I’m not a big P-bass guy, but a five string Sadowsky P-bass would be fun to own.
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Sadowsky P-bass
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
I’m not a big P-bass guy, but a five string Sadowsky P-bass would be fun to own.
Posted this in the Sadowsky club thread earlier this afternoon. 
They need to get Lars Lehmann to play Forget-Me-Nots for the slap demo. That is the ultimate P-bass slap tune.Posted this in the Sadowsky club thread earlier this afternoon.
I do sort of feel like you need a tone control on a P bass, though.
As if P basses are only big in Nashville?! 
Anyway, this bass is DOA as far as I'm concerned with no tone control and a 1.5" nut width. Who's idea of a traditional P bass is this?
Anyway, this bass is DOA as far as I'm concerned with no tone control and a 1.5" nut width. Who's idea of a traditional P bass is this?
- Jul 11, 2005
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I want!!!
Edit. I just looked at the website... WTH!!! 1 1/2" nut on a P???
Blasphemy!!!
I'm the guy that puts a P neck on a J body
Edit. I just looked at the website... WTH!!! 1 1/2" nut on a P???
Blasphemy!!!
I'm the guy that puts a P neck on a J body
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Yea the Sherwood green and tort looks
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Nice but.......no tone in passive mode???? At that price????
Yes that is not gonna work for a lot of P players sheesh...I don't care for preamp active basses unless it has a reputation of high quality which these do i guess.
I play with pick, fingers, thumb and vary the tone a lot with a P-bass.
I will be surprised if the Metroline has no passive tone. That comes standard with a Metroline preamp. The Metro Express is stock with two band boost only. It cost me $146 + $35 installation to have the VTC installed on my MX Modern 5.
Passive tone would have been nice but that’s not a deal breaker for me. I’ve been GASing for a P for a while now, and sort of missing a 5 (been playing 4s exclusively for two years).
Color me intrigued.
Color me intrigued.
Certainly they are great preamps. But -
They’re boost only, so there’s no way to roll off tone from flat on this bass.
The magic of the Sadowsky preamp lies in the interplay between the VTC and the boost controls. The basses sound best, to the ears of many, when you roll off the tone and then boost the active. No way to do that here.
It would be easy enough to add a VTC to this, I suppose.
Yes, add the VTC because it is still much cheaper than a Metroline. I bought my Modern on sale and it was $1,100 after taxes . Buying and installing the VTC was $181. Even when they are not on sale, one should be able to get the bass and preamp for less than $1,600.
I’ve never been a huge Sadowsky guy or a huge 5-string P-bass guy but I played a P5 at Roger’s shop around 15 years ago that was staggeringly good. I was dead-set on a J5 at the time and ended up buying an A-C instead but man…. I still remember that Sadowsky P5 and sometimes question whether I made the right choice.
EDIT: This was a NYC Sadowsky, which I realize is a whole other animal, and it had a wide string spacing, which I prefer.
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The Metro Express is stock 18mm at the bridge and can accept a 19mm bridge. The Metrolines are 19mm bridge.
I got into the Sire basses before the updated SMX line came out in 2023. I haven't bought one sight unseen because I'm not interested in replacing the brand new Sadowsky preamp with one with the VTC on any of the models - or the 18 mm string spacing on default hardware.
I wanted to like this new Pbass but no passive tone control option is just ridiculous. My Sire basses are basically Sadowsky passive pbass clones complete with the Hipshot string tree.
Yeah - if you want a good option - check out the Sire P5R. You can go nuts and upgrade everything if you want just like a Sadowsky. I got them before the SMX line came out and they have been great basses for me. I swapped the tuners, string trees, added Fralin pickups/harness, and bridge on them. (I have the passive Fifties P-Clone (D5) and Sixties P-Clone (P5R)).
I wanted to like this new Pbass but no passive tone control option is just ridiculous. My Sire basses are basically Sadowsky passive pbass clones complete with the Hipshot string tree.
Yeah - if you want a good option - check out the Sire P5R. You can go nuts and upgrade everything if you want just like a Sadowsky. I got them before the SMX line came out and they have been great basses for me. I swapped the tuners, string trees, added Fralin pickups/harness, and bridge on them. (I have the passive Fifties P-Clone (D5) and Sixties P-Clone (P5R)).
