Sadowsky/Warwick Announcement Video

[mtdkingstonheir]

I'm quite sure the bass will play and sound nice, no doubt. But those of us who know and appreciate the legacy of Sadowsky and know better........do we 'want' a watered down Sadowsky with cheap Chinese made hardware? Then you have the masses who have no idea what a Sadowsky is and may just ignore the brand if sold in GC and similar stores. This is why I ask...how are they going to be marketed?! At the risk of sounding like a broken record.........I personally don't want a cheap Sadowsky. I'm ok with the Germany made basses.

I liken it to Honda/Acura, Nissan/Infiniti, Toyota/Lexus - different choices for more folks to consider buying. I don't think that people de-value Lexus, Infiniti, or Acura by offering Toyota, Nissan, or Honda - just "different horses for different courses". Have fun, play what you like/can afford, and rock that lowend rumble!!

 

[Dr. Cheese]

The Sadowsky NAMM booth looks very Warwick-y.

Please elaborate and share some pictures.

 

[PRS-Man23]

Depends what you mean by "custom". You can choose from among the colors they offer ... and that's about it. They're also not "hand made" as many call them, unless you realllllly stretch that term.

The "Vintage Tone Control" is just a passive tone knob, same as Fenders have had since the 1950's. Useful? Very much so. Straight talk? You decide.

As for them being for working pros, if you know any full-time pro musicians most have never seen $5000 much less spent that much on a bass. Most have never even heard of Sadowsky if they're not TALK-bass members. Other than the DB side, there are very few full-time pros on message boards. Instruments in this strata are primarily for people with a lot of room on their credit cards who want to post pics of them online to brag while they're slacking off at their day job. Of course there are some exceptions but those don't disprove the rule.

I've owned and used a NYC for at least 10 years and think it's a great bass. It's also just a bass that's made extremely well. You don't need to spend so much for that though. Other than the very low weight for a 5'er, which is worth a lot to me personally, it's no better than some basses I have which cost well below $1000 new - some of which are made in Asian factories and are flawless. Ask people who bought the original Lakland Skylines, to make just one example.

As far as “Custom”, that term is thrown around a ton in this industry....
Gibson/Fender Custom Shop’s, Private Stock and the list goes on. ALL of them use both CNC/Machinery & Hand Work, so yes I do classify Sadowsky (NYC) as a Custom Shop..

The term “Working Pro” can be used to describe anything from Jason Newstead to Tal Wilkenfeld, to the hired gun making a few hundred bucks a gig (All of these working pro’s play Sadowsky) as well as MANY others (See artist roster @ www.sadowsky.com

See, but that’s all Semantics....
Roger started his business 40+ years ago, with the much valued input of working musicians. That was literally what helped progress him forward and build his reputation.
Let’s also not forget that most of the folks that are on the artist roster get artist pricing, allowing them to afford one of his Basses...

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I'm quite sure the bass will play and sound nice, no doubt. But those of us who know and appreciate the legacy of Sadowsky and know better........do we 'want' a watered down Sadowsky with cheap Chinese made hardware? Then you have the masses who have no idea what a Sadowsky is and may just ignore the brand if sold in GC and similar stores. This is why I ask...how are they going to be marketed?! At the risk of sounding like a broken record.........I personally don't want a cheap Sadowsky. I'm ok with the Germany made basses.

It will be all right. It's not going to hurt the value of the NYC basses. The same people that know what a Sadowsky NYC is will still know what a Sadowsky NYC is. The Metro line had more potential to hurt the NYC line's resale value than a sub $1k Sadowsky. If anything, the NYC resale value may improve with better brand awareness and it sounds like fewer basses coming out of the NYC shop in the future.

 

[SgtHulka]

I liken it to Honda/Acura, Nissan/Infiniti, Toyota/Lexus - different choices for more folks to consider buying. I don't think that people de-value Lexus, Infiniti, or Acura by offering Toyota, Nissan, or Honda - just "different horses for different courses". Have fun, play what you like/can afford, and rock that lowend rumble!!

The SBMM line has been insanely popular and they have pricing points with different models virtually every $150 all the way up to close to a thousand. Ray4, 24, 34, then 34s with flame tops and roasted necks, colors etc...

 

[baxter_x]

It will be all right. It's not going to hurt the value of the NYC basses. The same people that know what a Sadowsky NYC is will still know what a Sadowsky NYC is. The Metro line had more potential to hurt the NYC line's resale value than a sub $1k Sadowsky. If anything, the NYC resale value may improve with better brand awareness and it sounds like fewer basses coming out of the NYC shop in the future.

THAT!!

 

[Dave Hill]

More neon light and fanfare than I remember in the past.

 

[StayLow]

I liken it to Honda/Acura, Nissan/Infiniti, Toyota/Lexus - different choices for more folks to consider buying. I don't think that people de-value Lexus, Infiniti, or Acura by offering Toyota, Nissan, or Honda - just "different horses for different courses". Have fun, play what you like/can afford, and rock that lowend rumble!!

