Sadowsky MetroExpress - new line impressions

[CameronJ]

@chris_b 100% agree with you.

[thodrik]

17 hours ago, ltgobis said:

I just received my new Metro Express 5 string jazz bass. I have the same horrible noise problems as everyone noticed. Being an electronics geek I had to look in to the problem and stared poking around inside the electronics compartment. I noticed that if I touched the blue or green wire going from the treble control to the input of the preamp the noise would increase. It looked like the problem was at the input of the preamp. I went to my electronics parts bin and found a .01uf bypass capacitor. The type used in most circuits to suppress (bypass) RF signals to ground. I placed it between the blue wire (lug) and ground (lug) on the treble control. Amazingly this fixed the problem and now I have a very quite Metro Express. One thing that is notable. Sadowsky already has a bypass capacitor between the blue wire and ground. So adding my capacitor placed it in parallel to the stock one. The fact that adding my capacitor fixed the problem tells me that either the stock capacitor was defective or it was not large enough to suppress the noise. Also, adding only .01uf on the treble control will not roll off audio frequencies.

Glad you got it sorted. The wiring there looks pretty messy.

For comparison here is my old (2009) Metro:

 

Here is my NYC, which is actually a bit messier than the Metro. It also has a date mark and name of the person who did the wiring. 

Really Warwick should have nailed the electronics from the outset. Hopefully these issues are sorted out as the licensing agreement operates in the future.

[ltgobis]

5 hours ago, CookPassBabtridge said:

Sorry to hear you’ve had this hassle @ltgobis Sadly, it looks as if the hum in the vid posted earlier wasn’t an isolated problem/a grounding issue then. This could be a ‘teething issue’ with the first batch and be fixed soon but even so it raises concerns regarding QC. 

I have already contacted Sadowsky about the fix so at least they have another data point on the problem. Hopefully it points them in the right direction. My guess is that they already have this under control for new builds.

[sshorepunk]

There’s a few on eBay now

Most are b-stock, from a seller called zoundhouse at £645.45 or thereabouts, in Germany 

Tony

Edited January 1, 2021 by sshorepunk

[DiMarco]

Jeez I don't know. But I'd rather get a Sire then this new Chinese series Metroexpress I guess. Thoughts?

I just hope the more pricey Metro and NYC series made by Warwick are absolutely fab. I might even look for one of those in time.
Let's first wait for some more youtube videos to pop up and hear from the Sadowsky players how they like the built in Germany series.
 

[chris_b]

The Warwick Sadowsky basses are produced under licence, so, responsibility for all sales, manufacturing and QC is down to Warwick. I guess this is Roger Sadowsky's delegation nightmare. 

[AndyTravis]

18 minutes ago, chris_b said:

The Warwick Sadowsky basses are produced under licence, so, responsibility for all sales, manufacturing and QC is down to Warwick. I guess this is Roger Sadowsky's delegation nightmare. 

Well, I saw an uncharacteristically Frank response from Mr S on Facebook regarding some wobbles.

He’s on the next possible flight to the factory to sort these issues. Covid allowing...

but, it would’ve been better to wait I suppose - depends on the investment and need to turn that into cash.

[chris_b]

1 hour ago, AndyTravis said:

Well, I saw an uncharacteristically Frank response from Mr S on Facebook regarding some wobbles.

He’s on the next possible flight to the factory to sort these issues. Covid allowing...

but, it would’ve been better to wait I suppose - depends on the investment and need to turn that into cash.

But it's not his factory or responsibility. That should be down to Warwick.  I'd like to have heard that phone call to Hans-Peter Wilfer!!

[Musicman20]

These issues should not have got anywhere near the general market. 

[ezbass]

6 minutes ago, Musicman20 said:

These issues should not have got anywhere near the general market. 

Exactly this ^^^.

The damage is done, an extremely premium brand’s image is now tarnished. B Stock available on eBay, this early on? They should’ve been band-sawed (even though that normally grieves me). Time for the old Japanese factory to bring out their version.

