I saw them at the Sadowsky HQ a couple months ago. There were about a dozen necks and two completed basses at the time. Skull inlays from what I recall. Jason is also selling a ton of gear on Reverb for those who are interested.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
I have an identical bass…. It’s a very nice fretless, love the ebony board. The original preamp sounded good, by I switched it out to the VTC. I like the pickups and have had no need to switch them. Mine is a fine bass.
Alright folks - I’m a first time poster in the Sadowsky club. I’ve been in the market for a 5’er, and a Sadowsky Metroline Will Lee 5 (alder and morado, 60’s position J pups) came up in my local CL. It looks to be a 2023, German made model. Any folks recommend this instrument for someone looking for a bass that can be both modern and vintage sounding with a focused and capable B string? I played a proper NYC model years ago and thought it was great, but I don’t have any experience with the more “current year” basses, let alone any of the Metro lines. For the record, the seller wants $2,700. I haven’t been able to find many of these listed (probably a good sign), so I’m not sure if that is a fair price or a bit high. Based on the price of “new” WL Metrolines, I’m inclined to think it’s a bit on the higher side, but I could be wrong.
Any thoughts are greatly welcomed
Any thoughts are greatly welcomed
Last edited:
First of all, THERE SHOULD BE a serial nr on the back of the headstock. If not, this might be a cheap fake Chinese bass. All RSD basses have serial nr starting with SME - a letter(for the type of bass) - a (production) number - year of production (2 digits). First year of production would be 20. The next one 21's already had better qc, and 22's had best qc. 23's are the new ones with roasted neck etc. No RSD has the VTC when sold new. Pre-amp might be same as Metroline, but controls, pots, are cheaper ones and might be noisy, at least, mine were (a 21 black hybrid 4-string). be carefull with this and consider that Thomann is still selling these in Europe for 399,-
Stainless steel frets change the tone dramatically, and I do not like or use them.
5 strings are sold out. 4 strings still available.
Sorry but I’ve ever soloed the j pickup but I rolled more towards the J with no noticeable noise. I have soloed the p pickup, also no noticeable noise. I don’t know what these are going used but my guess (without the VTC) would be &”$500-$600?
I will say that I would take this one over one of the new ones as I prefer an ebony board (new ones are Pau Ferro). And the ebony board on mine is sweet.
I emailed Roger on Friday, seems I am one of the lucky ones and have a 5 string reserved! \m/
This means I will very likely have a few Sadowsky NYC in Classifieds soon. ha!
Last edited:
If Its a -20 it’s a first year.
I got the identical bass out of Spain in 2023 as a NOS/leftover at a great price. Needed some love but was able to really make it just fantastic. Added the VTC, new guard and Hipshot S style chrome plated aluminum bridge. Has served me very well ever since.
Attachments
Question on the Sadowsky preamp...
I'm doing a bit of a deep dive on Jason Newsted's live tone, but I've never played a Sadowsky.
Is the preamp similar to a Spector in that the more you crank it up the more it adds grit/grind? Or is it a cleaner pre with more headroom?
Also, any opinions on the Sadowsky pickups vs EMG? I've read he switched some of his Sadowsky basses to EMG, but not all of them.
Cheers!
I'm doing a bit of a deep dive on Jason Newsted's live tone, but I've never played a Sadowsky.
Is the preamp similar to a Spector in that the more you crank it up the more it adds grit/grind? Or is it a cleaner pre with more headroom?
Also, any opinions on the Sadowsky pickups vs EMG? I've read he switched some of his Sadowsky basses to EMG, but not all of them.
Cheers!
I've only heard Newsted live, many years ago when he did that one tour with Ozzy. I don't remember what he played but it was the worst live bass tone I've ever heard, and that's saying something. ZERO, and I mean zero, lows. Just a bunch of horribly irritating upper mids.
I will let the gurus chime in, they can break it down far better than I but as a Spector guy who switched to Sadowsky NYC. What you get from Sadowsky preamp is more mid cut and the ability to sit in a mix with little effort, there is a balance of tone and grit, a few tweaks and you can make it growl hard.
Here is an example I just recorded on my Sadowsky NYC 5 String (Sadowsky Pre, Sadowsky Pickups). It's growly as can be so works for me! I find Sadowsky far more balanced and capable of handling all kinds of music but I bring out my NS-2 for very specific things (e.g., Metal).
I have never had to adjust the preamp on any Sadowsky, the Tone Pump on the Spector Euro models came hot AF and later had an adjustment knob on them. I never touched the preamp on my NS-2/NS-5 Haz preamps. What you hear below is slight amp/grit adjustment and a little knob tweaking on the Sadowsky, nothing has been done to the preamp.
Last edited:
That would be the responsibility of the live sound crew. Jason's tone has been great on the recordings I've heard -- aside from "And Justice For All", lulz.
