Scarcity sells. If a seller can create a sense of product scarcity, the buyers will line up and overpay. So the "Pre-Warwick" is a sellers way of trying to create scarcity.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Fender/CBS, Tobias/Gibson, etc.
History is littered with those who swear the "pre-xxxxx" era is worth more. The market will decide.
OK....I'm baaaack and there were not as many questions posted as I expected. I consolidated them into one response. Here goes:
WARWICK RESPONSES
1. I recall reading in German that the new Master Built Sadowsky basses will have tone chambers. Is this referring to your current chambered design or are they going to have wider chambers?
The Masterbuilt basses will have the exact same chambers as our NYC basses.
2. Has the "emerald ash borer" impacted your ash supplies?
Absolutely. It is becoming a real problem and moving north at about 50 miles per year. Swamp ash is genuinely endangered. People may have to adjust to beetle voids being filled and/or solid colors only on ash. There is good info on Wikipedia: Emerald ash borer - Wikipedia
3. Will the new German made Sadowskys be made from German or American ash?
American Ash
My question is what will the service/repair arrangement be following the Warwick deal. Will past NYC (including last Satins) be repaired by the New York shop or have to be sent to Warwick.
The Sadowsky NYC shop will service all of the instruments we ever made. All of the new MetroExpress, MetroLine and Masterbuilt instruments made by Warwick will be serviced by them.
WARWICK RESPONSES
1. I recall reading in German that the new Master Built Sadowsky basses will have tone chambers. Is this referring to your current chambered design or are they going to have wider chambers?
The Masterbuilt basses will have the exact same chambers as our NYC basses.
2. Has the "emerald ash borer" impacted your ash supplies?
Absolutely. It is becoming a real problem and moving north at about 50 miles per year. Swamp ash is genuinely endangered. People may have to adjust to beetle voids being filled and/or solid colors only on ash. There is good info on Wikipedia: Emerald ash borer - Wikipedia
3. Will the new German made Sadowskys be made from German or American ash?
American Ash
My question is what will the service/repair arrangement be following the Warwick deal. Will past NYC (including last Satins) be repaired by the New York shop or have to be sent to Warwick.
The Sadowsky NYC shop will service all of the instruments we ever made. All of the new MetroExpress, MetroLine and Masterbuilt instruments made by Warwick will be serviced by them.
Welcome Back Roger, will you continue to make the NYC Satin series? And will it be made at your New York Shop?
Will the Sadowsky TYO line still be in existence? Or will Japan production entirely cease?
Not bass related and sorry if I missed it: Where will archtops be made?
That’s awesome news. I have no doubt Warwick will do a great job too, but I sleep easier at night knowing that if anything ever happens to my beloved Sadowsky that I can send it to the absolute best in the business in NYC.
Hi Roger,
What about servicing for previous Japan-made Metroline and Metro Express instruments?
I believe the answer lies in Roger’s first sentence that you quoted in your post:
“The Sadowsky NYC shop will service all of the instruments we ever made.”
Advice and perspective appreciated. It seems this lovely closet queen has some neck nitro finish issues. Large strips of nitro along the neck are gone, following the grain. The edges of the remaining nitro can be felt when playing. I do have Pics into the NYC shop and waiting for a neck refinish estimate. Inquiry into Roger as well.
it seems like this nitro wastage could be extended storage or case related. It does not look like player wear. Puzzling.
Anyhow there has been a suggestion to just lightly sand off the remaining nitro and leave the bare maple.
If I do that would the maple wood require a true oil and wax treatment to protect the maple? Like MusicMan or Lakland necks?
Think it’s better to just have the shop refinish it back to original tinted nitro?
Pat Wilkens gave me a prompt quote to refinish the neck but says he can’t use nitro. Can do a satin finish.
The current NYC Satin Series will be phased out by May. We are no longer taking new orders, but will continue to build Satins for our In-Stock page. The new MetroLine and Sadowsky Masterbuilt will all have satin finish options.
Same thing. No new orders but we will continue to fulfill present orders until May.
Hmmm, I’m waiting to hear back on a question and price from Carl on a custom order Satin. This might not be good
Ok, good to know. Thanks for taking the time to respond to the questions people have!
I've stated before that just owning one of these made me feel like I was part of a special group. Thank you for producing the Satin series to begin with and allowing some of us the chance to get that NYC we always dreamed of... but just couldn't quite reach. I am unbelievably blessed to own the ones I have.
my $0.02 apollo. There is a reason to not have completely bare wood on the back of your neck. even if you left it bare, it would eventually get an oil-based finish just from soaking in oil from your hands over time. The true oil, or oil/wax finishes are really great, and easy to DIY (about the only thing I can do DIY on my basses, oh yeah, setups too). And one of the best things is you can re-do it as often as you like.
The finish on the neck of my 2005 NYC P5 began wearing away just from me playing it (my wedding ring likely accelerated wear on the treble edge of the neck). I always loved the feel of the grungy necks on very-well-worn Fenders (including a 1964 Fender P-bass I used to own), so I sanded the nitro on the Sadowsky and didn't apply any oil or wax. Vintage Fenders survive nitro loss so the reinforced neck on my Sadowsky certainly will.
The back of the neck is getting grungy and becoming more comfortable. Some are bothered by grungy gray maple. For me, feel beats appearance -- and I like the appearance. If that bothers you then use oil or wax, but I'm pretty sure that Roger himself has said that it's not required.
As I've mentioned before I haven't been able to bring myself to sand the necks on my two newer Sadowskys, which have been sharing the load (with the black one still being my main workhorse). But if/when the nitro begins wearing away on them then I will sand them too.
