Chef
In Memoriam
I have...and in fact, it seems to me like the "micro pots" used by many folks now seem more susceptible to this than the old school large body CTS stuff .
I could be wrong.
I could be wrong.
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My experience is that every bass from my lowly Fenders to the Rolls Royce Alembic's eventually develop "scratchies" in the pots. Why should Sadowskys be any different? It's just part of becoming a vintage bass. Get the deoxit Chef suggested or just give them a good couple twists every now and then to clear the contact path. Or both. Heck, even the pots on my Walter Woods head eventually developed the "scratchies." Maybe someone will invent a potentiometer some day that is immune. Hasn't happened yet.
Late to the party on the chambered vs non-chambered conversation. Here's my experience: I've owned 3 NYC PJ5's, all three with chambered bodies and alder/Brazilian rosewood, and then my current NYC PJ5 with ash/Brazilian rosewood which is NOT chambered and is nearly 10 lbs. Here's what I hear:
The 3 non-chambered were all light weight (8lbs and under) and all had an airy, open sound when soloing up the neck. Extremely musical and lyrical. Great basses and the only reason I let them go was for aesthetic/ergonomic reasons (liking the larger nut width and Pbass body of my current bass)
Then I got ahold of an ash/maple PJ5 Metro. Non-chambered and heavy. Putting aside the usual difference between ash/maple and alder/rw I noticed that each note had more weight an authority to it. Not a huge difference but to me noticeable. This prompted me to order my current ash/braz rw PJ5 with a non-chambered ASH body.
Sure enough, compared to those other PJ5's, this bass is just plain meatier sounding. More compressed/solid notes. Again, it's a slight and subtle difference, but I notice it. Just to make sure, I compared it back-to-back with one of those former lightweight PJ5's that I sold locally to a friend. His still had that lyrical and singing high end, which mine can't quite match (though it's close), and mine sounded beefier.
Could this be a weight thing? Chambering? I don't know.
I think the real test would be to get two identical builds, one chambered, one not, with the same weight.
I've also noticed the weight thing with 70's jazz basses. My friend had an ultra-light (7.25 lb) ash/maple 70's J that was the exact opposite of that classic 70's J sound. It was warmer and more dynamic. All of the heavy 70's J's I've played/gigged seemed to excel at meaty porkchop notes.
My .02 cents.
For me, the classic combo for Roger's stuff is:
1) Fretted: non-chambered ash body around 10lbs, Brazilian rw 20 fret board, PJ5 setup with a PBody
2) Fretless: non-chambered ash body around 9.5lbs, ebony board with 20 'frets', Modern pickup placement and PBody.
The 3 non-chambered were all light weight (8lbs and under) and all had an airy, open sound when soloing up the neck. Extremely musical and lyrical. Great basses and the only reason I let them go was for aesthetic/ergonomic reasons (liking the larger nut width and Pbass body of my current bass)
Then I got ahold of an ash/maple PJ5 Metro. Non-chambered and heavy. Putting aside the usual difference between ash/maple and alder/rw I noticed that each note had more weight an authority to it. Not a huge difference but to me noticeable. This prompted me to order my current ash/braz rw PJ5 with a non-chambered ASH body.
Sure enough, compared to those other PJ5's, this bass is just plain meatier sounding. More compressed/solid notes. Again, it's a slight and subtle difference, but I notice it. Just to make sure, I compared it back-to-back with one of those former lightweight PJ5's that I sold locally to a friend. His still had that lyrical and singing high end, which mine can't quite match (though it's close), and mine sounded beefier.
Could this be a weight thing? Chambering? I don't know.
I think the real test would be to get two identical builds, one chambered, one not, with the same weight.
I've also noticed the weight thing with 70's jazz basses. My friend had an ultra-light (7.25 lb) ash/maple 70's J that was the exact opposite of that classic 70's J sound. It was warmer and more dynamic. All of the heavy 70's J's I've played/gigged seemed to excel at meaty porkchop notes.
My .02 cents.
For me, the classic combo for Roger's stuff is:
1) Fretted: non-chambered ash body around 10lbs, Brazilian rw 20 fret board, PJ5 setup with a PBody
2) Fretless: non-chambered ash body around 9.5lbs, ebony board with 20 'frets', Modern pickup placement and PBody.
Here you go ElMon!
Your previous chambered PJ5
That bass was a lot more solid sounding in the low end than the 7.5 lb PJ5 I snagged after having 'Bluesy's PJ5 withdrawal' syndrome. Your bass as a beautiful upper-register sound, so I think a loop pedal, a head band and some white Jaco pants are in order. Just don't rip the frets out.
Got it home today and had a chance to play through my amp a bit. So far so good! The VTC is still scratchy, but did seem to improve a bit (and as kobass mentioned, it's only scratchy if I'm playing a note. If I'm not playing, it's silent). I had some deoxit before, but it either got lost or tossed when I moved last year, so I'll have to pick up a can to help it out a bit. Otherwise, everything's working a-ok as it should.
Currently has the Sadowsky Blacks on it now, and I got the action down nice and looooow how I like it. I'll keep it that way for a bit, but before too long I'm throwing on a set of DR Lo-Riders since that's my go-to string of choice. It really does play great, though. It'll take a little getting used to in a few areas, though. Firstly, I'm used to a tighter string spacing. Some stuff I've played was easier with the wider spacing, and I could play cleaner, whereas other grooves (especially faster ones or with larger string skips) were a little more challenging than I'm used to. Certainly not impossible, just different. And secondly, I've been playing Warwick's so much that I'm used to have more space between the strings and the body. So far I've seemed to quickly adjust, but I still feel like I'm smacking the pick guard when I slap as opposed to just getting the string. No major issue, since I don't slap all that much necessarily, but again, just something to adjust.
