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THE GB PORN THREAD


EBS_freak

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[quote name='chubbyboybass' post='483630' date='May 9 2009, 11:40 AM']A part of me is wondering whether that is due to the one piece body and one piece neck. Its only made of 3 bits of wood and the Rumour is made from 13.[/quote]

Who knows?!

The next Rumour is a complete different kettle of fish - I'll have to see how different (if at all) that sounds...

In for a bit of a wait before I can tell you that though!

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[quote name='phsycoandy' post='484044' date='May 9 2009, 10:16 PM']Ive toyed with a Sadowsky, but I have to say nothing ive played comes any where near the sound of my Spitfire.[/quote]

I've never got the appeal of Sadowsky... Warmoth with Sadowsky on the headstock... They're nice... but what's that different about them?! Each to their own though I suppose!

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[quote name='Gunsfreddy2003' post='484995' date='May 11 2009, 12:41 PM']See they don't all end up in Lichfield!!![/quote]

Ah... well, not yet anyway. It will.

Nah, that bass doesn't appeal to me as much as the ones that I have got so it would be a excessive purchase. Anyway, I've got to save my pennies for my mental Rumour 5 showbiz bass :) Ha ha...

And then a fretless that I have an idea for... but I want to see how the bass that is currently being finished turns out to see if that influences my plans...

Right. Who's up for doing a bank job?

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[quote name='EBS_freak' post='484108' date='May 10 2009, 12:30 AM']I've never got the appeal of Sadowsky... Warmoth with Sadowsky on the headstock... They're nice... but what's that different about them?! Each to their own though I suppose![/quote]

I just don't understand this. Warmoth is nothing to do with Sadowsky? :)

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[quote name='Toasted' post='486966' date='May 13 2009, 03:07 PM']I just don't understand this. Warmoth is nothing to do with Sadowsky? :)[/quote]

Hi Toasted... Sorry about that...

OK... maybe I was being a bit harsh... he [i]used[/i] to use Warmoth... :rolleyes: I wasn't out for Sadowsky, lots of manufacturers have adopted similar practices.

Anyway... CNC and mass produced electronics eh? I guess that the cost of a GB where the circuits are hand soldered and the necks and bodies are cut by hand are a bargain!

From Roger himself -

1) Several people have posted and commented that Sadowsky uses Warmoth parts. I would like to address this for what I hope will be the last time. I did use some Warmoth parts during the 80's and have ordered an occasional neck from them for some of our repair customers during the years. However, Sadowsky has not used any Warmoth necks or bodies on their basses for at least the last 10 years.

2) Regarding subcontractors....Many instrument companies use subcontractors. It is very difficult to balance quality and maintain costs. If we were making every body by "hand" (which no one really does), costs would be absurdly high and consistancy would be very low. The average cost of a CNC machine (a computerized carving machine), with software, is about $125,000.00. Because that is beyond the means of most of us "smaller" guys, there are companies that own these machines who make parts for the "rest of us". Sadowsky, Lakland, Lull, Turner and lots more of us use various subcontractors. I know this takes some of the "romanticism" out of the process for you, but that is the way it is.

Regarding our electronics---when you go through hundreds of circuits a year, you don't hand wire each one by hand. You design the circuit, make the prototype, and then you outsource it to a shop than just makes circuit boards!

I had to make an important decision about 20 years ago. I could set up shop where I could do all the woodworking by myself. This would have meant locating where there are very few professional players. Instead, I chose to locate in the middle of Manhattan, where the top players could easily get to my shop. As long as I had good subcontractors I could depend on, I felt it more important to have the one-on-one and the indespensible feedback from the top players. This was also motivated by the fact that I still do a lot of repair and restoration work. I have never regretted this decision. It is hard to make a "working musician's" instrument if you don't have many working musicians to interact with.

I build a Fender style instrument because that is what my clientele demands of me. 20 years ago, it was almost impossible to walk into a studio in NYC with anything other than a Fender. In fact the Union directory had two bass listings: Upright Bass and Fender Bass! All electric basses were referred to as Fender bass. There was a great deal of pressure on the bassists to only bring a Fender to a session.

If I had a couple of million dollars, I could set up my own manufacturing facility outside of the city, but I can only be in one place at one time so it works just as well to use the subcontractors.

Keep the following in mind: We purchase all of our wood directly. We hand build all of the "prototypes" that get sent to the subcontractor. We own all of the fixturing and programming. We continuously monitor the quality of our parts to be sure they are worthy of the Sadowsky name.

The bodies come into our shop unsanded. We do all of the edge contouring, finish sanding and hand fit every neck pocket to get a perfect fit to out necks. Many of our bodies get additional routing and shaping done in our shop.

The necks come in unsanded. We true each fingerboard one at a time, fret the necks, dress the frets, finish sand the necks, and spray the necks. On custom orders, we hand shape the neck too.

Our assembly process is impeccable with regard to the quality of our components and workmanship.

