Wow! That was perhaps the single best, more articulate post I've ever read on Talkbass! God I love this forum. Its stuff like this that leads me to hold my bass brothers in the highest esteem. Thanks Tom! ..That was spot on!
It is quite probable that I have bought and subsequently returned more Sadowskys than anyone on the face of the Earth (correct me if I am wrong Roger) and I have bought and actually kept 23 (so far!) so I feel compelled to throw my in my $.02 to the above. I have said this over and over in PMs and I have talked to a lot of people over the phone about it as well. In my experience at least just like with any other brand out there, all Sadowskys are NOT created equal. That is not a dis to Roger or anyone out there, it is just in my honest opinion, a fact. I have ordered a bunch of basses from the shop and returned them on the 7 day return. I have also bought several from a couple of different dealers that I returned as well. The very first Sadowsky that I got I took straight to a recording session and cut several tracks with it through headphones.
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I was NOT blown away by the bass immediately and subsequently returned it after trying very hard to love it. Prior to this I had played 2 different Sadowskys that a friend of a friend had and just went NUTS about both of them (played in a live band context.) and KNEW I HAD TO HAVE A SADOWSKY!!!!
A few weeks after I returned the first Sadowsky I got a chance to hear the tracks I had done with it (the NYC Vintage 5 shown above) and I was absolutely FLOORED! I have played on over 4,000 dates and I had NEVER heard anything better in my life that I had played. I was absolutely sick to my stomach that I returned the bass and called the shop the next morning to try and get the bass back but it had already been sold (and is still with the buyer who got it who LOVES IT). The mistake I made was not hearing it in the proper context. If I had have heard the playback I would have realized what I an idiotic thing I was doing.
Flash forward...the very next Sadowsky I got was my beloved NYC Vintage 4.
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Let me tell you THIS IS A BASS!! Like a fool I let GAS get the better of me thinking that I would try some other things and I could always replace her....well trust me, I have been through a LOT of Sadowskys and there is something special about that one over the others as is the case with this one:
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It is ironic that both of these basses are Gold! The first is Champagne Gold and the second is Shoreline Gold. The first was a Regular Vintage 4 and the second is a New York City Ultra Vintage in Nitro. The Shoreline Nitro looks more like a platinum color in person. Both are the shiznit and both are unique in their own way but the one thing in common is their greatness. These 2 particular basses are "better" than ANY other Sadowsky I have had my hands on so far. I estimate that I have had in my hands (for some time frame of at least several days or more) nearly 50 Sadowskys in the last few years and I consider myself to some degree a pretty good expert on them by now. I can honestly say that in all that time I NEVER had a "bad one". I had one instance where there was some weird resonance going on at the C# on the A string on a Metro Ultra Vintage 70 5 String and they took it back and made it right no questions asked.
Now to my point...in all the time I have played them I have had Sadowskys that I thought were better than others. I can't really put my finger right on it but there is something about the one that feels better or sounds better than another one. I think a LOT of it is strings and setup. I HATE the Stainless Steels that come on the new Sadowskys. I LOVE the newer Sadowsky Blue nickels and Sadowsky Flats and I don't use ANY other strings now. I prefer to use very little EQ on the Sadowsky pre and get my tone from the bass itself. I LOVE these basses passive and some sound better than others just because of the nature of the wood. I have found that by having the action EXTREMELY low and the PUPS set too high the tone is choked and the notes have no chance to "breathe". I now have my action a bit higher and my PUPS at standard factory height. One thing I should mention is that I typically find that I HAVE to lower the PUP a bit on the bass side and/or raise the PUPS on the treble side of a bass for the response to be even across the strings...that is NOT the case on the 2 Gold Sadowskys shown here. Both of them are EXTREMELY even up and down the neck and across the strings. Unless you have these traits in your Sadowsky (or ANY bass) you may feel that it doesn't live up to your expectations. Playability is also an intangible thing that you can't measure but you definitely feel. I have been getting Rob L to do all my setups at the shop and have sent in several of my Sadowskys that I have owned a while for him to do setups on. That is not a knock on ANYONE at the shop!!! I know everyone there is a master craftsman. It just so happens that Rob just knows how to setup my basses for ME. Someone else may play one of my basses and think it is unplayable but to me it is like sex on a Sunday morning! There is just something "extra" that happens when the setup is perfect for your playing style. My Gold Sadowsky and my Alleva are like those old jeans that you reach for or that old T-shirt that is so worn you can almost see through it. It is just comfortable!!!!
In my thinking, if you feel there is something "missing" in any instrument, it is most likely something "fixable" like the strings, the battery, the setup, or something else in the signal chain that is the culprit. My first suggestion is pay attention to your setup. Is it comfortable? Is it too low and clacky sounding? Is the tone even across the strings and up and down the neck? You get the idea...change the strings, check the setup, change the battery (even though it is not dead it may be weak) get your strap comfortable!!!! Stupid stuff but it all makes a difference. I have spent a fortune changing strings but I have FOUND what works finally!!! If you do all these things and then the bass doesn't seem or feel right, then it is not! It is not your fault, it is not the bass's fault, it is not the builder's fault. You just did not connect with that bass. No need to apologize at all, an instrument is such a personal thing and when you find the "right" one it is better than food when you're hungry, sex when you haven't had any in a while, and certainly better than ANY drug or beverage I have ever had. If you feel inspired to pick up an instrument and just play for your own enjoyment at any time at all, you have found a "good" one! Play on!
Peace,
T
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, ever since I downloaded a picture of it to put in my "Bass Porn" folder 
. It's good to know that it plays as well as it looks.
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My belief, after having played it through all kinds of amp settings in my Bass Pod and "clean" through my Markbass stack (a pretty clear and "uncoloured" amp, when you want it to be 
) was that "the tone" that everyone here raves about, came exclusively from the preamp. From what I've subsequently read here, it would seem that that is not the idea at all and that the bass should sing, even in passive mode 
.
