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Nice carpet!
[Coming from a guy who knows his carpet...]
+1, but Tom, yours is something else.
+1 I don't really see the point of a clear pick-guard, unless you actually do a lot of sloppy playing with a pick...
+1, big time. I love woodgrain, but on a burst/maple bass, I just LOVE the tort guard. LOVE it.
Chef
In Memoriam
Jerry J: the neck dip/bump dealio is something Sadowsky do on purpose. The sand down the end of the fingerboard .020 so that the high notes don't choke out when there's a slight relief in the neck in the middle (via trussrod adjust)...make sense? Not a flaw or issue. The whole Sadowsky process is explained very well in that "behind the notes" video linked earlier.
Tom: yessir, my first one!
Pickguard: I almost always vote tort, so: tort!
Tom: yessir, my first one!
Pickguard: I almost always vote tort, so: tort!
Chef
In Memoriam
If delivery date holds for tomorrow, I have 4 nights in a row on the books to work it.
Sweet.
Sweet.
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,516
- 19,948
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
- Feb 2, 2001
- 12,719
- 1,291
- Disclosures
- Builder: Valenti Basses
Well, I imagine most people would use a clear pick-guard so the colour or grain of the wood shows through, in which case why use a pick-guard at all? The only reason I could see for using a clear pick-guard is if you do use a pick and are so sloppy that you would end up taking chunks out of your bass were it not for a pick-guard. Or am I completely off here?
Edit: having thought about it a minute, I actually like the feeling of "popping" on a pick-guard-equipped bass, so I can see the appeal of pick-guards from a physical/ergonomic perspective.
Well, I imagine most people would use a clear pick-guard so the colour or grain of the wood shows through, in which case why use a pick-guard at all? The only reason I could see for using a clear pick-guard is if you do use a pick and are so sloppy that you would end up taking chunks out of your bass were it not for a pick-guard. Or am I completely off here?
Edit: having thought about it a minute, I actually like the feeling of "popping" on a pick-guard-equipped bass, so I can see the appeal of pick-guards from a physical/ergonomic perspective.
Not to mention that using NO pickguard on a bass that comes with one results in some unsightly holes.
IME Musicman 5's are similar to Sadowsky basses in that the real 'magic' is in the mix. I used to get annoyed at the somewhat 'doinky' tone of my Stingray 5, but it sounded GREAT in every venue I ever played it in. Bar none. Those newer mulit-pickup variations sounded even better when I played them. I harbor a crazy dream that Ernie Ball will one day offer a 19mm version. I'd be all over it. Sound crazy? Who would've thought that Modulus would have added a 19mm model? Anyways, tangent over.
You've been busy since I've seen you last!!!!
+1 I would ABSOLUTELY love a MM 5er with 19mm spacing
Yeah, I haven't watched the whole video in some months, but IIRC the FB deal is there because the maximum relief point on a neck is near the 7th fret, whereas the midpoint of the string is at the 12th fret. By sanding down the bridge end of the FB ever-so-slightly, they are able to compensate for this small difference. It's a very, very small thing, but is also IMO evidence of how meticulous Roger is in thinking about how to improve his basses, down to the tiniest detail. I will say that my Sadowsky has the best upper-register performance of all my basses. Every note rings out clear all the way up.
Good news on having a few gigs coming up to try the bass out, Alan. I think you'll have a pretty good sense of whether it's your thing after that.
+1 on the tort PG. I thought about going with no PG on my maple burl ('59 burst)/BEM FB Sadowsky (which I have on order) to show off the burl more, but I just love the burst/tort look, especially with a maple FB.
...which aren't all that visible from more than two feet away. I had the pickguard off my LPB RV4 for most of the summer and it wasn't really noticable except up close from my perspective.
I like the mint guard on Dub's bass, but tort would work too.
Then I must have some eagle eye friends. I had a UV Metro in Olympic white, and though I liked the look of it without a pickguard, one of my more observant friends said:
"Cool bass, sounded great out front. What's with the holes?"
Of course, those black holes probably showed up against the white more.
