Club Sadowsky!!!

[bass12]

Lol, I promise to swap it out for the clear one if you come see me play

Maybe next time I'm in South West Rocks! I have an uncle (who plays bass) in Wee Jasper. He maintains a cave system there (Carey's Cave) and runs tours, so if you're ever in the area...

 

[ExaltBass]

oh... are you sure ?
my 1.5 doesnt seem to "grip"
i dont have a 1/16 -yet-

The set screws in the knobs are 1/16" hex drive

 

[LakeEffect]

Slightly late but in...

Awesome bass!

Thanks everyone, I'l be experimenting for the next week or so and I appreciate your input!

 

[Jim Carr]

Any idea who owns this bass now days?

 

[jedicollector]

Topic has been covered many times, but for those who are not familiar with single coils and concerned about noise, it is literally a zero issue. As Vic points out, when the pickups are both dimed (blend at center), there is no difference between single coils and HC's regarding noise (I actually found the Sadowsky singles a bit less noisy).

Of course, if you totally solo a single coil pickup, it is going to be noisy, depending on the room and the rest of the signal chain. However, there is no reason to do that. It is a little tricky with the Sadowksy Blend control, since the impact of that particular design is 'almost' like an 'on/off' switch, with 90% of the blend impact within the first 5-10% of the blend travel. However, if you just work at it a little bit, you will find that there is a 'magic' spot that gives you 90% of the 'solo pickup sound', while keeping 75% of the humcancelling nature of having both pickups on.

You will find that taking that blend control JUST off center... I mean less than 5% of a turn, will result in a very legitimate 'solo' tone with virtually no hum. Once you get a feel for it, it is very easy mid song to do this if needed. And, the good news is, doing it this way gives your 'solo' bridge pickup tone just a bit more meat, and your 'solo' neck pickup tone a bit more definition.

Zero issue with noise with single coils if you know what you are doing, and that additional midrange complexity (especially with the Sadowsky J's) is worth it IMO.

Just FYI for those who don't have experience with the SC versus HC thing

PS Works the same with VV configurations, where in most cases you have the same 90% of the impact within the first 5% or so of the travel of each of the V pots.

Hi guys,

I have a MV5 for quite a while now and changed my bass to Vol/Vol (250k both), and recently Häussel Single Coils. The bass has never sounded better! Great instrument!!!!

regards, H

 

[GroovinOnFunk]

Just put sadowsky single coils in my RV5... made an amazing bass sound 100% better. It's exactly what I was looking for!

 

[AMJBASS]

My RV5-WL is the first Sadowsky I've owned with single coils and I definitely like the way it sounds. I always found the HC pickups to have a compressed sound that I could never really get away from. The single coils have that open throaty jazz tone that I like with the fat sound of the Sadowsky preamp. Great combination! And, with both pickups on there is ZERO hum.

 

[Damian Coccio]

Just put sadowsky single coils in my RV5... made an amazing bass sound 100% better. It's exactly what I was looking for!

How would you describe the tone difference? I am considering SCs in my sadowsky.

 

[Chef]

HC vs SC, for me and my ear:
The HCs seem to have big lows, and high highs, and a substantive scoop in the middle.
The SC's seem to fill that in, and lose a little of the deepest lows, and the highest highs...which are easily dialed back in with the preamp.

Keep in mind, my experience is with 5 strings, and some folks say the 4 string HC's are more mid-present.

Just my de-valued .02

 

[pickles]

Another new development is that i think the new sadowsky singles are made by nordstrand (used to be duncan) and have a whole lot of grindy high mids going on. More than any other J ive ever heard. You can put any J pickup you like in a sadowsky and it'll work great. I like lakland Js a lot in my mv4, and duncan antiquities are always great. The bass will still sound 100% sadowsky, just with a subtle twist.

And yes, in the 4 strings there is less scoop with the HCs, so its a more subtle change.

With the sadowsky 5 you have to be careful to get singles the right size if you want to experiment. "Fender size" does not fit.

 

[Chef]

I may be wrong, but: I think Nord make the 5 string SC's,
but maybe not the 4 string SC's,
which might still be Duncan.

I could be wrong!

 

[bikeplate]

My 4 string WL NYC has nord strands in it

 

[pickles]

I may be wrong, but: I think Nord make the 5 string SC's,
but maybe not the 4 string SC's,
which might still be Duncan.

I could be wrong!

Im basing my guess on the tone (sounds nj4ish) and the rounded case covers. They are also slightly smaller than the stock metro pickups, so its not a perfect fit.

My set is for sale, basically brand new, if anybody wants them.

 

[antontanzil]

I'm actually in the middle of discussing pickup options for my MV5 with the guys at Nordstrand. I have a stock 78 Jazz that's some aspects of it's sound I missed when playing the MV.

