I’ve got both, a Japanese metro WL and a Chinese metro express. I much prefer the 1 3/4 but the metro express is still a great bass and for $700 it wasn’t a deal breaker. For my NYC that is almost ready, 1 3/4 was the only size I would consider.
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Then I am lucky and got some of those rare pre-rubber Wardowskys! A fine vintage of basses never seen again. These rubber covers clearly gave these basses a spongy and unfocused tone, soft attack and loose lowend
Sorry, but I don't think that ANY plastic pickup cover could modify the sound or the tone... It is just a taste of touch/feeling, nothing else.
Then I am lucky and got some of those rare pre-rubber Wardowskys! A fine vintage of basses never seen again. These rubber covers clearly gave these basses a spongy and unfocused tone, soft attack and loose lowend
LOL, pretty sure that was a joke.
Same here. I still have a couple with 1 7/8" nuts, but they'll likely get sold/traded at some point and I don't *intend* on purchasing anymore with 1 7/8" nuts.
I'm 6'0" but have smallish fingers for my size. Even so, I prefer 1-7/8, and 19mm bridge spacing.
Oh... I don't think 1-3/4 would be a deal-breaker, but I don't own any.
Oh... I don't think 1-3/4 would be a deal-breaker, but I don't own any.
I liked this review. Other than Andy thinking the balance pot was wired backwards, I thought it gave a good assessment of the bass. I know my fretless is very well put together and competitive with anything in the sub $1,500 range.
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Have developed a strong preference for 1.75" - perhaps an artifact of my side-journey into Lakland 5-stringers, which are narrower than 1.87, but wider than 1.75. I have relatively short index fingers, and appreciate those narrower nuts on the lower frets. And as I stare at my hands while typing this post, I suddenly comprehend why floating thumb has been so successful for me - aside from the dampening of open strings, it compensates for the 3/4" difference between my index and middle finger. But I digress... I love my Metro WL5...and am trending toward sale of my two 1.87" basses. And preferring 19mm at the bridge.
Tried one of these recently, and the frets didn't feel near the quality of my Japan Metroline, and the 'string tree' was different. But with a fretless, you've got a sweet deal!
I never figured out what was B-Stock about my ME 5-21 JJ, also purchased from MGR. If I decide to drop a full VTC pre-amp in it (and I probably won't - I usually play my JJ basses with the tone wide open anyway) I'll still be well south of $1k with an absolutely killer bass.
The Japanese Metro was pretty much hand built. The MetroExpress is a factory bass.
FWIW regarding the 1.75” nut width preference (which is mine, too), it’s not a tough or expensive job for an experienced luthier to reshape and slim a 1.875” nut to 1.75”. I have a Fender P5 having just that done right now. I had already sanded the finish off the neck, so I didn’t have to pay for refinishing after the job - $150. Might be a viable option for some on an otherwise keeper bass.
As well as the Japanese Metroline 5, I have a Japanese MetroExpress 4, and the are indistinguishable in quality.
True, but the Japanese MetroExpress was $1,975 in 2019. The current MetroExpress run from about $880-$945. Do you really expect them to be the same? The Chinese can make top flight basses like the Dingwall Combustion or MTD Kingston Andrew Gouche basses, but both of those are well over $2K.
That said, I think the RSD’s are much better now than they were initially, and compare favorably with other basses in their price category.
The main theme here is that all of the current Sadowsky models have quality and features at various price points and target audiences. It's what RS envisioned and hoped for in the restructure.
Where do you think cost savings are made? $880-945 is quite a bit less than $3600+/-. Can you enumerate the differences? Certainly not NYC and MetroLine features like chambering, VTC and invisible frets. Okoume vs alder or ash. What else.
The biggest savings is in the cost of Chinese versus American or German labor. I bet the Chinese factory could make basses so nice for sub $2K that buying a German Metro would not make sense.
No, the Japan Sadowskys are different fish, but for me, the fretwork was noticeably better on the Japan basses,
So the express is definitely a good option for a fretless, but I would go for a metroline, otherwise.
