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Club Sadowsky!!!

#17,601
Jerry J said:
Really, really nice Ken! Congrats!

Man, I am in the wrong line of work to afford 2x new Sadowskys.
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Thanks all. :hyper:

Jerry, just FYI I didn't pay for both all at once. One was mostly financed from another Sadowsky I bought last October: it was really pretty, but the bottom line is that my ears like alder MUCH more than swamp ash, at least as far as P-basses are concerned. I sold the ash bass and ordered Red, then tacked on Whitey, which counts as this year's bass. (J/K, I don't buy a new bass every year!!)
 
#17,604
P. Bass said:
Congratulations Ken! That's a sweet looking double dose of adrenaline pump. LOL
I'd love to hear more about your choice decisions. Very Cool ! I love pics of rosewood like this one.
B.
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My black/black/maple Sadowsky has been my #1 since 2005... I guess it has a 70's look to it. I definitely wanted a vintage looking alder/Brazilian bass, so I ordered Red. The 20 fret board definitely adds to the vintage vibe, and yes, the rosewood board is spectacular!! I spent a lot of time thinking about the color scheme, and it's even prettier than I expected... yummy minty candy apple goodness.

Whitey came about because I'd seen a picture of a Sadowsky with an MM-style pickup, and asked the shop if it could be done on a P-bass body. I already knew that the standard P-bass guard would not work with an MM pickup in that location, and that it would have to be back-routed... and I think that's cool, actually. I knew back-routing could be done on a P-style body because a buddy of mine had this one built:
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Anyway, the shop said it was do-able. I went with pearl white instead of fancy maple because I'm a rock guy. :p

I am *delighted* that a four-knob layout was possible, even with the single pickup!! It's volume, VTC, treble, and bass of course. Three knobs (stacked bass/treble) just wouldn't have been as cool IMO. Roger suggested the series/singlecoil/parallel mini-toggle, and I thought that was a fantastic idea.

The pickup is a Nordstrand double-coil. A quad coil is available that would have allowed humbucking single-coil mode plus other options, but I didn't want to get too fancy, and according to the Nordstrand site the tone of the quad-coils has a little less of the MM vibe. For the record, I've always loved the Stingray sound, but I don't expect this bass to be an MM clone... I expect it to sound like a Sadowsky, but with more growl than my Sadowsky P-basses.
 
#17,608
thisSNsucks said:
Fuzzbass I officially hate you. :D

Sick basses dude, congrats. If you have the means, definately post a sound clip of both. I'd love to hear what Whitey sounds like.
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My very first bass-related hate mail, cool! :p Once I get settled in, I'll do some research on "recording bass to PC for dummies"... I don't even know if I have the means!

Oh, here's a pic that Kevin made for me. I suspect I'll prefer parallel, but we'll see... can't wait to check 'er out at this Saturday's Halloween gig!
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#17,613
Fuzzbass said:
My very first bass-related hate mail, cool! :p Once I get settled in, I'll do some research on "recording bass to PC for dummies"... I don't even know if I have the means!

Oh, here's a pic that Kevin made for me. I suspect I'll prefer parallel, but we'll see... can't wait to check 'er out at this Saturday's Halloween gig!
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Cool... a 19mm Music Man 5 string, with the classic MM pickup switch. Nice! This is similar to the old Lakland '55-76' model, which was a killer. I assume the pickup is in the exact MM location? That was the big difference between the MM mode on the '55-94' versus the '55-76', and it was a big difference.

Cool that Roger and the gang now have this option. There are a LOT of guys who dream of a MM style bass with full 19mm spacing!

One of the minor issues with the Lakland 76 (I had one for a while) is that there was no 'dummy coil' in the Seymour MM pickup they used to allow for hum free single coil operation. I assume it is the same with this one. Not a huge problem, since the series and parallel modes where the 'classic' MM tone anyway.

Congrats... both look fabulous!
 
#17,615
P. Bass said:
Ken - What exactly do you mean by "pearl white over white white". Does the colour look pearl white? Thanks
B.
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It's white pearl over white. I believe pearl black is also a standard color.

Correction: I thought there were two whites, regular white and oly white, but maybe mine is oly white made whiter by the pearl. Doesn't matter to me, it's bright pearly white! There's a slight shimmery glitter from the pearl when you look up close.
 
#17,616
jokerjkny said:
go and try a music man stingray 5. the necks and the width are similar. not dead on, cause the sadowsky feels faster and sleeker, but puts you in the ball park.
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I've been kind of underwhelmed by almost every EBMM Stingray I've played and I take the opportunity to test drive them frequently. A lot of stores seem to carry Music Man around me. Only a few had the tight B-string that I'm used to on my Metro RV5PJ and Laklands. Also IMHO I don't care for the unfinished necks which require periodic oiling etc. Not a big deal, but I just prefer a nice clear satin finish on the neck like Sadowskys / Fenders etc. I played one of the new Classic 5's recently (which DOES have a laquered neck) and that bass was really nice but it was also by far, the heaviest bass I've ever picked up. It was a gorgeous antique white with maple neck and played very nice but that darn thing must have weighed 12 pounds EASY.

The Lakland fivers have spacing at the 12th fret that is about 1/8" less than the Sadowsky if I remember correctly PLUS they maintain the 3/4" bridge spacing. The 35" scale doesn't bother me a bit and in a lot of ways the Lakland 5's have a neck profile that just feels like home to me. That may be because I've had a Lakland Skyline (55-01, 55-02, JoBo5, 55-01D) in the stable almost constantly since 2003.

Who knows, I may end up with a Godin Shifter. They've been on my radar recently. The "ergocut" profile of the Godins is very nice. It's also on the wide end of the spectrum like Sadowsky, but the profile makes it easy to get around on.

So, back to the WL5, I'm assuming that if the nut is narrower, the dimensions at the 12th fret may also be a bit narrower.
 
#17,617
KJung said:
Cool... a 19mm Music Man 5 string, with the classic MM pickup switch. Nice! This is similar to the old Lakland '55-76' model, which was a killer. I assume the pickup is in the exact MM location? That was the big difference between the MM mode on the '55-94' versus the '55-76', and it was a big difference.

Cool that Roger and the gang now have this option. There are a LOT of guys who dream of a MM style bass with full 19mm spacing!

One of the minor issues with the Lakland 76 (I had one for a while) is that there was no 'dummy coil' in the Seymour MM pickup they used to allow for hum free single coil operation. I assume it is the same with this one. Not a huge problem, since the series and parallel modes where the 'classic' MM tone anyway.

Congrats... both look fabulous!
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I specified the MM location, and the pickup on Whitey seems to be in that spot. I plugged her in today, and WOW, I am thrilled with the sound! I'd call it "Music Man on steroids". :D:D:D I expect to stay in parallel mode, and will use series for volume boost.
 
#17,618
Fran Diaz said:
Ken, amazing pair! we need some better pictures and a review when you get to spend some quality time with these babies.

I'd love to hear how the white 'bucker compares to your black P (especially if you use the same strings on both).
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Will do, Fran!

I can't do a true A/B/C because I have different strings on each (flats on Red, fresh blue labels on Whitey, broken in black labels on Blackie), but it's immediately apparent that Whitey is in a different galaxy than the others, due to the 'bucker of course. As noted above, it's P-bass on steroids versus Stingray on steroids. I am so freakin' happy. :)
 

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