Club Sadowsky!!!

[Bass-Checker]

Hi Saulo, thanks so much for the video! All of your basses sound amazing!!!

The first one you mentioned feels very wide and full, I really like it! I think the tonal range is somewhere between the sound of a Jazz Bass pickup and a Precision pickup, especially with Ash/Maple. What's your take on that? I mainly play Rock from the '70s and '80s, but also some Jazz/Rock Fusion.

 

[Bass-Checker]

Hi Saulo, thanks so much for the video! All of your basses sound amazing!!!

The first one you mentioned feels very wide and full, I really like it! I think the tonal range is somewhere between the sound of a Jazz Bass pickup and a Precision pickup, especially with Ash/Maple. What's your take on that? I mainly play Rock from the '70s and '80s, but also some Jazz/Rock Fusion.

 

[Saulo Cirilo]

Hi Saulo, thanks so much for the video! All of your basses sound amazing!!!

The first one you mentioned feels very wide and full, I really like it! I think the tonal range is somewhere between the sound of a Jazz Bass pickup and a Precision pickup, especially with Ash/Maple. What's your take on that? I mainly play Rock from the '70s and '80s, but also some Jazz/Rock Fusion.

Thank you very much for the kind comment!

It’s a bass with soapbar pickups in the ’60s Jazz Bass position, keeping the Jazz Bass footprint but with a bigger, fuller sound.

 

[Bass-Checker]

Hi Saulo,
Thank you very much for your explanation of the sound. The description matches my idea of how it should sound, and when I purchase it, I will be happy to post it together with the P Bass in the Sadowsky Club.

All the best from Switzerland, Claudio

 

[Chris Chong]

 

[metalstorm]

 

[msbass50]

Hi TB Sadowsky Ownders,

I am the owner of a Sadowsky P NYC (Alder/Rosewood) and I'm considering buying a Sadowsky Will Lee 4 (Ash/Maple) with Soapbar pickups.

Does anyone have this configuration and can share their thoughts on how the sound of this bass behaves?

Thank you all for your help!
Claudio

I bought a new one in 2018 (I believe) from Roger #7687. 4str.Will Lee- Olympic white swamp ash, soaps in 60's, maple neck,birdseye maple fingerboard. I have 4 Will Lee basses. 2 NYC'S with soaps, 1 NYC with humcancelling, and 1 MIJ Metroline with humcanceling. All play and sound unmatched! My favorite is 7687. They all have great tone and they all have they're own tone. You cant go wrong with what your thinking of. Im personally not a fan of the Express line. I guess you get what you pay for. Im happy with what I have.

 

[pbass2]

I’m a couple of weeks late on my NBD from Roger, Lukasz and the crew…so here’s the newest addition to my stable!

Alder body and maple neck (both non-roasted), morado fretboard, anodized gold brushed aluminum pickguard, Super PJ pups, reverse headstock, some great relic work and blue Luminlay side-dots:

View attachment 7384452

It’s basically the exact same specs as it’s brother before it that has a maple fretboard and less red in the finish, but that one doesn’t have the Luminlay side dots (at least until I can get up to the NYC shop on some time off):

View attachment 7384454

At some point I’ve got to start naming these basses, but until then I’ll call the morado board “59” and the maple board “57”.

Thanks again so much to Roger, Lukasz and the Sadowsky NYC crew for making another incredible bass for me! It’ll have its onstage debut at some NFR shows in Vegas later this week (these photos from a theatre show we did a few days ago).

Wow, looks killer. How are the pickups configured, is there any switching? I'm intrigued by the Tully Kennedy sig model with those pickups and the ability to do P or reverse P and 60's or 70's J position.

 

[GIBrat51]

Hey, Club Sadowsky members; got a question for you...
I'm currently in talks with Roger about building me an NYC Custom 20 fret Ultra Vintage P-Bass. He's been on vacation, so I was wondering; what are Sadowsky bass necks like? Narrow - or wide? Thick - or thin? Or, can I just tell him what I want? What are your necks like? Please let me know...

