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New Sadowsky!

#44
Fuzzbass said:
So, I've been thinking about my next Sadowsky for months now, and getting a little frustrated because soooooo many options and color combos are offered, and I couldn't really pin down exactly what I wanted. But eleven days ago I got the In Stock update from Sadowsky, clicked on the NYC Basses page, and a five string Mary Kaye style P-bass made my eyes pop :eek:... I've always loved trans blond with anodized gold! I hadn't planned on getting a Sadowsky for months, but I jumped on this one immediately:

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Note that the photo above is just a tad washed out due to reflection from the gold guard... the bass looks much nicer in person! I had a Fender '57 RI P-bass somewhat like this just before I switched to five string, but the trans "blond" was too white for my taste. The Sadowsky vintage blond is sooooo much more rich and creamy, and the flame board on this one is even nicer than the birdseye board on my '05 P5.

At 8.75 pounds, #5420 was the heaviest of all the new Sadowskys listed. It is noticeably heavier than my other Sadowsky P5 (chambered alder), but not unpleasantly so, and still much lighter than my Fender RB5 and Benavente 51 model basses.

My new baby has the signature throaty growl and sweet mids of light swamp ash, which is likely enhanced by the blue label Sadowsky strings. It also has two improvements over my 2005 Sadowsky P5: larger side dots (hooray!!!) and a recessed cup jack. The split-coil pickup on the newer P5 has diagonal polepieces (Nordstrand style), but my older P5 has slightly faded Elixir strings so I won't bother with a tonal A/B. Bottom line is that they both kick ass: wonderful sustain and resonance, amazingly even at any point on the fretboard.

Finally, the Sadowsky hardshell case is a mighty fine accessory: velvety form-fit padding, four lockable luggage latches, reinforced edges, padded handle, big compartment for case candy... and a big sexy Sadowsky logo on the lid. It's heavy compared to softshell cases and gig bags, but that's to be expected. One request to Roger & co: it would be way cool if you offered one with tweed exterior (fake or not), oxblood interior, and brass hardware, but black/black/chrome always works. :)

Oh... here are some crappy pics from my crappy camera and crappy image hosting:
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That is the best looking Sadowsky P-bass I have ever seen! I love it!:D I wonder why Sadowsky P-basses have 20 fret fingerboards while the Jazzes are 21?
 
#46
Dr. Cheese said:
That is the best looking Sadowsky P-bass I have ever seen! I love it!:D I wonder why Sadowsky P-basses have 20 fret fingerboards while the Jazzes are 21?
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Thank you, Dr. C! To answer your question: the offset J-bass body allows a deeper treble cutaway and greater fret access. My Sadowsky P-basses actually do have the extended fretboard and 21st fret, but it's not easy to reach!
 
#48
the flamed board rocks,enjoy and good luck!
is that birdseye on your other one?
how incredibly cool, the two..what an elegant pair.
Some potential for might heavy low end with those babies..
just the thought..
an active Sadowsky Pbass with a Low B?..

With great power comes great responsibility.
 
#49
A couple more comments:

As with other two pickup Sadowskys, this one has a "backwards" pan pot: clockwise for bridge pickup, ccw for the split-coil. Yeah, I understand why this is done ("up" for treble, "down" for bass), but it's still counterintuitive to me. Hardly a big deal, and I won't be using the bridge pickup much anyway.

The gold guard is gorgeous... the beauty is not fully captured in any of the photos. I really love how it can be darker or lighter than the blond finish, depending on how much light is reflecting off of it. Also, I've seen ano guards on other basses that were sloppily cut, but the edge of the Sadowsky guard, while square, is wonderfully smooth and ever-so-slightly beveled to prevent sharpness and burrs. So, even though I pose a little bit in my hard rock band, I can't see myself losing any skin. :p
 
#50
Fuzzbass said:
...As with other two pickup Sadowskys, this one has a "backwards" pan pot: clockwise for bridge pickup, ccw for the split-coil. Yeah, I understand why this is done ("up" for treble, "down" for bass), but it's still counterintuitive to me. Hardly a big deal, and I won't be using the bridge pickup much anyway...
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+1
Don't over look the joys of blending the two. While I love the P pup on my P/J, I find the blend detent position has that signature mid-rich "sits on top the mix" quality I have come to love. :bassist:
 
#51
Jim Carr said:
+1
Don't over look the joys of blending the two. While I love the P pup on my P/J, I find the blend detent position has that signature mid-rich "sits on top the mix" quality I have come to love. :bassist:
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+1.

