Club Sadowsky!!!

[HeavyJazz]

German MetroLine

The Japanese builds are spec'd as singles, but the German builds in general, to an extent, seem built against a looser set of parameters.

 

[Sadowsky]

Let's talk about the Will Lee MetroLine bass for a second.

I was under the impression that the Will Lee model always comes with single coils. While it is not explicitly stated on the product data sheet (only says "passive Sadowsky J-Style pickup"), the difference to the regular J/J MetroLine basses made this assumption plausible (data sheet says "passive Sadowsky hum-cancelling J-Style pickup").

So, here I am changing pickups on my Will Lee 5 stringer, as I'm not satisfied with the string to string balance. The E and A string were always too weak and the G and D string too present. Turns out my Will Lee is equipped with noiseless split-coil pickups instead of single-coils! I actually wondered sometimes how my single-coiled bass stays so silent under heavy handed application of distortion and fuzz. Duh.

These PUs came in my bass:

Sadowsky J-Style Bass Pickups (Alnico V / Alnico III), Noise-Cancelling, Split Coil, 5-String

And I swapped those for Nordstrand big J-blades in "clean and clear":

Big J-Blade 5

String balance is much improved! For any balance outside of 50/50 neck/bridge I've got hum now, obviously. Looks are also quite sleek:

View attachment 5396766

What is the serial number of this bass?

 

[rowsi]

What is the serial number of this bass?

Thats SML J 000329-20

Pic of the PUs for good measure:

 

[Sadowsky]

Thats SML J 000329-20

Pic of the PUs for good measure:

View attachment 5396844
View attachment 5396843

This was very early production and some mistakes were probably made. The Will Lee model does have single coil pickups standard. We now only use the stacked design on the hum canceling 5 string J pickups.

 

[rowsi]

This was very early production and some mistakes were probably made. The Will Lee model does have single coil pickups standard. We now only use the stacked design on the hum canceling 5 string J pickups.

I just wanted to share this curiosity. I'm not complaining!

 

[Joeykun]

Live shot with my SMX-JJ5. This bass absolutely slays!!

 

[Sadowsky]

Help Beckett Arts complete Roger Sadowsky Doc, organized by Irv Berner

Anything you can contribute would be appreciated and loved.
Roger

 

[Joebone]

Let's talk about the Will Lee MetroLine bass for a second.

I was under the impression that the Will Lee model always comes with single coils. While it is not explicitly stated on the product data sheet (only says "passive Sadowsky J-Style pickup"), the difference to the regular J/J MetroLine basses made this assumption plausible (data sheet says "passive Sadowsky hum-cancelling J-Style pickup").

So, here I am changing pickups on my Will Lee 5 stringer, as I'm not satisfied with the string to string balance. The E and A string were always too weak and the G and D string too present. Turns out my Will Lee is equipped with noiseless split-coil pickups instead of single-coils! I actually wondered sometimes how my single-coiled bass stays so silent under heavy handed application of distortion and fuzz. Duh.

These PUs came in my bass:

Sadowsky J-Style Bass Pickups (Alnico V / Alnico III), Noise-Cancelling, Split Coil, 5-String

And I swapped those for Nordstrand big J-blades in "clean and clear":

Big J-Blade 5

String balance is much improved! For any balance outside of 50/50 neck/bridge I've got hum now, obviously. Looks are also quite sleek:

View attachment 5396766

Those Nordy Big Blades are indeed a thing. I have a pair of the clean/clear soapbars in a bass that previously sported Duncan NYC soaps - and the bass came alive in a major way. I'm approaching a crossroads in my entire thinking about equipment, which may lead to a major sell-off, but if I keep an excellent MIJ Will Lee 5, I'm considering replacement of the single coils with big blades.

 

[MisterMagician]

I traded my sadowsky away.

 

[BassGuyFL]

Those Nordy Big Blades are indeed a thing. I have a pair of the clean/clear soapbars in a bass that previously sported Duncan NYC soaps - and the bass came alive in a major way. I'm approaching a crossroads in my entire thinking about equipment, which may lead to a major sell-off, but if I keep an excellent MIJ Will Lee 5, I'm considering replacement of the single coils with big blades.

ever since I saw this video I wanted to put the Big Singles in a bass. My ME might be the one.

 

[Sadowsky]

Help Beckett Arts complete Roger Sadowsky Doc, organized by Irv Berner




Anything you can contribute would be appreciated and loved.


Roger

 

[MikeBass]

Help Beckett Arts complete Roger Sadowsky Doc, organized by Irv Berner

Anything you can contribute would be appreciated and loved.
Roger

Done

 

[MikeBass]

And since Joey posted an “action shot”…..

here’s my 95 with the SuperP pickup:

 

[Sadowsky]

And since Joey posted an “action shot”…..

here’s my 95 with the SuperP pickup:
View attachment 5398093

Great photo, Mike!

 

[Gary Campbell]

Done … good luck with this

 

[kobass]

Done

 

[57pbass]

This should be an amazing documentary once completed…

Help Beckett Arts complete Roger Sadowsky Doc, organized by Irv Berner

 

[Joeykun]

Done!

 

[pb9717]

LIKE A PHOENIX……….

Not sure if you folks remember the catastrophe above from a few weeks ago. This incident inspired one of my most ambitious rebuild/mod.

This 2021 P/J 5 MetroExpress arrived cracked from front to back. A victim of some aggressive shipping and less than stellar packing. The seller was kind enough to sell me the neck, and I was able to source a 2022 body with a bad neck. The great thing was this particular neck had a really beautiful morado board, and the frets were virtually new. So I went to town making it into the best custom MetroExpress I could dream up.

So, BEHOLD… I gave you the Sadowsky Metro Express P/J 5 Custom.

Upgrades include:

- Hipshot Aluminum Chrome plated bridge w/ spacing adjustability and quick release.
- Colormatched headstock with silver metallic MetroExpress logo
- Bartolini Hum cancelling P/J pickups
- Matching Multi-lam vintage white Custom Pickguard & Control Plate
- VTC Added to existing on Board pre

Weighs a nice 8lbs 13 oz. It’s a nice addition to the herd…….

I’m starting to see a pattern here…………

Actually……it may be more of a condition……..

 

[Sadowsky]

Nice Salvage job!!