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- Feb 2, 2001
- 12,719
- 1,291
- Disclosures
- Builder: Valenti Basses
Like this one?
Oh yeah !!! For years I was never a fan of black, but oh how your tastes change as you get older... Now it's blue i can't stand.. No offense to anyone...
Like this one?
That color combo was the blueprint for my PJ5 (except the matching headstock)
Just got my Sadowsky Metro MV5 in. I gotta say after reading about it for the last couple years and after reading the following on the Sadowsky website that I'm not totally impressed like I thought I would be with the quality.
"The Metro Line represents all the basic models of Sadowsky NYC basses but are made by our staff at Sadowsky Tokyo.
The Metro Line offers most of the same features as their NYC siblings including the same pickups, preamp and bridge. The quality of the Metro Line is as high as our NYC instruments."
I've also read the FAQ and it doesn't say anything about the fact that the neck doesn't have graphite reinforcement.
When I attempted to set up the bass to what I'm used to-straight neck and low action, like on my Mike Lull-I noticed that the neck has an odd dip in it. When sighting down the board from the bridge to the nut there is an obvious dip after the 15th or 17th fret (it's at the shop currently so I can't look at it at the moment), then it comes back up towards the nut, the latter being the typical relief of a neck. This creates what amounts to a bump from about the 15th fret to the end of the board. Not optimal for anything close to a low action. The B string is pretty high as it is and still gets a lot of buzz.
I took it in to (edit: a local luthier) and he says that he sees quite a few Metros and they all, or close to all, have this similar quality. He added that he would personally never let a neck of that quality leave his shop with his name on it. And I have to agree. A bass at this price point, well over 2k, should have a higher quality neck than this, and should probably have graphite reinforcement as well.
(edit: The luthier) gonna give it the best setup he can despite the, what I would call a warped neck, and we'll see where we can go from there. The next best thing to do is give it a Plek job to level the frets to make up for this dip in the board, but I'm not happy in the least that I have to do this for an instrument with the name Sadowsky on it.
The sound is amazing, though. I love it. And I'm digging the 34" scale and 19mm spacing. Another gripe, the finish on the back of the neck is only smooth near the upper registers and kinda gets a little "less smooth" as I run my hand up the neck to the head. This was true of another Metro I tried out just last week at Bass Northwest.
I guess I'll have to look into the NYC model someday when I can afford it. Hopefully, (edit: the luthier) will be able to give it a decent enough setup to get a little closer to the action I can achieve with my Mike Lull and other past basses. In the meantime, I'm sure it will be a fine bass. I'm just surprised it's not quite up to the level I've heard people rave about.
All IMO and IME, of course. YMMV.
Edit:
I understand now that the dip and bump on the Sadowsky boards are not a sign of quality issues, but a difference in design. I'm just a little surprised I've never heard about this, or somehow missed the information, until now after years of reading about and researching them on the forums here and on the website. Anyway, I'm very excited to finally be a Sadowsky owner and can't wait to get this thing on the gig!
"The Metro Line represents all the basic models of Sadowsky NYC basses but are made by our staff at Sadowsky Tokyo.
The Metro Line offers most of the same features as their NYC siblings including the same pickups, preamp and bridge. The quality of the Metro Line is as high as our NYC instruments."
I've also read the FAQ and it doesn't say anything about the fact that the neck doesn't have graphite reinforcement.
When I attempted to set up the bass to what I'm used to-straight neck and low action, like on my Mike Lull-I noticed that the neck has an odd dip in it. When sighting down the board from the bridge to the nut there is an obvious dip after the 15th or 17th fret (it's at the shop currently so I can't look at it at the moment), then it comes back up towards the nut, the latter being the typical relief of a neck. This creates what amounts to a bump from about the 15th fret to the end of the board. Not optimal for anything close to a low action. The B string is pretty high as it is and still gets a lot of buzz.
