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Good to know.
After a Pickup Change from the ME Stacked to the US Stacked NC Pickups I have to Push the treble and Tone know almost all the way up.
The VTC is not so effective anymore.
Great to know - I've been eyeballing the MetroExpress Will Lee Sig. 5 string with Morado fingerboard that Sweetwater carries and I'd much rather have the VTC than attempt using EQ elsewhere - to me there's just some special sauce going on with a good passive tone control.Agreed, it's all just opinion based and the VTC works great for me. Like you said, Sweetwater's install was cheap and I got a good discount on the preamp. They sent me the old preamp too, so if I sell that, it's a fairly inexpensive swap.
The capacitor and VTC are passive components and not part of the preamp. The capacitor for all but the soapbar pickups is .05mfd. You can go to .10mfd to get more treble roll-off.Question: I would like to change the capacitor on my Sadowsky PRE so that the VTC is a bit darker - any suggestions on what capacitor to use?
Thanks Roger!The capacitor and VTC are passive components and not part of the preamp. The capacitor for all but the soapbar pickups is .05mfd. You can go to .10mfd to get more treble roll-off.
Honestly, it could be fine without the VTC, but I feel the same way about passive tone control. I'm not a huge tone tinkerer, but I couldn't imagine going into passive mode without at least that as an option.Great to know - I've been eyeballing the MetroExpress Will Lee Sig. 5 string with Morado fingerboard that Sweetwater carries and I'd much rather have the VTC than attempt using EQ elsewhere - to me there's just some special sauce going on with a good passive tone control.
To me, the fact that the active Treble control is boost only (which I would never use) means I need the Passive Tone control in both active and passive.Honestly, it could be fine without the VTC, but I feel the same way about passive tone control. I'm not a huge tone tinkerer, but I couldn't imagine going into passive mode without at least that as an option.
Just for clarification, the "VTC" IS a passive tone control. It's just Roger's name for it.Honestly, it could be fine without the VTC, but I feel the same way about passive tone control. I'm not a huge tone tinkerer, but I couldn't imagine going into passive mode without at least that as an option.
Thanks. I can see how what I wrote could be confusing. I was referring to the comment I quoted which said: to me there's just some special sauce going on with a good passive tone controlJust for clarification, the "VTC" IS a passive tone control. It's just Roger's name for it.
Also, as far as I know, Roger's always had the VTC available in both passive and active modes, so that should never be an issue on one of his basses.
I completely agree with this. Just my personal choice, but I'd never own a Sadowsky without one.To clarify, I was saying that I didn't think I could be satisfied with the stock preamp on the SMX line which didn't have any option for passive tone control.
I use treble boost for more punch when I roll VTC way back for a vintage flatwound tone. But I don't do this often (rarely need that tone).Supposedly, there's a cool thing that happens when you both boost the treble AND cut the VTC
Nice! What is the coating on the fingerboard?I picked up my NYC fretless 5 from the shop the other day, and I couldn’t be happier! Shout out to Roger, this is truly a masterpiece. The flame is absolutely unreal!! View attachment 7273706
Yes—no disrespect to Roger. But the conflation of high-quality MIJ MetroExpress basses and, um, lesser MIC RSDs, is unfortunate. The extension of the established MetroExpress label to the MICs also has led to confusion between the cheapie MICs and the uniformly high quality MIJ and MIG Metrolines. Keeping the RSD branding would have avoided that issue.If you invest in a new new instrument with the intent to make modifications, you're looking at the wrong one to begin with. Shore up more funds and get the one that checks all the boxes. As it pertains to Chinese-made Sadowskys, they're built to be the best they can be within that price bracket. You're not going to turn it into a Japanese or German grade instrument by accessorizing it. Not going to happen.