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Yamaha BB735A vs Sadowsky Metro Express 5 J/J or P/J

#2
Very different in feel for sure. They both make great instruments, but for the price point I'm saying Yamaha. I feel that their value is unmatched in terms of quality for the price.

I also love Sadowsky tone, when equipped with the VTC. The Yamaha neck is more comfortable for my hands than the chunky Metro Express necks. I own a Metroline 5 and the neck is quite a bit thinner from front to back than those of the new Metro Express line. I feel a huge difference between the two Sadowsky versions.

The string spacing is also something to consider, as the BB735A has more narrow string spacing which can take time to get used to for some players. I did find it comfortable when I had the BBP35 for a while, which is the same as the 735A in that regard.

Either way, both can be great. If I had to choose, I'd be buying the Yamaha.
 
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#3
I own a 735a and love it. I have not owned a Metro Express, but I did jam on one for a while at a Music Go Round. They definitely play well, but I like the more narrow spacing of the Yamaha (18mm on Yammy, 19 on Sad).
I also like having the active/passive option. (I can't remember if that's on the Sadowsky.)
Love the super stable neck and the 6-bolt neck attachment.
Also a big fan of string-through body.
Lastly, Yamaha is also ~$200 cheaper, new.
 
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#4
jam.majors said:
I own a 735a and love it. I have not owned a Metro Express, but I did jam on one for a while at a Music Go Round. They definitely play well, but I like the more narrow spacing of the Yamaha (18mm on Yammy, 19 on Sad).
I also like having the active/passive option. (I can't remember if that's on the Sadowsky.)
Love the super stable neck and the 6-bolt neck attachment.
Also a big fan of string-through body.
Lastly, Yamaha is also ~$200 cheaper, new.
Click to expand...
I still have a BB424x that I'll never part with. They are the made extremely well.
 
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#5
Don't sleep on Sadowsky Modern or M/J but yes J style is their bread and butter

Metroexpress now comes with 18mm spacing

Is Active/passive with well respected preamp with or without VTC(I never use tone control on passive But that's me)

Can change preamp to get VTC even with new version with VTC and Mid Boost

Also can change to 19mm bridge
 
#7
I'll chime in and say that the BB735 I own feels like it "should" be worth a lot more than I paid for it new. It's not a flashy instrument, but it has a lot of really thoughtfully designed elements, like the angled through-body stringing option and the neck miter joint.

The preamp on the 735A is very transparent, so much so that if I have the knobs close to center and I forget which position on the switch is active mode, sometimes I have to turn a knob to see if it does anything to remind myself that I'm still in active mode. Having it in active mode with everything flat sounds just like passive mode, only slightly more articulate - handy for the B string.

I haven't played the Sadowsky model so I can't compare, but I'm very happy with my Yamaha.
 
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#8
Yamaha is a great brand and I think the the BB735 is a really solid bass. The Metro Express PJ has been coming with a humcancelling bridge pickup since 2023. The Yamaha comes with boost and cut active electronics and the Sadowsky is boost only. Sadowsky sells preamp upgrades that are easy to install.

Having said all of that, try to play them, if you can.
 
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#9
If you like "the Sadowsky sound", then you have your answer. It's subtle, but it's a real thing. Sure, you can run one passive, but even as Roger says, it's all about the preamp with those basses (so much so that when not using my Sadowsky PJ5 I very often use the Sadowsky outboard pre on my other basses to keep that special sauce going).
 
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#10
+1 for Yamaha

I have the express JJ, the spacing is 18mm but the neck width was made for 19mm spacing, so the G string felt far away from the fretboard edge. Not sure if that bothers you, but I'm bothered, and spend extra cash to buy the 19mm bridge….
 
#12
I just looked at the site and the sadowsky has an 18mm bridge.
"A Sadowsky MetroExpress Quick String Release Bridge for quick and easy string changes. Features a chrome finish and 18 mm string spacing."

I'm now looking at a Sadowsky PJ fretless since Yamaha doesn't make a fretless...
 
#13
Nebadon2000 said:
Metroexpress now comes with 18mm spacing. Also can change to 19mm bridge
Click to expand...
Well, that seems confusing. Must be 19mm neck being used with 18mm bridge?

Chris Chong said:
+1 for Yamaha. I have the express JJ, the spacing is 18mm but the neck width was made for 19mm spacing, so the G string felt far away from the fretboard edge. Not sure if that bothers you, but I'm bothered, and spend extra cash to buy the 19mm bridge
Click to expand...
Ah, there it is. So, both the B and G strings would be farther from neck edges on the 19mm bridge neck using 18mm bridge?

jam.majors said:
I just looked at the site and the Sadowsky MetroExpress has an 18mm bridge.
Click to expand...
Apparently, it's an 18mm bridge on neck designed for 19mm bridge.

Upon checking out the Sadowsky USA club thread, this characteristic seems to be the same for USA custom shop Sadowskys, too. Although USA Sadowsky shop offers 18mm bridge, it's also in conjunction with neck width designed for 19mm bridge. So, both the B and G strings are farther inward from neck edges using 18mm bridge on a 19mm neck. Result? A wider neck, with greater reach than needed for 18mm spacing. From the Sadowsky club thread:

bucephylus said:
. . my issue is with the neck taper, not the string spacing. Yes, Roger offers an 18mm bridge; but, the (19mm) neck taper is the same. That's the aspect I'm interested in scaling back. The width at the 24th fret position on the neck is about 1/4" difference between the two tapers. Perhaps not much difference to some; but a difference maker for me.
Click to expand...

bucephylus said:
I spoke with Roger about this specification this afternoon. He told me that the 18mm neck will be a feature of a limited release Warwick made bass, which will feature some version of the Super J dual coil pickup - kind of a Jazz Bass meets StingRay meets Sadowsky bass. He said their Master shop MIGHT be able to make some variations, including pickup variants. He also said that the NYC shop will NOT retool to support this specification.
Click to expand...

Perhaps a missing element in this topic is manufacturer's data regarding Sadowsky neck widths related to application of varying bridge widths. It's difficult to make true and clear comparisons without it.
 
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#14
I've not try the new J/MM series, but from the pictures (thomann), the B/G strings are close to the edge of the fretboard.
The modern and JJ are similar, B/G are further from the edge.

1770907140011.png

1770907256737.png
 
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