Club Sadowsky!!!

[SteveC]

It was I that said there was a volume difference between passive and active, but I had some bass boost going on so that was why. When set flat, they are basically the same. I have a ME Japan 5JJ. Nice sound on mine either way. I generally run blend on center, bass boosted maybe 20%-30%, treble flat, and use the VTC for any tweaking from there.

I haven't had a Sadowsky for a while (had a Metro RV4 and a Metro M5-24) so it's been fun getting used to one again. The neck is a little bigger than what I had been playing for the last 8-9 years, so I put everything away and have just been playing this one for a few weeks now. It's feeling pretty good. Everyone loves the sound. My sound guy might still prefer my Roscoe Classic P, but he doesn't mind the Sadowsky at all. The rest of the band is torn, but they really like the Sadowsky in active mode with a little bass boost.

 

[ElMon]

Don’t post here too much any more …

In no particular order:

1) My Sadowsky PJ5, with a foam mute and chrome flats, set passive, sounds very ‘period correct’. Like it was always a ‘P-Bass’, but with this setup, it’s going all the way with a Daniel Day Lewis Method Acting level of commitment

2) Turning the active pre back on with the EQ set flat brings only a slight volume difference to me. Someone posted that the difference is dramatic and that sounds like something might be wrong with their setup

3) With the, IMO, best preamp in the business boosted, it sounds like (cliche’ ala Talkbass alert) ‘A Fender P-Bass on Steroids’

4) My PJ5, often-with-EQ-boosted, but not very much, gets me a ‘you sound incredible in the mix’ compliment almost everytime I play it. Big PA down to the lowliest 80’s Peavey Keyboard amp doubling as a bass amp with no PA support out front. To be fair I’ve gotten that compliment with every Sadowsky I’ve ever played live.

5) The Modern/M5-24/whatever in a fretless configuration is just a flat-out amazing tone. Just a lean, mix-slicing machine. Congrats to any and all who find this setup and love it. It’s up there (for me) with the fretless 62’ defretted J-Bass, the fretless musicman ala’ Pino and the Pedulla Buzz Bass for iconic fretless tones.

6) Oh yeah, this monster is done and I’m working out shipping with Roger. Man I’m getting heart palpitations just typing this:

View attachment 4604351

Preliminary review:

It’s great.

Dare I say … wait for it folks, we’ve got an attempt to modify what is becoming a well-earned brand cliche … ‘An Ernie Ball Musicman on Steroids’.

Which is entirely appropriate.

IMO/IME a Musicman out of Ernie Ball’s shop doesn’t need anything else except 19MM spacing. Otherwise those instruments just get the job done. That grindy pick tone, sploinky slap tone and Bernard Edwards low-mid fingerstyle magic that these basses are capable of needs no introduction, or any more superlatives from me.

Roger’s does it better.

Thicker lows, and more sparkly highs … and it has a VTC.

More to come, I can promise you that. Clips/etc. Otherwise this kind of post is akin to:

Feller # 1: ‘what was it like to meet Marcus Miller?’

Feller # 2: ‘I’ve actually prepared an interpretive dance to illustrate what it was like.’

Hopefully I’ve bought myself some time to practice my slapping and a picking so that I don’t embarass myself on clips to come. As much as I wanna throw flats on this sucker, it just has a ‘thang’ with these rounds on it.


Ooooooooooooooooooo weeeeeeeeee.

 

[ElMon]

Speaking of embarrassing myself:




That’s through what the Irish call ‘a wee amp’ (Phil Jones practice combo) and with the coil tap all the way towards the headstock. Not sure which tap is which yet, but I think it’s simillar to the 3-way switch of an actual RAY. I attempted to play this through my AG700/EA112 rig, but couldn’t turn it up much.

The Geological Survey folks might have shown up had I continued on in that manner.

MORE TO COME

 

[kobass]

sploinky?

 

[ElMon]

sploinky?

Veritably sploinky. Indeed. The new ‘punchy’?

 

[kobass]

Veritably sploinky. Indeed. The new ‘punchy’?

Yea verily!

 

[Bergerman]

Veritably sploinky. Indeed. The new ‘punchy’?

Great band name: Wank Spankerton & the Sploinkies

 

[Fuzzbass]

coil tap all the way towards the headstock. Not sure which tap is which yet, but I think it’s simillar to the 3-way switch of an actual RAY.

On mine, neck position is series (louder, more midrangey), middle position is parallel (default on a 4-string Ray), and bridge position is single coil. But I don't know whether that matches the actual SR5... or yours, for that matter!

 

[ElMon]

On mine, neck position is series (louder, more midrangey), middle position is parallel (default on a 4-string Ray), and bridge position is single coil. But I don't know whether that matches the actual SR5... or yours, for that matter!

In the clip, it’s set with the switch set to ‘up’, or Maxxin-Sploinkin. The middle position seems very ‘meh’ to me, and the down position, with the VTC off, is such a good fingerstyle tone that I’m just not sure how I feel about it yet in regards to my other basses.

I have a German Sadowsky Metro WL5 I picked up while waiting for this bass that might want to make sure it has 1st month and last month on a new home. Just throwing that out there. Between my main damey PJ5 Sadowsky (Big Daddy P) and my Olinto P5 (P Diddley) it’s getting hard for a slim-necked, offset-body-having J to justify it’s spot.

 

[Spidey2112]

In the clip, it’s set with the switch set to ‘up’, or Maxxin-Sploinkin. The middle position seems very ‘meh’ to me, and the down position, with the VTC off, is such a good fingerstyle tone that I’m just not sure how I feel about it yet in regards to my other basses.

