“Say it ain’t so,Joe”
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“Say it ain’t so,Joe”
Major Metal is off team Sadowsky. I've got 3 for sale if anyone wants to get their St. Patrick's Day bass before March!
"Say it ain't so, Joe!"
Major Metal is off team Sadowsky. I've got 3 for sale if anyone wants to get their St. Patrick's Day bass before March!
Probably.
I think the whole VTC thing may be a detriment to RSD sales. I’ve owned many Sadowky’s, and have also put that pre in a squire vintage modified where it made the bass sound fantastic. But to be selling $800+ basses that need to modded out of the box…..Then again, maybe that’s the strategy.
Porque?Major Metal is off team Sadowsky. I've got 3 for sale if anyone wants to get their St. Patrick's Day bass before March!
if I recall correctly, passive tone didn’t even come standard on NYC basses back in the day. It dang sure wasn’t standard when I got my first MIJ Metro years ago. While it’s what I use the most, its absence certainly didn’t seem to hinder the popularity or sales of NYC or MIJ Metro basses back then.
I agree. I had a metro M5-24 back in 08’ without the VTC and I never had an issue, but that was a Japanese metro. That bass was not designed to be thuddy or vintage sounding, plus the sound was so well rounded outta the box, it required zero mods. The RSD Verdine I got had a much brighter sound, as did I the RSD MV5. Maybe it was the body wood, but, IME, they need the VTC. Logically, I’m sure there are RSD’s that are fine without it. It’s a matter of personal taste.
Indeed. One of the reasons I went with Sadowsky Basses was the active circuit PLUS tone control.
Boost-only active plus passive tone wasn't on my radar until I got my NYC. Since then, I've requested it on custom orders from other manufacturers (and of course it came standard on my next two Sadowskys).
Like when you buy an Apple phone now, it doesn't come with a charger. Apple says something to the effect of -> its a responsible decision to reduce waste and save the environment. OK, every little bit helps I suppose, but my seat-of-the-pants scientific theory says that the environmental improvement predicted by the Apple corporate suits is a whole heckuva lot less than the inconvenience wrought by not having that charger when you need it (particularly since Apple seems to make constant changes to the end connections on their devices and charge cords…how did the corporate suits factor environmental considerations into those design changes?). Cant help but think these decisions are 99% about profit.
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Yeah, IMHO, having a boost-only circuit with no VTC is a fail. Hopefully they'll make it standard soon.
It took me two Sadowskys to learn to use the vtc. If I had appreciated it more I would never have sold the first one (both Japan metros). Ime learning to get the best out of the whole Sadowsky tonal system is quite a process and well worth any time spent experimenting with it. But for me the vtc is key, whether in active or passive mode.
Gotta have the VTC, IMO. Bass boost 20%, treble boost 0%, VTC rolled back to 60%. Good to go for most of my situations.
2015 MV5 MetroLine came in yesterday evening. Got some time with it after feeding the family. Just a little apples vs hand grenades comparison to my 2019 RV5E MIJ.
Neck on the MV5 is a bit flatter back to front than the RV5E and has smoother carving in the headstock transition. I swear the body looks bigger but didn't measure or trace it and probably never will. This one is signed by Roger on the back of the headstock. Likely done when sent to him by a previous owner for a setup. The action is so low and it is super playable. I was going to put a Sadowsky Blue Label SBS45 set on. But I don't want to mess with this setup with Dunlops, even though they are a bit less stiff than I prefer.
Def brining to the gig on Sunday!
Neck on the MV5 is a bit flatter back to front than the RV5E and has smoother carving in the headstock transition. I swear the body looks bigger but didn't measure or trace it and probably never will. This one is signed by Roger on the back of the headstock. Likely done when sent to him by a previous owner for a setup. The action is so low and it is super playable. I was going to put a Sadowsky Blue Label SBS45 set on. But I don't want to mess with this setup with Dunlops, even though they are a bit less stiff than I prefer.
Def brining to the gig on Sunday!
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Us old guys lived without the VTC over a decade prior to its introduction. We were happy and didn’t know we were missing anything. It wasn’t always offered and Sadowsky basses established a sterling reputation in this fickle market without it.
That said, the VTC is an excellent addition and makes a great bass even greater.
That said, the VTC is an excellent addition and makes a great bass even greater.
Like a smartphone, or PC/Mac. You didn’t know you needed it till they handed you one. But its true, the NYC and original Japan Metro’s really were far more balanced and higher quality basses then the RSD’s, and worked wonderfully without it. The RSD’s need the help the VTC’s offer……to the point they should be stock items. Every other line gets a VTC. It’d be a game changer.
While it doesn't function exactly the same, we do have something on our amps that will tame a bright bass. Many active basses don't have passive tone controls. It's true they usually have treble controls that will allow for boosting or cutting high frequencies, the same can be accomplished on an amp. And while maybe not quite as easy to adjust on the fly, mid-song, it works well enough.
Partially agree but amp tone controls are generic, the vtc is presumably tuned specifically to Sadowsky basses.
