Club Sadowsky!!!

[Vic]

All comments about sound differences aside.....the biggest difference is that the HC pickups are really, really QUIET!!!!! If you mostly play with both pickups up full, I thnk the single coils are a great choice. But if you like to back one pickup off, I highly recommend the HC pickups.

Roger

True, of course.

This is the main reason I'll always have at least one of my Sadowsky basses with HC pickups in it (and really, most likely, two, since one is a PJ, which will never ever have a SC J in it). ALWAYS. I hate loud buzzes way more than my modest preference for the SC tone, and in some places, even the "only favoring" trick isn't good enough.

 

[basmicke]

I've had both and to me the SCs sounds closer to the old fender jazz bass sound than the HC. The SC sound is generally a bit more opened up. As most people say, both pu types sound good though so it's mostly a matter of weather you prefer the vintage sound, with some hum in some situations or if you like the HB sound, fuller but not so "bitey".

 

[BartmanPDX]

NYC. Here's a pic of me playing it

Very nice!

I've really liked the looks of that one for a while. One of the best WLs I've seen pics of.

On long gigs, the having a sub-8lb. bass is FANTASTIC.

 

[fishstix]

After years and years of waiting, I finally pulled the trigger. Can I have a number or do I need to PM someone.? I got it off the TB classifieds a few weeks ago. It's been on a handful of gigs and I'm loving everything about it.

It's kind of funny but I thought I was on the verge of changing more in my rig but this bass made all the difference I was looking for.

 

[marchone]

Sweet.

 

[Vic]

After years and years of waiting, I finally pulled the trigger. Can I have a number or do I need to PM someone.? I got it off the TB classifieds a few weeks ago. It's been on a handful of gigs and I'm loving everything about it.

It's kind of funny but I thought I was on the verge of changing more in my rig but this bass made all the difference I was looking for.

Ash/maple PJ with the new Nordstrand pickups. You just can't do much better than that.

 

[Hounddog]

After years and years of waiting, I finally pulled the trigger. Can I have a number or do I need to PM someone.? I got it off the TB classifieds a few weeks ago. It's been on a handful of gigs and I'm loving everything about it.

It's kind of funny but I thought I was on the verge of changing more in my rig but this bass made all the difference I was looking for.

Nice, Very nice

 

[basmicke]

Ash/maple PJ with the new Nordstrand pickups. You just can't do much better than that.

How can you tell it's not the regular Sadowsky pickups?
What's the visual difference?

 

[gillento]

They are "regular" Sadowsky PUs.
Sadowsky PUs are built (to Sad specs!) by either seymour Duncan (the Modern Series), by DiMarzio (J & P) or the case of the new 5 string SCs and PJs, by Nordstrand.

The polepieces on your PUs are arranged in typical Nordstrand style

 

[basmicke]

Ah, ok I see. I knew about the DiMarzio ultra jazz being modified to Sadowsky specs but I didn't know about the Nordstrands.
Thanks!

 

[JimS]

Umm....I swear the next one will be a bass

 

[BluesyCat]

Umm....I swear the next one will be a bass

Suuurrrrre it will.

Awesome guitar! What's the tone like?

 

[EagleMoon]

Very nice!

I've really liked the looks of that one for a while. One of the best WLs I've seen pics of.

On long gigs, the having a sub-8lb. bass is FANTASTIC.

I've drooled over this bass ever since I first saw it posted. Just happened to be lucky enough to catch it when it became available.

 

[davidjbass]

I just ordered a Will Lee 5 string. It's going to be shell pink, mint green pickguard and a vintage tinted maple neck and fingerboard. 8 to 10 months to wait for it but from owning one of the Will Lee 4's I can tell you it's going to sound awesome. The only reason I sold my Will Lee 4 was because I play mostly 5 string and I never played it even though I love the way it sounded. Especially with the mid circut. Here is a pic of what the WL 5 looks like from the Sadowsky website. I hope these next few months go by fast.

 

[NOLA Bass]

I've drooled over this bass ever since I first saw it posted. Just happened to be lucky enough to catch it when it became available.

I saw that when it came up, but my recent purchase of a new Metro Will Lee meant no way I could pull the trigger on it. What a stunning bass! Enjoy!

 

[RColie]

I just ordered a Will Lee 5 string. It's going to be shell pink, mint green pickguard and a vintage tinted maple neck and fingerboard. 8 to 10 months to wait for it but from owning one of the Will Lee 4's I can tell you it's going to sound awesome. The only reason I sold my Will Lee 4 was because I play mostly 5 string and I never played it even though I love the way it sounded. Especially with the mid circut. Here is a pic of what the WL 5 looks like from the Sadowsky website. I hope these next few months go by fast.

I'm in the same boat (the 8 to 10 month boat!). I ordered a WL 5 about 2 weeks ago - Dark Cherry Burst, Tort pick guard, Madagascar fingerboard. It seems a long time to wait for a bass, but it's worth it!

Bob

 

[Chef]

Hey, lemmee know when that comes in, I'd love to stop by and have a Sadowsky comparo day..........

