2004 Sadowsky NYC PJ Bass Review

Aloha!

Today we are looking at one of the finest basses I have ever owned, a Sadowsky NYC Vintage P J bass guitar. For the gigging musicians a Sadowsky bass is one of the most desired instruments ever made.

Obviously it is a Fender clone, but the Fender Custom Shop has never cranked out anything as good as this bass. The full-size alder body has a Jazz Bass profile and shape, and it is finished in Inca Silver. Is has to be chambered, since it is so light. And, you have to dig that three-ply white pickguard with this finish.

It has a J-Bass width neck which is 1.5-inches wide at the nut, and a 9-inch radius on the fretboard. This has the optional vintage tint on the neck and a rosewood fretboard, which is gorgeous. The neck is a dream. The neck pocket fit is the tightest I have ever seen. It is true, and the truss rod wheel is a very handy feature for quick adjustments.

It has the original Sadowsky pickups and pre-amp with VTC. It has no unusual noises, and sounds flawless. The high-quality Sadowsky hardware is all present and in great condition. The bridge and tuners are full of tasty chrome goodnessand there is a bonus D-tuner.

It has all of these great features, and It weighs in at 7 pounds 3 ounces, according to my scale. Amazingly stupid light!

This one was made in 2004, and I got it from the original owner, who was inexplicably letting it go. I really liked it, but this bass might just be a lot more than what I need. Plus I have a couple of other Sadowskys already…

Maybe you should get one. These basses sell for over $4000 new, and you will have to wait at least 6 months to get one, so you had better order yours today!

Mahalo!

2008 Sadowsky NYC Vintage Jazz Bass Review

Greetings!

Today we are looking at a very nice Sadowsky NYC Vintage 4-string bass guitar. It is one of the nicest basses I have ever owned, and that is saying something as a lot of instruments have come through the studio over the years.

Sadowsky NYC basses are built in New York City by Roger Sadowsky’s luthiers, and are the best Fender-inspired guitars and basses you can buy. Some haters (i.e. guys without enough money to buy one) sneer and call them “parts basses.” They should go buy a box of parts and see how well they can build one…

This bass was made in August 2008 for one of Sadowsky’s endorsing artists, Fuji Fujimoto, and it has quite a striking appearance. I am not ordinarily a fan of natural finish basses, but this one has a vintage tint applied to its ash body and it looks wonderful when contrasted with its tortoise shell pickguard. It is not too heavy, coming in around 8.5 pounds.

This bass has a traditional four-bolt neck and the neck pocket fit is super-tight, and after 10 years of use and transportation there are no signs of finish damage (i.e. cracking) around the joint. The Sadowsky luthiers really do a fantastic job.

The 21-fret neck is very good, and the original frets are still in great shape. The frets are perfectly level and are finished very well on the edges. It has a 1.5-inch wide neck with a 12-inch fretboard radius, but seems to have a shallower profile than most jazz basses. The trussrod adjusts at the heel, and there is a nice cutout in the body and pickguard, making the process a little easier. The tuners are first rate, as is the high-mass bridge.

This bass has its original hum canceling pickups and Sadowsky pre-amp with Vintage Tone Control. The knobs control: volume, pickup pan, VTC/preamp bypass (push/pull pot), and stacked bass and treble boost. Vintage Tone Control minimizes the treble for a darker tone, and works in both the passive and active settings. Overall this bass is astoundingly quiet, and sounds flawless. It is versatile, and can attain high-gain growliness and ultra clean tones.

The overall condition of this bass was very good when I had it, as It had been well cared for so it only had some light swirl marks on the body and pick guard. It played very well and sounded killer, but then again that is really the least I would expect from a bass that cost as much as it did.

So why did I get rid of it? For the amount of money one of these basses costs (even used they are stupid expensive), it has to be the perfect bass for my feel and playing style. I did not like the feel of the very thin neck, and I prefer the tone (and appearance) of a rosewood fretboard. I have since found a Sadowsky NYC Standard with a chunkier neck and a rosewood board that works out a lot better for me. Keep your eyes on the blog, as a review is coming soon.