I think I will give the Single coils a shot, and switch back just in case I like the HCs better.

The hard part of deciding to do this or not, is because the MV already sounds incredible, it's a gig ready Bass, even compared to my '78 Jazz.

 

[KJung]

I'm actually in the middle of discussing pickup options for my MV5 with the guys at Nordstrand. I have a stock 78 Jazz that's some aspects of it's sound I missed when playing the MV.

I think I will give the Single coils a shot, and switch back just in case I like the HCs better.

The hard part of deciding to do this or not, is because the MV already sounds incredible, it's a gig ready Bass, even compared to my '78 Jazz.

I've had Sadowsky singles installed in the MV5 (NYC, but basically the same as the Metro MV5.. had one nonrouted) I gigged for a number of years. I like them WAY better than the HC's (tighter low end, and they moved the treble response down to more upper midrange/lower treble grind than the pure upper treble response of the HC's). However, it sounded virtually nothing like a Fender J, still sounded like a Sadowsky (nothing wrong with that).

So, meaningful, but IMO and IME subtle change. It should move you in the right direction, but might not quite be a big enough move to make you happy if your target is a late 70's passive J.

 

[Doug Parent]

I'm actually in the middle of discussing pickup options for my MV5 with the guys at Nordstrand. I have a stock 78 Jazz that's some aspects of it's sound I missed when playing the MV.

I think I will give the Single coils a shot, and switch back just in case I like the HCs better.

The hard part of deciding to do this or not, is because the MV already sounds incredible, it's a gig ready Bass, even compared to my '78 Jazz.

Nordstrand single coil's are the #1 choice when I'm modding a Fender V and I've also put Nordy singles in a few MV5's as well.

The mids are more present and overall it is a nice change over the more scooped HC Sadowsky tone (to my ears) and they are just great totally passive with an orange drop passive roll-off it's my favorite flavor.

 

[antontanzil]

I've had Sadowsky singles installed in the MV5 (NYC, but basically the same as the Metro MV5.. had one nonrouted) I gigged for a number of years. I like them WAY better than the HC's (tighter low end, and they moved the treble response down to more upper midrange/lower treble grind than the pure upper treble response of the HC's). However, it sounded virtually nothing like a Fender J, still sounded like a Sadowsky (nothing wrong with that).

So, meaningful, but IMO and IME subtle change. It should move you in the right direction, but might not quite be a big enough move to make you happy if your target is a late 70's passive J.

Exactly... There's no point on having two basses that sounds the same. The two basses being what they are, but be 'the best possible' to my ears/needs is what I'm after.

Nordstrand single coil's are the #1 choice when I'm modding a Fender V and I've also put Nordy singles in a few MV5's as well.

The mids are more present and overall it is a nice change over the more scooped HC Sadowsky tone (to my ears) and they are just great totally passive with an orange drop passive roll-off it's my favorite flavor.

That's strange when people (not just you) said that the HCs has a more scooped tone, for me, the mids are much more present on the Sadowsky HCs compared it to several Basses with Jazz pickups and to my ears, the Sadowsky HCs has a more 'rough' mid that made them cut through easily on the mix, which I like.

 

[KJung]

That's strange when people (not just you) said that the HCs has a more scooped tone, for me, the mids are much more present on the Sadowsky HCs compared it to several Basses with Jazz pickups and to my ears, the Sadowsky HCs has a more 'rough' mid that made them cut through easily on the mix, which I like.

If you hear them back to back, you will hear what we are talking about. This is a very typical difference between hum cancelling pickups and single coil pickups in general (at least of somewhat similar design otherwise).... a slight tightening of the low end and high end, and a more present midrange. The 'scoop' is a relative term for sure, and it is not a 'good versus bad' thing.

To make things more complicated, the difference between the 4 string Sadowsky HC and SC pickjps has been reported to be less significant than the 5 string models.

 

[Damian Coccio]

Exactly... There's no point on having two basses that sounds the same. The two basses being what they are, but be 'the best possible' to my ears/needs is what I'm after.







That's strange when people (not just you) said that the HCs has a more scooped tone, for me, the mids are much more present on the Sadowsky HCs compared it to several Basses with Jazz pickups and to my ears, the Sadowsky HCs has a more 'rough' mid that made them cut through easily on the mix, which I like.

That's what I'd expect (based on other HCs ) is that the high end would have a little less sizzle with HCs and more of an upper mid peak than SCs which tend to be more articulate. Guess there is only one way to find out, funny thing is that I am not dissatisfied with the sadowsky HCs, but curiosity will inevitably get the best of me...

 

[bucephylus]

Question for Ken and Doug: if the HC's are more scooped, then why do the upper harmonics ring out so much more clearly on the SC's (which has been my experience)? That seems counter intuitive.