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Club Sadowsky!!!

#7,481
Hey guys.

I was just noticing a little "trend" in what I've seen and heard of Sadowsky instruments.

(4:10 and outwards)

Will Lee and Tal playing solos. In alot of videos of Sadowsky basses I've heard this sort of, "clack", fret noise, when they're playing. Is this because of the low action? I suppose it is, but why do they keep having it set up like that? I think the sound is beautiful, just not so much the "clack" that I'm referring to. You'll hear it in both those videos. Anyone have any experience with what I'm talking about? :confused:
 
#7,483
sps500 said:
Hi Classic Jazz, very easy solution .... get another sadowsky...a newer one then you can have the best of both worlds! :)
Click to expand...

This is more of a personal preference, but I like how my 1988 model feels over the new ones. The standard new models have a bit chunkier necks. I did have the neck of my fretless shaped to the same dimensions of the '88, but that '88 fits into my hands like a well broken in pair of jeans!

The funny thing too, when I was at the Sadowsky shop, there was a fellow there from the UK trying out some basses. After playing a bunch of models for around a hour or so, he asked if he could try mine. Boy, I did not think I would get it back! He fell in love with it!
 
#7,484
nenor said:
Hey ClassicJazz,
I had a chance to try a 96 standard Sadowsky a year ago. I don't know if it had the same preamp as your 88 but it was a different sound than my current NYC/Metro basses. It sounded great but with less bottom and a more "crystalic" high end. I took a look inside the cavity, the preamp was similar to the one used today but without that black coating, and no VTC of course. I assume the pickups were also a bit different. To my ears the current sound is more balanced and full but there was something clear and aggressive in that old bass that I really liked. By changing the preamp you might gain on one side but maybe loose something you now have.
Click to expand...

Anybody else have a similar experience? I'm looking at a late-90s Standard and wondering how close in sound it will be to my circa-04 RV4.
 
#7,485
Oratorio said:
Hey guys.

I was just noticing a little "trend" in what I've seen and heard of Sadowsky instruments.

(4:10 and outwards)

Will Lee and Tal playing solos. In alot of videos of Sadowsky basses I've heard this sort of, "clack", fret noise, when they're playing. Is this because of the low action? I suppose it is, but why do they keep having it set up like that? I think the sound is beautiful, just not so much the "clack" that I'm referring to. You'll hear it in both those videos. Anyone have any experience with what I'm talking about? :confused:
Click to expand...


When I think of 'clank' or 'clack' noise I think of the noise that's usually associated with the lower strings when you're a bit higher up the neck and plucking across strings or when you're bridging two strings with one finger, sometimes you can get a 'clank' or 'clacking' sound if you have a very flat neck. I'm told a bit more neck relief will cure this. This isn't the sound I heard in your solo links.

I think you've described the type of sound you get from almost all electric bass guitars when playing fast runs up high on the neck on the upper strings using roundwounds. That's the essence of the "trend". Also, keep in mind that Will Lee is slapping during his solo too. I get the same noises from my Laklands (now gone) and my Fenders, and my Ibanez Prestige when I do some faster progressions (not solos, I suck at solos). They are usually not heard in the band mix, but in the course of a solo, they would naturally stand out more.

My Sadowsky RV5PJ does have a little more string rattle and clank noise than I care for (on the lower strings) so I'm carefully playing with saddle height and neck relief to alleviate it. I think part of it may be the nature of Sadowsky Stainless Steel strings too. They seem a bit more prone to fretting noise to me. I find I have to fret notes a little more deliberately and with more pressure than with my other basses and string combinations. They are a higher tension string. I wonder if the nickels are a bit softer to the touch but would still keep a tight "B".
 
#7,486
ClassicJazz said:
In regards to the bass itself, I love this bass! Fast thin neck and well broken in. It truly plays like a dream. But unless my ears are playing tricks on me it seems my other two basses have a little something extra in the tone department. Not 100% sure what it is, but it seems they have fuller sounding lows and crisper highs if that makes sense.

Now I know my main player is 21 years old, but I am wondering if it would be a good thing to put in a new Sadowsky preamp with the VTC. OR should I leave well enough alone.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
How do the basses sound acoustically (assuming all the string on the basses are the same and have equal life on them)?

If they have the same tonal differences that you notice when plugged in, changing the preamp will, most likely, not do anything.

Wood is wood. I've ABed multiple Sadowsky's that had the same wood combos, strings, p/u's and preamp that just sounded slightly different. Sometimes, it's just the way it is.
 
#7,487
Oratorio said:
Hey guys.

I was just noticing a little "trend" in what I've seen and heard of Sadowsky instruments.

(4:10 and outwards)

Will Lee and Tal playing solos. In alot of videos of Sadowsky basses I've heard this sort of, "clack", fret noise, when they're playing. Is this because of the low action? I suppose it is, but why do they keep having it set up like that? I think the sound is beautiful, just not so much the "clack" that I'm referring to. You'll hear it in both those videos. Anyone have any experience with what I'm talking about? :confused:
Click to expand...
That's a dual function of low action and/or digging in. Lots of bass players really dig actually using fret buzz as kind of a "sizzle" to their sound. Sadowsky voicing is such that, IMHO, it sounds particularly good. You don't have to get that if you don't want to tho, and any bass can do this with a given eq and action setting. It's not a trend, tho, it's always been the case, and is not limited to Sadowsky basses.
 