 

[Kevan Campbell]

Wow, looks killer. How are the pickups configured, is there any switching? I'm intrigued by the Tully Kennedy sig model with those pickups and the ability to do P or reverse P and 60's or 70's J position.

On both of my basses here and the Tully signature, the neck position pickup is the Super P which is switchable to use the coils in traditional P, reverse P or “all coils” configurations. The bridge pickup is the Super J with is switchable to use the coils in 60’s J, 70’s J or “all coils” configurations as well.

The actually switching is fine with one tiny “mini” three-way switch for each pickup under the knobs. It’s honestly a really awesome setup and my NYC’s with this configuration are all I play on 95% of the shows I’m on!

 

[Kevan Campbell]

Hey, Club Sadowsky members; got a question for you...
I'm currently in talks with Roger about building me an NYC Custom 20 fret Ultra Vintage P-Bass. He's been on vacation, so I was wondering; what are Sadowsky bass necks like? Narrow - or wide? Thick - or thin? Or, can I just tell him what I want? What are your necks like? Please let me know...

Getting a made-for-me neck profile is one of the biggest perks for me when getting my NYC’s made! I’m particularly sensitive to having thinner nut widths due to some damage I have in my arms and hands, so my NYC’s all have 1.75” nut widths and a *slightly beefy* profile between a C and slight D.

 

[pbass2]

On both of my basses here and the Tully signature, the neck position pickup is the Super P which is switchable to use the coils in traditional P, reverse P or “all coils” configurations. The bridge pickup is the Super J with is switchable to use the coils in 60’s J, 70’s J or “all coils” configurations as well.

The actually switching is fine with one tiny “mini” three-way switch for each pickup under the knobs. It’s honestly a really awesome setup and my NYC’s with this configuration are all I play on 95% of the shows I’m on!

My PJ5 is my single most versatile bass, but that setup may literally be the most "do anything" bass configuration out there if you're after Fender-inspired tones (as I am). All that with the awesome Sadowsky pre, also passive mode---crazy. I gotta save up!

 

[Bass Viking]

Jamming along with some Spyro Gyra on my Metro Express Modern. Sorry about the clam at 1:50.

 

[pb9717]

How do you turn an Ibanez into a Sadowsky? ANSWER: You can’t! …..But you can make all the other Ibanez’ jealous by getting a Sadowsky makeover!! Ibanez singlecut gets a full Sadowsky electrics install. The mid bump (not Will Lee) preamp is fantastic. Perfect match for the Sadowsky US Soapbars…( don’t forget to swap in the .10uf cap). Happy 2026 to me.

 

[Tight and Tasty]

View attachment 7409277
How do you turn an Ibanez into a Sadowsky? ANSWER: You can’t! …..But you can make all the other Ibanez’ jealous by getting a Sadowsky makeover!! Ibanez singlecut gets a full Sadowsky electrics install. The mid bump (not Will Lee) preamp is fantastic. Perfect match for the Sadowsky US Soapbars…( don’t forget to swap in the .10uf cap). Happy 2026 to me.

Ibanezsky

 

[bucephylus]

NUBD - 2023 Sadowsky Metroline Will Lee Standard 4.

I had purchased my NYC from Roger & Co in 2017. It is an exceptional bass.

But, I generally prefer not to take it to various outdoor gigs / County Fair stages etc. So, have been using a very nice Fender parts bass I assembled for that purpose.

Well, the gear lust got the better of me; I had been watching used WL4’s on the web; and this example dropped to a price point that I could digest.

Warwick did a nice job with this rendition in several respects; though I will definitely be changing strap locks, pickups, tuning gears (including Extender); possibly pickguard. And, either the factory or previous user installed 13mm grub screws in the saddles for unknown reasons; and they stick out like porcupine quills. Still need to figure out if the truss rod is healthy.

