Has anyone bought and NOT liked a Sadowsky??

[MikeBass]

Sadowsky are great basses.
His sound is based on his pre-amp.
There is a reason Sadowsky does not do passive basses.
Yes, they are inspired from a Fender.
But are not a clone.
Roger is great at marketing his product.
He is a great assembler, but to me, not a true builder.
His body, and necks are done by someone.
Someone else does his pickups.
And someone else does finish work.
And oh yes, the hardware is by someone else.
Then they a assembled at his shop.
Would I love to have one, yes.
Would I pay $4500.00-$5000.00 for one no.
To me they are over-priced.
To me they should be in the Lull, Lakland, price range.
If you like them, buy them.

Price a Lakland lately?
The Lakland bridge is built (at least it was for a moment) by HipShot if I recall. Other hardwar is by Hipshot.
Finish is by Wilkins (best in the business) who does Sadowsky.
Electronics were by Bartolini- now by someone else (can't recall the name, but their new electronic are freakin' awesome).

Roger builds some of the finest nylon string and "Jazz Box" hollow bodiy guitars available.
A true luthier. And he employ's the best as well.

 

[TonyP-]

I've owned quite a few very "high end" basses.
EVERY time I walked on stage, be it in front of 10 or 10,000+ people (yes, 10,000+) with a Sadowsky, it worked.
I've owned MTD, Smith, Spector, Warwick etc......besides my old Jazz and one or two other basses (companies atcually) I've owned, I've never had to think twice if it was one of my Sadowsky's.
The others, NEVER had that luck. Maybe 95% of the time yes.
And it's that last 5% that IMO/IME is the hardest to capture and what can make or break you as a side man.
If you're not "on" 100% of the time......

Now, are there others I have owned/own that are on that level???
Yes. Oh HELLS yes!!!!
I had this old Smith, no matter what I did, I couldn't get it to sound bad. And trust me, I tried! LOL!!!
My old Fender.....same way. Just "works".
Dunno why. But it does.

Now, are all ash/maple equal?????

Stoked for You mike and I feel that way about My Modulus VJ %100 of the time I feel I know I can use that without any issue.

However I don't see that tool/bass working that way for everyone.

 

[MikeBass]

Stoked for You mike and I feel that way about My Modulus VJ %100 of the time I feel I know I can use that without any issue.

However I don't see that tool/bass working that way for everyone.

I agree.
NOT for everyone.
But I was speaking from a FOH stand point. Not mine.
Hell, I can pretty much be happy on stage almost everytime to be honest.
But when FOH engineers comment one way or the next, I listen and take note.

I had a Fender P5 on loan for a week. The FOH guy said if I didn't get it he would kick my ass. Said it was perfect.
Liked it better than my "pretty red bass" (my Sadowsky at the time).
Should have kept it...LOL!!!
(didn't say I ALWAYS listened!! LOL!!!!)

(BTW, had a VJ.......good choice in a bass!!! Miss mine)

 

[Kwesi]

I think I've played maybe eight Sadowsky's and of those I probably would've liked to own four. All were beautiful, well-crafted instruments but a good number of them just didn't have the sound I was looking for. There is one thing that they all had in common though...














They cost more than I would probably ever pay for a bass

 

[Infidelity]

If Sadowsky was overpriced what's the deal about Fender CS?

 

[TonyP-]

I agree.
NOT for everyone.
But I was speaking from a FOH stand point. Not mine.
Hell, I can pretty much be happy on stage almost everytime to be honest.
But when FOH engineers comment one way or the next, I listen and take note.

I had a Fender P5 on loan for a week. The FOH guy said if I didn't get it he would kick my ass. Said it was perfect.
Liked it better than my "pretty red bass" (my Sadowsky at the time).
Should have kept it...LOL!!!
(didn't say I ALWAYS listened!! LOL!!!!)

(BTW, had a VJ.......good choice in a bass!!! Miss mine)

I hear you...I pretty much go flat (Which FOH guys love) %95 of the time from my bass to a radial. Never a complaint..

