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What makes a Sadowsky better than a Music Man or a Modulus?
- Thread starter Harper
- Start date
Hi,
I do not understand this sentence. What do you consider to be "the bass" and what are the other "rest of its parts" it is supposed to work with perfectly?
A bass is a man made tool, constructed of parts - a few pieces of wood, metal, plastic, and if you're lucky a small white piece of a dead animal. That's all dry facts. There is no secret entity called "bass" which may or may not "work" with "other" parts.
If you say a Sadowsky works better for you, your Playing, your Music....then ist is. If your Musicman does, it's not.
Means: Only YOU make one Bass better then another, because what works best for you is everything that counts.
This is a nice cliché but it doesn't hold water. Some basses are better made than others, period.
I believe there is. Wood is funny sometimes. I firmly believe in what Roger talks about when he discusses choosing the right wood. Also, when you are getting your parts from say Warmoth, there is always the chance that something went wrong during manufacturing and the neck or body might not work together.
As far as something being "not engineered to work with it's parts", I don't buy that. Unless something is flawed, it should work fine. Whether it has that "magic" that some people talk about...that's up to the player.
For example, when you've adjusted the truss rod correctly and you still can't get medium/low action before the saddles bottom out, the rest of the bass is not working "perfectly" with the bridge. Or if the body is too heavy compared to the neck and it creates too much body dive, like on my previous F-Bass, the body is not working perfectly with the neck. Or if the nut is cut too high on a bass with small frets or if the there is too little space between the 1st and 5th strings and the edges of the fretboard making your strings roll off, or if the preamp and the woods combine to produce a thin sounding bass or too boomy, etc. IMO, this is where Sadowskys and the other top builders shine.
I'm talking construction, lets assume all woods are equal.
So, to answer my question, you say that the "bass entity" is the wood and that it should be engineered (as to john nam) to work with the other parts? I don't buy it either.
It seems like this discussion has taken a turn towards getting the most bass for the least amount of money.
Instead of spending all that money with Warmoth and Allparts, why not just get a very nice looking SX bass (I see them on their web site for about $115), have the neck re shaped and a professional setup.
Wouldn't that give you a good playing bass and the most money left in your pocket?
Instead of spending all that money with Warmoth and Allparts, why not just get a very nice looking SX bass (I see them on their web site for about $115), have the neck re shaped and a professional setup.
Wouldn't that give you a good playing bass and the most money left in your pocket?
Sorry to ruin it for you but I remember a few times on the Sadowsky Club thread when people complained exactly about this - saddles bottom out. I only recall Metro's; I actually had it myself with my previous Metro MV4, which was a killer bass BTW. This can be solved easily by shimming the neck or filling the G saddle from its bottom.
Willsellout, I said good 4 strings are easier to find than good 5 strings because:
1) There are many parts manufacturers that make cheap and decent 4 string parts, but not 5 string parts. USACG and Warmoth does, but I'm talking about in the Mighty Mite and Allparts price range.
2) The B string brings a whole new set of problems to the equation (34" or 35", tightness of the B, thinness of the G when it's 35", string tree?, string through body?, even volume with the other strings?, tapered wound strings or not, increased weight for 5s, increased stress on neck, 19mm or narrower?, etc.)
3) What many 5 string players want today is 34" with 19mm spacing, and surprisingly few basses have those specs, especially under $2000. Add to that passive/active modes, reasonable weight, a tight B, and under $2000, you're down to just a few choices (actually I can't think of any at the moment).
1) There are many parts manufacturers that make cheap and decent 4 string parts, but not 5 string parts. USACG and Warmoth does, but I'm talking about in the Mighty Mite and Allparts price range.
2) The B string brings a whole new set of problems to the equation (34" or 35", tightness of the B, thinness of the G when it's 35", string tree?, string through body?, even volume with the other strings?, tapered wound strings or not, increased weight for 5s, increased stress on neck, 19mm or narrower?, etc.)
