Club Sadowsky!!!

[haggardPHUNK]

@MikeBass

I totally agree. These are not Sadowsky’s and there’s a reason it doesn’t have the Sadowsky logo on the headstock. If it did, it would devalue the amazing instruments that he’s making.

 

[marchone]

The reason the Chinese basses have RSD in them is because of a trademark dispute.

 

[Fuzzbass]

there’s a reason it doesn’t have the Sadowsky logo on the headstock.

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I thought the reason was that a poacher copyrighted the Sadowsky name in China.

 

[Holdsg]

"almost" as good as --- has a pretty wide range of play in it, don't you think?

 

[haggardPHUNK]

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I thought the reason was that a poacher copyrighted the Sadowsky name in China.

oh I didn’t know that.

 

[Vic]

The reason the Chinese basses have RSD in them is because of a trademark dispute.

Correct.

 

[Vic]

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I thought the reason was that a poacher copyrighted the Sadowsky name in China.

Correct.

 

[scubaduba]

@MikeBass

I totally agree. These are not Sadowsky’s and there’s a reason it doesn’t have the Sadowsky logo on the headstock. If it did, it would devalue the amazing instruments that he’s making.

Please read the 3rd paragraph from the the bottom at this link: Roger Sadowsky Speaks On Licensing Distribution Agreement with Warwick

 

[Vic]

@MikeBass

I totally agree. These are not Sadowsky’s and there’s a reason it doesn’t have the Sadowsky logo on the headstock. If it did, it would devalue the amazing instruments that he’s making.

I'm not speaking for Roger, but I'd bet money he'd disagree with you on this, and say yes, they definitely ARE Sadowsky basses, but of course no, they don't compare directly to the Metroline or especially NYC, which should go without saying. But they do have enough of the Sadowsky pedigree in them to bear the name, which WAS the original intention, until the poacher screwed that all up.

Thanks scubaduba for posting the link.

 

[haggardPHUNK]

Thanks for that. I wasn’t aware.

And in that case, I’m super happy with my new Sadowsky

 

[bass12]

I figure the trademark issue has been something of a blessing in disguise for the Sadowsky name given the problems people have reported with the RSDs. I still think Mike Tobias got it right by making his offshore basses easily distinguishable from his U.S. models...

 

[Bergerman]

It's for that rare instance when a groupie gets confused and talks to the bass player.

 

[KenMoore05]

Quality control still an issue with the MetroExpress line

Did any of the other ones there have similar issues that you noticed?

 

[Chris Breese]

I'm a bit suspicious of that photo with the upside down pickups. Kinda looks staged. But if it's real, that's pretty egregious.

 

[SzunaP]

Stay calm, I think Roger needed this Warwick cooperation to keep workin his own manufacturin workshop unhindered (?), and didn't wanna problems... as everyone in the industry. We could understand that he couldn't have any control on every each bass built in China.

 

[Chris Breese]

Understood!

 

[haggardPHUNK]

I'm a bit suspicious of that photo with the upside down pickups. Kinda looks staged. But if it's real, that's pretty egregious.

It’s not staged: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

And they all felt pretty good, even that blue jazz bass to be honest. The action was a little higher than this 5 string I bought. None had the really loud preamp issue that is seen in Lowendlobster’s initial PJ review.

the preamp is hot but if you don’t have everything dialed high it’s quite shapeable. I’m sitting here now playing this bass and I’m crazy happy with it. I wish I liked the logo on the headstock more but a good bass is a good bass.

 

[Killens84]

Two part question…
1. What other single coil 5-string jazz pickups on the market sound most similar to Sadowsky single coil 5-string jazz pickups?

2. If you were to put said pickups and a Sadowsky pre-wired preamp in another high-quality bass, would the bass essentially sound identical to an authentic Sadowsky?

For context, I love my Sadowsky Satin 5-21, and it’s probably the best sounding bass I’ve ever owned!

 

[Joeykun]

The Sadowsky sound is his pickups, preamp and overall construction. I’d say Duncan’s will get you close to his pickups. But, the magic is with the Sadowsky pre!

 

[Vic]

The Sadowsky sound is his pickups, preamp and overall construction. I’d say Duncan’s will get you close to his pickups. But, the magic is with the Sadowsky pre!

yeah, the magic sauce is many carefully crafted and coordinated things, but you can still benefit from one or a few if budget mandates.