Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Sadowsky Basses
- Thread starter jokerk874
- Start date
jokerk874 said:
Let me help you.
A Sadowsky Bass is roughly equilvalent to a Porsche, a BMW M-Class, a Mazerati, a Ferrari, or perhaps a Lamborghini.
A Sadowsky Bass is an extremely high performance instrument.
Here is a typical Sadowsky is review:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
For most people who enjoy Sadowsky basses it is with an almost religious fervor and devotion.
So to asked what's so great about Sadowsky's basses is like asking what's so great about great about a Porsche Carrera GT or a Ferrari Enzo?
Hopefully my metaphor has meaning for you...
SuperT
Ah! Now we have a thread. This is a miserable hijack, but the quality of the original post was suspect enough that I doubt anyone will mind.Supertanker said:
I'd call a Sadowsky a Corvette certainly, and maybe a BMW, because it's accessible, made of fairly normal stuff (although screwed together much better than your average - which I suppose takes the Corvette out of the metaphor). But not an exotic Italian, which you are unlikely to be able to purchase even if you have the money. Maybe one of those would be an Alembic (how about Invalid Link Removedfor expensive) or, based on availability these days, a Wal.
When I was in NYC a week ago I stopped in at the Sadowsky shop in Brooklyn. Nice folks there.... Roger said "hello", but was on his way out, so one of the employees named Wesley took me for a tour of the shop and let me try out several of the basses in the showroom. From what he says, the new Brooklyn shop is much better than their old shop in Manhattan.
Sadowsky instruments are definitely made in their own shop, with a very high level of workmanship. I got to see some of the unfinished bodies and the various machines used to build the instruments.
While I must say that quality is unquestionably high, I haven't found the Sadowsky mystique to pique my interest. The various basses I tried sounded good and were very well made. However, they just don't seem to hold the magic for me that they do for others.....
YMMV
Sadowsky instruments are definitely made in their own shop, with a very high level of workmanship. I got to see some of the unfinished bodies and the various machines used to build the instruments.
While I must say that quality is unquestionably high, I haven't found the Sadowsky mystique to pique my interest. The various basses I tried sounded good and were very well made. However, they just don't seem to hold the magic for me that they do for others.....
YMMV
cord said:
Assuming this is not a joke:
ORIGINALITY is overrated. Some designs work because, well they work. A Wish bass is an original design and sounds like crap. A Sadowsky borrows from what worked in the past and sounds great (with modern refinements). I am so sick of extra points being gained due to originality. Originality doesn't always mean good, often it means worse.
cord said:
To each his own. If you want an original boutique design, there are plenty to choose from.
Dr. Cheese said:
I agree with you Dr. Cheese. What is amazing is once you strip down a boutique design they still are not completely original (generally just more exotic).
The Guild Ashbory bass was a truly original design.
anybody, please jump in and correct me if I am wrong. Roger Sadowsky started off as a guitar tech modifying fender designs. Like decades ago, in the 70's even. So I think he has learned the strengths and weaknesses of the fenders he uses as a starting point for his designs. From there his pickups and elctronics are very different from what you find in a Fender equivalent. His instruments that I have seen are also built to a much higher standard. Next, of the luthiers I have known, originality is not a very important or desired trait. Most of them strive to be master craftsmen, perfectionists. Skilled in a variety of archaic woodworking methods. Creativity usually extends to the choice of woods.
I once knew a luthier who made only violins and violas. He showed me a design of his and one in a book. They looked exactly the same to me. He said but yes, the cross on my f hole has rounded ends, this one has square ends! To him it was a radical change ina hundreds of year old form. Any URB players want to chime in on this?
But yeah , I checked out some basses at Sadowskys in Brooklyn last month.
Now the only problem is how I will get the scratch together to get what I want, and whether he will build it.
I once knew a luthier who made only violins and violas. He showed me a design of his and one in a book. They looked exactly the same to me. He said but yes, the cross on my f hole has rounded ends, this one has square ends! To him it was a radical change ina hundreds of year old form. Any URB players want to chime in on this?
But yeah , I checked out some basses at Sadowskys in Brooklyn last month.
Now the only problem is how I will get the scratch together to get what I want, and whether he will build it.
While it's obvious where Roger Sadowsky got his design ideas from, I consider all his models but the Ultra Vintage ones, and the different P-bass varieties, to be somewhat original. The Vintage and Standard basses look, to me, as Jazz basses that have been through a diet, and I can't quite think of any bass that closely resembles the 24 fret models. Or at least they aren't Jazz bass knock offs.cord said:
WJGreer said:
I agree. The metaphor is an overstatement, but it was designed for the original poster to get some sense of what a Sadowsky is and why all the ruckous.
I was basically speaking to the Sadowsky mystique and sonic performance that I've experienced, more so than the attainablity or exotic parts...