My own 2¢: better to hear midrange than the blurry low-low rumble that's common for arena bass. When I saw Jason with Metallica decades ago (sports arena) I couldn't hear him much, except during his solo of course.
Well, since no one can hear his tone on Justice your statement works without the disclaimer!
Just my two cents from the research I've done:
Other than a short run in the mid 90's, Jason only used Spector's for recording, and they were his short lived signature model (I think they only made 15 or 20 of them, but my memory is fuzzy).
I have a couple late 80's Kramer made NS2's - the original HAZ preamp growls like crazy, especially if you run it with the bass and treble maxed like I did. The Sadowsky preamp to me is a little cleaner sounding, but has it's own tone that it provides that really makes them sit well in the mix. I like a lower action and use a little fret buzz to add some growl/grind on both basses. The EMG's in the Spectors are a little cleaner and more hifi sounding, while the Sadowsky pickups are warmer and have a great midrange.
The new MJ5 I ran over the weekend for a gig sat beautifully in the mix with my band, and just felt great for a 3 hour gig. I've used my recently acquired Metroline JJ quite a bit as well.
I love my Spectors... but they are heavy (both of my old ones are 10lbs) and the first fret can be a bit of a stretch at times. Nothing sounds like one though. BUT, I'm starting to become a Sadowsky guy live because they are so easy to play for long periods while still sounding great on their own.
100%, everyone who plays a Sadowsky the first thing they mention is how well it sits in the mix. Roger nailed the sweet spot in that regard. There is a video of a guy playing a live show using 3-4 basses (he had never used before), after they handed him the Sadowsky he was blown away and it was a Metro model.
Everytime I pick up my 4 or 5 string it never doesn't amaze me how light they are. My custom NS-2 on the other hand? Heavy!
Last edited:
I got a Spector Euro4LT last week. Brand new, with the Barts/Darkglass pre. I’m in an 80’s band. Cure, Modern English, Depeche Mode, etc. No real heavy stuff at all. Gigged it for the first time this past Saturday. Noticed I could not get an enjoyable sound from it in my in-ear monitors. We do not use amps, which is a major factor in how good a bass can sound to the player on stage. My in-ear monitors seal extremely well, to permit the fullest bass sound possible.
After the first set, went to the soundman, asked “ How’s she sound?”. He said. “Hard No. Too clunky, too harsh”. he asked if the action was too low. I re-assured him it was not. He stated it sounded like clanky fret noise. Now, the strings were not that low and I had the treble control completely cut. Didn’t help. I had just the P pickup solo’d. Didn’t help.
I swapped in my Sadowsky P/J 4 Fretless MetroExpress, ( which I usually only use for ballads). Worked brilliantly. Balanced, full. Perfect. The Spector is getting returned tomorrow.
I was truly hoping the lighter weight LT would work. I love that Spector has created a lightweight model that had the reverse P/J pickup config. In my mind I think a VTC in the spector would also have helped a lot, but I’m not modding a $3200 bass.
Spectors are great, the build quality is absolutely first rate, but they’re a mechete’. Sometimes you just need a scalpel.
After the first set, went to the soundman, asked “ How’s she sound?”. He said. “Hard No. Too clunky, too harsh”. he asked if the action was too low. I re-assured him it was not. He stated it sounded like clanky fret noise. Now, the strings were not that low and I had the treble control completely cut. Didn’t help. I had just the P pickup solo’d. Didn’t help.
I swapped in my Sadowsky P/J 4 Fretless MetroExpress, ( which I usually only use for ballads). Worked brilliantly. Balanced, full. Perfect. The Spector is getting returned tomorrow.
I was truly hoping the lighter weight LT would work. I love that Spector has created a lightweight model that had the reverse P/J pickup config. In my mind I think a VTC in the spector would also have helped a lot, but I’m not modding a $3200 bass.
Spectors are great, the build quality is absolutely first rate, but they’re a mechete’. Sometimes you just need a scalpel.
Last edited:
I respectfully disagree that how a stage amp sounds on stage is a more accurate representation of the sound you're getting out front. You get coloration from the amp, the stage acoustics, room acoustics etc that don't necessarily translate 25' away in a crowded room i.e. I've found that how it sounds in my iem's is usually very close to what I hear in board recordings, which IME is much closer to what it sounds like coming from the PA. If it sounds good in your ears it's much more likely to sound the same or very close out front. In my experience anyway. Trust your in ears, that's what's going through the FOH.
Thanks for that. I'm more in Mike Starr/Inez territory in terms of what I'm going after, but I keep digging around and trying to learn more. Problem is, it's easy to find information on the wall of thousands of dollars in amps/cabs they had sitting behind them, but no one wants to talk about the $250 BDDI the crowd could actually hear.
In this case, Newsted's tone got cleaner and (IMO) more scooped over the years and I was pondering why.