LOL on the Schaller strap locks. I tried using those on my basses 30 years ago. I like the design and went whole hog on all my basses. Found that they tended to bind and unscrew the button from the bass while playing. Removed them and stuck them in a drawer where they have collected dust. Hauled two of them out, put them on a strap only to find that Schaller redesigned the buttons for deeper cups. My older strap cups no longer fit. Ordered some Dunlop hybrids, and these buttons will go back in the drawer.

The plastic control plate cover, courtesy of Warwick, is a disaster area; but, I can probably live with it. Still don’t care for Uncle Will’s mids controls; but, need to play with the trim controls to see whether I can get something useful other than honk out of them.

Oh, and this bass weighs about 1 1/4 pounds less than my Fender. Going to keep the parts Fender and let go of my P, which never leaves the house.

TL;DR: now have TWO Sadowsky’s in the house!

 

[Fuzzbass]

LOL on the Schaller strap locks. I tried using those on my basses 30 years ago. I like the design and went whole hog on all my basses. Found that they tended to bind and unscrew the button from the bass while playing. Removed them and stuck them in a drawer where they have collected dust. Hauled two of them out, put them on a strap only to find that Schaller redesigned the buttons for deeper cups.

I had the same experience as you did 30-plus years ago. Actually, another headache with the original Schallers is that the nut holding the lock to the strap could unscrew, allowing the strap to detach from the lock -- and therefore from the bass. In the 80s I was doing a lot of stage posing with my metal bands, so maintenance on those Schallers was a constant battle, even mid-gig. Dunlop Dual Designs were a huge relief, nearly maintenance-free in decades of use.

Venting aside: as you say, the Schaller locks have been redesigned. Some claim that they eliminate the issues with the original Schallers (some, anyway), but you're not convinced? I'm not about to convert my bass collection from Dunlop, just curious.


(Apologies for reopening this can of worms. Also, I do realize that Schaller and Dunlop aren't the only options for strap locks, but those two are the most likely to be factory installed).

 

[nickpc]

Venting aside: as you say, the Schaller locks have been redesigned. Some claim that they eliminate the issues with the original Schallers (some, anyway), but you're not convinced? I'm not about to convert my bass collection from Dunlop, just curious.

I was on the Schaller's on all of my basses until I got my NYC. Roger feels the Dunlop's are better, I just smiled, agreed and switched. And I'm now a believer.

I was disappointed when my Warwick-built ML came with the Schaller buttons - it says Sadowsky on the headstock and I felt it should come as a Sadowsky (or at least have the Dunlop buttons in the soft case to swap).

 

[pb9717]

View attachment 7410731
View attachment 7410732

NUBD - 2023 Sadowsky Metroline Will Lee Standard 4.

“ Still don’t care for Uncle Will’s mids controls; but, need to play with the trim controls to see whether I can get something useful other than honk out of them.”

The Mid Bump Sadowsky pre I just installed in this Ibanez(sky) has the mid freq bumped 10db @500k setting only. I was told by the vendor ( Fretnation.com) that this config was chosen as its the most popular setting on the Will Lee version. I find it perfect for a quick blast , then switch back to the smooth scooped modern tone. The effect may be drastically different with single coils, but it works a charm in this setup.

 

[bucephylus]

The Mid Bump Sadowsky pre I just installed in this Ibanez(sky) has the mid freq bumped 10db @500k setting only. I was told by the vendor ( Fretnation.com) that this config was chosen as its the most popular setting on the Will Lee version. I find it perfect for a quick blast , then switch back to the smooth scooped modern tone. The effect may be drastically different with single coils, but it works a charm in this setup.
View attachment 7410925

Quite. I need to explore the boost level trim pots. Upon arrival, my instrument has waaaay too much mid boost; and just creates a bunch of honk. I need to spend more time in the coming days reducing that level until it makes some sense.