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Club Sadowsky!!!

The way God, and Roger, intended it to be.

Roger is completely backwards from....well.....every other preamp and bass manufacturer in the world when it comes to the pickup selector. I understand that the newer preamps can be easily reversed, but I haven't looked at mine yet. For someone with 30+ years experience playing bass, having a reverse knob on a single basscan be hazarderous on stage.
 
Roger is completely backwards from....well.....every other preamp and bass manufacturer in the world when it comes to the pickup selector. I understand that the newer preamps can be easily reversed, but I haven't looked at mine yet. For someone with 30+ years experience playing bass, having a reverse knob on a single basscan be hazarderous on stage.

I know I'm just being a smartass. Really though I like rogers way, in fact when I was younger and wired up my first jazz with a blend I did it rogers way, I didn't know any better and I still think it's counter intuitive to turn the knob away from the pickup that I want to select.
 
I HAD NO IDEA AND THOUGHT MY BASS WAS BROKEN AND DEFECTIVE!!! Ahhhhhhhhh

Now here is a question: I feel as though my tone knob doesn't make much of a difference when I turn it up or down. I may take off the knob and re attach it (maybe it's not actually turning?) any advice? I notice a big difference when the tone knob off and when it's on on my fender jazz.
 
Roger is completely backwards from....well.....every other preamp and bass manufacturer in the world when it comes to the pickup selector. I understand that the newer preamps can be easily reversed, but I haven't looked at mine yet. For someone with 30+ years experience playing bass, having a reverse knob on a single basscan be hazarderous on stage.
I suppose Roger’s idea is that turning the knob clockwise in a tonal sense = getting brighter; so, for the pickups, that means CW for the bridge pickup. Many players tend to think in terms of the physical location. So, there’s the dichotomy.

Roger of course listens to players, and they have had screw terminals for quite a while that allow the player to decide.

So, OK, Roger is a bit of a crank. In a good way. I can relate. My NYC is and will remain wired Roger’s way. It’s a Roger bass. My other basses with the Sadowsky preamp are wired my way. So, I’ve got both. Confusing? Maybe. Like I said, I can relate.
 
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I suppose Roger’s idea is that turning the knob clockwise in a tonal sense = getting brighter; so, for the pickups, that means CW for the bridge pickup. Many players tend to think in terms of the physical location. So, there’s the dichotomy.

Roger of course listens to players, and they have had screw terminals for quite a while that allow the player to decide.

So, OK, Roger is a bit of a crank. In a good way. I can relate. My NYC is and will remain wired Roger’s way. It’s a Roger bass. My other basses with the Sadowsky preamp are wired my way. So, I’ve got both. Confusing? Maybe. Like I said, I can relate.

Oh, I don’t think he’s a crank, just has his knob screwed on backwards..... ;)

I need to see if I can reverse mine.
 
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I HAD NO IDEA AND THOUGHT MY BASS WAS BROKEN AND DEFECTIVE!!! Ahhhhhhhhh

Now here is a question: I feel as though my tone knob doesn't make much of a difference when I turn it up or down. I may take off the knob and re attach it (maybe it's not actually turning?) any advice? I notice a big difference when the tone knob off and when it's on on my fender jazz.
Sounds like you are referring to the VTC, not the treble and bass controls. The VTC is somewhat subtle but ultra useful. All it does is roll off the perfect amount of highs to make the bass sound more “classic.” Really useful when you are using the neck pickup to get more P thud; also when favoring the bridge pickup to get that fat but tight sound going.
 
I suppose Roger’s idea is that turning the knob clockwise in a tonal sense = getting brighter; so, for the pickups, that means CW for the bridge pickup. Many players tend to think in terms of the physical location. So, there’s the dichotomy.

Roger of course listens to players, and they have had screw terminals for quite a while that allow the player to decide.

So, OK, Roger is a bit of a crank. In a good way. I can relate. My NYC is and will remain wired Roger’s way. It’s a Roger bass. My other basses with the Sadowsky preamp are wired my way. So, I’ve got both. Confusing? Maybe. Like I said, I can relate.

That actually makes sense to me now. I think of always roll the knob forward and it moves you to the forward pick up which is what I guess most people think but thinking about it now as a total thing actually makes sense
 
In my mind the sadowsky blend pot IS being physically turned toward the pickup that it's selecting. Turning it toward the bridge selects the bridge pickup.

Depends on which side of the knob you consider correct.

I like to use a knob's set screw to tell me how it is positioned (I prefer vintage style knobs with no position indicator on the top). With a blend control, I typically set the knob so that the set screw is visible to me (when I'm playing the bass and looking down, of course), and centered when the control is at center detent. In that case, turning the knob clockwise moves the set screw toward the neck pickup. The Sadowsky wiring is backwards from my preference.

I can see how the Sadowsky logic would make sense for some, but as explained, my mind doesn't work that way. That said: even though I own three Sadowskys, the blend pot issue has never affected me because all are single-pickup*: two P-style, one MM-style.




*Yes I know: I MUST get a Sadowsky J-style at some point. I want @kevk to sell me his seafoam green J-bass. :D
 
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While it is slightly counter-intuitive to me, from many years of playing, the way the Sadowsky pickup selector is oriented, it's hardly a problem to know that I am playing my Sadowsky, which means the selector is the other way. We all have different basses with different controls that we play, and that doesn't confuse us, so neither should this. Put another way, if you have a standard shift car and a manual, you would not be confused-- you'd know which car you are in.
 

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