Club Sadowsky!!!

[Joeykun]

FWIW, if you want a really fast feel to the neck once it is down to bare wood, here's a "trick" Bob Gladstone, who was principle for the DSO showed me. Get a Brazil Nut from a jar of mixed nuts, remove all of the salt, break the nut in half, and rub the exposed surface on the back of the neck. The oil from Brazil Nuts interacts with the wood very nicely and provides the perfect lube to make the neck feel great.

Or you could just use 280 grit sand paper and lightly remove the gloss for that nice smooth feel again! That's what Roger suggests.

 

[AMJBASS]

280! Seems a bit coarse

 

[jonathanhughes]

Yeah, 280 seems REALLY coarse. I use a scotchbrite pad (although not on my Sadowsky!), and it does the job without going as deep as the wood.

 

[lgrankin]

Don't use 280 grit. I use 2,000 grit and works like a charm.

L

 

[scowboy]

I have used commonly used 1000 grit sand paper on many bass necks I have. Though my Metro is perfect!

 

[deepestend]

Let me know what's up. We are back in the shop in Tuesday.

Just sent you a PM with contact information for Lisa, our production manger/shop manager. I talked to her about this today and she said that emailing her is your best bet.

 

[Joeykun]

This is what was recommended to me by Roger. I use it and it works perfectly!

280! Seems a bit coarse

Yeah, 280 seems REALLY coarse.

Don't use 280 grit.

 

[Musicfreak1988]

Three years after receiving my last one, I decided to take the plunge and order another Sadowsky . It's already number seven (don't have all seven anymore though ), but I still get excited when I'm e-mailing with the shop to put the order together.

4-string standard model
amazon rosewood with blocks
single coils in 70s position

Now for the finish, I think I'm going for the yellow - red 'horizontal' burst, but the gold-greenburst looks nice as well. Any thoughts?

 

[Kitsapbass]

Three years after receiving my last one, I decided to take the plunge and order another Sadowsky . It's already number seven (don't have all seven anymore though ), but I still get excited when I'm e-mailing with the shop to put the order together.

4-string standard model
amazon rosewood with blocks
single coils in 70s position

Now for the finish, I think I'm going for the yellow - red 'horizontal' burst, but the gold-greenburst looks nice as well. Any thoughts?

They're both absolutely gorgeous...I don't think you can really go wrong with either.

 

[MAJOR METAL]

Three years after receiving my last one, I decided to take the plunge and order another Sadowsky . It's already number seven (don't have all seven anymore though ), but I still get excited when I'm e-mailing with the shop to put the order together.

4-string standard model
amazon rosewood with blocks
single coils in 70s position

Now for the finish, I think I'm going for the yellow - red 'horizontal' burst, but the gold-greenburst looks nice as well. Any thoughts?

Green all the way!

 

[AMp'D.2play]

Here's a cr@ppy smartphone pic of my Metro RV4 WL from our Labor Day gig.

I'd brought my little 200w combo amp with the intention of using its XLR out in order to save time during setup, but when I saw that the bassist for the band that preceded us also brought his stack, I decided to go with my main rig. Also the first gig strung with Pure Blues!

 

[Holdsg]

pure blues are nice strings, and I like the little pedestal your rig is sitting on, is that a Gramma? or DIY?

 

[ale29]

So yeah, quoting this July post to give further impressions about my Sad

Here's a new member of the family...brand new Sadowsky MV5 with Sadowsky flatwound strings!

Invalid Link Removed

The bass itself is everyting I wanted AND MORE. Just perfect neck feel, I love the electronics (and this is a big deal since I could never stand an active bass in my life) and especially the capability of having both a passive tone and an active treble boost to mix together.
It does a convincing P bass tone thanks to flats, and here's a clip to back up my statement:


BUT.
Yeah, there it is, the "but".
It has a minor-to-moderate dead spot on the 5th fret of the A STRING which is really deterring my enjoyment. Dead spots on the G string, I don't care that much unless they are very noticeable. The D note on the A string, however, is another story...
I'm sure that Sadowsky flats, being somewhat vintage in tone and vibe, are amplifying the issue. But, I really like these strings. I'm quite sure they are mounted correctly, also.
Anyway, adding some mass to the headstock seems to help with it, so I'm going to order a Fat Finger and give some feedback about it later, I don't want to give up on a bass I bought new for a special occasion. It's perfect, otherwise.
Can't really blame Sadowsky as well, since dead spots are a fact of life. Just got unlucky I guess.

