Sadowsky Metroline - humcancelling pickups? Maybe…

[Guest]

Something I discovered by accident about the German Sadowsky Metroline basses:

These were first produced in 2020. Many shops that stock them will still mostly contain these early models (serial number on the back of the headstock ends with the year). I bought a nice hybrid PJ5. Fit and finish is incredible and it plays beautifully. However, as soon as you pan to the centre or especially to the bridge pickup there’s a ton of noise and hum.
The pickguard had no shielding (Warwick/Sadowsky sent me a FOC replacement with some shielding paint sprayed on), grounding wire for the pots wasn’t soldered but loose in the cavity, which I fixed, but none of that should have caused hum and when panned to the P pickup, the bass is dead quiet - so clearly not a shielding issue. I just assumed there is limited humcancelling available (although I don’t recall the NYC air Japanese Metros having this issue).
 

Fast forward to a couple of months ago, and I fancied a Jazz bass, so bought a vintage JJ5-21 from Thomann (fantastic service by the way!)

This arrived with a 2022 serial. Plugged in, no hum, no noise on any pan setting - dead quiet. Hmmm…

 

After some correspondence with Warwick it turns out the original pickups are side by side humbuckers and apparently aren’t very effective at noise cancelling. They changed to stacked humbuckers in mid 2021. The way to tell is that the Sadowsky logo on the original pickups is white and in the bottom right corner of the pickup; the newer improved pickups have a black logo in the bottom middle of the pickup. No chance of getting a free replacement so I’ve had to swallow the cost of buying a newer bridge pickup.

 

I appreciate hum and buzz doesn’t bother some people but thought I’d mention it for any prospective buyers for whom it could be a problem.

[MOSCOWBASS]

I have same bass and stopped the buzz by shielding the rear pickup cavity with foil tape, its silent now. I also got the shielded scratchplate and I rerouted the pickup wires away from the preamp..,which was also replaced so active/passive were the same volume.

[Guest]

As I mentioned - the bass is dead quiet when panned to the neck pickup so it’s not a shielding issue. The Jazz I bought has identical shielding (except the metal bell plate). However, as I’m going to need to remember the pickguard and unsolder the pickups to swap them out, I will shield the whole of the cavity pickguard and pickup cavity with copper foil just to ensure consistent shielding across the board. It doesn’t really need it but the HPJ5 is such a wonderful instrument it’s worth it. It will also get some TI flats - my first foray into flatwounds 

 

[MOSCOWBASS]

3 minutes ago, FDC484950 said:

As I mentioned - the bass is dead quiet when panned to the neck pickup so it’s not a shielding issue. The Jazz I bought has identical shielding (except the metal bell plate). However, as I’m going to need to remember the pickguard and unsolder the pickups to swap them out, I will shield the whole of the cavity pickguard and pickup cavity with copper foil just to ensure consistent shielding across the board. It doesn’t really need it but the HPJ5 is such a wonderful instrument it’s worth it. It will also get some TI flats - my first foray into flatwounds 

 

I think the noise you're getting is exactly what I was getting. Only when you intrduce the rear pickup (mixed with P or solo) do you get the buzz. It's the rear pickup cavity's proximity to the preamp I'm sure. Don't think you'll need to swap out the pickup unless for other reasons. You can shield the rear cavity without removing the pickguard....might be wirth a try first. Make sure screening is earthed...I stuck foil to the metal underside of the pickup, didn't need any soldering.

Strings of coarse are personal taste...is your bass a 5 string? I didn't like the TI B string, its a thick old rope with poor definition. I much prefered Labella low tension flats

[Guest]

I’ve got the pickups on the way anyway. As I have a Sadowsky Jazz 5 to compare (it’s bridge pickups is totally quiet with similar shieding). Plus the fact that Warwick changed them, so clearly felt the original pickups weren’t the most optimal. I suspect it’s probably a combination of both. 
Yes, it is a 5. If the TIs don’t suit I’ll try out the LaBellas - thanks!

[MOSCOWBASS]

1 minute ago, FDC484950 said:

I’ve got the pickups on the way anyway. As I have a Sadowsky Jazz 5 to compare (it’s bridge pickups is totally quiet with similar shieding). Plus the fact that Warwick changed them, so clearly felt the original pickups weren’t the most optimal. I suspect it’s probably a combination of both. 
Yes, it is a 5. If the TIs don’t suit I’ll try out the LaBellas - thanks!

Good luck, they are very nice basses....I have NYC jazz and no buzz, but preamp lookis physically different and is mounted different too.