• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Club Sadowsky!!!

#15,981
Joeykun said:
Call me crazy (well people do anyways :D) but I am one of the many people that prefer HC pups over the SC. Keep in mind I am talking with my experience with 4 string models.

My Standard 4 has HC pups and the 500k volume pot and it just totally kills. All the upper Treble, Lows and slightly scooped mids. It really punches up a storm and cuts through the mix as most Sadowskys do.
My Will Lee has SC pups and a 250k volume pot. Although it sounds great, it is not as sizzly up top. The mid boost set at (500Hz wide) does grind it up but, I keep wanting to hear that upper treble response I get from the HC pups.

After last night, A/Bing both basses and messing with all the mid boost settings at band practice, I descided I'm going to get the HC pups and the 500k volume pot for my WL. Again, the WL is a great sounding instrument but, the HC pups work better for me for my tone goals.
Click to expand...

+1

HC's... deep lows, polite mids, upper treble sparkle


SC's... tighter low end, more mid punch, and a more aggressive upper mid/lower treble grind than the 'slightly scooped+upper treble thing.

Both 'are what they are' and both sound great... totally a 'tone goal' thing. I'll again say that I actually preferred the HC's in my alder/rosewood model, since the mids and growl seemed to be kind of already built into that bass, and the extended top end actually worked with the sweet sounding rosewood (Madagascar) board on that bass.

On the ash/maple... not so much. For me, too much lows, not enough mid definition, and a top end that sounds beautiful but tangles up with the cymbals etc.

IMO, and pure personal tone goals there!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Migmatalkbass
#15,983
sok monkee said:
I recently bought a MV5 and put SC pups in hoping to have a second bass at the gig that sounds like my NYC ash/maple Vintage J5-24. i have not put the 500k pot in yet but its sitting here on my desk this moment. I have tried to get the setups as close as possible the MV5 sounds wonderful perhaps quite a bit warmer sounding i find my self favoring the bridge pup more. The NYC bass is more present in the mix, less forgiving (i like like the less forgiving part) it just cuts like a lazer in the the mix. anyone else have that sort of experience?:hmm:
Click to expand...
One thing to keep in mind which should be significant as well is your NYC has a chambered body, and Roger has already commented that it affects tone.
 
#15,984
Sadowsky said:
I just knew there had to be someone out there who loved the HC pickups! :)

Roger
Click to expand...
Are the 4 string and 5 string HC's based on the same base model? I know we're also dealing with personal prefs here, so that probably deals with most of this, but the fact that I only have experience with 5 string models might at least explain a diff between what Joey hears and what I hear, which could affect things regarding how others read our posts.

That said, I still have HCs in one of my NYC basses, and I don't see that changing any time soon. I DO like them a LOT, I just... at least currently... like the SC's even more. Hey, at least it's not a bad vs good thing, it's a great vs even better thing. :D
 
#15,985
My Metro RV5 arrives on Tuesday. I played a used Olympic White RV5 at Gelb Music while I was on vacation in San Francisco recently. The store was closing, so I only got to play it for 10 minutes, but that's all the time I needed. When I got back home and checked the Talkbass classifieds... lo and behold, 3 identical Olympic White ones for sale. I'll have photos once it arrives. Can't wait.
 
#15,987
Famous Shamus said:
Your Crazy:D

Just kidding, but I might be in the same boat as you Joey. Could it be that we've tailored our sound so much that we are so used to hearing the HC's? I wonder....

I'm going to give my WL a few more gigs, but I've been considering that switch too. Thought I was the only one that was crazy:)
Click to expand...

You were crazy till you pulled the plug on selling your WL!!! :D

My Standard 4 is the bench mark. I've had a few other Sadowskys but I will never sell that one. The WL is a keeper too. Love the neck and mid boost options. I'm sure it will kill with the HC pups too! I go on vacation on Friday so it will be a little bit before this gets done. I'll be sure to post once completed!
 
#15,988
Famous Shamus said:
P1060242.jpg


As far as comments go, this is not just the J bass I compare other J basses to...this is the bass I compare other Sadowsky's to.

It is non-chambered, 8.2 lbs. The nut is 1 5/8" , but is slim front to back, so that the bass is super easy to play, even for folks like me who are used to traditional J nut spacing. I haven't measured it, but I think this is a a full sized body. Its seems a little bigger than other Sadowsky's I own (or have owned).

Anything you'd like to know in particular about it?
Click to expand...

1st of all - THANKS for the treat! I've always been a huge fan of amber colour ever since I saw a custom burst of brown/amber on a hand made flat top dreadnaught guitar. I even contemplated having it done on my P/J build but the '59 burst was to good to pass up.
How did that 1-5/8" nut happen? Unusual for a Sad J. A solid 8.2 lb is also. What year & did you order it? That one is now in my photo library.
B.
 
#15,989
Joeykun said:
Call me crazy (well people do anyways :D) but I am one of the many people that prefer HC pups over the SC. Keep in mind I am talking with my experience with 4 string models.

My Standard 4 has HC pups and the 500k volume pot and it just totally kills. All the upper Treble, Lows and slightly scooped mids. It really punches up a storm and cuts through the mix as most Sadowskys do.
My Will Lee has SC pups and a 250k volume pot. Although it sounds great, it is not as sizzly up top. The mid boost set at (500Hz wide) does grind it up but, I keep wanting to hear that upper treble response I get from the HC pups.

After last night, A/Bing both basses and messing with all the mid boost settings at band practice, I descided I'm going to get the HC pups and the 500k volume pot for my WL. Again, the WL is a great sounding instrument but, the HC pups work better for me for my tone goals.
Click to expand...

And this backs it up : Link Removed "BASSically speaking" Like I said before - this sets the bar pretty high.
B.
 
#15,990
P. Bass said:
1st of all - THANKS for the treat! I've always been a huge fan of amber colour ever since I saw a custom burst of brown/amber on a hand made flat top dreadnaught guitar. I even contemplated having it done on my P/J build but the '59 burst was to good to pass up.
How did that 1-5/8" nut happen? Unusual for a Sad J. A solid 8.2 lb is also. What year & did you order it? That one is now in my photo library.
B.
Click to expand...

The 1 5/8" was probably ordered that way, but not by me. I picked her up used from a pawn shop w/ a Mooradian gig bag.

The bass was a built in 2000. 8.2 is not uncommon on older Sadowsky's. (I have a '98 that's 8.4) Anyone here who has older Sads can tell you...lightweight, resonant woods are the hallmark of a Sadowsky.

Roger went to chambering when lightweight wood became scarce, and the weights on his basses were increasing, about 2004.
 
#15,994
I'm having a little issue and I'm wondering if anyone could answer this question for me. I'm sure Roger can.

As you all know, Roger's basses are all setup with Volume, blend, VTC, treble/bass boost.

All of my old Fenders don't have the blend, its volume / volume.

So, I'm wondering if its possible for the center notch in the Sadowsky blend pot to not all be exactly the same. So on one bass it may favor the bridge a tinny bit more then on an other bass. or vice versa. Is that possible?

If its the case, it would mean that it would be very hard to compare two basses as the tone would be completely different because you think you are doing a perfect blend but your not.

Any thoughts?
 
#15,999
Vic said:
One thing to keep in mind which should be significant as well is your NYC has a chambered body, and Roger has already commented that it affects tone.
Click to expand...

Yeah the neck feels like there may be less mass as well I guess all this adds up to a difference in tone. I have also so in the past owned an RS5 and I'm wondering now how much different the NYC alder/rosewood combo would sound from its Metro cousin.

Mike
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back