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Entering the Sadowsky world

S

stefanofailla

Mar 14, 2008
13
0
#1
Hi Guys,

I am a bass player from Italy. I finally made up my mind to buy a Sadowsky and this seems to be the right place to get some good piece of advice. I play stuff ranging from Springsteen to Rocco but occasionally i do have some pop/r&B gigs. Slap-wise, i want an instrument that goes towards that will lee/marcus sound.
So I am undecided!
I have a pal who plays a sadowsky nyc w/soapbar pups (bartolini?) and it sounds amazing. Can anyone help me understand the difference between the standard, the vintage and the ultra-vintage? And am i right in assuming that soapbars would help you get a more versatile sound while still keeping the trademark sadowsky high and low end?
Thanks

Stefano
 
#4
stefanofailla said:
Hi Guys,

I am a bass player from Italy. I finally made up my mind to buy a Sadowsky and this seems to be the right place to get some good piece of advice. I play stuff ranging from Springsteen to Rocco but occasionally i do have some pop/r&B gigs. Slap-wise, i want an instrument that goes towards that will lee/marcus sound.
So I am undecided!
I have a pal who plays a sadowsky nyc w/soapbar pups (bartolini?) and it sounds amazing. Can anyone help me understand the difference between the standard, the vintage and the ultra-vintage? And am i right in assuming that soapbars would help you get a more versatile sound while still keeping the trademark sadowsky high and low end?
Thanks

Stefano
Click to expand...


The standard and vintage are identical except for the top plate and guard... sound is identical. The NYC Ultra Vintage is meant to cop a more 'vintage vibe' and sometimes comes with a Nitro finish, single coil pickups, etc. The Ultra Vintage Metro is a different thing... full size J body and 70's pickup placement.

The Modern24 with humbuckers is a totally different thing. You can get humbuckers in the J style instruments in J position.. this will make the tone more fat and modern, but will take the 'modern J bass' type tone away.

For most, the standard or vintage with the stock split coil pickups seems most versatile, and is most representative of what most consider the Sadowsky tone... great for slapping and fingerstyle playing. The routing of the NYC models and the reduced size body and 34" scale really make these basses a pleasure to play.

If you want the most aggressive Sadowsky that gets closest to the 'Marcus' type tone... you might consider the Metro UV model with the optional single coil pickups and the optional VTC (passive tone control.. which is standard on the NYC models). The maple/ash version of the Metro UV models with the single coils is the most '70's Fender' sounding Sadowsky IMO and IME.

All nice stuff. I like the tone you describe, and my NYC RV5.... alder/RW with stock split coils... is plenty aggressive in the upper treble and has deep bass response. Favoring the bridge pickup just a touch also gives me plenty of fingerstyle definition. The slap tone is wonderful.... more 'Will Lee' modern than over the top Marcus to my ear.

IMO!
 

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