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Club Sadowsky!!!

#61,061
I will say this and I'm sure many will disagree. In my experience, the German Sadowsky preamp does not sound like the NYC pre. I've owned a couple German Metro's and also had the onboard German preamp installed in another bass. I've also owned many NYC's and my main bass is the NYC in my profile pic. For whatever reason, it seemed to me the preamps respond differently and sound a bit different, it's a bit hard to explain.

ragetoca said:
Question to those that own a German metroline, is the preamp in your bass TOO sensitive? I just got a new metroline 5 string and the controls are way too responsive, like 100% of the bass freq is in the first 5% of boost, also the VTC and the treble get super bright like within the first 10% of boost, I will be recording a video to show this to Warwick but just wanted to ask if any of you have the same thing happening to you? I have owned about 6 or 7 sadowskys (Japanese and Germans) and I have noticed it more on the last 3 Germans that I have owned
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#61,062
WorktheWood said:
I will say this and I'm sure many will disagree. In my experience, the German Sadowsky preamp does not sound like the NYC pre. I've owned a couple German Metro's and also had the onboard German preamp installed in another bass. I've also owned many NYC's and my main bass is the NYC in my profile pic. For whatever reason, it seemed to me the preamps respond differently and sound a bit different, it's a bit hard to explain.
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I think the overall sound characteristics of the German preamp are the same, but the pots respond differently.
I can actually add more boost on bass and treble (in terms of pot movement, not actual boost) and the blend on the pan pot seems much wider. I can actually turn it a quarter turn towards the bridge PU before the neck pickup is completely faded out.
 
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#61,065
foal30 said:
Here in NZ there’s a Japanese made Sadowsky Bass on the auction site. From what I can gather these were not made for particularly long, maybe 18 months(?)What’s the general vibe with these instruments?
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That is a metro express if we are looking at the same one. Does not have the usual Sadowsky logo so probably rsd on headstock. I think those are made in China? Still a nice bass but may need some fine tuning and certainly not in the same league as the marvellous Japanese metroline.
 
#61,068
Stranger Danger said:
Yeah no worries. I was hoping I was wrong and could find some for $50-$60 bucks. I’ll stick with the rounds for now.
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Yeah, it's rough to have such expensive taste in flats. Fortunately they last a long, long, long time. Especially for me, because I mostly play rounds.

The low B on my TI set eventually wore out, so I replaced the string, not the entire set. The B alone cost $60.
 
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#61,069
Fuzzbass said:
Yeah, it's rough to have such expensive taste in flats. Fortunately they last a long, long, long time. Especially for me, because I mostly play rounds.

The low B on my TI set eventually wore out, so I replaced the string, not the entire set. The B alone cost $60.
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It could be worse. We could be double bass players
 
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#61,070
Stranger Danger said:
It could be worse. We could be double bass players
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Actually no, I do believe the pricing on these flats is ridiculous. The Thomastik Jazz Flats were considered expensive for years at about 110$ to 120$ for a 5-string set.
Now these Sadowsky flats come around and are 140$+, around another 20% on top! I'm inclined to believe Warwick does not want to sell these things. They're pricing these string out of the market.
 
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#61,074
stevensivak said:
Could any one say a few words about this bass: Tone, value, etc...
Sadowksy NYC Left Handed Jazz 4 Red | Reverb
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This appears to be an early model based on the serial number. It looks like a small switch was added? Fairly minor bumps and scratches. Since it might be an early model it will not be chambered so I would expect it to be at least 9+ pounds. As far as the cost, as you surely already know this unfortunately left = $$$. (I am left handed but I, fortunately am right handed on many things due to being raised in a right handed world). As far as tone I really find it hard to imagine any of Roger's basses having bad tone or playability.

I haven't done this lately, but you should be able to go to the Sadowsky website and search the serial number for more info. If no luck there give the shop a call. I do think that the price is a bit high, but again the left-handed puts things in a different league.
 
#61,076
I just checked the Sadowsky site. It seems that they don't have the plethora of info that they used to have. Anyhow, in looking at the serial number, they do have a chart indicating that this bass was built in 1998. So it is NOT chambered. I have both non-chambered and chambered Sadowskys and really couldn't say that the chambering made a difference (IMHO). But mine are a different configurations (J/Js vs.a PJ).

I can't answer to the cost of a righty compared to this one but I'm thinking that the price that they are asking is quite a bit more than it should be. Take a minute and do a search here on TB for lefty 4-string Sadowskys. TB has been really great about archiving bass classified over the years. That should give you a better idea on worth. The bottom line is "what is it worth to you?".
 
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#61,077
Bassadzijah said:
Hi guys,

I recently bought a German Metroline VJ24-5, it’s a beautiful bass, and I really like the sound and feel of it. The bass has a chambered body and weighs 3.75kg which is very light. The only problem is that it has a small amount of neck dive. Original Sadowsky tuning machines are 80g per machine, which makes up about 400g total. What do you think, will switching to Hipshot USA Ultralites solve the diving neck problem? And which model should I buy that is compatible with the original tuners?

I have already tried a wider strap, it helps but does not solve the problem totally.

Two of these original Sadowsky tuners are also feeling too stiff.

I even wrote an email to Warwick but the answer was literary “This is the first time I hear that Sadowsky bass has a neck dive” and that was all.

Thank you all in advance!
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Neck Dive
I wish I had a dollar for every time I have had to have this conversation.
All Fender style basses (and many others) have neck dive when seated. It does not matter if the bass weighs 7 pounds or 12 pounds.
When standing, neck dive is a function of the strap you use. If the back of your strap has a slick material (vinyl, shiny leather, etc), you will experience neck dive.
If your strap has a backing that provides more resistance (cotton, suede or anything with a rougher texture, your bass should remain in place, even if you let both hands off of the bass.
This bass weighs 7.44 pounds


This bass weighs 8.44 pounds.
 
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