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The Warwick Influence! J/MM Sadowsky Metro

#81
scuzzy said:
It really gives a bark and clarity to a low B I haven't found in another pickup. With that, no sacrifice in low end. That's probably why a 34" scale stingray 5 still sounds so great on the low B. Just my opinion.

Never played a high end sadowsky. Played a mij at CME last month, but it was set up terribly, so not a good first impression. I could see it might be great with a proper setup.
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You make a very good point about StingRay5 B strings . That makes sense. I’ve always loved the StingRay sound since the 2band originals. But it wasn’t until I became a dedicated 5 string player and the new Specials were introduced that I fell head over heals for the StingRay5. I think it’s the best sounding easiest playing B in the business . Thunders like no other.
I’m in the process of becoming exclusive to those type of pickups .
 
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#82
LadyLoveStingRay5 said:
You make a very good point about StingRay5 B strings . That makes sense. I’ve always loved the StingRay sound since the 2band originals. But it wasn’t until I became a dedicated 5 string player and the new Specials were introduced that I fell head over heals for the StingRay5. I think it’s the best sounding easiest playing B in the business . Thunders like no other.
I’m in the process of becoming exclusive to those type of pickups .
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Close to the bridge, the big humbucker can give the clarity and definition of single coil with a thickness a single coil cannot match. Closer to the neck, you hit the sweet spot and get that Stingray sound. In the P-bass position like a Warrior or one of the pickups on my Super 5, it do the P-bass thing with a little more oomph.
 
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#83
Dr. Cheese said:
Close to the bridge, the big humbucker can give the clarity and definition of single coil with a thickness a single coil cannot match. Closer to the neck, you hit the sweet spot and get that Stingray sound. In the P-bass position like a Warrior or one of the pickups on my Super 5, it do the P-bass thing with a little more oomph.
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My favorite Warrior Bass is the Messenger . ( Their version of the StingRay). I wouldn’t mind one of those for myself. If I ever spot a used 5 for the right price I won’t pass it up.

Close to the bridge big Humbucker … that’s what I like about my Sandberg .

MTD Super 5 is a great example of doing something innovative with 2 of those big Humbuckers by pushing them together. But I know I’m preaching to the choir.
 
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#84
LadyLoveStingRay5 said:
My favorite Warrior Bass is the Messenger . ( Their version of the StingRay). I wouldn’t mind one of those for myself. If I ever spot a used 5 for the right price I won’t pass it up.

Close to the bridge big Humbucker … that’s what I like about my Sandberg .

MTD Super 5 is a great example of doing something innovative with 2 of those big Humbuckers by pushing them together. But I know I’m preaching to the choir.
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I was playing my Super 5 today, and I was thinking that as nice as that Sadowsky is, my Super 5 has more tonal options.
 
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#89
Was excited till I saw the nut width was 1.75” on the 5 string. And now I found out on this thread that the string spacing is 18mm. I thought for sure they would offer regular Sadowsky specs because it’s a Sadowsky and due to the demand for 19mm spacing Stingrays with a wider nut. Damn, I guess I have to wait for the next company to come along that offers that. Bummer!! Lakland comes close minus the 35” scale and slightly thinner nut than a regular Sadowsky.
 
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#93
d_g said:
Also interested in this - seems to be very little info about but quite a few people must have them by now?

And very heard to search on here with all the variations of MJ/MMJ/MM-J etc!
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I have one and love it! The MM pickup gives the bass a thicker tone than just a JJ, but it can still get close to a JJ sound with the MM in single coil mode. With both pickups having a switch for parallel, single coil, or series, you can get a LOT of tonal variety. The neck J does have a bit of a volume drop when used in either parallel or series modes (compared to the volume of the MM), but comes back up in single coil mode.

My favorite settings are the MM in series and the J in single. I'm still not a fan of the pickguard and took mine off, but I love the bass overall, especially how it was built around 18mm spacing with a slimmer neck and nut width than the typical Sadowsky dimensions. Bonus with the MJ basses is that you get a version of the mid boost preamp, though it doesn't have the toggle switches nor the switch up front, but rather a couple of trim pots in the cavity to control things (one for mid boost, one for overall gain it seems). I'm not sure which frequency it's boosting and haven't seen much talk about that in general, it's kind of an easter egg, but it's just another tonal option these basses have in their toolbox.
 
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#96
scubaduba said:
I have had a J/MM now since my earlier posting. I've had two actually. I really like the sound and versatility. I love the neck in single coil and the bridge in Series. Nice girthy fat tone.
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Did you find you had any hum coming from the spilt coil J pickup? I just bought one and the neck pickup has some hum like a true single coil. Trying to figure out if it’s normal. I’ve had some split coil jazz pickups before that also were not completely noise canceling.
 
#98
FWIW, the neck pickup on the J/MM is a stacked coil, not a split coil - at least not what Sadowsky terms a split coil. I always run mine in single coil mode and the bridge pickup in series; no hum that I’ve ever noticed.
 

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