BassAgent

A few weeks back I received a five string Sadowsky MetroExpress to write a review about for De Bassist, the Dutch bass magazine. I was absolutely stupefied by its low weight, great sound and playability so I thought: want a four string version of this. And somehow, I ended up ordering a four and asking Warwick (the guys that make the MetroExpress in China) if I could keep the five (and pay it of course), and that was no problem. So now I have two more or less identical Sadowsky MetroExpress basses which I absolutely love, especially for this price.

That's a legal thing (don't know if that has been discussed in this topic): Roger Sadowsky has said that some guy registered the Sadowsky brand name in China 20 years ago so that's why there's no Sadowsky on the headstock.

So the four string Sadowsky arrived today and the count is at six Jazzes. Awesome.

The four-string is here!

So here's the review I wrote for De Bassist (please excuse any errors or Americanisms, I translated it pretty quickly): Sadowsky is a big and most of all expensive name in the bass world. American master luthier Roger Sadowsky has been building amazing basses (mainly Jazz-like models) in his workshop since the 1980s. To make the brand more available for people without deep pockets, a few years ago the Metro range was introduced, which was produced in Japan. In 2020 Sadowsky started to work with the German brand Warwick: since then Warwick has been building the MetroLine in Germany, and an even more affordable line of basses was introdced: the MetroExpress. These basses are being built in China under supervision of Warwick and according to instructions by the master himself. For under 1000 euros you can be the owner of a “real” Sadowsky: are they worth the money and can you be convinced in the already pretty full world of Jazz Basses? Sadowsky styling If you look at the MetroExpress you immediately see the real Sadowsky shape. The slim body, straight cut retboard and the shape of the headstock tell you immediately from which family these basses are from. The bass I have here is “sage green”, a metallica kind of froggish green which I, especially combined with the maple fretboard, find very charming. The slim body has to big advantages: the playability is absolutely excellent and the weight is very low. This low weight is also caused by the body wood: Warwick uses okume wood for the MetroExpress series, a wood that resembles mahogany but is a lot lighter. On Warwick’s web page they say their basses are always under 9.5 lbs and this bass absolutely fulfills that criterium – in fact, I think it’s well under 9 lbs and that’s very important to many bass players. It’s pretty difficult to find a good five string Jazz that sounds great ánd has a solid B string. I’ll get back to that sound in a bit, but this bass certainly is light. The technical stuff Fortunately you can find knobs on this MetroExpress that you can also find on a regular Sadowsky: volume, balance, active bass and treble (boost only) and the treble knob is a push-pull with which you can switch to passive mode, where it’s good to know that in passive mode you have no passive tone control. It’s all very intuitive, except for one thing: the balance knob is, as on many Sadowskys, reversed. If you turn it clockwise and expect to hear your neck pickup you’re gonna be surprised: it switches to its bridge pickup. Pretty unpractial, but not the end of the world and playing this bass for an hour or so is enough to get used to it. Other than that, the hardware, finish and overall construction are pretty much impeccable and there’s no way to immediately see you’re playing a sub-€1000 bass. Feel and sound It seems pretty easy to build a good Jazz-like bass, considering the enormous amount of brands that have one in their model range. However, it’s pretty difficult to design one that has a sound of its own, its own place in the big market. A bass you buy because it’s this particular bass, not because you just need “a” good Jazz-ish bass. I can’t really determine what it is about this Sadowsky, but I get that particular feeling. I’ve played and owned dozens of Jazz-like basses over the last decades and this one has, like a good Jazz Bass should, something special and unique. I’m not a huge fan of preamps in basses, especially when they lack subtility. The MetroExpress, however, is subtle. You have lots of control over the amount of bass you add, without immediately ripping your trouser legs apart. The same thing goes for the treble knob, but this bass is pretty clear of its own so I couldn’t add much more treble without the sound getting a bit too harsh for me. So, should you buy this bass? If you get a compliment about your sound from the rest of the band, you know there’s something seriously good about your bass. I took this bass to a gig and everybody was surprised about how good this bass sounds. It sounds great through an amp, but also through the PA and my in-ear monitoring, without getting too treble-ish (something that happens a lot with bass when playing on in-ear monitors). Closer investigation on the internet tells me that the first batches of the MetroExpress basses had some initial problems with setup and buzzing electronics, but none of that is an issue on this bass. The MetroExpress is an amazingly well built bass and if you’re looking for a good Jazz for under €1000 it’s definitely worth checking out these instruments. A simple preamp, good sound, comfortable weight, amazing B-string and excellent setup make the MetroExpress a serious contender in this market.