 

[MikeBass]

I hear you...I pretty much go flat (Which FOH guys love) %95 of the time from my bass to a radial. Never a complaint..

OT...my VJ had the EMG JV (exposed pole pieces) pick-ups......liked them heads over the Barts.
Give them a shot if you ever get a chance.

 

[LaklandBass]

FWIW I played a Metro at a shop in chicago...... Liked it... played well... didnt find the B too amazing but it got the job done... sounded pretty good..... if it were $900 I probably still would've passed on it.

 

[SteveC]

As others have said, I think they are great basses. They are easy to play, and sound...how they sound. I think you can say that about ANY bass - from Squier to Sadowsky. For me, I can't justify the price tag any ore - of any bass - no matter how great it is. I have other obligations that need my financial attention. I used to swap and switch an dplay the field - including 4 Sadowsky's - but in the end, it's just me who knows or cares, and for me, that isn't enough to justify the money. For others it is.

People will like them, and people won't. It's kind of the same argument that you get for "why doesn't everyone play a P bass" or whatever.

It comes down to money and if it's worth it to you. Most of us could play most of our gigs on a $500 bass. Some choose otherwise.

I don't know if I'd say I didn't like the Sadowsky basses I've tried, but I didn't keep them.

 

[TonyP-]

OT...my VJ had the EMG JV (exposed pole pieces) pick-ups......liked them heads over the Barts.
Give them a shot if you ever get a chance.

I actually really like those pickups and had them in an older Fender.

I have Nordstrand NJ single coils and Audere in all of my Js.

If Nordstrand did not exist I would be using EMGs JVs and Dimarzo model J in all my J basses. (I have 7 at the current time)

Cheers

 

[bucephylus]

But when FOH engineers comment one way or the next, I listen and take note.

+1 and that was my earlier point.

There are a player's own preferences and each to their own, more power to it. I'm all down for the diversity.

But, as a professional, one must be mindful of the "team and mix" aspects at the gig. And that is where Roger's instruments really excel and earn their keep. And, that can be a bit surprising. Here, you as a player are thinking, "gee, this bass sounds OK;" and meanwhile the sound guys are raving. Just the way it is, IME.

 

[Chasarms]

"Value" statements and the age-old "not worth it" arguments typically end up in swinging contests and threads that get closed. I'm not a mod, but I would love to see this thread stay on the topic of "not liking a Sadowsky" (which it has by many).

In fair contrast to the literally dozens of Sadowsky love threads that are on here at TB, a thread of record with a great deal of honest, fair and legitimate criticism of them seems relevant to the archive.

 

[SteveC]

Not that you don't have a point, but I have had many people tell me how great my cheap Yamaha sounds as well.

 

[Selta]

*raises hand*.
I didn't NOT like it, just, no way at all the price was justified on me. Not even the used prices would be worth it IMO. But that's me.

 

[jhfishn]

I had one custom ordered with EMG pickups (jazz model) and a maple top.

WRONG!!!!!!!

As beautiful as it looked the sound was incredibly tinny and no matter what I did with the preamp it sounded like a Stratocaster! No bottom whatsoever! I have no idea why it sounded that way but it was downright unusable ... so I wound up back on my Fender P-Bass.

I've played some real beauties since so it may have been just that one bass.

Far to many people love them to say they are a bad bass ..... and if anyone wanted to give me another .... I think I could find it in my heart to give it another chance! Any takers?

 

[Kwesi]

I had one custom ordered with EMG pickups (jazz model) and a maple top.

WRONG!!!!!!!

As beautiful as it looked the sound was incredibly tinny and no matter what I did with the preamp it sounded like a Stratocaster! No bottom whatsoever! I have no idea why it sounded that way but it was downright unusable ... so I wound up back on my Fender P-Bass.

I've played some real beauties since so it may have been just that one bass.

Far to many people love them to say they are a bad bass ..... and if anyone wanted to give me another .... I think I could find it in my heart to give it another chance! Any takers?

