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Tell me about Sadowskys!


OutToPlayJazz
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[quote name='Mike Brooks' post='329716' date='Nov 15 2008, 04:41 PM']How about searching out a T-Bass with a wooden neck then. You're more than welcome to try mine out if you're down south at all, I'm sure Rob would do one with a wooden neck if you wanted one. Not putting the Sadowsky's down, excellent basses but considering your rapport with Mr Green, I would have thought a T-Bass would keep things simple and 'in-house' so to speak.

Mike[/quote]
Hell yeah. Isn't sshorepunk (?) selling one on here for a ridiculously small sum of money?

EDIT: bugger, it's gone!

Edited by Merton
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[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='334316' date='Nov 22 2008, 11:41 AM']Actually, I did the first session with "Blondie UK" the other evening & they absolutely loved the tone & sound of my Status SII...

Do I need another bass? LOL!

Rich.[/quote]

You need a Sadowsky, not just another bass :).

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[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='334316' date='Nov 22 2008, 11:41 AM']Actually, I did the first session with "Blondie UK" the other evening & they absolutely loved the tone & sound of my Status SII...

Do I need another bass? LOL!

Rich.[/quote]


Slightly off topic, but are you playing "Atomic" with that band? I always loved the little solo the bassist did in the centre of the song, with the OTT compression.

As for Sadowsky basses, I have two, and love them. That's about all I can add.

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  • 4 months later...

[quote name='Josh' post='334466' date='Nov 22 2008, 04:48 PM']You need a Sadowsky, not just another bass :).[/quote]

+1

I just got a Metro this weekend - its hard to find enough phenomenal adjectives to describe it! Seriously though, i dont know if its just naieve but mine is literally the best bass (sound, feel, build) wise Ive ever touched; blows my Fender Mexico deluxe outta the water. I really cant work out why the guy sold it to me... oh wait... Its cus he had another Sadowsky!

I reckon i should be paid to represent and sell them - I'd do it for free!

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[quote name='muppethenry' post='469188' date='Apr 22 2009, 12:02 AM']+1

I just got a Metro this weekend - its hard to find enough phenomenal adjectives to describe it! Seriously though, i dont know if its just naieve but mine is literally the best bass (sound, feel, build) wise Ive ever touched; blows my Fender Mexico deluxe outta the water. I really cant work out why the guy sold it to me... oh wait... Its cus he had another Sadowsky!

I reckon i should be paid to represent and sell them - I'd do it for free![/quote]


[cringes]. Ah well. Hope you're enjoying it.

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[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='326553' date='Nov 11 2008, 11:13 AM']Hey Chris, I was wondering when you'd show up :)

I think I'm going to have to try the Metros at GG in Newcastle to see if I like them, really.[/quote]


I was in Hull all day yesterday Rich - if I'd known I'd have brought my PJ Metro Hybrid over for you to try. Shame.

I've wanted a Sadowsky ever since I've played Wayne58's 3 NYCs and now I have one and having done a couple of gigs with it, I'm not disappointed apart from the fact I wish it had 5 strings. The NYCs are fantastic but the Metros really are as good if a tad heavier.

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I've been a passive Precision guy for some time but have begun to find that I'm simply not getting the clarity I need with the band I'm currently playing in (fretless parts on my Jazz were fine but the Precision wasn't cutting it for parts where I needed to be in tune!). I PM'd several people on here asking for advice and it kept coming back to a Sadowsky Hybrid PJ4, so I picked one up in a deal a couple of weeks back. I'm not 100% with it yet (although about 99%) but the band sure are, and some! Rehearsed it the day after I bought it and the smiles around the room said it all. Basically they (and I) could [i][/i]really[i][/i] hear the bass, that is, not just know it's there, in tune and on time, but pick out everything I was playing. It has a beautiful top end that unlike my old 'rays or Fleas isn't at all clanky or brittle; it retains, if not improves upon, the punchy mids of my 70's Precision, and the lows (with tone up) have more in keeping with my old Telecaster Bass than a Precision or Jazz but are infinitely more controllable and therefore useable (we played around with 'Stir It Up' the other day and I was able to produce a depth of tone that could never be produced by a passive Precision, at least not with a small rig). The only thing I don't like about it is that I now have to think when I play, for example which PUP? which tone? VTC? Things were so easy in the Precision days! Still, there's gonna be a cost to better tone and I'll get used to it I'm sure. It's certainly a quality bass which, unlike other top-end basses I've owned, retains a classic vintage quality whilst adding a little extra. Build quality is excellent and I've not found any issues (although the open E is a little bell-like to my ears this is as likely the string as the bass, at least I'm hoping it is).

I've owned several MMs and Moduli and found them generally too brittle and in your face for the style of music I play (with the possible exception being the Bongo on which I could roll off the high mids), the active Fenders I've owned have generally been let down by poor electronics (and on occasions poor build quality also), and I just didn't get Statii at all. Hence I decided sometime ago that I didn't like active basses. I think the Sadowsky might just be the active bass that turns it around.

And just to add icing to the cake, technically it's a Precision, so I'm still true to the cause! Lovely blonde finish, tort guard and maple neck, looks vintage to all but the most keen eye!

Edited by Beedster
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[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='469312' date='Apr 22 2009, 08:48 AM']I've wanted a Sadowsky ever since I've played Wayne58's 3 NYCs and now I have one and having done a couple of gigs with it, I'm not disappointed apart from the fact I wish it had 5 strings. The NYCs are fantastic but the Metros really are as good if a tad heavier.[/quote]

+1

I've wanted a Sadowsky ever since I played Bassaussie's 2 NYC's and 1 Metro.

