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Club Sadowsky!!!

#44,001
MAJOR METAL said:
Has anyone else had to replace the input jack on their Sadowsky? Are the jacks in Sadowsky's less compatible with some cables as opposed to others? For the last few years I've been using the higher end monster cable.

When I was still living in NY, Roger replaced the jack on my first NYC bass after about 2 years of use. That jack has held up.

Unfortunately the jack in my modern 5 is shot. I tried going into the control cavity to bend the upper edges of the jack to enable a tighter fit and that hasn't worked worked.
Click to expand...

It's not about the jack but the plug in most cases.
If it's an older model, they did in fact use a larger diameter plug on those cables and damage the jack.
Replacing a jack is not really difficult tho, get a new one, basically it can be all fixed :)
 
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#44,002
Here are a couple of pics of my Sadowsky Will Lee jazz basses, which I absolutely love playing. Both of these are Metro basses. The 59 burst w/rosewood, which I purchased new from Roger himself in NYC weighs in at 9 lbs exactly and the black transparent w/maple which I recently acquired from a fellow Talkbasser is mere 7.8 lbs.
SadowskyJazz_5985.JPG
SadowskyJazz_6223.png
 
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#44,003
petermca17 said:
Here are a couple of pics of my Sadowsky Will Lee jazz basses, which I absolutely love playing. Both of these are Metro basses. The 59 burst w/rosewood, which I purchased new from Roger himself in NYC weighs in at 9 lbs exactly and the black transparent w/maple which I recently acquired from a fellow Talkbasser is mere 7.8 lbs. View attachment 2911336View attachment 2911337
Click to expand...

Petermaca17,

Both are beautiful...congrats
May I ask if you hear a distinct difference in tone between the alder/rw vs the ash/maple one?
Are the differences significant?
Thanks
 
#44,004
Thanks JLY - very nice of you to say!

Although I wasn't expecting this to be the case, they do indeed sound quite different. And the difference extends not only to the way they sound, and of course the weight and they way they look, but there's also a notable difference in the way they feel. The ash/maple combination seems to have more attack/bite and cleaner deep notes (perhaps a more open mid range?) while the alder/rosewood combination sounds warmer and more round. Both have a very big sound and cut through the mix with ease. When I was buying the ash/maple bass I had actually intended to sell the alder/rosewood bass but after comparing the basses, I've decided to keep both.
 
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#44,007
petermca17 said:
Thanks JLY - very nice of you to say!

Although I wasn't expecting this to be the case, they do indeed sound quite different. And the difference extends not only to the way they sound, and of course the weight and they way they look, but there's also a notable difference in the way they feel. The ash/maple combination seems to have more attack/bite and cleaner deep notes (perhaps a more open mid range?) while the alder/rosewood combination sounds warmer and more round. Both have a very big sound and cut through the mix with ease. When I was buying the ash/maple bass I had actually intended to sell the alder/rosewood bass but after comparing the basses, I've decided to keep both.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the descriptions
Looks like the alder/rw combo would be what I need

Will need to keep an eye in the classifieds for one liked Peters but in a 5’r!
 
#44,008
Joelc73 said:
I just realized my new office is a 10 min walk to Sadowsky. When I realized it, I told my wife who mimicked Roger saying ‘ka ching’. :roflmao: She apparently knows me well after 20 years!
Click to expand...
Wow, I'd never get any work done if my office were that close!
 
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#44,011
petermca17 said:
Thanks JLY - very nice of you to say!

Although I wasn't expecting this to be the case, they do indeed sound quite different. And the difference extends not only to the way they sound, and of course the weight and they way they look, but there's also a notable difference in the way they feel. The ash/maple combination seems to have more attack/bite and cleaner deep notes (perhaps a more open mid range?) while the alder/rosewood combination sounds warmer and more round. Both have a very big sound and cut through the mix with ease. When I was buying the ash/maple bass I had actually intended to sell the alder/rosewood bass but after comparing the basses, I've decided to keep both.
Click to expand...

Same thing happened to me. Still have two Sadowsky J basses. I thought one NYC might be enough, but I can't see me selling either of mine any time soon. The rosewood board one now has flats on it so the difference is even more obvious. The maple one in my avatar gets the steel rounds. I don't want the same flavour of ice cream all the time either!:bassist:
 
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#44,012
Hey fellas, hopefully someone can help me out here.

I just installed a sadowsky pre in one of my basses. It is the older version with the circuit board plasti-dipped. It is the 4 knob with vol, pan, active/passive push pull and vtc, and active bass/treble boost.

I have it all wired up per the schematic for this version, but it's doing some funky things.

In passive mode (knob pulled up) it works fine, sounds good. I shielded and grounded everything well so it is dead quiet. In this mode the treble/bass boost knob is inactive, which is correct I believe.

When I push the knob in to make it active, things go crazy. The vtc knob now acts more like a volume knob, but to turn it up you roll the knob back (counterclockwise). It also has some weird scratchiness to it. The bass/treble boost does nothing. The main volume knob will not turn it down.

I have pulled everything and went over he wiring diagram several times and everything matches the sadowsky drawing. The 9v battery measures 9.6v.

Any thoughts? Bad push/pull/vtc pot? Bad board? Anyone run into this?
 
#44,015
MAJOR METAL said:
Has anyone else had to replace the input jack on their Sadowsky? Are the jacks in Sadowsky's less compatible with some cables as opposed to others? For the last few years I've been using the higher end monster cable.

When I was still living in NY, Roger replaced the jack on my first NYC bass after about 2 years of use. That jack has held up.

Unfortunately the jack in my modern 5 is shot. I tried going into the control cavity to bend the upper edges of the jack to enable a tighter fit and that hasn't worked worked.
Click to expand...

I never liked the way Monster plugs engaged a Switchcraft jack. It was less about the size but the fact that the shape of the tip of the plug does not engage well with the part of the jack that is supposed to "lock in" the plug.
 
Last edited:
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#44,016
kevk said:
NBD! My pic doesn’t really capture the beauty of this bass...8.21 lbs (I requested 8.25:))View attachment 2908242
Really happy I spec’d abalone inlays...this Brazilian board has so much character up close!View attachment 2908243
Plays like butter, and the construction is, ime, typical Roger’s shop-->such awesome attention to detail! Roger and team, thanks so much! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Thank you so much! Glad you are so happy with the bass!
Roger
 
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#44,018
I was able to install a set of the new/enhanced/perfected (whatever) Blue Label flatwounds on a Fender Jazz last night. Playing for 1/2 hour, my feedback:

Feel great, very comfy right out of the package. no stickiness that has to wear off
Tension very much like the Black Label they are replacing. somewhere between Chromes (which I find too stiff) and TIs (which I find too floppy), Goldilocks for me.
Tone is excellent. I only had rounds on this bass before, so they did what they are supposed to do, reduce clank/finger noise and sound nice and warm and punchy. I'm pretty bad at describing tone, so let's just leave it at "excellent".
Very happy with these (and I'm a flats kinda guy).
 
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