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Club Sadowsky!!!

#7,244
I have used Sadowsky black label nickel and steel of both light and medium gauge. I prefer nickel light gauge. They tend to have what I associate with a much more audible tone when plucked. The steels do have that very nice high-end when slapped though. I have also tried DR hi-beam steels. Way too bright for me, not enough definition when plucked. Could just be me though.

Nice pic, Toasted. Are those Big Singles? I have them in my bass as well, though they're in the standard Jazz positions.
 
#7,246
I have a R5-24 that I really love the sound of but can't come to grips with five strings. I'm not in a position to have them make me an NYC 4 string modern and despite my repeated calls, they tell me there are no plans for a Metro 4 string modern.

Who make a bass that has tone similar to the Sadowsky modern but with four strings?

Thanks,
LeonD
 
#7,247
LeonD said:
I have a R5-24 that I really love the sound of but can't come to grips with five strings. I'm not in a position to have them make me an NYC 4 string modern and despite my repeated calls, they tell me there are no plans for a Metro 4 string modern.

Who make a bass that has tone similar to the Sadowsky modern but with four strings?

Thanks,
LeonD
Click to expand...

'Similar' but surely not the same... Peavey Cirrus. It's a bit smoother than the Modern, but has that similar low mid punch and a bit of deep low end attenuation due to the placement of those big soapbars. The Cirrus is closer to the Ken Smith tone, but I lump the Modern and Smith and Cirrus into that general 'more tight and burpy' than 'big and fat' tone category.

You might dig the Cirrus.
 
#7,248
Thx, KJung,

I should have been more specific in my original post.

Along with the tone and four strings, I'd (ideally) like to find 34" scale and 24 frets.

I've tried a Cirrus and I agree, similar tone but wrong scale length. The Smith is a possibility although for the price of a new one, I could get an NYC Sadowsky.

Thanks again,
LeonD
 
#7,249
I’ve just come back from a week of holidays and I’ve found the time to spend some quality time with my brand new Ultra Vintage P so here I come with my first impressions.
The bass is very light (8,05 lbs) and it balances as a dream both sitting and standing. No news on the neck: it’s perfect as any Sadowsky I’ve played and I expect it to feel even better as my thumb will buff the nitro finish on the back. I found the 9” radius to be perfect for me: just between a vintage radius and the usual 12” of the standards.
The nitro finish on the body is simply amazing: it really deserves to be seen by real. I’ll ask my wife to make good use of the brand new camera I bought her and to take some serious pics.
The bass came set up with a medium action and strung with Sadowsky flats. Those are very good strings but a little on the stiff side for me (have in mind that Thomastiks are my flats of choice). However I’ll leave the bass the way it is for a while as at the moment I don’t play that much and I think it’s not a wise move to make changes when you don’t touch your bass everyday. When I’ll be back and I’ll dedicate to the bass my usual playing time I’ll try to lower the action a little and I’ll also give the Blue nickel rounds a try.
What about the sound? Well ... I can’t stop trying to figure out what people mean when they say <<... mhh, well ... Sadowskys have their own modern flavour and they can’t totally nail that vintage vibe ...>>. What they’re talking about? The only thing that I know NOW is that played with the preamp bypassed this bass sounds sooooo good and “vintagey” as one can desire! Granted I’ve never played a Lakland or a Lull or an Alleva-Coppolo but I’ve played Fenders, American made as well as MIJ, a couple of original 70’ and a very nice 66’: well, let me say that the Sadowsky is a hell of a P bass!
It really lets your touch shine: you lightly touch the strings and it whispers; you dig in and it growls and roar. In passive mode IMO it has vintage vibe in spades and when you dial the famous preamp in then it shows all its hi-end character: ultra deep in the lows and clear and punchy in the highs! The VTC is very effective both in passive and active mode.
In my old MIJ P-bass I flipped a Nordstrand NP4 pickup and was very pleased with it. It had however a strong low-mid presence that made it a little “unbalanced”. All in all it was an impressive pickup and for a moment I toyed with the idea of having it installed on the Sadowsky: luckily at the end I decided to trust Roger pickup because ... it’s such a great pickup!!! It’s very even all across the entire frequency range and you could clearly hear the notes blooming from it!
Well ... at the end of the story, did I mention it’s a wonderful bass? :D

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