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Marcus Miller Jazz vs. Sadowsky

#21
nostatic said:
Get a Sadowsky PJ w/VTC. Problem solved.

Until you start reading about another bass...

If you are in school and have a Sadowsky you're way ahead of the game. My advice would be to stick with that bass and see how many sounds you can get out of it. There are more tones residing in your fingers than in the electronics imho.

Hey, you said you wanted an argument :p
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I'm not in highschool! And I worked hard to buy a "great bass" then I played the trading game on talkbass and ended up with a Sadowsky. ...Maybe that's why I'm in so much debt :eyebrow:
 
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#22
Get a passive J style bass. The Marcus i had was very modern sounding and didn't sound so hot in passive mode. The passive tone control is key to getting a good, versitile old school sound out of these basses IMO and the MM doesn't pull that off in my opinion. How about an amer. J bass or a lakland copy? If you have the VTC maybe that pulls it off?
 
#23
i had a marcus miller and i could get some good tones out of it, and it played very well. its a relatively nice bass but when it came down to it just wasnt versatile enough. still a great and fun bass to play. my biggest issue was the actual nut being brittle and super small.
 
#25
+1000 to adding the VTC to the Sadowsky. You would have to take it to a tech (unless you are good with that sort of thing). I think maybe $150 and you should be set. My personal recomendation is to NOT get rid of the Sadowsky. You will find it to be the better all around bass than a MM.... IME of course.
 
#26
chris.gotfunk said:
+1000 to adding the VTC to the Sadowsky. You would have to take it to a tech (unless you are good with that sort of thing). I think maybe $150 and you should be set. My personal recomendation is to NOT get rid of the Sadowsky. You will find it to be the better all around bass than a MM.... IME of course.
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+2000:) $150 bucks or so and your problems solved. Unless you realy don't like the tone of the Sadowsky at all. No problem with that at all, to each his own.
 
#29
crispygoat said:
What exactly does VTC do? Will it kill my active/passive switch?
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VTC is Vintage Tone Control (it is basically the same thing the tone knob on a fully passive instrument has.) It just gives you many more tonal possibilities. If you like passive, throw your Sadowsky in passive mode (pulling up on the bass (?) control) and go from there.

It is also there when the instrument is in active mode as well. You can use it in both passive and active modes.
 
#30
The VTC is a passive tone control...like on a passive jazz bass....it allows you to roll some of the edgey bite off even in "Active" mode just like a passive jazz bass. It also works in passive and you essentially have a passive jazz bass...vol, vol (or pan), tone cause pulling the VTC up bypasses the active circuit.
 
#35
re-wiring isn't that bad. I would take it to a tech myself. Won't affect the value of the bass so long as you get your parts from Sadowsky. V/V is an option on Sado NYC basses AFAIK, but they come default with V/Pan. Also, Sadowsky sells a retro-fit kit with the VTC and all the parts you need to rewire on their website.
 
#36
M: (Knock)
A: Come in.
M: Ah, Is this the right room for an argument?
A: I told you once.
M: No you haven't.
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M: When?
A: Just now.
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A: I'm telling you I did!
M: You did not!!
A: Oh, I'm sorry, just one moment. Is this a five minute argument or the full half hour?
M: Oh, just the five minutes.
A: Ah, thank you. Anyway, I did.
M: You most certainly did not.
A: Look, let's get this thing clear; I quite definitely told you.
M: No you did not.
A: Yes I did.
M: No you didn't.
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M: No you didn't.
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M: No you didn't.
A: Yes I did.
M: You didn't.
A: Did.
M: Oh look, this isn't an argument.
A: Yes it is.
M: No it isn't. It's just contradiction.
A: No it isn't.
M: It is!
A: It is not.
M: Look, you just contradicted me.
A: I did not.
M: Oh you did!!
A: No, no, no.
M: You did just then.
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M: I came here for a good argument.
A: No you didn't; no, you came here for an argument.

... etc.
 
#37
Have you thought about getting the VTC and putting some single coils in your RV4?

Then you can bypass the Sadowsky pre and have a passive, SC Jazz. Plus you'd have the pre there when you wanted it. Best of both worlds.

That's pretty much what I used to do with my old UV70 (now owned by chris.gotfunk). I had two amp settings -- one for passive mode and one for having the preamp engaged. It worked fine because it had the VTC and SCs instead of the HCs (passive mode isn't nearly as good with the HCs, IMO).

Of course, the MM is a great bass, too.
 
#38
BartmanPDX said:
Have you thought about getting the VTC and putting some single coils in your RV4?

Then you can bypass the Sadowsky pre and have a passive, SC Jazz. Plus you'd have the pre there when you wanted it. Best of both worlds.

That's pretty much what I used to do with my old UV70 (now owned by chris.gotfunk). I had two amp settings -- one for passive mode and one for having the preamp engaged. It worked fine because it had SCs instead of the HCs (passive mode isn't nearly as good with the HCs, IMO).

Of course, the MM is a great bass, too.
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By the way, you have ruined any other bass for me. I love that UV70 with SC's!!!!!!!
 
#39
Yeah... that was another impression of mine. Passive mode is kinda lacking with the Sadowsky. What's the difference between the Single Coils and the Hum cancelling?

Btw, does your (or chris') UV70 have '59 burst with tortoise? If so, is it the same tortoise I'd buy from the Sadowsky store? I might as well get a pickguard if I order from there.

Edit:

$160!! I'll start with the VTC and pickguard... then I may consider new pickups...
 
#40
zachbass02 said:
hate to break it to you, but the marcus millers are active jazz basses. the last 2 knobs are not tone knobs. they are bass boost only and treble boost only. Turned all the way down, they are "flat" like the sadowsky pre-amp. There is a active/passive switch. when in passive mode, the last 2 knobs do nothing. There is no tone control on the Marcus in passive mode. you'd be better off having a VTC installed on your sadowsky and getting it wired for V/V instead of the V/pan. Just IMO of course. But the Marcus Miller is a very active, modern sounding jazz bass and doesn't do the passive vintage sounding jazz bass all that well. If it had a passive tone control on it, I would have kept the one I used to have.
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I think zachbass is the closest to being correct on the MM jazz bass. When I play it...seems to be very much active....though I am not at home right now to look at my bass..but I don't remember seeing an opening where I can change my battery for an active preamp.

But I also agree with zachbass that the MM is more of a modern sounding jazz...I mean Marcus Miller has his own town which I feel the Japanese Jazz bass nails and then some. I have a MM 5 and it as much as I would like to say,, does not have the Marcus Miller tone...but has a more Vintage Jazz bass tone...I keep them both as I like a 5 string as well.

I've never tried a Sadowsky so I can't say...
 

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