Club Sadowsky!!!

[rmayer]

For those of you who have them, are the Nordstrand Big Singles the closest sounding pickups to Roger’s single-coil Jazz pickups, but in a soapbar?

I had the Nordstrand Big Singles in an NYC 24 fret to replace the soapbars. Sounded like a slightly pumped up single coil. Awesome with the Sadowsky preamp. Nordstrand also makes the Jazz Bars, basically their single coil Jazz pickups in a soapbar shell.

 

[Joebone]

Consider the Fat Stack. Briefly played a 5/24 with those on board, and its was excellent.

 

[Addison]

Well, I've certainly moved on, but that whole fiasco was...a fiasco!

I remember something like, “Ok, you win … I’ll make an SR5 with 19mm spacing, but it can only be in one color, one fingerboard wood type, and I have to presell 250 of them. Oh, and the order window is 2 weeks and I'm not going to market it.”

Maybe not exactly that, but I remember it being set up to fail from the get-go.

 

[Holdsg]

yep, nailed it
back to your regular programming

 

[Joebone]

I remember something like, “Ok, you win … I’ll make an SR5 with 19mm spacing, but it can only be in one color, one fingerboard wood type, and I have to presell 250 of them. Oh, and the order window is 2 weeks and I'm not going to market it.”

Maybe not exactly that, but I remember it being set up to fail from the get-go.

Perfect summary, although can't recall the exact pre-sale target...the real kicker was the two-week window.

 

[Fuzzbass]

I remember it being set up to fail from the get-go.

Yup, it was designed to get the result that Sterling and his fanbois wanted.

I actually put money down on the 19mm Ray 5 ("any color as long as it's black" was OK with me), but despite that carefully calculated flop I won out in the end: love the custom Sadowsky MM5 I got back in 2010.

 

[Mark Ambler]

Yup, it was designed to get the result that Sterling and his fanbois wanted.

I actually put money down on the 19mm Ray 5 ("any color as long as it's black" was OK with me), but despite that carefully calculated flop I won out in the end: love the custom Sadowsky MM5 I got back in 2010.

So to get a Sadowsky MM5 with 19mm, I'd have to either go custom shop, or NYC or just get a Sadowsky J5 routed for a MM pickup. Too pricey for me to bother, and anyway, I'm really happy with the J Bass, just wouldn't say no to a MM as long as it wasn't exorbitantly expensive.

 

[Frank Kreber]

Hello,

Did anyone of you remove the cover from the soaps? They have no big advantage - IMHO. Whats your opinion/ experience.
I like this look much more…

than this….

 

[DJDanny]

So much fun playing this one at church today!

 

[Addison]

Hello,

Did anyone of you remove the cover from the soaps? They have no big advantage - IMHO. Whats your opinion/ experience.
I like this look much more…View attachment 5141788
than this….
View attachment 5141793

I'm not sure if I understand what you're trying to show here.

I see identical pickups - one set with silver/white logos, the other with black embossed logos.

Am I missing something?

 

[Frank Kreber]

Hi Addison,

Maybe I misunderstood something. The surface of the PU on my bass is not smooth as usual. It feels like a polyurethane finish - I thought this was kind of a cover, maybe I was wrong.

 

[KaseOfBass]

Hello,

Did anyone of you remove the cover from the soaps? They have no big advantage - IMHO. Whats your opinion/ experience.
I like this look much more…View attachment 5141788
than this….
View attachment 5141793

Hi Addison,

Maybe I misunderstood something. The surface of the PU on my bass is not smooth as usual. It feels like a polyurethane finish - I thought this was kind of a cover, maybe I was wrong.

The soaps with the white logo were the first models that came out (but are still what you see in 99% of the photos) and have since been replaced by the ones with the black logo and soft touch material. There's also been at least two versions with the soft touch material, as I had one where the material was flaking off the pickup. I was told the pickups I had were an earlier version of the soft touch that had since been revised and was sent new pickups that are holding up so far.