I took it in to (edit: a local luthier) and he says that he sees quite a few Metros and they all, or close to all, have this similar quality. He added that he would personally never let a neck of that quality leave his shop with his name on it. And I have to agree. A bass at this price point, well over 2k, should have a higher quality neck than this, and should probably have graphite reinforcement as well.
(edit: The luthier) gonna give it the best setup he can despite the, what I would call a warped neck, and we'll see where we can go from there. The next best thing to do is give it a Plek job to level the frets to make up for this dip in the board, but I'm not happy in the least that I have to do this for an instrument with the name Sadowsky on it.
The sound is amazing, though. I love it. And I'm digging the 34" scale and 19mm spacing. Another gripe, the finish on the back of the neck is only smooth near the upper registers and kinda gets a little "less smooth" as I run my hand up the neck to the head. This was true of another Metro I tried out just last week at Bass Northwest.
I guess I'll have to look into the NYC model someday when I can afford it. Hopefully, (edit: the luthier) will be able to give it a decent enough setup to get a little closer to the action I can achieve with my Mike Lull and other past basses. In the meantime, I'm sure it will be a fine bass. I'm just surprised it's not quite up to the level I've heard people rave about.
All IMO and IME, of course. YMMV.
Edit:
I understand now that the dip and bump on the Sadowsky boards are not a sign of quality issues, but a difference in design. I'm just a little surprised I've never heard about this, or somehow missed the information, until now after years of reading about and researching them on the forums here and on the website. Anyway, I'm very excited to finally be a Sadowsky owner and can't wait to get this thing on the gig!
Not trying to hijack a Sadowsky thread, but it's too bad Mike doesn't offer his basses in 34" scale. He's probably losing a lot of business limiting himself to 35", especially being at the same price point as Metro's with his non-fancy-top basses and graphite reinforcement in his necks.
HI
Just so you know, Sadowsky necks have that bump built into their necks purposely. Id call or email the shop if you really think your bass has issues. I doubt it does. Just prolly needs a quality set of strings with a good tension and a tweak.
Rob
Just so you know, Sadowsky necks have that bump built into their necks purposely. Id call or email the shop if you really think your bass has issues. I doubt it does. Just prolly needs a quality set of strings with a good tension and a tweak.
Rob
That's strange and I'm sorry to hear that for ya. Still, I've owned 2 NYC's and 4 Metro's, and I didn't notice ANY difference in fit and finish, at all. My necks always were stable, neck pocket tight, and the finish/frets were excellent. Not buying that this is a more widespread phenomena. The ONLY plus to my last NYC PJ5 was the beautiful Brazilian Rosewood board. Damn I miss that bass.
That's what I heard. Why would he build a bump into the fretboard?
I've never heard of that and have certainly never heard of a benefit of that. I agree, I don't think this bass has any issues. I think the design might be an issue for me, though, if it's truly designed to have that bump. I might be able to get around it with a Plek job (another $250), but why wouldn't he want us to have the ability to have a flat board? Anyone know why Sadowsky would do that?
Funny, I've never heard anyone mentioning this before.
HI
Bolt on instrument tyipcally have issues with the fretboard and neck where the neck fastens to the body, around the 15 fret. If you ever get into vintage fender basses, you'll understand. Roger designed this into his necks when truing them. Ive never had any issues with low action or buzzing. Ive had about 25 Sadowskys Id recommend you contact him before waisting your time trying to get a local tech to remedy something he believes is a warped neck. LOL.
If my New Audi had issues, I wouldnt take it to Saab to get it fixed. Ya know?
Rob
Bolt on instrument tyipcally have issues with the fretboard and neck where the neck fastens to the body, around the 15 fret. If you ever get into vintage fender basses, you'll understand. Roger designed this into his necks when truing them. Ive never had any issues with low action or buzzing. Ive had about 25 Sadowskys Id recommend you contact him before waisting your time trying to get a local tech to remedy something he believes is a warped neck. LOL.
If my New Audi had issues, I wouldnt take it to Saab to get it fixed. Ya know?
