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Club Sadowsky!!!

#58,201
Bergerman said:
Elmon,

In regards to point #5… are you still using rounds on your fretless? If so, what’s been working good for you lately as far as brand and type?

Congrats on the incoming beauty, btw!!!
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Thanks!

As to the fretless:

Chrome flats. Still has a bit of that strings-against-the-fretboard growl, but plenty of thump/upright vibes (don’t tell any real URB folks I said that)

I did have some Sadowsky black label rounds, for a while, but I never really played without the VTC dialed all the way ‘off’ (darker/less overtones) so I figured flats were the next step.

On my list of ‘you don’t need this at all, but it would be cool’ build, would be a 5-string Sadowsky version of what Jaco was after. Especially if it had a Will Lee mid circuit, for those times when you need to be extra Jaco’y.
 
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#58,205
scyzoryk said:
Has anyone replaced the stock humcancelling pickups in a Sadowsky PJ5 or PJ4 with something else?

Curious to hear any feedback.
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I replaced the P in my PJ4 with a Nord NP4, which is a little fuller, more mellow and vintage sounding than the stock pu. The Sadowsky P is a little leaner but more gritty. I like them both.
Also, for P pickups, I suggest sanding the screw tang down in the bass side for a much more comfortable thumb rest.

F9F5CBA9-43C3-4647-9AC4-C95534B2E99B.jpeg
 
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#58,209
Recently add a set of 3 knobs sadowsky pre to one of my bass, it works perfect.

Now it has a 250k pot with .47 cap (tranditional way of a jazz tone pot) sit between signal wire from vol pot to the jack output.
Overall it's good but the vol level seems dropped 2-3 lvl in passive.

Wonder if I should move the tone pot to vol - eq module.
Wonder the proper way to add a extra tone pot with it.




Cheers
Ken
 
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#58,214
MikeBass said:
Come on man…….

seriously though, these go for about $900 or so right?
Dealer is paying roughly half to 2/3 that, so what do you think it’s costing to make these in China?

I love Roger and company, but I don’t at all think of these as Sadowsky basses, as much as I thought of the KSD as Ken Smith basses.
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Agree - they are cheap, not very good basses with his name in it. And I’m a huge Sadowsky fan - own an NYC Ultra Vintage 5. But I agree with you
 
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#58,215
Dunno man... Sadowsky is a brand. It's a brand that at least now, has a broad breadth of products, including the bare knuckles inexpensive MetroExpress basses. True, it's not a "Roger Sadowsky" Sadowsky bass, but they're still designed to be specifically inspired by his work, so they carry that brand. And to compare the current ME's to the KSD's I don't think is apples to apples anyway. Those KSD's were nowhere near this kind of basic entry level axe. They were more comparable to the Japanese ME's or maybe even M's. The current ME's are a brand new thing.

I guess in short, if you're going to be a hard core purist, get an NYC, or at least an older Japanese model or newer German model. But I feel it's fair to put his name on the current ME's. It's just a way to get someone's foot in the door with at least something inspired by Roger's work. Nothing more, and it doesn't claim to be anything more, and it probably does pretty well compared to other products in its price range. Seems fair to me.
 
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#58,216
MikeBass said:
Come on man…….

seriously though, these go for about $900 or so right?
Dealer is paying roughly half to 2/3 that, so what do you think it’s costing to make these in China?

I love Roger and company, but I don’t at all think of these as Sadowsky basses, as much as I thought of the KSD as Ken Smith basses.
Click to expand...

There are a lot of companies that make $2000 instruments that were made off-shore. (Spector, Duesenberg, and a host of others.) As a person that owns the Chinese, Japanese, and NYC models, I can honestly say that it is not a compromise in terms of feel or tone.

Of the 3 that I have owned, I have not had an issue with noise, as others have said either. I did add the VTC and I love it.

Now, the difference between the KSD and the Ken Smith was that they didn't even really try to emulate a Ken Smith.

Once you add the VTC, if you covered the logo, most people would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the 2.
 
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#58,217
It does seem that the first ones maybe weren't "up to snuff" but it sounds like maybe they are figuring things out and the latest versions may be a little better. I did see a video with a VERY noisy preamp. I have also seen one where it sounded pretty good.

It's easy to slam them. It's easy to compare them to the NYC/Metro/Japanese models. They won't be any of those, nor is that the intention. I can't afford an NYC. I could barely swing a ME Japan model. As was said a couple posts ago, it's an entry into the neighborhood. Maybe you stay in your starter home and are fine. Maybe you end up in a nicer home. Maybe you find a gem in the rough. Either way the neighborhood is pretty nice.
 
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#58,220
BassAgent said:
Question for you Sadowsky aficionados: are the US Sadowsky preamp and pickups drop-in replacements in the MetroExpress basses?
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Warwick will be selling the higher grade MetroLine pickups soon. I am not selling my NYC pickups. Unless you have the very early MetroExpress production with the hotter preamp, there is no need to replace that.
 
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