| Reviewer
| Arturo Baguer
|
| Experience
| 24
|
| Email
| abaguer@msn.com
|
| Review date
| August 06 2003
|
| Manufacturer
| Sadowsky
|
| Model
| Vintage 4 string
|
| Price
| 1850 used
|
| Item owned for
| 1-6 months
|
| |
|
| Bass type
| 4 string fretted
|
| Neck join
| Bolt-On
|
| Neck construction
| one piece maple
|
| Fingerboard
| rosewood
|
| Body
| ash
|
| Finish
| Coral pink
|
| Pickups
| Sadowsky J
|
| Hardware
| vintage tuners
|
| Electronics
| Sadowsky preamp
|
| |
|
I've owned Alembic, MusicMan, Fodera, Fenders, Celinder etc and while they
are all fine instruments I finally came to the conclusion that I am a
Fender guy and my 72 Fender jazz has been my main bass for the past couple
of years. Because jazz basses can be midrangy I had been using a Sadowsky
outboard preamp with the 72 and really liked the full warm sound it gave
me, so I figured I would eventually start looking at a Sadowsky, but the
price tag always looked forbidding. Well I'm very happy with the used
price but I would say the bass is definitely worth the full price Roger
gets for a new instrument.
The workmanship was absolutely superb. The bridge has a lot of mass and
it appears to follow the curve of the figerboard in shape. The neck felt
great and the bass is light and comfortable with its slightly smaller body
than my 72.
I was already sold on the Sadowsky preamp and I find you hardly have to
boost treble or bass. I've had other basses where you had to actually
push the boost a bit to get a good sound but this is certainly not the
case with the Sadowsky. Also the push/pull preamp bypass is a great
luxury when your battery is about to go. This bass just feels like a high
class instrument. Every detail is attended to.
The slap sound on the Sadowsky is very hi-fi and cuts really well. It is
not as "earthy" as the 72 but it has it's own flavor. The one thing I
like more about my 72 is that it was very consistent in volume going from
fingerstyle to slapping. There was some loss in volume and fullness but
not much. With the Sadowsky, fingerstyle is much louder than slapping but
it is something I have learned to work out by just rolling off the volume
knob when fingerstyling and leaving myself a 20% cushion so that when I
slap I can turn the vol. knob to full. It is a small gripe and honestly,
no bass I have owned can match the 72 in this respect. The other thing
about the Sadowsky is it's more focused tone. Right away on gigs a very
discerning and nitpicky drummer told me how much he liked the Sadowsky
sound. Said it was much more focused and you got more of the front end of
the note than the 72. This is a bass that goes to tape and into
soundsystems very well. It really fills up a track.
A really first rate instrument.
| Construction
| 100% | 
|
| (perfect)
|
| Appearance
| 100% |
|
| (perfect)
|
| Playability
| 100% |
|
| (perfect)
|
| Sound
| 98% |
|
| (great sound, slap very hi-fi)
|
| Customer Service
| 98% |
|
| (Roger is incredibly nice and responsive)
|
| Value
| 90% |
|
| (high price but worth it)
|
| Overall
| 98% |
|
| (The real deal for Fender lovers in modern world)
|
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