Peace
SuperT
I have never played a sadowsky, and as a fan of fender I would love to take a cheap shot at them (I have in the past)... but I will just get on my soapbox instead.
To me a sadowsky (and other similar boutique makers of Fender Jazz style bases) is trying to make up for where some people felt fender let them down.
So the Fender Jazz bass design is arguably the most popular bass design of all time. Sadowsky/Lakland/etc. realize the market potential of the jazz design (and probably also like the design), so why not get in on that large market?
Problem is that fender has done some stupid things in the past that have left buyers with a sour tase in their mouth (can anyone say 80's fenders... the history of fender bass guitars book that I have likes to forget that decade ever happened). Mass production and outsourced production leads to lower quality control (and lower prices to stay competitive).
So people pining for those hand made pre-CBS-like fenders start looking for other options that were built by hand to high standards. Enter sadowsky et al.
Does handmade make something better? Not always... but it gives an instrument more unique character. Would sadowsky quality control be higher? Without ever having played one... I would say 100% yes on average.
It has to be.
Fender can sell you a bum guitar and not flinch... they will keep selling 1000's of instruments because they are fender. Smaller operations like sadowsky need to build a reputation... so they have no tolerance for low quality because on bad instrument can kill their rep... and then they are just another guy making Jazz bass clones.
But high quality control costs money... so you pay more for a shadowsky. In the end your bass might be no better than a good fender jazz (opinions of electronics aside), but your chances of getting a sadowsky lemon are lower than if you get a fender jazz.
My personal opinion is to get a standard american jazz... because they are the brand that started it all and in 20 years they will still be on top. The trick is to be your own quality control and play a few different fenders... then choose the one you like best. With a sadowsky, the company does the quality control for you.
p.s. the fender custom shop is the fender response to companies like sadowsky et al. There is a market for boutique/non-mass produced fender style instruments and Fender wants a chunk of that market.
To me a sadowsky (and other similar boutique makers of Fender Jazz style bases) is trying to make up for where some people felt fender let them down.
So the Fender Jazz bass design is arguably the most popular bass design of all time. Sadowsky/Lakland/etc. realize the market potential of the jazz design (and probably also like the design), so why not get in on that large market?
Problem is that fender has done some stupid things in the past that have left buyers with a sour tase in their mouth (can anyone say 80's fenders... the history of fender bass guitars book that I have likes to forget that decade ever happened). Mass production and outsourced production leads to lower quality control (and lower prices to stay competitive).
So people pining for those hand made pre-CBS-like fenders start looking for other options that were built by hand to high standards. Enter sadowsky et al.
Does handmade make something better? Not always... but it gives an instrument more unique character. Would sadowsky quality control be higher? Without ever having played one... I would say 100% yes on average.
It has to be.
Fender can sell you a bum guitar and not flinch... they will keep selling 1000's of instruments because they are fender. Smaller operations like sadowsky need to build a reputation... so they have no tolerance for low quality because on bad instrument can kill their rep... and then they are just another guy making Jazz bass clones.
But high quality control costs money... so you pay more for a shadowsky. In the end your bass might be no better than a good fender jazz (opinions of electronics aside), but your chances of getting a sadowsky lemon are lower than if you get a fender jazz.
My personal opinion is to get a standard american jazz... because they are the brand that started it all and in 20 years they will still be on top. The trick is to be your own quality control and play a few different fenders... then choose the one you like best. With a sadowsky, the company does the quality control for you.
p.s. the fender custom shop is the fender response to companies like sadowsky et al. There is a market for boutique/non-mass produced fender style instruments and Fender wants a chunk of that market.
I don't mean to hijack the thread, but on a related note, I've heard good things about that company, uh Fander, Finder, Fender.....
Can anyone confirm spelling and pronunciation?
I hear that those crazy kids are onto something!!
Can anyone confirm spelling and pronunciation?
I hear that those crazy kids are onto something!!
:scowl:Figjam said:
I just edited to correct sadowsky from 'shadowsky' a million times in that post. It was a (stupid) error... no harm intended by it. I won't lay claim to being a good speller. Never was.
I think it was a subconscious error because even after you posted this for the life of me I could not see the error. I would look at how other people spelled it and just not see the lack of the H.
I wonder how many times I have done this in past posts.
throw_this_away said:
Not sure I agree with this. I have played scores of Fenders and none have come close in construction, playability etc.
I'm going on my 4th Sadowsky. Very funny Big Mike W. since i'm the guy who sold you that beautiful burgundy P/J 5
throw_this_away said:
A well stated post but quality control isn't just going to the store and playing. It may feel and sound great in the store but it may get lost in the mix with your band or while recording. Inconsistency is the operative word. I'd guess maybe 1 in 10 Fender's will be perfect in build quality, feel and sound at the gig AND in the studio. You're taking a chance buying a Fender, even a custom shop.
With a Sadowsky, EVERY instrument is perfect. Is that worth the extra bread? ...only the buyer can decide.
