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Club Sadowsky!!!

#5,104
I posted a version of this in another thread, but I thought it was apropos here.

As some of you might be aware, I recently got an NYC Sadowsky Vintage 5 with the hum-canceling pickups, and while I loved some things about it, the sound was not quite what I wanted. Lots and lots of glassy highs even in passive mode, lots of extreme lows, but not very warm and not enough happening in the low mids and low treble (that wonderful Fender "clank").

I bought a set of Sadowsky single coils, and a set of Nordstrand NJ5's. Here's my thoughts on the three sets:

I Swapped in the Sad SC's. Better than the HC's, treble is voiced a bit lower, more low mids, but still not warm. The lows are still too extended for me, which means the neck pickup soloed is not a useful sound, as it gets totally lost in the mix. Overall, the sound is very similar to the hum-canceling.

The Nordstrands sounded quite different. Tonally, they were much more Fender-like. Less extreme highs and extreme lows, much thicker in the mids, bit of an aggressive grind in the lower treble/hi mids. The neck pickup was much more usable in the mix. Overall, I felt like I could be heard better without having to turn up as loud. Even though it is a darker-sounding pickup, in the mix I can hear more highs, just less "air" which I'm not that into anyway. I can add that in with the Sadowsky pre if I need to anyway.

I took my Fender and the Sadowsky to Carey Nordstrand's shop, and he listened to them and said that my Fender's pickups are hugely overwound, giving it that characteristic band-limited mid-punch. I guess my Fender (2001 MIA 62 RI Jazz) is different than other Fenders. Who knew?

So Carey cut the windings off the NJ neck pickup and rewound it with more turns while I waited. :hyper: Now that's service! After that, the neck pickup sounds fatter and more mid-heavy, very cool. It has most of what I like about Sadowskys (feel, even tone, sustain), and also Fenders (mid-punch, warmth, thickness). It still does not have as much attack as the Fender, but that is the different construction of the basses.

The bass now sounds really great, I can get a more raw aggressive sound or a more round mellow sound along the whole range of the pickup blend, and I can hear and feel the notes much better. I also now really like the sound of the Sadowsky pre, which felt like overkill when coupled with the already scooped sounding Sadowsky pickups. As another poster noted, the highs and lows seem to be in the same spots in the Sadowsky pickups and pre, so the combination was too much for me.

Sooooo...
1) My bass is now the instrument I've wanted for years. My band and I were floored by how good it sounded through my DB750.
2) The Sadowsky pickups are not quite my sound (although they do sound very good).
3) Carey Nordstrand is an awesome dude, very knowledgeable and helpful. And it was very interesting to watch my pickup getting rewound before my eyes.
4) I'll be selling my Sadowsky SC5 and HC5 sets, so watch for them to show up in the classifieds in the next couple of days! :)
 
#5,105
Hey smeet,
As this is relevant to your p/u saga, has anyone ever tried Nordstrand NJ4SE in their Sadowsky's? I actually think this might have solved your problem, another solution - if there was a 5 string version p/u, that is.
I have a pair on another bass and I though trying them with my ash/morado NYC standard.
 
#5,106
Well got a few gigs under my belt with the new Sadowsky fretless. I gotta say this bass is amazing! Two things I am really enjoying is the VTC (which I do not have on my other Sadowsky) and the 70's pickup spacing.

I am playing it through a Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.0 with a pair of Avatar B210 NEO cabinets. Nice and punchy, or smooth and warm. I can get it all with this bass. I'm still experimenting with the VTC, but I can see how this is such a useful control. The bass has a real nice growl to it, you really can get expressive with it.

The neck, well it plays like butter. This bass is actually a hair lighter then my 1988 Sadowsky which is 7.8 lbs. Very comfortable and perfectly balanced. The ebony fretboard is fantastic, something I always wanted on the fretless jazz style bass. The white lines against the black ebony really makes it easy to see, even in low light.

Well, I think this is for sure a keeper!

sadowsky_family.jpg
 
#5,108
smeet said:
I posted a version of this in another thread, but I thought it was apropos here.

As some of you might be aware, I recently got an NYC Sadowsky Vintage 5 with the hum-canceling pickups, and while I loved some things about it, the sound was not quite what I wanted. Lots and lots of glassy highs even in passive mode, lots of extreme lows, but not very warm and not enough happening in the low mids and low treble (that wonderful Fender "clank").

I bought a set of Sadowsky single coils, and a set of Nordstrand NJ5's. Here's my thoughts on the three sets:

I Swapped in the Sad SC's. Better than the HC's, treble is voiced a bit lower, more low mids, but still not warm. The lows are still too extended for me, which means the neck pickup soloed is not a useful sound, as it gets totally lost in the mix. Overall, the sound is very similar to the hum-canceling.

