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Rob was a luthier at Sadowsky. He is here in TB (IIRC Drangonbass). Try and contact him for more info.
It's a 2-for-1 day today at work (bass + cab). Luckily I always keep a spare bass head in the car. More details to follow
With respect - the grey market in Japan is vast and a flourishing machine. Those basses will be flying out of Japan before the ink is dry on the price list. Too many "independent" dealers to reign in.
Some initial thoughts on the spalt/chechen bass. Those who have read me in other threads know I historically have not been a JJ guy. I've tried over the years, but just never really stuck, either due to my tone preferences, or my technique not really working well the the sound profile. For whatever reason I decided to open my mind and just go totally the other direction recently, picking up the SatinDlx 5-21. That bass violated all my "rules" - JJ, ash, maple. I'm a dyed-in-the-wool PJ, chambered walnut or alder, ebony guy. So far the 5-21 has worked for me, and the desire to have a 4-string fretted other than my YYD, combined with a long-standing love of Roger's '59 burst over spalted look led me to 7863.
Been working with it at home, 'shedding tunes for a Steely Jam gig on Sat (Steely Dan tribute band). Playing the instrument live in a band situation is always the gold-standard for me, but having cycled through a bunch of basses over the past 7 years and 700 gigs, I've got a decent idea on what will work. I can say this is a really nice instrument. I was actually pleasantly surprised that the body is alder (I thought it was ash), and the Chechen has nice midrange to it. I'm always looking for an articulate bass that I can comp on as well as do lines, and this fits the bill. Playability is excellent. At first I thought I was going to tweak the saddles a bit (relief is close to flat which I prefer) but it is actually working for me. I did a fair amount of tweaking on the 5-21, but that also was in a shop for awhile as opposed to coming right from Roger's bench.
I'm making friends with the JJ tone. Lately I've been doing more bridge pickup on my PJs so that is pretty much a direct transfer, though the Sadowsky HC has a different vibe than the EMGs in my other basses. The neck pickup still doesn't sound like a P (some people say it does, not in my hands, ymmv), but instead of thinking about what it doesn't sound like, I'm focusing on what it does. The classic 50/50 position I'm finding more use for.
Oh, and the thin matte nitro finish on the neck is perfect. I love that feel.
I was wavering between this one and a SatinDlx. I'm glad I got this one. When I showed the pics of various candidates to my wife (who is an artist - and she's looked at *a lot* of bass and top wood pics), she immediately picked 7863. For me, aesthetics matter, and the black hardware and '59 burst on the spalt are one of my first-choice looks. The fact that it plays/sounds great and is 7.7 lbs makes for a total-package win.
Trial by fire on Saturday, I don't have any concerns...
Been working with it at home, 'shedding tunes for a Steely Jam gig on Sat (Steely Dan tribute band). Playing the instrument live in a band situation is always the gold-standard for me, but having cycled through a bunch of basses over the past 7 years and 700 gigs, I've got a decent idea on what will work. I can say this is a really nice instrument. I was actually pleasantly surprised that the body is alder (I thought it was ash), and the Chechen has nice midrange to it. I'm always looking for an articulate bass that I can comp on as well as do lines, and this fits the bill. Playability is excellent. At first I thought I was going to tweak the saddles a bit (relief is close to flat which I prefer) but it is actually working for me. I did a fair amount of tweaking on the 5-21, but that also was in a shop for awhile as opposed to coming right from Roger's bench.
I'm making friends with the JJ tone. Lately I've been doing more bridge pickup on my PJs so that is pretty much a direct transfer, though the Sadowsky HC has a different vibe than the EMGs in my other basses. The neck pickup still doesn't sound like a P (some people say it does, not in my hands, ymmv), but instead of thinking about what it doesn't sound like, I'm focusing on what it does. The classic 50/50 position I'm finding more use for.
Oh, and the thin matte nitro finish on the neck is perfect. I love that feel.
I was wavering between this one and a SatinDlx. I'm glad I got this one. When I showed the pics of various candidates to my wife (who is an artist - and she's looked at *a lot* of bass and top wood pics), she immediately picked 7863. For me, aesthetics matter, and the black hardware and '59 burst on the spalt are one of my first-choice looks. The fact that it plays/sounds great and is 7.7 lbs makes for a total-package win.