I have a German Sadowsky Metro WL5 I picked up while waiting for this bass that might want to make sure it has 1st month and last month on a new home. Just throwing that out there. Between my main damey PJ5 Sadowsky (Big Daddy P) and my Olinto P5 (P Diddley) it’s getting hard for a slim-necked, offset-body-having J to justify it’s spot.

Translation: That means he likes it.

 

[kobass]

Great band name: Wank Spankerton & the Sploinkies

Great new medical disorder name: Maxxin-Sploinkin Syndrome.

 

[ElMon]

Great new medical disorder name: Maxxin-Sploinkin Syndrome.

If it keeps me lean like Flea I’ll take an extra dose.

Apropos of nothing (or is it?): The VTC is a game-changer of a knob for this configuration.

 

[Fuzzbass]

If it keeps me lean like Flea I’ll take an extra dose.

Apropos of nothing (or is it?): The VTC is a game-changer of a knob for this configuration.

Love your build. Sorry if I missed it, but I can't tell from the pics: ebony board, or just a very dark piece of rosewood? Either way, it's got the looks as well as the tones!

 

[ElMon]

Love your build. Sorry if I missed it, but I can't tell from the pics: ebony board, or just a very dark piece of rosewood? Either way, it's got the looks as well as the tones!

Darkest piece of Brazilian RW I've ever seen. Glad I went that way too. What got me started on my GAS journey was wanting a more round/warm tone out of my ash/maple EB MM5. This build has me going back to where I started.

 

[ElMon]

Great new medical disorder name: Maxxin-Sploinkin Syndrome.

 

[Vic]

Final assembly this week!

 

[Joebone]

Darkest piece of Brazilian RW I've ever seen. Glad I went that way too. What got me started on my GAS journey was wanting a more round/warm tone out of my ash/maple EB MM5. This build has me going back to where I started.

How are you feeling about the M vs. MM? Personally never gelled with the regular M, but fell deeply for an MM with an ebony board, and was one of the agitators for development of an EBBM 19mm version. Also curious about your choice of fretwire - IIRC, those MM frets were pretty moby, while I tend to favor a finer flavor. Anyhow, you've commissioned a monster - in the best sense of the word - Congrats! EDIT - one more thought - rolling that VTC down, along with judicious bass boost on the Sadowsky pre, might well address that which I didn't dig about the single-M Ray...

 

[ElMon]

How are you feeling about the M vs. MM? Personally never gelled with the regular M, but fell deeply for an MM with an ebony board, and was one of the agitators for development of an EBBM 19mm version. Also curious about your choice of fretwire - IIRC, those MM frets were pretty moby, while I tend to favor a finer flavor. Anyhow, you've commissioned a monster - in the best sense of the word - Congrats!

Not sure what ‘regular M’ vs. ‘MM” means exactly (original 70’s pre WITHOUT coil taps equals ‘M’?) and thank the GAS gods I don’t have a pecuilarity for fretwire. 19MM and 34” is my only ‘bugaboo’ these days. That and I need to stop (especially now) attempting to gel with JJ5’s. I’ll have a German WL5 for sale here shortly proving that concept.

Rolling off the VTC on the single-coil mode on this bass is a real unique sound I need to get a clip of. Big and pitch-focused. Up until this build, I was doing 90% of what I do on my flats-strung PJ5, and then occasionally going to the WL5 for modern r&b/‘that’ slap sound.

The trade-off was usually PJ5= perfect fingerstyle tone and not my favorite slap tone (better with rounds but there’s nothing like an ash/maple JJ5 with rounds!); JJ5 = perfect slap tone and not my favorite fingerstyle tone (missing that low-mid push that my PJ5 has)

This MM5 might just be my ‘take ONE to the gig’ bass.

 

[Vic]

Not sure what ‘regular M’ vs. ‘MM” means exactly

just means single vs dual MM style pickups.

typical nomenclature is M (single M, like the original model), J/M or J/MM (like a Lakland) or MM/J like a bongo, or MM or double-buck (warwick corvette with dual M's in it), etc.

it gets confusing because MM can mean either MusicMan (as in single MM style pickup), or Musicman-Musicman (dual) depending on context.

 

[Joebone]

Not sure what ‘regular M’ vs. ‘MM” means exactly (original 70’s pre WITHOUT coil taps equals ‘M’?) and thank the GAS gods I don’t have a pecuilarity for fretwire. 19MM and 34” is my only ‘bugaboo’ these days. That and I need to stop (especially now) attempting to gel with JJ5’s. I’ll have a German WL5 for sale here shortly proving that concept.

Rolling off the VTC on the single-coil mode on this bass is a real unique sound I need to get a clip of. Big and pitch-focused. Up until this build, I was doing 90% of what I do on my flats-strung PJ5, and then occasionally going to the WL5 for modern r&b/‘that’ slap sound.

The trade-off was usually PJ5= perfect fingerstyle tone and not my favorite slap tone (better with rounds but there’s nothing like an ash/maple JJ5 with rounds!); JJ5 = perfect slap tone and not my favorite fingerstyle tone (missing that low-mid push that my PJ5 has)

This MM5 might just be my ‘take ONE to the gig’ bass.

I've not dived deeply into EBMM lore, so for me, "M" is a single EBMM humbucker pickup in the traditional EBMM position, with alnico magnets...I understand their preamp circuits and tapping options may have morphed over the years. Do you know from whence your pickup is sourced...Nordstrand?