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Sadowsky

#41
bass12 said:
+1 The question was harmless enough. And, to be honest, some basses do work better for certain styles of music. I personally would not take a Zon to a Motown revue.
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When I had a Modulus Q5, I used it for Motown, blues, country. I'd stay on the neck pickup and fatten up the tone.

That said, if I were doing a high-dollar high-visibility Motown revue I'd definitely use my Sadowsky P-bass... mostly for appearance's sake, but partly because it sounds more like a Fender than the Modulus did.
 
#42
Fuzzbass said:
When I had a Modulus Q5, I used it for Motown, blues, country. I'd stay on the neck pickup and fatten up the tone.

That said, if I were doing a high-dollar high-visibility Motown revue I'd definitely use my Sadowsky P-bass... mostly for appearance's sake, but partly because it sounds more like a Fender than the Modulus did.
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This is a topic (just slightly OT) near and dear to my heart.

Using Motown as an example, to me, in the year 2010, there is absolutely NO reason (other than doing a tribute show) to vibe the same tone as those original records. There is only one thing worse for me than a cover band stuck playing 30 or 40 year old tunes, and that is a cover band playing those tunes with 'vintage tone', which to most modern ears, sounds muddy, bloomy, distorted, and just 'old and tired'.

While the vast majority of cover bands/party bands, etc. have long ago eliminated those 60's tunes from their playbook (if they want to work relatively high end gigs anyway), those that have kept a few (including the various bands I freelance with) are all about updating the arrangements and the 'sound'.

That's a long winded way of saying that thinking you need a certain instrument for certain tunes (again, unless you are doing a true 'tribute' sort of thing) is not the way to think about it in 2010! IMO!
 
#43
KJung said:
. . . That's a long winded way of saying that thinking you need a certain instrument for certain tunes (again, unless you are doing a true 'tribute' sort of thing) is not the way to think about it in 2010! IMO!
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I have to jump on board this train and toot the horn.

I think I also have some experience and examples that add to this. I have been playing Christain Praise and Worship music for over a decade now. And, the very interesting thing about P/W is that the string that is common through it is the lyrical message. That message can be over most any style of music.

Depending on the venue and the gathered group of worshipers, I have played heavy rock, pop, country, soul, R&B and all sorts of various one-offs in odd styles. Not once did I ever sweat trying to get a tone that was ideal for the particular style. Every time, I just get the best sound I can get out of what I have to work with and give it all I can.
 
#44
Everything's pretty well covered here, but, I use my Sadowsky's for whatever I want and haven't had any trouble at all dialing in what I need for whatever has been required.
The preamp and vintage tone control add up to great flexibility.
 
#45
KJung said:
This is a topic (just slightly OT) near and dear to my heart.

Using Motown as an example, to me, in the year 2010, there is absolutely NO reason (other than doing a tribute show) to vibe the same tone as those original records. There is only one thing worse for me than a cover band stuck playing 30 or 40 year old tunes, and that is a cover band playing those tunes with 'vintage tone', which to most modern ears, sounds muddy, bloomy, distorted, and just 'old and tired'.

While the vast majority of cover bands/party bands, etc. have long ago eliminated those 60's tunes from their playbook (if they want to work relatively high end gigs anyway), those that have kept a few (including the various bands I freelance with) are all about updating the arrangements and the 'sound'.

That's a long winded way of saying that thinking you need a certain instrument for certain tunes (again, unless you are doing a true 'tribute' sort of thing) is not the way to think about it in 2010! IMO!
Click to expand...

+1 When my old Soul/Funk/R&B did Motown, we didn't worry about sounding era-correct - we maintained the essence of the tunes but gave it our own spin, which included my active 5 string. Nothing but compliments.

Same with more modern songs too - covers to me are most fun when you do it a bit different and make it your own.

J
 
#46
KJung said:
That's a long winded way of saying that thinking you need a certain instrument for certain tunes (again, unless you are doing a true 'tribute' sort of thing) is not the way to think about it in 2010! IMO!
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I generally agree, as noted in my previous post. That said, I would not consider it the least bit unreasonable for a bandleader to request a more traditional tone, especially in a high-dollar "true tribute" situation. I'd do the best I could to make him happy, including stringing with flats or tapes if necessary.

FWIW flats would never be my primary string, but I usually keep one bass strung with 'em. With technique and EQ you can get rounds to kinda sound like flats, but it's never the same.
 
#49
KJung said:
This is a topic (just slightly OT) near and dear to my heart.

Using Motown as an example, to me, in the year 2010, there is absolutely NO reason (other than doing a tribute show) to vibe the same tone as those original records.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily the "same tone" but a tone that is more in line with what one might expect to hear given the style of music. This can be an issue as much for the bassist as for the other musicians on stage and the audience members. I wouldn't take, for example, a Zon (or a Warwick, or a...) to a Motown revue partly because I would want more fatness coming off the D and G strings than I'd be likely to get from those basses. I also would never take a P bass with flats to a Level 42 tribute gig...
 
