your Sadowsky PJ setup

[nostatic]

yeah, yeah, there are the Club Sadowsky threads...the problem is that PJs are the vast minority there, and I'm trying to gather a bit more user feedback to figure out my wood combo. While I like my alder/morado Metro PJ5, I figure there is always room for improvement. I have not seen many ash/rw builds, and while I've never warmed to the JJ in ash/maple, I'm wondering about that in PJ. Most of the "conventional wisdom base" is with the JJ, and I can't help but feel that the PJ is a pretty different sonic starting point.

btw, saw Tommy Emmanuel last night. Had front row center (dumb luck), he was 5' away from me. Religious experience. You should put seeing him on your bucket list. Seriously. He exemplifies the reason to make music - pure joy.

 

[BartmanPDX]

Well, mine is an '03 alder/braz. rosewood NYC PJ.

I think wood plays a role in the tone (and it's one I absolutely love), but I don't think it's as big an influence as the difference between say a 4- and 5-string bass, just because of the neck mass and such. So one option might be to get a 4-string as a contrast. As far as ash/maple, it will probably sound a little snappier, but I'm of the belief that morado is nearly as bright as maple, and that the fingerboard wood plays more of a role than body wood.

You could also look out for a used later NYC PJ, which would have the chambered body which would affect the tone as well.

Personally, I ordered an ash/maple Will Lee as a contrast to the PJ, but I like JJs too. I love the alder/BRW P tone, so an ash/maple JJ sounded like the perfect contrast (for me).

 

[nostatic]

Yeah, I think I'm totally over-analyzing this. Shocking. I gotta go with my gut which is alder/rw, and I think I'll bump up to Bolivian (maybe Braz) RW over Morado to really get the fat/warm vibe. Then I think I'll look out for a used ash/maple 4 string JJ as a "stunt bass", as I've actually gotten more comfortable playing a 4. But my main sound is much more in the 60's vibe.

 

[bikeplate]

HI

Hey man. Ive owned three 4 string pj's. Two were NYC's and I still have my metro hybrid. One was ash/morado, the other was alder/braz. My metro is ash/maple and I prefer it over the 2 NYC's. Its all preference, of course. I pretty much have always preferred ash bodied Sadowsky's so go figure. The Alder/braz bass was the warmest of them all. Great bass. The ash/morado was a very close 2nd to my metro. I liked it so much I tried to buy it back from the guy I traded it to. LOL. Roger offered me the hybrid and I fell in love. I think the combination of the alder body and the PJ setup was just to warm and round for my liking. Couldnt get the zing out of it that I can get with an ash/maple PJ. My 2 cents. Have fun

Rob

 

[JimS]

Mine is alder and brazilian with a spalt top. I wanted it to contrast with my ash and maple Sadowsky J bass.

But I imagine a maple board P would be a creature of thunder and sparkle.

 

[theaterbass29]

I have had 2 PJ5s both NYC and Metro, along with a couple of Jazz, and a couple of 24F5. Along with many other makes and models. My experience tells me that the majority of the tone is in the neck/fingerboard, and not so much in the body. Although, Alder is definitely warmer and heavier, versus the lighter weight Ash body, which is always punchier in the low mids, but scooped around 400hz up thru the upper mids. Although I currently own and play an Alder/RW PJ5, I really miss my Ash/Maple 24F5. I dont think Roger does custom necks on Metros but if he did, I would think an Ash body with Morado fingerboard would sound killer. But I can really tell more difference between Maple and Rosewood fingerboards. The maple is brighter, snappier, and seems to give more of the Marcus Miller Hi-end tone, versus the Rosewood is smoother, rounder, and speaks more in the midrange, with smooth lows and mellow highs. Also, neck construction, such as, bolt-on or set-neck or neck-thru, can also affect tone. Rogers basses are always punchy, due to a tight bolt-on (Fender style) neck. Again, an Ash bodied, Morado fingerboard PJ would be very punchy and tight in the low mids, but with a smooth top end, and the bass would be roughly 1 lb lighter in weight.

As for Tommy Emmanuel, I use to set his guitars up for him when he first started coming over to the States back around 1996 at a store in Knoxville, TN called Broadway Sound. The owner was a Chet Atkins freak and discovered T.E. early on and would hire him for clinics and private shows. He was always very nice and humble. Funny story about Tommy, he told me that he learned to play from old American and European import records, such as bands like the Shadows. The didnt have any Fender basses in Austrailia to speak of, so he didnt know there was such thing as a bass, so he would learn to play both the guitar parts and the bass parts because he thought that is what everyone else was doing. Overacheiver of the Century.