So I hope you can see that we definetly are a "hands-on" shop. I could not have achieved the reputation I have if I were simply buying a neck and body and "screwing them together". I think anyone who has had the opportunity to play a Sadowsky can appreciate the quality of the instrument. That doesn't mean they are for everyone---instrument choice is very subjective. What is nice is that all of us....Sadowsky, Lakland, Mike Tobias, Spector, Fodera, etc....all have lots of players that think we make the best instrument in the world! It's kind of perfect that way---don't you think? You don't have to disparage the other builders just because you prefer someone else's instruments.

Lastly, many people speculate on this forum about issues related to Sadowsky without ever bothering to email me directly with their question. I am here and I am happy to answer all of your emails individually.

Hope this clears things up for some of you.

Sincerely,

Roger Sadowsky

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That's exactly what I would have posted :)!

I don't understand the problem with CNC, personally - I'd rather have the measurable consistancy of CNC than the intangible mojo some people find in "hand carved" bodies.

You know that I'm open to other opinions :rolleyes:.

-> I'd also like to see a shot of a GB control cavity so I can see this "hand soldered" tone circuit myself <-

Edited by Toasted
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[quote name='Toasted' post='487000' date='May 13 2009, 03:42 PM']That's exactly what I would have posted :)!

I don't understand the problem with CNC, personally - I'd rather have the measurable consistancy of CNC than the intangible mojo some people find in "hand carved" bodies.

You know that I'm open to other opinions :rolleyes:.[/quote]

Interestingly enough, CNC can go out. The steppers have to be spot on (if they jump be prepared for wonky shapes!) and performance will drop as the tooling goes blunt. Also, the contours and say neck profiles cut by CNC are different to what is achieved via say a rasp. Both are valid though. Hey, I'm not against CNC either, but I get confused as to how something (I'm being generic here) so mass produced can sometimes have such high prices.

For example... an SX jazz body cut by CNC is effectively the same as a <insert top end manufacturer> here. Does the extra hands on work warrant the huge extra costs? Maybe...?

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[quote name='Toasted' post='487000' date='May 13 2009, 03:42 PM']-> I'd also like to see a shot of a GB control cavity so I can see this "hand soldered" tone circuit myself <-[/quote]

I can sort that for you...

You do realise that the circuit is a PCB though right? All the components are soldered onto that PCB by hand...

Same as the sound to light unit. Each chip is programmed with the light show at GB before being soldered into the controller circuit.

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[quote name='Toasted' post='487018' date='May 13 2009, 04:01 PM']I guess it comes back to the different flavours Roger talks about? It'd be boring if everyone was all the same.[/quote]

Absolutely. We'd all be playing Fenders otherwise...

(PS that isn't a dig at Fenders either....)

Edited by EBS_freak
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[quote name='Toasted' post='487000' date='May 13 2009, 03:42 PM']-> I'd also like to see a shot of a GB control cavity so I can see this "hand soldered" tone circuit myself <-[/quote]

Ripped from the GB site (ugh).

Dick the Boffin solders up each one by hand and makes sure they are just perfect.

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OK... some more GB in the media. I think I posted an Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging link before (featuring the Stiff Dylans music videos) but I've stumbled across a large image of the DVD cover that features Matt Harris' GB Rumour.

Edited by EBS_freak
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GB fans. Got a little treat for you here. It's the first review of the 4 and 5 string Rumours at the start of what we now know as GB. I'm sure it'll tickle your fancy :)

I haven't seen these reviews for some time and they are certainly not on the net anywhere (to my knowledge) so I scanned it and made it available for everybody.

Enjoy.

Edited by EBS_freak
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Hi Russ,

Excellent reading - just where do you get this stuff from?

Mark

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='495656' date='May 22 2009, 11:33 PM']GB fans. Got a little treat for you here. It's the first review of the 4 and 5 string Rumours at the start of what we now know as GB. I'm sure it'll tickle your fancy :)

I haven't seen these reviews for some time and they are certainly not on the net anywhere (to my knowledge) so I scanned it and made it available for everybody.

Enjoy.[/quote]

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There's a few bolt ons about.

Can you remember what was on the front cover and I'll have a look to see if I have got it.

[quote name='chubbyboybass' post='495836' date='May 23 2009, 10:04 AM']Hmm - bolt on Rumour. Now there is an idea :rolleyes:

I used to have the slightly newer Git review of the spitfire but cant find it. I must have chucked it :)[/quote]

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Bit of trivia for you here. Just caught up with Bernie and we were talking about this review. The author, Gibson Keddie was actually the guy who came up with the name "Rumour". Apparently it came to him in his sleep. Bernie liked the name and that was that.

The 5 string seen is serial number 1 and went to Don Snow who was playing with the Tina Turner band. The 4 string went to Boon Gould.

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[quote name='phsycoandy' post='181126' date='Apr 20 2008, 04:42 PM']Heres another one of the recent crop of walnut models, mostly struck from the same tree!


[/quote]

I seriously think this is THE most beautiful bass I've ever seen!!!

I am so curious as to what it plays like!

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