If you want a bass like this, it might be time to start saving. A Sadowsky Vintage 4 starts at $4175, and it will take at least 6 months to get it built.

Mahalo!

Sadowsky NYC Vintage 5 Bass Guitar

Greetings!

Today we are looking at a very nice Sadowsky Vintage 5 bass guitar. As you all know by now, I do not play 5-string basses, so it should be no surprise that this one is not around anymore. But it is a beauty.

Sadowsky NYC basses are built in New York City by Roger Sadowsky’s minions, and are the best Fender-inspired guitars and basses you can buy. Some haters sneer and call them “parts basses”. I say go buy a box of parts and see how well you can build a guitar. Then call Sadowsky and buy the best.

This one was made in August 2000, and has quite a striking appearance. It is finished in ’59 burst with a quilted maple top over the ash body. The body is not chambered, so the bass is a little heavier (8 pounds, 15 ounces) than current production Sadowskys. There is a control cavity and a battery compartment routed into the back of the body.

There is no neck plate on the body, as there are four recessed ferrules in the body at the neck joint. This design saves weight and looks trick. The neck pocket fit is super-tight, and after 10 years of use and transportation there are no signs of finish damage (i.e. cracking) around the joint. The Sadowsky luthiers really do a fantastic job.

The 21-fret neck is very good, and the original frets are still in great shape. The frets are perfectly level and were finished very well on the edges. The trussrod adjusts at the heel, and there is a nice cutout in the body and pickguard, making the process a little easier. The five tuners are very small (for reduced mass), and look a lot like Hipshots.

This bass has its original single-coil pickups and Sadowsky pre-amp without VTC. The four pots control volume, pan, treble boost and bass boost. It has no unusual noises, and sounds flawless.

The overall condition of this bass was very good when I had it, as It had never been gigged and only had some light swirl marks on the body and pick guard. It showed less wear than most any new bass you would find hanging on the wall at your local guitar shop. It played very well and sounded killer, but then again that is really the least I would expect from a bass that cost as much as it did.

This bass came to me a as a trade for another high-end bass that I was having difficulty selling. I knew I would not be keeping the Sadowsky, but thought it would be easier to sell. I was right – this one sold right away for more than I was trying to sell the other bass for.

If you want one of these, it might be time to start saving. A Sadowsky Vintage 5 will run you about $4,000, and it will take at least 6 months to get it built.

Mahalo!

Sadowsky NYC PJ Bass

Hi there!

Today we are looking at maybe the best quality bass I have ever owned, a Sadowsky NYC Vintage P J bass guitar. For the gigging man (or woman) Sadowskys are some of the most desired basses ever made.

Obviously it is a Fender clone, but the Fender Custom Shop has never cranked out anything as good as this bass. Really.

The full-size alder body has a P-bass profile and shape, and it is finished in Olympic White. Is it chambered? I have no idea. Probably. And, you have to dig that parchment pickguard with the Olympic White.

It has a P-Bass width neck which is 1.75-inches wide at the nut, and a 9-inch radius on the fretboard. This has the optional vintage tint on the neck and a Brazilian rosewood fretboard, which is a $300 up charge. The neck is a dream. The neck pocket fit is the tightest I have ever seen. It is true, and the truss rod wheel is a very handy feature for quick adjustments.

It has the original Sadowsky pickups and pre-amp with VTC. It has no unusual noises, and sounds flawless.

The high-quality Sadowsky hardware is all present and in great condition. The bridge and tuners are full of chrome goodness.

It has all of these great features, and It weighs in at 8 pounds 5 ounces, according to my scale. Amazing!

This one was made in 2009, and I got it from the original owner, who had hit on hard times. I really liked it, but this bass is just too nice to be sitting in its case all of the time, so I moved it along.

Maybe you need to get one. These basses sell for over $3700 new, and you will have to wait at least 6 months to get one, so you had better order yours today!