I consider myself "touché'd".

So I'm currently at five Jazzes, after the addition of this baby, and the fun thing is: there's an exact 4-string version of this bass also coming my way. Family pic to follow but I couldn't wait to share this with you guys. Really really dig this bass.

Considering the fact there are only two in existence and one was in Rinus' possession and the other one was built for an American country bass player, that seems unlikely (but not impossible of course).

I'll keep you posted when the four string arrives

Of course but that would also open the discussion about Rickenbacker "selling out". Same thing happens all the time when a brand launches an affordable range of instruments (like Sadowsky recently). And that's something Rickenbacker wants to avoid at all costs. Still, an affordable Rick would be freakin' amazing.

My guess is that it's based on the 480/481 guitars, which would make sense if you look at the body. I think a few parts might be a bit bigger? Their age is about 5 to 6 years apart so that might also be part of the "problem".

It's incredibly light. I don't have scales so can't tell you the exact weight but sub 10 lbs easily.

My guess is: never.

So I was recording an episode of my podcast with Dutch bass legend Rinus Gerritsen of Golden Earring, and I'd heard about him having a shortscale Rickenbacker 4001, of which many people *know* doesn't exist. So I asked him about it, he smiled and said "oh yeah that thing. I was in Chicago and a guy came up to me and said 'hey, you play those cheapo Danelectro basses, shouldn't you play a Rickenbacker?' I didn't really like Rics so I said 'nah the Danelectros are great, and by the way, who are you?' The guy said 'I'm a Ric representative'. So to be sure to get rid of the guy I said 'sorry man I'm a shortscale guy'. The Ric rep said 'oh but we have a shortscale, actually we have two! One was built for this country music guy, so if you tell me at which hotel you're staying I'll have it delivered to you'. So the next day there was a guy with a guitar case and there it was. One of two shortscale Rickenbacker 4001 basses ever built." And here it is. Mapleglo, walnut headstock wings, and it feels...weird. It feels like Ric but...different. Shorter, of course, but also...special. It is of course absolutely unique. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I'm not a big Rickenbacker guy but this is quite something.

So uhm I've decided to keep the five string and to also order the exact same bass as a four string. Can't wait.

The Warwick website isn't very clear about that: it says "J style pickup" and if they're 'actual' Jazz pickups, they're singles.

The gig was an ABBA tribute gig and boy, all those Gunnarsson bass parts are absolutely amazing.

I really didn't hear any humming on the pickups. It might also be because I'm used to badly shielded Fender-ish basses (the JMJ is, as @ezbass mentioned, also poorly shielded and my two old Fenders are pretty hummy as well) so I have a finger connected to the strings at all times, or the volume turned all the way down. Neither me or the sound guy noticed any humming. Even when we played One Of Us (ABBA song, bridge pickup only) there were no issues.

Oh man, so sorry to hear this. RIP MB1.

So my review isn't due to print for a few weeks so a translated version will have to wait a while too, but I can say I liked it so much I'm going to order a four string version of the bass I have here. I already own an amazing five string Jazz (with my De Gier Bebop) so a fiver won't get used a lot here, but a four string version will definitely get a lot of hours. I took the fiver to a gig a few weeks ago and my face pretty much tells how that went...😁

You take my exaggarations way too seriously😄 But okay, I might have overdone it this time. Sorry 'bout that. But it still feels weird. On the other hand: I did a gig tonight with this bass and it is absolutely awesome. Sounds great, the weight is really a big plus and I didn't even fail when switching pickups

Turn a knob towards the bridge, I'd expect to hear the bridge pickup. That makes more sense to me

You people are weird (Not really, and I could probably get used to it as it would be my only bass with a balance pot).

As long as it sounds great, looks cool and plays nice, it's all good with me😎

I know it's standard but it still feels like a flaw in design I've had the bass open and of course it's easy to flip the wires, but still...