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Club Sadowsky!!!

#65,901
IanA said:
Am hoping that some of the Sadowsky experts on here can advise me…
Do you tend to go with just a DI to front of house or do you add another preamp inline such as a Tonehammer/BDDI/etc
I used my NYC PJ at church yesterday straight into a Di with some HPF and LPF from the desk and it seemed to work great.
Just wonder what others have had success with? Do you add some light drive from say the AGS on the Tonehammer or just run the bass clean as it is?
Many thanks
Ian
Click to expand...
I don't own a Sadowsky bass, but the preamp on my board is a Sadowky SBP-1, which is nearly always on. I have other preamps available, but I never feel the need to stack the SBP-1 with anything else. If I had a Sadowsky bass with that same preamp on-board, I would just run straight to my DI (typically a Radial J48) and be done with it.

FWIW, I don't like drive at all, except as a very specific effect. I tried a Tonehammer years ago and didn't care for it at all. Same with the BDDI, and other preamps with drive. The Sadowsky preamp is just right for my taste. YMMV.
 
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#65,902
lowfreqgeek said:
I don't own a Sadowsky bass, but the preamp on my board is a Sadowky SBP-1, which is nearly always on. I have other preamps available, but I never feel the need to stack the SBP-1 with anything else. If I had a Sadowsky bass with that same preamp on-board, I would just run straight to my DI (typically a Radial J48) and be done with it.

FWIW, I don't like drive at all, except as a very specific effect. I tried a Tonehammer years ago and didn't care for it at all. Same with the BDDI, and other preamps with drive. The Sadowsky preamp is just right for my taste. YMMV.
Click to expand...
Hey thanks for that, I kind of have a love hate relationship with drives as well. I quite like gritty edge of break up sounds and but really love a pristine clean sound.The Sadowsky does growl a fair bit and has a pretty mean pick sound all on its own.
I am going to spend some time experimenting further tonight!
 
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#65,903
NUBD

IMG_1803.jpeg


This is an MiG Sadowsky MJ 5 string. It is distinguished from other Sadowsky 5 strings by the pickup config; but, more importantly for my prefs, by an 18 mm string spacing neck taper.

The Warwick folks absolutely NAILED the neck taper for my prefs. PERFECT. I’ve previously gigged two Sadowsky 5’s; and , although I could care less about the actual bridge spacing, that 19mm neck taper always felt more like driving an 18 wheeler than a high performance sports car. This 18mm neck is Ferrari F1. Or, possibly more properly, Mercedes F1.

I SO wish Roger could find it in his heart to make some NYC basses with this neck taper. It is oh so sweet.

The pickups are interesting. But, I haven’t been able to get a full assessment yet; because some previous owner drove them into the dirt. The neck pickup, which is very important to me, has had the foam compressed for so long that it isn’t popping up yet. I’ll give it a few days before replacing the foam. First pass, the pickups sound ok even at sub-optimal height.

8 pounds, 3 oz. VERY comfy.

With 3 Sadowsky basses now in the shed, I believe I’ve entered the fanboi zone. Should be doing most gigs with one of the 3.

Here are the siblings:

IMG_0139.jpeg

IMG_1768.jpeg
 
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#65,904
bucephylus said:
NUBD

View attachment 7524457

This is an MiG Sadowsky MJ 5 string. It is distinguished from other Sadowsky 5 strings by the pickup config; but, more importantly for my prefs, by an 18 mm string spacing neck taper.

The Warwick folks absolutely NAILED the neck taper for my prefs. PERFECT. I’ve previously gigged two Sadowsky 5’s; and , although I could care less about the actual bridge spacing, that 19mm neck taper always felt more like driving an 18 wheeler than a high performance sports car. This 18mm neck is Ferrari F1. Or, possibly more properly, Mercedes F1.

I SO wish Roger could find it in his heart to make some NYC basses with this neck taper. It is oh so sweet.

The pickups are interesting. But, I haven’t been able to get a full assessment yet; because some previous owner drove them into the dirt. The neck pickup, which is very important to me, has had the foam compressed for so long that it isn’t popping up yet. I’ll give it a few days before replacing the foam. First pass, the pickups sound ok even at sub-optimal height.

8 pounds, 3 oz. VERY comfy.

With 3 Sadowsky basses now in the shed, I believe I’ve entered the fanboi zone. Should be doing most gigs with one of the 3.

Here are the siblings:

View attachment 7524464
View attachment 7524465
Click to expand...