On any of the various versions of the soapbars though, the cover is epoxied to the pickup, so there's no easy way to just pull it off and change. In theory, you could remove the soft touch material to expose the harder plastic cover underneath or remove the cover altogether (I know it's been done on some of the epoxied EBMM 5 string pickups to change the cover), but either would be a bit of a task. You could also replace the pickups with the brushed black chrome version should you want. But, there's no easy way to just change the covers on the soapbar pickups.

Here's the brushed black chrome version -

And here, you can see that everything is epoxied together for the soaps -

 

[Frank Kreber]

Thank you for this detailed explanation.
actually it was your post concerning the problems with the soft touch material I had in mind and drew the wrong conclusions.

 

[gridchin]

Hey guys! I'm thinking on buying a Sadowsky PJ5, and I'm trying to decide between two options: Sadowsky TYO (made in Japan, second hand, mint condition) and Sadowsky MetroLine Hybrid (made in Germany, brand new). The price is similar. Wondering which one would be a better option.

And another question. In the future I'd like to order a Custom shop or Master build Sadowsky. Is there any website or email to place a direct order?

Many thanks in advance!

 

[Loepie]

Hey guys! I'm thinking on buying a Sadowsky PJ5, and I'm trying to decide between two options: Sadowsky TYO (made in Japan, second hand, mint condition) and Sadowsky MetroLine Hybrid (made in Germany, brand new). The price is similar. Wondering which one would be a better option.

And another question. In the future I'd like to order a Custom shop or Master build Sadowsky. Is there any website or email to place a direct order?

Many thanks in advance!

You might try this one: W-Music Distribution

 

[KaseOfBass]

Hey guys! I'm thinking on buying a Sadowsky PJ5, and I'm trying to decide between two options: Sadowsky TYO (made in Japan, second hand, mint condition) and Sadowsky MetroLine Hybrid (made in Germany, brand new). The price is similar. Wondering which one would be a better option.

And another question. In the future I'd like to order a Custom shop or Master build Sadowsky. Is there any website or email to place a direct order?

Many thanks in advance!

The TYO models were made for the Japanese market as "custom shop" basses of sorts out of the Japan Sadowsky shop. In stock form, I believe they had different preamps from their Metro and NYC counterparts that some say sound different from the traditional Sadowsky pre. The TYO preamps feature boost AND cut for treble/bass, but being custom, some of those basses might have a standard pre while others have the boost/cut pre. Not sure. I've never seen much info or definitive answers regarding the TYO models. I've never played one, but they're certainly well regarded for craftmanship.

So, you might ask some questions on the TYO if that info is not already spelled out by the seller so you get what you're expecting, at least regarding the preamp.

The MIG Metros are great basses. My only qualm with them is the tuners, as I simply don't think they're on the same level as Hipshot products. Some have noted perceived differences in preamps between the MIG basses and MIJ/NYC, but I'm not sure. My MIG MJ5 preamp sounds familiar to me, but admittedly, I don't really use the pre on my basses much.

Being in Spain, I'm sure you could use the Warwick Germany contact form or the listed number to give them a call. Using the USA contact form, I've received prompt responses and would assume the same from the folks in Germany.

Contact | W-Music Distribution (warwick.de)

 

[ragetoca]

Hey guys! I'm thinking on buying a Sadowsky PJ5, and I'm trying to decide between two options: Sadowsky TYO (made in Japan, second hand, mint condition) and Sadowsky MetroLine Hybrid (made in Germany, brand new). The price is similar. Wondering which one would be a better option.

And another question. In the future I'd like to order a Custom shop or Master build Sadowsky. Is there any website or email to place a direct order?

Many thanks in advance!

After owning 5 Germans and 3 Japanese I have come to the conclusion that the Japanese are better IMO. In my experience and preference I would put tone over weight any day

 

[deepestend]

IF anyone is wondering... site is down due to a host maintenance issue.

 

[gridchin]

Thank you guys for the info on W-Music Distribution and for your opinions on German vs Japanese Sadowsky basses. Much appreciate it

 

[Matt275]

Thank you guys for the info on W-Music Distribution and for your opinions on German vs Japanese Sadowsky basses. Much appreciate it

Just curious why you are not considering a Sadowsky NYC model?