Great example, however the fact that they've completely different brand names makes the opposite point of the one you're trying to make.

Same with Squier/Fender and SBMM/EBMM, Epiphone/Gibson, etc.

 

[StayLow]

As far as “Custom”, that term is thrown around a ton in this industry....
Gibson/Fender Custom Shop’s, Private Stock and the list goes on. ALL of them use both CNC/Machinery & Hand Work, so yes I do classify Sadowsky (NYC) as a Custom Shop..

The term “Working Pro” can be used to describe anything from Jason Newstead to Tal Wilkenfeld, to the hired gun making a few hundred bucks a gig (All of these working pro’s play Sadowsky) as well as MANY others (See artist roster @ www.sadowsky.com

See, but that’s all Semantics....
Roger started his business 40+ years ago, with the much valued input of working musicians. That was literally what helped progress him forward and build his reputation.
Let’s also not forget that most of the folks that are on the artist roster get artist pricing, allowing them to afford one of his Basses...

I think that's akin to calling McDonald's a personal chef because they're willing to hold the pickles.

To the best of my knowledge Roger has always stated that no one has received discounts, with the exception of Newsted who once ordered 6 in a shot, or in short order ...or something to that effect.

The players you linked to do nothing to disprove what I'd stated. Go into real venues and studios. Most have never heard of the brand, or at least never seen one in person, nor do they have much interest in talking about any luxury goods.

And that's perfectly OK! Sadowsky is what it is, and that's a LOT and it's great. It isn't what it isn't, and many think that's also a great thing and that it's often best not to mess with a great thing.

 

[SgtHulka]

Hilarious, look at all the sadowsky owners stumping for their brand because they're fearful their instruments are going to lose value!

 

[bass12]

I liken it to Honda/Acura, Nissan/Infiniti, Toyota/Lexus - different choices for more folks to consider buying. I don't think that people de-value Lexus, Infiniti, or Acura by offering Toyota, Nissan, or Honda - just "different horses for different courses". Have fun, play what you like/can afford, and rock that lowend rumble!!

In your examples we're talking about completely different names on (as far as I know) completely different models of car. The Sadowskys will all sport the Sadowsky name/logo on basses that have the same design and, for all intents and purposes, look the same.

 

[OllyW]

In your examples we're talking about completely different names on (as far as I know) completely different models of car. The Sadowskys will all sport the Sadowsky name/logo on basses that have the same design and, for all intents and purposes, look the same.

The new Metro Express has a unique logo so no chance of mistaking them for the more expensive basses.

 

[PRS-Man23]

So what your saying is the 80+ Sadowsky artists don’t play real venue’s or Studios?

Noted.

I don’t consider Sadowsky NYC a massive production line, more akin to a relatively small custom shop...but however you want to classify “Custom” It’s fine with me.

Im just excited of the prospect that their will be a Sadowsky in my price range, even if it’s not a “real” Sadowsky...
In that case, I guess my Dingwall Combustion isn’t a real Dingwall, my Corvette $$ Rockbass isn’t a real Warwick, My Mexi P Bass isn’t a real Fender, My PRS SE Kingfisher isn’t a real PRS and my Sterling Stingray isn’t a real Musicman. I gotta tell you though, I’ve been playing for 20 years and they suit me just fine and I make some pretty decent money with these junk toys!

 

[ElMon]

Hilarious, look at all the sadowsky owners stumping for their brand because they're fearful their instruments are going to lose value!

?

 

[Jeff Scott]

In your examples we're talking about completely different names on (as far as I know) completely different models of car.

IIRC, at least in Australia, the Honda name is used on the Acura line of vehicles. So no distinction, there.

 

[monkeyland]

The new Metro Express has a unique logo so no chance of mistaking them for the more expensive basses.

That’s most likely one of the early prototypes that roger mentioned in the other video. He also mentioned that the string tree was wrong

 

[Woodchuck]

Hell, I'd buy one.

 

[DWBass]

The new Metro Express has a unique logo so no chance of mistaking them for the more expensive basses.

So wait.....they're not even going to have the Sadowsky name on the bass? Cheap hardware. Possibly Chinese version of preamp. No Sadowsky logo. Definitely no thanks.

 

[bass12]

The new Metro Express has a unique logo so no chance of mistaking them for the more expensive basses.

Interesting if that is, indeed, the finalized design for the headstock logo. I have to say I'm surprised that the Sadowsky name is completely absent.

 

[bass12]

So wait.....they're not even going to have the Sadowsky name on the bass? Cheap hardware. Possibly Chinese version of preamp. No Sadowsky logo. Definitely no thanks.

I haven't heard anything about the preamp but if it's not THE Sadowsky preamp then that's a big part of the equation missing (at least to me).