MV5 or the new metro PJ5s when those come out... then if I'm totally swept off my feet, I can sell the M5-24 for a semester's beer money ;).
 
#3,575
I got my NYC JJ back from being PLEK'd today. I have to say, it is a great process. I had it done by Joe Glaser in Nashville. Overall, I am quite impressed. Joe prices are less than any others I have found. He charges $129. Which is far less than any others I have seen. Supposedly, he was the first to get one in the US.
I will probably not have it done to any of my other Sadowsky basses. They both play very well already. The JJ was just never quite right. It now plays like a dream. I have been playing my 24-5 for the last couple of weeks. So, getting this one back has been a little getting used to. My JJ has HC pickups in it. I have some Sadowsky SC pickups that I think I am going to put in. At a minimum, I can see how I like the difference.

Those of you that have any bass that you have thought about having PLEK'd. It is worth it.
 
#3,576
rodneyat said:
I got my NYC JJ back from being PLEK'd today. I have to say, it is a great process. I had it done by Joe Glaser in Nashville. Overall, I am quite impressed. Joe prices are less than any others I have found. He charges $129. Which is far less than any others I have seen. Supposedly, he was the first to get one in the US.
I will probably not have it done to any of my other Sadowsky basses. They both play very well already. The JJ was just never quite right. It now plays like a dream. I have been playing my 24-5 for the last couple of weeks. So, getting this one back has been a little getting used to. My JJ has HC pickups in it. I have some Sadowsky SC pickups that I think I am going to put in. At a minimum, I can see how I like the difference.

Those of you that have any bass that you have thought about having PLEK'd. It is worth it.
Click to expand...

while i do like the PLEK machine idea, frankly, my NYC sadowskies are the last i'd ever put to a plek machine. the fret work is still my gold standard vs. all other guitars/basses i own.

but glad it worked out for you! any pics of this JJ?
 
#3,578
jokerjkny said:
while i do like the PLEK machine idea, frankly, my NYC sadowskies are the last i'd ever put to a plek machine. the fret work is still my gold standard vs. all other guitars/basses i own.

but glad it worked out for you! any pics of this JJ?
Click to expand...

I do agree 100%. Their work is top notch and never an issue. Which is why I will not have the other 2 done. For some reason, this one was not quite right. I spoke with Joe and he agreed that Sadowsky's really do not normally need much work. When I sent it to him, he said that it may just need a good setup but he would look at it. It has been through a few owners. So in traveling around the country. Maybe it got "off" a little bit. He said it really did not need a lot of work on the PLEK. Most of it was just setup work..adjusting the nut, saddles etc. Very little fretwork was done. That said, it still did make a difference. I would think that a bass that was in really "bad" shape would see a HUGE difference.

Here is a shot of the bass when it was new. It still does not have a scratch on it today.
4311_full.jpg
 
#3,579
rodneyat said:
I do agree 100%. Their work is top notch and never an issue. Which is why I will not have the other 2 done. For some reason, this one was not quite right. I spoke with Joe and he agreed that Sadowsky's really do not normally need much work. When I sent it to him, he said that it may just need a good setup but he would look at it. It has been through a few owners. So in traveling around the country. Maybe it got "off" a little bit. He said it really did not need a lot of work on the PLEK. Most of it was just setup work..adjusting the nut, saddles etc. Very little fretwork was done. That said, it still did make a difference. I would think that a bass that was in really "bad" shape would see a HUGE difference.

Here is a shot of the bass when it was new. It still does not have a scratch on it today.
4311_full.jpg
Click to expand...

That is one of the sexiest basses I have ever seen! I was very close to buying it myself at one point! Congratulations on a beauty!

Peace,

T
 

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