What a beautiful collection of basses!!

Just an FYI: Roger, Lukasz and the NYC crew will make thinner necks on their custom builds (not sure about 19mm vs 18mm spacing). My two Super PJ5’s have a 1.75” nut width and a nicely full neck that’s super comfortable (very similar to the MM/J that you pictured and one that I played of similar model).
 
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#65,905
Kevan Campbell said:
What a beautiful collection of basses!!

Just an FYI: Roger, Lukasz and the NYC crew will make thinner necks on their custom builds (not sure about 19mm vs 18mm spacing). My two Super PJ5’s have a 1.75” nut width and a nicely full neck that’s super comfortable (very similar to the MM/J that you pictured and one that I played of similar model).
Click to expand...
Thanks.

Front to back “thin-ness” is not an issue for me. It’s really just the feel on the strap of the fingerboard girth. And, the issue isn’t my hands. I also have a lovely Tobias 6 string with even slightly more fretboard girth; but, I’m ok with that, because, hey, it’s a 6. if that makes sense.

We have discussed this topic with Roger decades back in this thread; and his position was that he couldn’t practically deal with the different fingerboard tapers, which do include body routing variants. When Warwick took on the MetroLine series, he did make a point of telling us that Warwick would cover the narrower 18mm taper; and, that’s what we have in the MJ5.

It’s all good.
 
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#65,906
Since we have had not much discussion about this MJ pickup config, I thought I would record some initial impressions.

For my purposes, about half of the coil settings are useful.

The single coil settings on both pickups gives a pretty decent single coil J Bass voicing. I can’t tell whether the bridge pickup is 60’s or 70’s in single coil; but, it sounds 60’s to my ear. Could be wrong. In any case, that tap setting gives the palette of single coil J sounds.

The neck pickup solo’d only has the tones I like in single coil mode. Series is supposed to be more P’ish; but, I find that the single coil setting with judicious use of the VTC better captures the P sounds I like. Parallel tap setting is a non-starter, being thinner and giving up higher overtones. I’ll need to do some gigs with the single coil setting to decide whether I like it enough, or replace the pickup with a Delano JMVC.

The dual coil bridge pickup is a bird of a different feather. On that one, the Series mode does produce more output / beef; but does so at some expense of the higher tones. Almost like an auto VTC. But, solo’d, it absolutely nails the Smooth Operator kind of tones. That pickup / setting could be very interesting for a fretless instrument. Slapped, it gets into the StingRay-ish vibe; but, with a bit less beef due to placement. Still, some useful tones there. Again, I’m going to need a few gigs to sort out just how useful those sounds are for my purposes. I did not find anything at all to like about the parallel mode on the bridge pickup, which gives up both higher overtones and loses volume / punch. I would never use that setting for slap work.

To summarize, I find about half of the coil tap tones to be interesting, possibly useful; and there are some tradeoffs compared to my other Sadowsky basses. Will comment further after a couple of gigs.

It is a beautifully made instrument, electronics aside.
 
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#65,907
bucephylus said:
The Warwick folks absolutely NAILED the neck taper for my prefs. PERFECT. I’ve previously gigged two Sadowsky 5’s; and , although I could care less about the actual bridge spacing, that 19mm neck taper always felt more like driving an 18 wheeler than a high performance sports car. This 18mm neck is Ferrari F1. Or, possibly more properly, Mercedes F1.
Click to expand...
I know exactly what you mean. My 19mm Sadowsky Modern neck is WIDE as was my previous Metro. It takes a few minutes of playing to get used to it. Like driving a lumber truck! :D
 
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#65,919
John D Harris said:
I was in a couple of different bands that did, "(I'm not your) Stepping Stone".

Paul Revere & the Raiders did a version as well (the first album I ever bought - the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere & the Raiders).
Click to expand...

Thanks much for the tip on the Revere/Raiders version, but the Sex Pistols arrangement is still my favorite. I play the descending line regardless of which version the band I'm in is playing, sounds so cool.

 
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#65,920
Fuzzbass said:
Thanks much for the tip on the Revere/Raiders version, but the Sex Pistols arrangement is still my favorite. I play the descending line regardless of which version the band I'm in is playing, sounds so cool.

Click to expand...

I was a Sex Pistols Fan and 'Never Mind The Bullocks' still one of my Favorite Albums

First time hearing this(that I can remember) funny how it fits them so well

And yes the descending line works
 
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