Trial by fire on Saturday, I don't have any concerns...
Don't forget to tweak around with the active electronics.
Based on my experience, you can get closer to a classic P bass sound by bumping up the lows a bit (not by much, a 10-20% boost will do) while leaving the treble flat. Adjust the passive tone to taste.
You can also get a convincing P-bass w/flats tone on a Sadowsky, IMO. I can't remember what settings I was using on this video, but it was probably with the tone ALMOST on 0% and some bass boost.
Does anyone know of a different CS contact besides Peter? I had a question about an order I received and emailed him earlier in the week and haven't heard anything back. Even checked my sent outbox to make sure it got through. Very disappointing.
Sorry to hear about this. Peter is very good regarding CS. Maybe it is going into his junk mail folder. Email Peter again and CC [email protected] and [email protected]
Thanks Roger. Just did that. I had a question about an order but something else I noticed was when I received my replacement knobs, they're slightly different than the ones that came on my MV5. I think I was honestly just having an issue with a set screw, and while it would be hard to notice, it's slightly Frankenstein-esque upon close inspection.
Crazy 36 hours finally done. Played guitar at an old friend's wedding in San Diego this afternoon, then hauled north back to Santa Monica for an 8:30pm downbeat with Steely Jam. Got home about 45 min before downbeat, and luckily the venue is about 5 blocks from my house.
Had more than one variable changed, as my new Audio Kinesis cab had its first gig as well. Not much time to dial things in - just plug in, quick line check and off to the races. Started with the JJ, switched to the YYD for about 3 or 4 songs, then back to the JJ for the rest of the night. Was able to dial up appropriate sounds for the tunes no problem, and I love love love the matte nitro finish on the neck. All in all the rig was pretty thunderous, and the dance floor was full. Always a good sign.
Had more than one variable changed, as my new Audio Kinesis cab had its first gig as well. Not much time to dial things in - just plug in, quick line check and off to the races. Started with the JJ, switched to the YYD for about 3 or 4 songs, then back to the JJ for the rest of the night. Was able to dial up appropriate sounds for the tunes no problem, and I love love love the matte nitro finish on the neck. All in all the rig was pretty thunderous, and the dance floor was full. Always a good sign.
Last edited:
TimothyGroovy
Commercial User
- Aug 3, 2000
- 2,374
- 2,097
- Disclosures
- Owner: Uni•Sound Endorsing Artist: Sadowsky Guitars, Olinto Bass, LaBella Strings
Just FYI... The matte finish neck can gloss up after playing for weeks/months depends on how intensively you play, which I actually preferred while some people don't.. you can use 0000 steelwool to sand it down if you don't like the gloss look and feel
Very true. Heck, I once played a poly-finished neck from matte to gloss. That took years; as noted it happens more quickly on nitro.
A number of people have said that Scotchbrite pads also work to restore a matte finish, but I haven't tried that.
Roger Sadowsky says they haven't had the first production run yet.
A quick anecdote from my gig last night:
A bass player buddy of mine came down to the gig, as he had the weekend off. (His band works a _lot_.) He's gigged a US Lakland for a long time, and mentioned he had owned an Alembic before that--so he's used to having good instruments.
We were talking shop on my break, and he mentioned he liked the way my NYC WL sounded. I invited him to hold the thing and see how it felt. He's a bigger guy than I am, so the strap length had it somewhere near clavicle height--I like it riding a bit high, and on him it was waaaay too high--but he loved the shape of the neck.
A bass player buddy of mine came down to the gig, as he had the weekend off. (His band works a _lot_.) He's gigged a US Lakland for a long time, and mentioned he had owned an Alembic before that--so he's used to having good instruments.
We were talking shop on my break, and he mentioned he liked the way my NYC WL sounded. I invited him to hold the thing and see how it felt. He's a bigger guy than I am, so the strap length had it somewhere near clavicle height--I like it riding a bit high, and on him it was waaaay too high--but he loved the shape of the neck.
