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I think I am in love

#48
Doesn't matter where it's made, fact is the usa basses will receive more attention to detail and setup. Just the way the lineup has been configured.

Sadowsky is one manufacturer that defies that standard, but their Japanese basses are still cheaper because it's made overseas.
 
#50
Eidolon0274 said:
Doesn't matter where it's made, fact is the usa basses will receive more attention to detail and setup. Just the way the lineup has been configured.

Sadowsky is one manufacturer that defies that standard, but their Japanese basses are still cheaper because it's made overseas.
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Sadowsky metro and NYC is a fascinating topic. My first Sadowsky - and main player for a long time - was a Metro 5-24, now supplanted by an NYC axe. The Metro was an excellent axe, beautifully built and conceived, and as they go used in the $18-2200 range, it's hard to imagine anything in that price range, new, that can take them on, except perhaps the non-active Roscoe Beck Fenders, now sadly discontinued.

But there are differences, which contribute to the cost in addition to any labor cost differentials. Chambered body, graphite neck rods, different dimensions to the headstock, and the ability to choose custom wood combinations for body, top and board, roasting of necks, etc.

So my avatar sports the NYC 5-24 I bought used - it's a 25th Anniversary model: mahogany body, lovely koa top, black ebony board. As good as the Metro was, this one has a different voice - dark, but with bark - that I deeply dig. BUT the Metro was probably a fine an axe as anyone could ever build out of an alder body and pau ferro board, it sounded great in a wide range of contexts, and was the equal of the NYC in playability.

So it ain't just labor costs…and the quality of workmanship and attention to detail is on par.
 
#51
Doctor J said:
I'll never understand why some manufacturers go to the trouble of putting a lovely top on a bass and then cover most of it with a cheap slab of plastic. Fender did the same with the Select series, it looks ridiculous to me. That 5 could be stunning but the oversized black plastic slab ruins it for me.
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Because your tastes don't necessarily reflect the tastes of the world at large, and that's how MusicMan rolls and has for 40 years. Me, I don't mind pickguards whatsoever, but I do have to agree that their 5-string pickguard is wack. So I just don't buy one :D
 
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