#50
I recently sold my sadowsky since I didn't like it enough to justify the money tied in it but still I say that the idea of sadowsky bass not being suited to a particular style of music is simply not true. It's hard to find a better made instrument with more versatility. Besides, they have a habit of sounding simply stunning in the mix.
 
#51
Sartori said:
Seriously? You can't hear that mean bass in this?

He's practically not there at all on ...And Justice For All, but the bass is pretty present in the mix on all subsequent albums.

Plus, he's considerably louder on the Voivod albums he's played on, and is still using Sadowsky basses in that band.
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Here are a couple of live recordings where you can hear Newsted's Sadowsky:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl-o5gtWilo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wfllKiTthw

And just for fun here's a little video of Ozzy singing after, what I'm guessing, is too much cough syrup or maybe one too many allergy pills:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wJkUX0xcpo

The bass player touring with Bon Jovi plays a Sadowsky which is great because if you take your lady friend to the concert you'll both have something to fantasize about. :hiding:
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#52
bass12 said:
Not necessarily the "same tone" but a tone that is more in line with what one might expect to hear given the style of music. This can be an issue as much for the bassist as for the other musicians on stage and the audience members. I wouldn't take, for example, a Zon (or a Warwick, or a...) to a Motown revue partly because I would want more fatness coming off the D and G strings than I'd be likely to get from those basses. I also would never take a P bass with flats to a Level 42 tribute gig...
Click to expand...

Do you have a Zon? Neither of mine have thin D or G strings. If I want to cop a Motown feel (and I play various tunes in a couple different bands) it comes down to technique and eq. My fretted Zon has a lot of midrange - pretty much anti-modern "scooped" tone. It'll sit just fine in a mix on a Motown tune.

And if you really want to get crazy, I play my Rob Allen fretless on some of the tunes as well. In that case a bit of eq and compression tightens up the huge bottom end and it kills.

I'm with Ken on this - picking gear based on what someone used 40 years ago maybe isn't the way to approach things. Instead, you have to determine what tone best serves the song in the given situation, and then nail it. The only time I think a certain instrument is totally dictated is if the leader is insisting on a "look" rather than a sound. A good player likely isn't going to show up for a Motown gig with a hypermodern sound - not because it isn't the right gear but it doesn't serve the music. I've argued before that any good articulate instrument can cover 99% of music if you put it in the right hands with a decent amp. That is assuming that the role of the bass is to support the music rather than be a featured instrument.
 
#53
nostatic said:
...picking gear based on what someone used 40 years ago maybe isn't the way to approach things. Instead, you have to determine what tone best serves the song in the given situation, and then nail it...

...I've argued before that any good articulate instrument can cover 99% of music if you put it in the right hands with a decent amp...
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+1

Amen on both excellent points.

Furthermore, it is the musicianship ("right hands") that really matters. Agreed--that also includes how one uses the tone-color pallet of ANY given instrument in the musical situation. :cool:
 
#55
nostatic said:
Do you have a Zon? Neither of mine have thin D or G strings. If I want to cop a Motown feel (and I play various tunes in a couple different bands) it comes down to technique and eq. My fretted Zon has a lot of midrange - pretty much anti-modern "scooped" tone. It'll sit just fine in a mix on a Motown tune.

And if you really want to get crazy, I play my Rob Allen fretless on some of the tunes as well. In that case a bit of eq and compression tightens up the huge bottom end and it kills.

I'm with Ken on this - picking gear based on what someone used 40 years ago maybe isn't the way to approach things. Instead, you have to determine what tone best serves the song in the given situation, and then nail it. The only time I think a certain instrument is totally dictated is if the leader is insisting on a "look" rather than a sound. A good player likely isn't going to show up for a Motown gig with a hypermodern sound - not because it isn't the right gear but it doesn't serve the music. I've argued before that any good articulate instrument can cover 99% of music if you put it in the right hands with a decent amp. That is assuming that the role of the bass is to support the music rather than be a featured instrument.
Click to expand...

I play different basses on different gigs because I appreciate the difference in the tone of each of my basses. If all of my basses could sound the same or could, at the very least, give me the sound I want for any given situation I would probably sell all but one or two of them. And you said it yourself, a good player isn't likely to show up to a Motown gig with a hypermodern sound because it won't serve the music.
 
#56
sok monkee said:
I could take any of my Sadowskys to any gig and be completely happy! in fact at this point its just Sadowsky & a countryman DI to the FOH, and straight into my amp. I use very little on board pre. and just let the Sad. do its thing.

Mike
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+1

I love to use my P/J with my outboard pre amp EQ defeated. While not technically as gnarly or greedy as one might find, it still KILLS in the most wonderful unexpected way. This bass just KNOWS something...:hyper:
 
#58
scubaduba said:
So is it really the Sadowsky pups and pre that make the sound? I mean, what would sadowsky pups and pre sound like in, say, a Peavy or Fender or Lakland...
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I would say it would be an improvement. However, I think the Sadowsky sound is in the whole package. Not just the electronics.
 

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