I feel like a bunch of people are going to look at this and blame it on the "harsh" EMGs. They probably couldn't be more wrong

 

[DylanB]

Anyone who says threads like this aren't necessarily a bad thing don't know TalkBass. You just get idiots talking about stuff they don't fully comprehend as if they're authorities and getting stroppy if anyone questions them.

That said...

My Sadowsky (the only one I have ever played) is amazing. I bought it because I was sick of buying £1000 Fenders and having to compromise on something.

My Fenders used to always have floppy Bs, uneven tone, or even stupid stuff like screws and nuts coming loose. In short, there was always something to worry about, or improve. I got sick of having basses that were 90% there.

So is it worth spending twice as much for that extra 10%? That depends on your situation. Is my bass worth the £1800-odd that I paid for it? I don't know. But I DO know that I don't have to spend another £3000 on 3 more 90% instruments.

 

[bassbenj]

I used to use 2 Modulus Q5s as my main basses for years. I of course could build 2-3 parts basses for the price of 1 Q5 and I'm not saying that is overpriced or that any bass over 3K is, just the Sadowsky my friend...(Again just to me)

I've never played a Sadowsky or even seen one in person. But of course that doesn't stop me from expressing an opinion on TB!

I personally don't think Sadowsky basses or most other boutique basses are "overpriced". What does that mean? Well, presumably Sadowsky offers a product that has certain qualities. "overpriced" would mean that it is priced much higher than something else that offers exactly the same thing. This is pretty obvious in the production bass world. But once the qualities are unique, then what is it worth? Well, it's worth exactly what someone who wants those features is willing to pay! And clearly there people who are willing to pay a considerable amount for Roger's version of what Leo Fender's ideas carried to a high level would be.

But to me such a bass isn't worth much because although I think Leo did a great job in helping to define bass guitar, especially back in his day, I'm not one of those people who think that there are only two bass guitars: A "P" and a "J". To me the world is still turning after Leo died. And there are lots of very smart and creative people still coming up with new ideas with merit. So to me Roger's "ultimate Fender" is like buying the "ultimate buggy whip". Yeah cool in it's own way, but just not my thing to the level that I'd pay a fortune to have it. Somebody else might. I"m not saying the this kind of thing has no value. I own a Fender and Fender clones and I love them but that's not my direction.

But from my viewpoint I'd be much more likely to spend some serious cash on a fanned fret beast or an Alembic (which I actual did) than a blast from the past. But the same argument on price applies to these. I mean is a Dingwall with weird frets "worth it" or are Alembics "overpriced"? So, just how much are you willing to pay to have the things that fanned frets offer? How much are you willing to pay to have that "Hi-Fi" Alembic sound? Average that over all the potential buyers and you have what they are "worth". It has nothing to do with what a Carvin sells for. You can't buy fanned frets or an "Alembic sound" from Carvin.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I have liked every Sadowsky I have ever played, whether it was a Jazz or a Modern. I happen to like Jazz basses and Ken Smith/Cirrus style basses and Sadowsky does a great job on both styles of basses, so why wouldn't I like it?

 

[bass12]

I've owned two Sadowskys: a 4 string Standard and a 5 string standard. I love the 4 string and don't plan on ever parting with it. The 5 string ended up not being my cup of tea. I just couldn't get comfortable on it physically and finally realised that the bass was not right for me, ergonomically speaking. Does that mean I would hesitate to recommend Sadowskys to anyone curious about them? Absolutely not. Both of my Sadowskys had the following in common:

-Stellar construction. The attention to detail was spot on and the neck pockets were the tightest I've ever seen. Fretwork was faultless.

-Punchy and rich sounding. Pleasant in a solo setting but inspiringly effective in a live mix. These instruments are voiced for maximum impact in a band setting.

- Remarkable consistency from string to string. The B string on the 5 was not in the least bit floppy - it was as tight and focused as any B I've played.

- Backed by the best customer service in the industry. Years ago this wouldn't have been a selling point for me but it is now. If there's something you don't like about your Sadowsky Roger and Kevin will bend over backwards to accommodate you. You will not be left stranded after having bought an instrument with the Sadowsky name on it.