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The Fendowsky Club

#21
MaddAnthony_59 said:
Well, what exactly is it that makes a Sadowsky a Sadowsky? Hasn't Roger bassicly taken a Fender bass, and added his pups & pre?
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No.

Yes, I know there's a bit more to it than that.
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There's a lot more to it than that.

Sadowsky is not affiliated with Fender, nor are any of their products made by FMIC. Having a visible similarity to Fender from the third row of a concert hall does not make any instrument a Fender.
 
#24
WoodyG3 said:
Then there are those people who would say that as soon as you change the pickups in a Fender, it's just not really a Fender anymore. Kinda' like putting a Chevy engine in a Ford. ;)

Of course, there are a lot of '32 Ford hot rods out there with Chevy engines in them. :D
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I do understand the collector's mentality. I've also met Ford truck owners who would drive a Ford minivan before they'd drive a Chevy truck, and the reverse. Dodge has some pull in that area as well.

That said, Ford and Chevy are at pretty much the same place in the automotive quality food chain. A more accurate analogy would be one where a guy put a Porsche engine in a VW and called it a Porschewagon.
 
#26
tidnab said:
I was in a store today playing a sadowsky... (what I believe to be an MV5... it just felt much better than my MIA JAzz V.. (and I love the fender)... forget the fact that it sounded better (which it did) but it just felt great... I'm not even sure why... it was just ez to play too...

What I don't understand is the price I was told was 3K out the door... OK... that's cool... but on sadowsky's web site it's 2385...

I haven't figured that out yet.... it was VERY nice though...
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No, that's NOT cool. An MV5 is $2385.00!

Roger
 
#27
Auriaprottu said:
Sadowsky is not affiliated with Fender, nor are any of their products made by FMIC. Having a visible similarity to Fender from the third row of a concert hall does not make any instrument a Fender.
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Thanks for stating the obvious. But you've missed my point. A Sadowsky is obviously not a Fender, and vice versa.

Roger Sadowsky CERTAINLY took Modifying a Fender Bass to the Nth level. He not only upgraded the electronics, but upgraded the entire instrument. But what instrument did he start with? My guess is a Fender Jazz bass. But perhaps it was a P...

Maybe this is offensive to Sadowsky owners. I understand this concept of "Snob Appeal". I drive a Maserati. When it gets confused with a "Lesser Car" it stings...
 
#30
MaddAnthony_59 said:
Well, what exactly is it that makes a Sadowsky a Sadowsky? Hasn't Roger bassicly taken a Fender bass, and added his pups & pre?
Click to expand...

MaddAnthony_59 said:
Thanks for stating the obvious. But you've missed my point. A Sadowsky is obviously not a Fender, and vice versa.
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I may very well have missed your point IF your point was to say that Roger started out modifying Fenders. I assumed that you were implying that this is what he does today. It isn't. If that wasn't what you were implying, I apologize.

Roger Sadowsky CERTAINLY took Modifying a Fender Bass to the Nth level. He not only upgraded the electronics, but upgraded the entire instrument.
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...and a few years later, he started his own bass-building company. I don't know how long after that that he continued to work on and mod the Fenders people brought to him, but I'm sure he called them Fenders and nothing else no matter what he did to them.

Maybe this is offensive to Sadowsky owners. I understand this concept of "Snob Appeal". I drive a Maserati. When it gets confused with a "Lesser Car" it stings...
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I don't own a Sadowsky, but I'd be stung by this thread if I did, yeah.
 
#31
Auriaprottu said:
I assumed that you were implying that this is what he does today. It isn't.
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My Bad. Not what I was implying.

Auriaprottu said:
...and a few years later, he started his own bass-building company.
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Now THAT's a story I'd like to hear Mr. Sadowsky tell! Probably a little off topic here though. I wonder if he ever played with the idea of calling his Modded creations Fendowsky's, or does some Clever TBer get the credit?

Auriaprottu said:
...I don't own a Sadowsky, but I'd be stung by this thread if I did, yeah.
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I don't either yet. And that stings a little too... :crying:
 
#32
MaddAnthony_59 said:
Now THAT's a story I'd like to hear Mr. Sadowsky tell! Probably a little off topic here though. I wonder if he ever played with the idea of calling his Modded creations Fendowsky's, or does some Clever TBer get the credit?
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Well, in truth, they aren't modded creations. They aren't "modded" anything. That's kind of the point I was making. They are stock Sadowskys, period. He doesn't do work on Fenders anymore, and AFAIK, hasn't in a couple of years.
 
#35
Although I never thought of it as such, I am an owner of an original Fendowsky ( by your definitions). In 1987, I brought my '74 jazz bass to Roger for a fret job and installation of his preamp ( and a few other tweaks). I did this after playing a number of his basses in the shop ( 1600 Broadway) and although I loved the sound, I liked the feel of my "74 too much. It was a pretty penny for all the work, but that bass is coveted by all who play it. He installed a Bartolini humbucker where a P pickup would go, I removed the other J pickup and he wired the Bart Series, Parallel, and single coil. But its still a Fender ( even though all thats left thats Fender is the neck and the body)
 
#37
Famous Shamus said:
Here's an MIJ 75 Reissue that I sold here. (hope the current owner doesn't mind.) The pickups are the original Fenders mated to the Sadowsky pre- with the VTC. This bass sounded amazing and prompted me to go out and buy a similar Sadowsky Metro UV-70.

Note the work was done at Rogers shop...To my understanding he does not work on other basses anymore, just Sadowsky's.

P1040702.jpg


P1040698.jpg
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Hi there - i am the actual owner of this bass.After it did the tour of the world (is in the Netherlands now) it finally ended up in my hands - and that's where is going to stay forever!!!!
I'ts an awesome bass,fantastic feel and tone.
It is now my main instrument - i've only added an Hipshot D extender. There is nothing else I need now - this bass deleted at glance any GAS I may still had...HAPPY!!!:hyper:
 
#40
I dropped the Sadowsky Jazz HC's in my Fender Jazz a couple of weeks ago. Loving the Tone! I'm looking to setup the Par/Single/Series switches, then drop the Sadowsky Pre/VTC in.:hyper:

Once the economy picks back up I think I'll go All In for a REAL Sadowsky!:bassist:
 

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