 

[KJung]

True, of course.

This is the main reason I'll always have at least one of my Sadowsky basses with HC pickups in it (and really, most likely, two, since one is a PJ, which will never ever have a SC J in it). ALWAYS. I hate loud buzzes way more than my modest preference for the SC tone, and in some places, even the "only favoring" trick isn't good enough.

Kind of disagree with Roger's post. As most know, you can get 90%+ of the solo pickup tone by just moving the blend control a slight amount (a very slight amount, since these passive blend controls act a bit more like pickup on/off switches than true variable blends past about 5% of their travel). With that 'slight favoring' of 1 pickup or the other, you get virtually a full 'solo tone', with almost all of the hum cancelling nature of HC's. In addition, that 'virtual solo tone' is a bit closer to many of the classic J solo tones we all love versus the HC 'full solo' tone, since most if not all of those classic solo tones where done on SC loaded J pickups (that was all there was back in the day), using the 'virtual solo method' that I'm talking about.

Due to the above, other than in a PJ setup, where there is no way to hum cancel a single coil J pickup, I see absolutely NO advantage to the HC"s regarding noise. Now, if you like the tone better (they sound very different), that is a valid reason of course.

Not being able to get a great neck or bridge solo tone on a single coil JJ without noise is user error IMO.

I have a demo of this up on my Youtube channel that demonstrates this with my single coil loaded Sadowsky JJ.

IMO, and just another point of view. Eliminating SC's from your consideration set due to fear of noise is not valid for the vast majority of players (other than the PJ setup, which is kind of a strange one anyway for me).

 

[Vic]

Kind of disagree with Roger's post. As most know, you can get 90%+ of the solo pickup tone by just moving the blend control a slight amount (a very slight amount, since these passive blend controls act a bit more like pickup on/off switches than true variable blends past about 5% of their travel). With that 'slight favoring' of 1 pickup or the other, you get virtually a full 'solo tone', with almost all of the hum cancelling nature of HC's. In addition, that 'virtual solo tone' is a bit closer to many of the classic J solo tones we all love versus the HC 'full solo' tone, since most if not all of those classic solo tones where done on SC loaded J pickups (that was all there was back in the day), using the 'virtual solo method' that I'm talking about.

As an SC fan myself, let me just offer a little (IME) counterpoint for consideration. You clearly feel HC's don't really offer any practical benefit with regard to noise. I accept that's truth for you, but I absolutely disagree.

It depends on the venue... greatly. For anyone playing the usual club scene (which Ken, I know, has been off your radar for quite some time), you just too often run into situations where, if you get a significant enough amount of bridge favoring to get that bite, you also get significant enough noise to be irritating.

Lotsa' ways to kinda' work around that, use of the volume control between songs, volume pedal, etc. I don't like noise gates because in some places the do just as much damage as good... BUT, the choices are, you just have to put up with the irritation, or have HC's.

I see absolutely NO advantage to the HC"s regarding noise.
...
Not being able to get a great neck or bridge solo tone on a single coil JJ without noise is user error IMO.

Wow, strong statement... seems to move away from an IMHO POV (even tho you did tag it as such). In that case, I very strongly disagree with this "user error" drift. Again, it depends on the venue! I think it's pretty short sighted of you to simply blame the user for not being able to get a "great" favored sound without keeping the noise to an acceptable level. It's got nothing to do with the user. It's just grounding/RFI and the electronics in the bass.

Plus, it's purely a matter of preference whether favored is a "great" tone or not. While I'm fine with the favored sound, the purely solo'd sound IS different, and a given player should be free to use and prefer it if they wish.

Eliminating SC's from your consideration set due to fear of noise is not valid for the vast majority of players...

I submit if that were really true, then Roger would sell a lot more SC's than HC's, and I think it's the other way around. I'm going to derive from that, that it IS a practical concern for the majority of players, and should be a significant consideration. HOWEVER, I will also NOT suggest we make choices purely from fear either, so I do agree with that part of what you said here.

IME/IMHO of course as well, and again, I do prefer SC's, but I definitely need my HC's sometimes, and it's not due to "user error".

 

[Chef]

I really get both points of view here...

It's true that there is that sweet spot on the blend knob that gets you a great deal of the solo'd sound.

However, I can also say from spending years in clubland, where flourescent or neon lights are on the same circuit as your amp or on close proximity to you bass, that those create big icky hum problems sometimes. Or, proximity to circuits with a dimmer on them, television sets, coolers...lotsa things can bring icky noice into via you pickups.

The HC pups seem to pretty much solve this.

However, the HC's sound so significantly different to me that I'd rather shut my volume knob between songs and use the SC's than have the HC tone, which isn't my thing. It's really only a problem between songs, in a live setting. In a studio setting, if you've got those kind of noise issues, the studio needs some help. IMO, IME, etc.

I know some folks say the sonic diff b/t HC and SC is subtle, but, not to me!!!
I've had both, in the same bass now, and I know which one suits my own sonic goals better, by quite a wide margin.