I kept putting it off, telling myself it was too expensive and I couldnt justify it, but Gwilym's Tokyo 5 made my GAS go through the roof,
and after bugging him a looooooooooooooooooooooooong time, he accepted shipping overseas.
Happy as can be, Dont think I'd ever ger rid of it unless I was real tight on cash for the bare essentials.

Edited by Aussiephoenix
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Is it just me but I found the Sadowsky's too perfect ? And they all looked a little too machine made.
The neck pockets was too perfect, the fingerboard end is too straight-edged, the headstock just the right shape for a CNC router. I don't know, there's just something about the curves that all look like computer-generated curves if you know what I mean. Not saying that's wrong. Are you sure they aren't made by wee Robots ?

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Are we getting to that "Mojo" thing? You know... the one in that some people claim that its the imperfections that give fenders (just an example) their "character"?

When I tried Bassaussie's Sadowskys, I also tried a couple of his vintage jazz and precisions, etc... you know what? they were ALL great. All very different in feel and sound too. :)

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[quote name='largo' post='469693' date='Apr 22 2009, 04:03 PM']Is it just me but I found the Sadowsky's too perfect ? And they all looked a little too machine made.
The neck pockets was too perfect, the fingerboard end is too straight-edged, the headstock just the right shape for a CNC router. I don't know, there's just something about the curves that all look like computer-generated curves if you know what I mean. Not saying that's wrong. Are you sure they aren't made by wee Robots ?[/quote]

1) Having visited the Sadowsky shop I can confirm all of the above facts! The amount of time they put into the neck pocket is [u]unreal[/u] but Roger thinks that it's one of the most important parts for good tone.

2) When I'm paying £2500 for a new bass, I want every single little thing to be perfect.

Joe.

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I had a PJ Sadowsky mongrel, and I agree with Beedster, they are wonderful basses and do the P & J thing superbly, Ive recently aquired an RV4, and being more of a Jazz man, this is even better, compared to my GB its nearly as lively, but its "Just there" if u know what I mean, great range of tones, and as thick as I like, dont get me wrong I love the GB and would be loathed to part with her, but shes in the case atm! Only thing with the Saddy that ive taken a while to get used to is the very flat profile fingureboard, it might be just me but the GB has a more rounded profile. The RV has a few dings and is from 2002 so will do all the pub and shabby gigs IUKWIM and the GB for the weddings!.

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  • 1 month later...

[quote name='largo' post='469693' date='Apr 22 2009, 05:03 PM']Is it just me but I found the Sadowsky's too perfect ? And they all looked a little too machine made.
The neck pockets was too perfect, the fingerboard end is too straight-edged, the headstock just the right shape for a CNC router. I don't know, there's just something about the curves that all look like computer-generated curves if you know what I mean. Not saying that's wrong. Are you sure they aren't made by wee Robots ?[/quote]

Yes, the Robots at Warmoth's...years ago it was revealed Sadowsky's are parts-instruments - bodies & necks are aquired from suppliers and finished and assembled in Sadowsky's workshop. But this is true for most small builders, just like the defunct A-Basses (designer of Laklands Darryl Jones Signature) etc. One of these suppliers is John Carruthers - worthwile to check out his own line www.carruthersguitars.com (he's a true bass icon, involved with Music Man's Stingray, the original Yamaha BB-series and the very different Staccato Bass...). Sadowsky (great basses - owned two - one is possibly the best sounding bass I ever touched but due to all the Fender-Style-BASS-limitations (dead spot on C, playability high on the neck) sold them off) have been very fashionable in the nineties (and I sense they're having a revival right now?), followed by Lakland's (USA models) and the last time I checked it was Alleva Coppolo's. They're all good modern Jazz Basses but my choice would be Fodera's NYC Empire.
As for Lakland - anyone played a japanese Skyline model (made by ESP, exclusively for Japan - but aren't we global?)?

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[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='497347' date='May 25 2009, 04:07 PM']It doesn't make any difference whether they're 'parts basses' - I think the end justifies the means. Your car is made up of parts from different manufacturers :)[/quote]
Agreed. It doesn't matter how they're made once the end result is good enough. Besides, I defy anyone to hear the difference in a body routed by a robot holding the router and a human holding the router.

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[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='497347' date='May 25 2009, 04:07 PM']It doesn't make any difference whether they're 'parts basses' - I think the end justifies the means. Your car is made up of parts from different manufacturers :)[/quote]
On that premise, why not just buy yourself some Warmoth parts, a Sadowsky pre and pickups and get a local luthier to do the build and finishing work. I reckon you could save at least £1000 over a Sadowsky. :rolleyes:

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[quote name='largo' post='497382' date='May 25 2009, 05:03 PM']On that premise, why not just buy yourself some Warmoth parts, a Sadowsky pre and pickups and get a local luthier to do the build and finishing work. I reckon you could save at least £1000 over a Sadowsky. :rolleyes:[/quote]

Cos I have the money to buy a proper one? :)

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[quote name='Aussiephoenix' post='497391' date='May 25 2009, 06:12 PM']the thing is... wouldnt sound or feel like one.[/quote]

Well maybe would sound or look like one but indeed not be the real thing.
I forgot to mention: in the Netherlands we've got our own "Sadowsky", his name is
Andre van der End and he makes J-style basses that are worth checking out!
www.vanderend.nl

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