3) What many 5 string players want today is 34" with 19mm spacing, and surprisingly few basses have those specs, especially under $2000. Add to that passive/active modes, reasonable weight, a tight B, and under $2000, you're down to just a few choices (actually I can't think of any at the moment).
Absolutely. I'm contemplating doing this, although I was wanting the SX with the hum bucker and the jazz pickup and it seems to have disappeared from the site
I had big plans but I didn't pull the trigger fast enough I guess.
A bass is a "system". My analogy is setting up automobile suspension for track use. Often guys will buy a really nice set of coilover shocks and then wonder why the handling hasn't improved as much as they expected. The reason is that you have multiple parts interacting and a variety of things you can adjust. A builder (both car and bass) knows his parts and knows that works best together.
And all woods are not equal.
And all woods are not equal.
And at some point, you're still gonna have to play Sweet Home Alabama on it. 
The great equalizer.
If it makes you enjoy playing more, and you've got the coin, it's worth it. We're only here for a short time, do what makes you happy. Can you put a price on the feeling you get onstage when you feel everything is perfect?
The great equalizer.
If it makes you enjoy playing more, and you've got the coin, it's worth it. We're only here for a short time, do what makes you happy. Can you put a price on the feeling you get onstage when you feel everything is perfect?
And at some point, you're still gonna have to play Sweet Home Alabama on it.
The great equalizer.
If it makes you enjoy playing more, and you've got the coin, it's worth it. We're only here for a short time, do what makes you happy. Can you put a price on the feeling you get onstage when you feel everything is perfect?
Well said!
I've read this entire thread, and watched the entire video posted early on... It seems Roger Sadowsky has a beautiful obsession with setup and fretwork, to say the least. Good stuff!
what I didn't mention was that I also prefer a wider 1.875" (1 7/8") nut and the imported MTDs, Brutes, Cort GBs, and a few other basses all have 1.75". just my preference.
Certainly works for me! But what you end up with is something more along the lines of a Fender than a Sadowsky. If you want something like a nice Am. Std. Fender, an upgraded SX works very nicely. Sure it's sort of slapped together, but one CAN take it apart and put it back together right. Not $115. In fact it starts to add up if you want to get to the upper levels. For example new hum cancelling pickups add $200. Plek job on frets add $200. New decent bridge, nut, tuning machines add $200. New pickguard add $50. New active preamp (we are building toward a Sadowsky here) another $200. Hence you are pushing a grand. Plus there is all the usual SX work of shielding and neck joints ect. But you get a REALLY nice bass out it. Especially if you pick and choose the wood of the SX you put cash into.
But it's still not a Sadowsky. But it's not 5 grand either. For example your SX will not be chambered with a coffee table top. Yes, you COULD do it, but can you imagine the expense of setting up the equipment to do that for one bass? And Roger believes that the best feeling/playing basses are those where you install the frets properly to begin with, not just slap them in there and then grind them even. So you don't have that unless you change the neck. And a Sadowsky has a Sadowsky preamp. Yes you could buy one, but they aren't cheap. And lastly you can see that there is a HUGE hassle involved in trying to do what Roger does for a single bass. How much is your time worth? Do you even have the skilz to do the job?
The bottom line is that I've got a bunch of SX bar basses that play/sound wonderful at that level. Since my time isn't worth much I saved a ton of cash. No way I'm gonna line up 5 Sadowskys along the wall. But my goals were a lot lower. As you can see if you want to upgrade to a Sadowsky level you have to put a lot more effort and money into it which is why they cost what they do. It's just not practical to do what Roger does for just one bass. Not unless you basement is full of CNC cutters, presses and the like. Cripes just look at the chambers in his hollow body, just PROGRAMMING the cutter to do that is a major project. And not only that, just how many basses would you have to build before you figured out the optimum chambering layout? These are things you are paying for when you buy a Sadowsky.
So my bottom line is that if I want a nice playable good sounding and looking bar bass I buy an SX (I did). IF I want what Sadowsky offers, I'd get a used Sadowsky in good shape and that is probably about as much money as you can save. But I really don't want what he builds. Which is why I've got a Modulus. (bought used in good shape)