The Nordstrands sounded quite different. Tonally, they were much more Fender-like. Less extreme highs and extreme lows, much thicker in the mids, bit of an aggressive grind in the lower treble/hi mids. The neck pickup was much more usable in the mix. Overall, I felt like I could be heard better without having to turn up as loud. Even though it is a darker-sounding pickup, in the mix I can hear more highs, just less "air" which I'm not that into anyway. I can add that in with the Sadowsky pre if I need to anyway.

I took my Fender and the Sadowsky to Carey Nordstrand's shop, and he listened to them and said that my Fender's pickups are hugely overwound, giving it that characteristic band-limited mid-punch. I guess my Fender (2001 MIA 62 RI Jazz) is different than other Fenders. Who knew?

So Carey cut the windings off the NJ neck pickup and rewound it with more turns while I waited. :hyper: Now that's service! After that, the neck pickup sounds fatter and more mid-heavy, very cool. It has most of what I like about Sadowskys (feel, even tone, sustain), and also Fenders (mid-punch, warmth, thickness). It still does not have as much attack as the Fender, but that is the different construction of the basses.

The bass now sounds really great, I can get a more raw aggressive sound or a more round mellow sound along the whole range of the pickup blend, and I can hear and feel the notes much better. I also now really like the sound of the Sadowsky pre, which felt like overkill when coupled with the already scooped sounding Sadowsky pickups. As another poster noted, the highs and lows seem to be in the same spots in the Sadowsky pickups and pre, so the combination was too much for me.

Sooooo...
1) My bass is now the instrument I've wanted for years. My band and I were floored by how good it sounded through my DB750.
2) The Sadowsky pickups are not quite my sound (although they do sound very good).
3) Carey Nordstrand is an awesome dude, very knowledgeable and helpful. And it was very interesting to watch my pickup getting rewound before my eyes.
4) I'll be selling my Sadowsky SC5 and HC5 sets, so watch for them to show up in the classifieds in the next couple of days! :)
Click to expand...



The NJ5's are great. I dropped them into my Fodera Emperor a few years back and they did for me what the Aeros that were in it before never could. And yes, Carey is a great guy.
 
#5,109
Today, I saw a VERY used "ultra vintage" metro 4 string jazz (which didn't have blocks and looked an awful lot like an RV4...so much so, that it WAS ,infact, an RV4 despite what the tag said. lol) for sale at a guitar center in north dallas for a scant 2,400 bucks. :eek:

Wow. What a deal. Next time you're in Lewisville, Tx. Be sure to hop on that deal! :rollno: :rolleyes: :rollno:
 
#5,110
smeet said:
As some of you might be aware, I recently got an NYC Sadowsky Vintage 5 with the hum-canceling pickups, and while I loved some things about it, the sound was not quite what I wanted. Lots and lots of glassy highs even in passive mode, lots of extreme lows, but not very warm and not enough happening in the low mids and low treble (that wonderful Fender "clank").

I bought a set of Sadowsky single coils, and a set of Nordstrand NJ5's. Here's my thoughts on the three sets:

I Swapped in the Sad SC's. Better than the HC's, treble is voiced a bit lower, more low mids, but still not warm. The lows are still too extended for me, which means the neck pickup soloed is not a useful sound, as it gets totally lost in the mix. Overall, the sound is very similar to the hum-canceling.

The Nordstrands sounded quite different. Tonally, they were much more Fender-like. Less extreme highs and extreme lows, much thicker in the mids, bit of an aggressive grind in the lower treble/hi mids. The neck pickup was much more usable in the mix. Overall, I felt like I could be heard better without having to turn up as loud. Even though it is a darker-sounding pickup, in the mix I can hear more highs, just less "air" which I'm not that into anyway. I can add that in with the Sadowsky pre if I need to anyway.
Click to expand...

...Hmmm...Makes me wonder. I have a NYC JJ that had HCs in it. I bought a pair of NJ5S pickups to put in and never did. I ended up putting in Sadowsky SC instead. Makes me wonder if I should throw the NJ5S pickups in for giggles.

Anyone have any experience with the NJ5 vs NJ5S in a Sadowsky? Traditionally, I do like the single coil sound better.
 
#5,118
smeet said:
...
The Nordstrands sounded quite different. Tonally, they were much more Fender-like. Less extreme highs and extreme lows, much thicker in the mids, bit of an aggressive grind in the lower treble/hi mids. The neck pickup was much more usable in the mix. Overall, I felt like I could be heard better without having to turn up as loud. ...
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I thought "comparing" the Sadowsky w. Sadowsky PUs to the Valenti with Nordies on basstasters.com
 

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