Since you already have that J pickup, experiment with tones slightly off center. I like to favor the J pickup (with more bass boost) for more rocking tunes and the P for countrier (is this a word? :D) stuff; the cleaner the guitars the Per my bass (if you know whta I mean)
 
#54
quadrogong said:
the flamed board rocks,enjoy and good luck!
is that birdseye on your other one?
how incredibly cool, the two..what an elegant pair.
Some potential for might heavy low end with those babies..
just the thought..
an active Sadowsky Pbass with a Low B?..

With great power comes great responsibility.
Click to expand...

Yep, my other P5 is black/black/birdseye.

As for the Sadowsky low B string: for set finales I have been guilty on occasion of cranking up the bass boost and causing seismic tremors. It is especially fun when playing newer stuff (Nickelback, Godsmack, Seether) in low D, C#, C. :eek: :ninja:
 
#56
Vic said:
Dude, sell that MTD and GET ONE! :D
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http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=8124867&highlight=#post8124867

:ninja:

Jim Carr said:
+1
Don't over look the joys of blending the two. While I love the P pup on my P/J, I find the blend detent position has that signature mid-rich "sits on top the mix" quality I have come to love. :bassist:
Click to expand...

99% I did the same thing. It certainly 'played well with others'.

frandiaz said:
+1.

Since you already have that J pickup, experiment with tones slightly off center. I like to favor the J pickup (with more bass boost) for more rocking tunes and the P for countrier (is this a word? :D) stuff; the cleaner the guitars the Per my bass (if you know whta I mean)
Click to expand...

I used to dime the bridge pickup, turn up the bass/treble almost all the way, and with a pick thru an overdriven tube rig it would've made Lemmy Kilmeister proud. And with the neck pickup soloed and some thumb muting, it was 99% of that beautiful thick-but-clean tone that keybass players can get and that always makes me more than a little jealous.
 
#57
I'm sure I will dial in the J pickup from time to time. F'r instance, the picked bass in "Mudshovel" by Stain'd certainly has a treble pup, so P plus J will sound very much like the recording. That said, my black P5 has no bridge pickup and I can easily get all the punch, growl, and bite I need from it. It sounds fantastic for aggressive modern rock and even slap funk like the Chili Peppers, and I can still go old-school by adjusting my technique and tweaking the onboard EQ if needed.

Certainly, fellow bassists will notice the difference in timbre between P and PJ or JJ. They're all good IMO, but I've always had a thing for the middle position pickup. As I recall, someone here got a Sadowsky fiver (24F?) with a Nordstrand MusicMan pup in the MM sweet spot. I was seriously tempted to order a Sadowsky with that same pickup config, but then this Mary Kaye P-bass came along and stole my heart!
 
#59
The strings are still different - Elixirs on my black one, and Sadowsky blue label steels on my new one. Even so, I did some tonal A/Bing tonight between my black beauty and Mary Kaye P-basses.

Naturally, I kept the split-coil soloed on the PJ, because the black bass is P only. My test rig was a Carvin B800 with EQ set flat and Sadowsky SA410 cab. I also kept the onboard EQ flat on both basses, and alternated between active, passive, and unplugged.

At first I thought the black bass had higher output when amplified, but that was because its split-coil was closer to the strings. Raising the P pup on the blond bass pretty much evened them out.

As for tone: when testing I try to erase all preconceptions, but to me, the basses sound like their body woods. The mids on the black bass (chambered alder) are voiced lower and it has more top end. The swamp ash bass is dominated by sweet singing mids, and highs are muted -- I hesitate to mention the F word in a Sadowsky thread, but it is definitely reminiscent of the blond swamp ash '57 RI Fender I once owned.

I realize that many factors could be at play besides body woods: the strings (as noted), the pickups, natural tonal variance in the maple necks, who knows what else. Still, I'm confident that these basses have significantly different voices, and that's a wonderful thing. I can't wait to crank the blond one up thru my gig rig!
 

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