[LukeFRC]

1 minute ago, ezbass said:

Time for the old Japanese factory to bring out their version.

I wonder what that team is making now? I would buy one regardless of what it said on the headstock

[ezbass]

4 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

I wonder what that team is making now? I would buy one regardless of what it said on the headstock

Definitely.

[thodrik]

40 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Definitely.

Me too!

[CameronJ]

9 hours ago, chris_b said:

But it's not his factory or responsibility. That should be down to Warwick.  I'd like to have heard that phone call to Hans-Peter Wilfer!!

I totally agree with you in principle, but at the end of the day it’s still Roger’s name on the headstock and the consumer will still associate these basses with him.

He can’t not intervene personally. Doing so at least tells us he has a vested interest in these new basses holding up to his standards. It makes more sense from a PR standpoint for Roger to publicly get involved than if it were a Warwick representative.

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, CameronJ said:

it’s still Roger’s name on the headstock

But is it actually on it? I thought there were trademark problems? If so, lucky escape.....

[CameronJ]

11 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said:

But is it actually on it? I thought there were trademark problems? If so, lucky escape.....

[thodrik]

10 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said:

But is it actually on it? I thought there were trademark problems? If so, lucky escape.....

It is RSD, as in Roger Sadowsky Design. 
 

They should probably have had RSDWE on the headstock, as in ‘Roger Sadowsky Design, Warwick Execution.’

[chris_b]

These basses are 100% Warwick's responsibility and made in their own factory. That Roger Sadowsky has had to get involved at all seems like a massive vote of no confidence in Warwick's ability to execute the terms of their licence agreement with him.

[CookPassBabtridge]

13 hours ago, DiMarco said:

I just hope the more pricey Metro and NYC series made by Warwick are absolutely fab. I might even look for one of those in time.
Let's first wait for some more youtube videos to pop up and hear from the Sadowsky players how they like the built in Germany series.
 

I think the German made Sadowskys will be good, I’m a big Warwick fan and have a couple of GPS models - both have an excellent finish.

I do agree with the broader comments here on the models made in China - yes there is naturally going to be a reduction in quality given the price but major hum/hiss on the electronics should be spotted within seconds even in a basic QC process and wouldn’t be acceptable on a £100 bass, let alone a £700 one.

I think it’s still early enough for Sadowsky/Warwick to sort this out but it certainly won’t have done them any favours.

[wateroftyne]

They let that logo through to production. The rest of it shouldn’t be surprising 😄

[DiMarco]

They had to make something new as the brandname 'Sadowsky' was already taken in China by some other company. This must be the first time I heard of any Chinese company talk about copyright claims. The country has always been counterfeit paradise.

Double standards. Gotta love 'em.

 

[CameronJ]

22 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

They let that logo through to production. The rest of it shouldn’t be surprising 😄

To be fair, I can’t argue with that 

[Musicman20]

On 02/01/2021 at 13:18, wateroftyne said:

They let that logo through to production. The rest of it shouldn’t be surprising 😄

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[uk_lefty]

On 01/01/2021 at 23:59, DiMarco said:

Jeez I don't know. But I'd rather get a Sire then this new Chinese series Metroexpress I guess. Thoughts?

I just hope the more pricey Metro and NYC series made by Warwick are absolutely fab. I might even look for one of those in time.
Let's first wait for some more youtube videos to pop up and hear from the Sadowsky players how they like the built in Germany series.
 

There's some good lefty options in these, like a jazz bodied fretless PJ, but you're right, safer with a Sire for now. 

There's a few B stock of the Sadowsky Warwicks (or Warwick Sadowsky's) up on ebay already. Something doesn't look right with them, the bodies look tiny and the necks look huge, like it's a badly scaled down version for kids or something. 

[CameronJ]

Wow. I count at least 15 of these B-stock MetroExpresses on eBay from the same seller in Germany, with varying degrees of scratch/dent/dings, imperfections in the finish, one with a fingerboard that looks like its edge was dragged across concrete briefly BEFORE the frets were installed, and one with a snapped string tree. 

My goodness