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I recently got my 5 string JJ Sadowsky in December. I couldn't be happier, working on a record with the bass. I find myself wanting to get a four string in the future ash/maple combo. I think I have a problem
The other interesting data point is that I looked through the sold basses and ash/rw seems to be a pretty rare combo (I recall one 5-string, though that may be only PJs). There were a lot more alder/maple ones, but by far it is alder/rw and ash/maple.
we always speak to customers of the ash/maple combo being in the style of a 70's Fender Marcus Miller sound and the alder/rosewood combo of being sweeter and warmer in the style of an early 60's L series bass. People can relate to this.
Roger
HI
Hey nostatic. I owned an ash/morado/maple top NYC 4 string for a long time. Probobly gigged over 1000 shows with it, no lie. Great bass. I only sold it to get my Will Lee. It sounded great. Nice snappy tone but plenty of bottom. Most of its life it had the HC pickups, no VTC. I added single coils the last 6 months I owned it. Great bass. I miss it
A pic of it
Rob
Hey nostatic. I owned an ash/morado/maple top NYC 4 string for a long time. Probobly gigged over 1000 shows with it, no lie. Great bass. I only sold it to get my Will Lee. It sounded great. Nice snappy tone but plenty of bottom. Most of its life it had the HC pickups, no VTC. I added single coils the last 6 months I owned it. Great bass. I miss it
A pic of it
Rob
Does anyone know if the regular Hipshot D tuner would work on a Metro RV4? I have a chance to pick one up for cheap and thought I'd better check first.
The Hipshot BT-1 is the closest Hipshot D-tuner. It works perfectly but you have to plug the original mounting screw holes and then drill new screw holes for the Hipshot.
I send my Metro gears to Hipshot and they custom make me a direct replacement D-tuner for the Metros. They are available on our web store here:
Link Removed
Roger
That was an awesome bass. Really glad Rob was kind enough to let me play it. It convinced me that an alder Sadowsky would be great for me but an ash bass wouldn't do the job, no matter how pretty it was.
Roger I'm sure that you've answered this a dozen time here on the pages of TB but where would a swamp ash body with a Brazilian Rosewood board fit in the scheme of things?
Yeah, I also found his comment to be somewhat surprising. Definitely not my experiences. In fact, ironically, I particularly like the ash/maple combo because of the growl through the mids.
I've found that alder/morado Metros can be brighter than ash/maple NYCs. A friend of mine brought his alder/morado and when compared to my NYC ash/maple J with similar strings and the VTC fully open mine was fuller in the mids and warmer. Don't ask me why. I've heard this same results from several other players.
If that's the case you probably won't like the ash P/J any more than you liked the ash JJ that you had. I played an ash P/J when I visited Sadowsky World Headquarters that, to me, was all top and bottom with very little in the middle. Great bass, but not my sound at all. If I'm reading you right you'd associate that more with Miller than with Jamerson.
Ain't no shame in being an alder and rosewood (or morado) guy. The first step is admitting it.
It's not my experience with my ash/maple PJ. I even remember one gig where a musician/producer/studio owner came to me and told me that he loved the tone but it was a little bit too middy. This guy is known for having very strong opinions about tone/sound and most of the bands that record with him end up with 'his sound' and there is nothing they can do about it if they don't like it. He is a fan of the alder/rw P bass and he encourages everybody to use that, as if it were the only beautiful tone in the bass world.
To make it short: This guy found my ash/maple into a flat amp too middy. (By the way, other great musicians in the audience loved the tone.)
Oh, I admit it
Well, it mostly was aesthetic - the available ash body has a really nice grain. The alder ones...not so much. Then again the grain on my Metro is nothing to write home about, so I probably should just go with the alder and quite whining. But now I'm wondering about alder/madagascar rosewood.
Choices. They are evil. And tasty.
Are you going 4 or 5 string? P or J body?
After making about 4000 basses, let me state the following. Please remember these are general findings and there are always exceptions as we are talking about wood!!!
ash body--brightest and tightest
alder body--sweeter and warmer, fuller in the mids
mahogany body--warm and round
maple fingerboard---the brightest--best for a MM slap sound
ebony---less bright than maple but the punchiest--onset of note is more immediate
morado---brighter than common east indian rosewood but still warmer than maple or ebony
madagascar---very close to brazilian in tone and looks. More available and less expensive.
brazilian--almost completely gone. the king of fingerboard woods IMHO. I have good inventory. Warm, solid and round.
roger
ash body--brightest and tightest
alder body--sweeter and warmer, fuller in the mids
mahogany body--warm and round
maple fingerboard---the brightest--best for a MM slap sound
ebony---less bright than maple but the punchiest--onset of note is more immediate
morado---brighter than common east indian rosewood but still warmer than maple or ebony
madagascar---very close to brazilian in tone and looks. More available and less expensive.
brazilian--almost completely gone. the king of fingerboard woods IMHO. I have good inventory. Warm, solid and round.
roger
Yep. It was a PJ4 with what looked like a morado board and what felt like an ash body under a solid color paint job (silver?). I plugged the bass into every amp in the shop soundroom with the same results before hanging it back up. I would definitely call the sound bright and tight, even through the Sadowsky Audio tube head, which to me had a wide and blossoming tone.
The reason I didn't buy Rob's ash/morado/Nordstrom JJ is because something about that combination, in my hands, left a huge hole in the mid frequencies and made the notes I was playing inaudible in the mix. Believe it or not, that bass actually sounded muffled compared to my old PRS, which is also bright and tight but VERY strong in the upper mids and helps me articulate the kinds of lines I choose to play. If I chose different notes and timed things differently --or slapped, ever -- I'm sure the ash bodies would work better for me. Lord knows other folks sound great playing those, and I'd much rather look at natural ash than natural alder, which is kind of blah as far as visuals go.
I have the impression that nostatic and I have similar taste in tone, based on the fact that he bought and returned a bass I had tried in the shop and didn't get along with. Hopefully that clears up my statements a little bit.
Other than the Braz and Madagascar (which I unfortunately don't have experience with -- yet), that is exactly how I hear the differences. I've got way less than 4000 data points though! Somebody should sticky this post since this is probably the best answer ever to a very common question bassist have.
For the guy asking about ash/rosewood -- there are lots of great 70's Ps and Js out there with that combo. I love it, its a great combination of tight and snappy, but round on top. If I were ordering a new NYC it would almost certainly be solid ash with Madagascar based on these comments.
I'm expecting another new-to-me Sadowsky tomorrow. Love these basses! Only bummer is rehearsal is tonight
Correction... Roger is right on!!! I love the fact that he chimes in so frequently. It really shows that he cares about his basses.
In my opinion, there are 4 elite bass builders (in no particual order). MTD, Fodera, Ken Smith and Sadowsky. The most beautiful part of this list is that all 4 builders do something different. I think that just adds to their elite level. Of course, this is all my opinion.