The tone is pretty much exactly what I wanted. I can get a nice, vintage-y tone, a great p-bass sound, a thicker jazz growl, some more modern tones, etc. No surprises to anyone here already, but glad that it's fulfilling my plan. I previously had two Warwick's, and while I love the tones from them, I couldn't dial in a good passive tone or more vintage style tone, so now with the one Warwick and this, I have all the tones I personally want covered.
Here it is safely at home in its rightful place
Currently has the Sadowsky Blacks on it now, and I got the action down nice and looooow how I like it. I'll keep it that way for a bit, but before too long I'm throwing on a set of DR Lo-Riders since that's my go-to string of choice. It really does play great, though. It'll take a little getting used to in a few areas, though. Firstly, I'm used to a tighter string spacing. Some stuff I've played was easier with the wider spacing, and I could play cleaner, whereas other grooves (especially faster ones or with larger string skips) were a little more challenging than I'm used to. Certainly not impossible, just different. And secondly, I've been playing Warwick's so much that I'm used to have more space between the strings and the body. So far I've seemed to quickly adjust, but I still feel like I'm smacking the pick guard when I slap as opposed to just getting the string. No major issue, since I don't slap all that much necessarily, but again, just something to adjust.
The tone is pretty much exactly what I wanted. I can get a nice, vintage-y tone, a great p-bass sound, a thicker jazz growl, some more modern tones, etc. No surprises to anyone here already, but glad that it's fulfilling my plan. I previously had two Warwick's, and while I love the tones from them, I couldn't dial in a good passive tone or more vintage style tone, so now with the one Warwick and this, I have all the tones I personally want covered.
Here it is safely at home in its rightful place
Thanks for the great post. You describe exactly what I would expect.
Wondering if I've lucked into the best of both worlds - a chambered NYC Modern 5-24 that must weigh a bit over 9 lbs., mahogany/koa/ebony board. I've otherwise had time with two other chambered axes,and with NYC and Metro solids...All great axes in their own ways, but both chambered axes (a modern and a P/J) didn't have the deep, strong fundamental that I really want. But my Modern 5-24 has that songful thing going in the mid and upper-register, and low register and fundamentals also have depth. I'm very lucky to have this axe...and perhaps heavier, chambered axes are the jam! The only vibe I can't get from this bass is that furry, purry old-school thing...probably a function of the pickup placement, and that's that.
So many variables and factors in play, and the only constant is that every single one of Roger's basses are uniquely AWESOME.
Chambered vs non-chambered, Brazilian vs morado, etc....I'm misquoting Leo Fender somewhat but he said words to the effect like he could control any number of factors, but he wasn't God. Wood is a highly variable material; you never really know how all the parts on a musical instrument are gonna play together until you fire it up.
Never got a club number, although I've participated on this thread for some years. Numbers? We don't need no steenking numbers!
But here are pix of my Modern 5-24 Sadowskys. The Metro is alder/pau ferro and predates the VTC, but I had it put in, and it also has Big Singles. A great axe, which was my main player for many years, and opened my ears and eyes to what a superior bass could do.
The NYC was a Tom Bowlus bass, long-celebrated in these pages: 25th Anniversary run, ebony/koa/mahogany. It's an exceptional axe, and I'm lucky to have it.
Both are V/V…sometimes a hassle, but I love the micro-adjustments in tone that can be made.
Sadly, just put the Metro up for sale on TB…it's really good, but the NYC really does better for me. Again, I'm lucky to have this axe.
Onward!
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Curious what everyone is carrying with them for truss adjustments with the spoke wheel. I love that thing. But, is there anything better than an Allen wrench?
I bought the tool (just a piece of rod the right diameter) from Sadowsky. It fits better than an Allen wrench.
Ok, I see the spoke wheel rod listed on the store. The "just in case you lost yours" comment on the listing caused me to go pull out my case from the closet. My RV4 lives in my Reunion Blues gig bag; so, that tells you something about its place in the stable. Anyhow, my bass came with 4 Allen keys, but no spoke wheel rod.
A better tool would have a stop on the rod at the right point to indicate correct insertion depth and maybe a little phenolic grip. Just a suggestion in case Roger is reading. 8^)
A better tool would have a stop on the rod at the right point to indicate correct insertion depth and maybe a little phenolic grip. Just a suggestion in case Roger is reading. 8^)
I don't bother carrying around the truss rod adjuster since a mini screwdriver works just as well.
Good Sadowsky folks,
I recently perused the site (as I do from time to time) and spied a lovely sunburst RV4-WL. I believe it was priced at $2925, which seemed a bit below the regular price. Sure enough, it was $3025 next time I looked. Was that a glitch/my eyes playing tricks on me, or was Roger running a sale for a bit?
I recently perused the site (as I do from time to time) and spied a lovely sunburst RV4-WL. I believe it was priced at $2925, which seemed a bit below the regular price. Sure enough, it was $3025 next time I looked. Was that a glitch/my eyes playing tricks on me, or was Roger running a sale for a bit?