Rob
Hmmm, so what you're saying is he designed a flaw into his basses? weird. I'm still not seeing the benefit here. I've contacted Sadowsky by email, so maybe I'll get a response some time this coming week. I gotta say that I've never seen this with other bolt-on basses in the past of this caliber and price tag.
When I talk about low action, I'm talking 2/32nds on the B string. At 3/32nds, the B is almost bottoming out. Not an issue with my Lull, which has very little to no buzz at all that low. I'm sure after a good pro setup the difference won't be so great.
Rob, I know you have some experience with both basses, have you been able to set them up similarly? I'm a little bummed that I'll never be able to have a flat board, which I certainly prefer.
Hi
Its not a flaw designed in. Bolt on instruments eventually have issues there and Rogers design does away with it for the most part. Do some research on Vintage Fender bass collecting. You'll see it talked about all the time
My action is so low on my basses that Im laughed at when I visit. Most players have theirs higher. Ive never had issues getting it low or my neck straight. Your bass might truly have a problem. Thats why you should have contacted them immediately. Had a Lull deal for a while. Had a 5 string, nice bass. That was 8 years ago. Didnt like the 35" scale, string spacing, preamp or tone. Not my bag but others dig them. Had the action about the height of most nicer basses Ive owned. No issues.
Sadowsky is very accessible. Dial the phone. They'll answer. Its about an 8 person shop. They'll help you figure out what you need to do. I bought a used UV metro a while back. Thought it needed a fret job. Took it down to them. What it needed was a quality set of strings and a setup. The previous guy had lousy strings on it with very loose tension. Good luck
Rob
Its not a flaw designed in. Bolt on instruments eventually have issues there and Rogers design does away with it for the most part. Do some research on Vintage Fender bass collecting. You'll see it talked about all the time
My action is so low on my basses that Im laughed at when I visit. Most players have theirs higher. Ive never had issues getting it low or my neck straight. Your bass might truly have a problem. Thats why you should have contacted them immediately. Had a Lull deal for a while. Had a 5 string, nice bass. That was 8 years ago. Didnt like the 35" scale, string spacing, preamp or tone. Not my bag but others dig them. Had the action about the height of most nicer basses Ive owned. No issues.
Sadowsky is very accessible. Dial the phone. They'll answer. Its about an 8 person shop. They'll help you figure out what you need to do. I bought a used UV metro a while back. Thought it needed a fret job. Took it down to them. What it needed was a quality set of strings and a setup. The previous guy had lousy strings on it with very loose tension. Good luck
Rob
Thanks for the experience, Rob. I bought it used, though only a year old, so it's not like I can just return it. I'll give him a call on Monday and talk to him about it. I'm sure the bass will play just fine after I get it back from the shop.
Have you ever sighted down the neck of your Sadowskys? It may be the same on yours, too. I don't really see it on the G string side, but it's noticable on the B string side for sure.
Between your NYCs and Metros, do you find that you have to set up your metros more often because of the lack of graphite reinforcement? It just worries me a little here in the wet state of WA where my motorcycles rust despite being kept in a garage and never seeing rain.
Incorrect.
The 35" scale is only on his 5 string basses. His 4 string basses are all 34" scale. Also, I haven't called/emailed on this to verify, but I'd be really surprised if he wouldn't at least offer a 34" scale as an option for the 5 string models. He just feels 35" does more for the B than it takes away from the G, so 35" is his preference and default as a result.
That dip or bump, depending on how you look at it has never detracted my basses of low action with an almost flat neck.
As Rob said, it's not a flaw, but a design improvement. What I can see here is that maybe tried to fix that 'flaw' in the past, damaging the instrument.
Roger and crew will help you to fix the problem.
I don't know if anyone has commented on this part or not since the focus has been on the "bump" in the neck. You are going to see this on used Sadowsky basses. The neck is finished in nitro and when the finish new, it is smooth. As it gets played...it will get shiny and "sticky". A little 000 steel wool and you are back to new again. I believe Roger may have commented on this earlier in this thread somewhere.