 

[Ewo]

Wow--the only dead spots I've encountered were on the G string. And I gotta say my Sadowskys have been much better in that regard (dead spots much less noticeable) than the Fenders I used before them.

I gotta figure a dead note on the A string is either a bum string, or a high fret which is choking the note. Dead spots on the G string are AFAIK a known limitation of bolt-neck designs: the resonance of the body + neck tends to make the fundamental decay quicker there.

 

[deepestend]

So yeah, quoting this July post to give further impressions about my Sad








The bass itself is everyting I wanted AND MORE. Just perfect neck feel, I love the electronics (and this is a big deal since I could never stand an active bass in my life) and especially the capability of having both a passive tone and an active treble boost to mix together.
It does a convincing P bass tone thanks to flats, and here's a clip to back up my statement:


BUT.
Yeah, there it is, the "but".
It has a minor-to-moderate dead spot on the 5th fret of the A STRING which is really deterring my enjoyment. Dead spots on the G string, I don't care that much unless they are very noticeable. The D note on the A string, however, is another story...
I'm sure that Sadowsky flats, being somewhat vintage in tone and vibe, are amplifying the issue. But, I really like these strings. I'm quite sure they are mounted correctly, also.
Anyway, adding some mass to the headstock seems to help with it, so I'm going to order a Fat Finger and give some feedback about it later, I don't want to give up on a bass I bought new for a special occasion. It's perfect, otherwise.
Can't really blame Sadowsky as well, since dead spots are a fact of life. Just got unlucky I guess.

Pm'ing you on the dead spots.

 

[ale29]

I'm not excluding a bum string 100%, but its behavior is indeed the same of a proper dead spot.
That is, changing headstock mass does alter how the note sustains and the note is fretting perfectly. Fretting the octave higher note as well (7th fret, G string) substantially improve the sustain too.
I must say, also, the same thing (even if it is almost unnoticeable) can be said for the open D string. 5th fret harmonic on the D string as well as the 7th fret one on the G string sound a bit strange, too. This neck/body combination doesn't like the D...

EDIT: also you must note that I'm being very picky here. The note is not completely dead, but if you pay attention its sustain is indeed shorter. It took me a month to discover it and now it's more like a psychological thing to me

 

[AMp'D.2play]

... is that a Gramma? or DIY?

Standard (23x15) Gramma. Original, not the current v2.

 

[Ewo]

I'm not excluding a bum string 100%, but its behavior is indeed the same of a proper dead spot.
That is, changing headstock mass does alter how the note sustains and the note is fretting perfectly. Fretting the octave higher note as well (7th fret, G string) substantially improve the sustain too.
I must say, also, the same thing (even if it is almost unnoticeable) can be said for the open D string. 5th fret harmonic on the D string as well as the 7th fret one on the G string sound a bit strange, too. This neck/body combination doesn't like the D...

EDIT: also you must note that I'm being very picky here. The note is not completely dead, but if you pay attention its sustain is indeed shorter. It took me a month to discover it and now it's more like a psychological thing to me

Hey, man--I can relate! I dislike deadspots, and once I've perceived one I'll keep noticing it. Back in the day I flipped a ton of Fender basses because of that.

IANA bass tech, but if the dead spot seems to be across the strings all at the same fret, I gotta guess a high fret is choking out the notes. Like not high enough to noticeably buzz but just enough to make the fundamental die prematurely.

And if the problem appears with harmonics, I gotta wonder if the pups ain't too close to the strings. The magnetic pull on the strings can cause funky (in a bad way) artifacts in the tone.

Actual dead spots, IME, only appear on one string, as they're caused by the resonance of the body + neck sucking up the energy in the string.

 

[ale29]

I guess I'll try and post an audio clip tomorrow to avoid any misunderstanding so we can troubleshoot this.
Also, deepestend contacted me like 15 minutes after I posted and is helping me already, I'll try to figure this out with them and the European dealer where I've bought the bass

 

[ale29]

I did my best to record the issue.
1st, you can hear a normal sounding note played on the A string (F# in this case).
2nd, the D note on the A string while also pressing the higher octave note. It sounds as it should
3rd, the D note on the A string alone.