#7,489
I'm sorry -- the wording "trend" isn't really what I meant, just something I noticed with Sadowsky basses. Now check out this clip here;



The sound is slightly muffled (HQ for slightly better sound), but here the bass just sounds fantastic, much more so than the other clips. Just hearing this sort of comforts me as this is much more the sound I want out of my Sadowsky when it arrives in half a year .. :p
 
#7,490
Oratorio said:

Just hearing this sort of comforts me as this is much more the sound I want out of my Sadowsky when it arrives in half a year .. :p
Click to expand...
Dude, you have nothing to worry about. :) The voicing Roger has worked so long and hard to achieve is just magic in a mix... regardless of if it's live or a recording. I basically have the 5 string version of what Tal is playing here, and while I'm nowhere near her skill level, my bass records and sits in a mix just as fantastically.
 
#7,491
Oratorio said:
Hey guys.

I was just noticing a little "trend" in what I've seen and heard of Sadowsky instruments.

(4:10 and outwards)

Will Lee and Tal playing solos. In alot of videos of Sadowsky basses I've heard this sort of, "clack", fret noise, when they're playing. Is this because of the low action? I suppose it is, but why do they keep having it set up like that? I think the sound is beautiful, just not so much the "clack" that I'm referring to. You'll hear it in both those videos. Anyone have any experience with what I'm talking about? :confused:
Click to expand...


What you are hearing is just personal preference of Tal and Will. You get that tone with new roundwound strings and the treble knob boosted to some degree. You can also get mellower tones like the one on the other live clip that you posted.

I have the full Ronnie Scott's show and Tal gets both tones depending on the song/part she's playing so don't be scared, your Sadowsky will be capable of delivering both tones and some more. :bassist:
 
#7,492
ClassicJazz said:
My newest Sadowsky, a 2009 NYC Standard 4 fretless has the most incredible tone. It is amazing all you can do with just 2-bands and the VTC control. Well you all know that already. Also I have a Fender American Deluxe FMT Jazz which Kevin Kaufman installed a Sadowsky preamp into it. A new one with VTC. Now I have to say that bass sounds amazing.....world of difference from the stock Fender preamp.

Now my main bass is a 1988 NYC Sadowsky Standard 4. I think the bass is completely stock including the preamp, but I am not 100% sure. I know Steve Rabe sent the bass back to Sadowsky in 1998 for a check up, but I do not know if anything was done to the bass as far as the electronics go. I don't know what preamps were used back in 1988, but the one in mine is just a circuit board covered with a protective black coating. It is not a black box like a Bartolini preamp might look like.

In regards to the bass itself, I love this bass! Fast thin neck and well broken in. It truly plays like a dream. But unless my ears are playing tricks on me it seems my other two basses have a little something extra in the tone department. Not 100% sure what it is, but it seems they have fuller sounding lows and crisper highs if that makes sense.

Now I know my main player is 21 years old, but I am wondering if it would be a good thing to put in a new Sadowsky preamp with the VTC. OR should I leave well enough alone.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

nenor said:
Hey ClassicJazz,
I had a chance to try a 96 standard Sadowsky a year ago. I don't know if it had the same preamp as your 88 but it was a different sound than my current NYC/Metro basses. It sounded great but with less bottom and a more "crystalic" high end. I took a look inside the cavity, the preamp was similar to the one used today but without that black coating, and no VTC of course. I assume the pickups were also a bit different. To my ears the current sound is more balanced and full but there was something clear and aggressive in that old bass that I really liked. By changing the preamp you might gain on one side but maybe loose something you now have.
Click to expand...

Anyone else have some input one this??
 
#7,493
Our preamp has been unchanged since 1990. We have improved reliability but have not changed the tone since we originally released our own circuit.

Ken (ClassicJazz)---look inside your control cavity. If your preamp is a solid black rectangle, it is the Bartolini TCT, which I used prior to 1990. If you can see the components on a board, it is the Sadowsky.

Roger
 
#7,494
Sadowsky said:
Our preamp has been unchanged since 1990. We have improved reliability but have not changed the tone since we originally released our own circuit.

Ken (ClassicJazz)---look inside your control cavity. If your preamp is a solid black rectangle, it is the Bartolini TCT, which I used prior to 1990. If you can see the components on a board, it is the Sadowsky.

Roger
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply Roger. The preamp in mine is definitely not the Bartolini, I can see the components. So judging by that, I guess when Steve Rabe sent the bass back to you in 1998 a new preamp was put in. I remember you telling me when I visited your shop that the bass received a overhaul in '98. (the date it was sent back as well as the build date are still on the inside of the cavity cover)
 
#7,496
I really like the old Sadowsky's as well. I miss my 91 standard 4. That bass had some serious mojo. Sold it for a pair of New Berg NV's and some cash.......

I love my Berg's.....but I miss that bass WAAAAAAAYYYY more.

I too like the necks on the older Sadowsky's. They are very comfortable and to my hands a bit smaller/thinner.

I'd love to get ahold of an early alder/rosewood standard 4.
 
#7,497
Sadowsky said:
Our preamp has been unchanged since 1990. We have improved reliability but have not changed the tone since we originally released our own circuit. Roger
Click to expand...

Can't ask for a clearer answer than that. What about pickups? In the event the bass I'm angling for doesn't do all the cool things my current one does, I'd like to know what besides the variables of wood to attribute it to.
 

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