Sadowsky metroexpress 1st generation

[Brian18242]

As they are currently heavily discounted I decided to pick one of these up. What a mistake!!

 

Even it £400+ the quality is shocking! Sharp fret edges, nut broken, and arrived with no set up.

 

Still amazed these basses made it to market with such little QC.

 

It's going straight back and I will wait for the reviews of the new line.

 

What's your experiences?

[velvetkevorkian]

I have a fretless 5 string which is pretty good. I upgraded the pickups to the higher spec version since they came up used but frankly it didn't make much difference.

[Brian18242]

For the price point I have honestly never seen such bad quality control. Pickguard is not even flush with the control plate. 

 

Very disappointed but optimistic the new versions will be a big improvement 

[Supernaut]

Played one at Bass Direct when first released. Absolutely shocking. Surprised Sadowsky didn't stop the project there and then. 

[Brian18242]

Honestly, the new versions have to be really good as the market is full of mid priced jazz basses that are way better!!!!

[dub_junkie]

I have a '20 black/maple J/J five string which has had to have the frets levelled as a couple were high. I got it from BAX music for a couple of hundred less than the going rate at the time. I did start a returns process with BAX but decided to stick with it and get the work done as nothing else was wrong with the bass at all. 

 

Fast forward to now and I've got a hybrid P/J five string due in the early part of this week. I certainly won't be as accommodating if it turns up with issues. Fingers crossed it's one of the later ones. 

[Brian18242]

Dub_junkie is it a 2023 model you have ordered or is it one of the heavily reduced old stock? Mine arrived with a broken nut, no set up, sharp fret edges, and problems with the eq. What a delight!

[Brian18242]

I'm interested in the price of the new 2023 range. Yes, improvements have been made (minimal as far as I can see) but if they come in at £800+ forget about it 😆

Edited September 17, 2023 by Brian18242

[dub_junkie]

No it's one of the discounted stock but my understanding is there were improvements made on subsequent runs from when they were first rush released and appeared as a total mess. Low end lobster documented some of the improvements on his you tube videos and I know that peeps on here who bought later ones were pleased with theirs. iirc Bass Agent bought a green four and a five and was happy gigging his. Others too if you look through the posts.  It's on the big Sadowsky Metro Express thread. 

 

I'm sincerely hoping I get a later one. I ordered a tobacco burst P/J five with the morado fretboard. I'll be returning it if it needs anything beyond a set up (which I do for all my basses anyway)

 

I do think that IF it's issue free, these are great five string basses for £475. Even without the VTC to my ears the bass has a great core tone. The jump in output from passive to active makes it an almost unusable feature/selling point but I just leave mine in active all the time.

 

Shame about yours. Guess I'm taking a gamble with these blowout remaining stock but hopefully it pays off. Fingers crossed, will let you know. 

 

 

Edited September 17, 2023 by dub_junkie

[BassAgent]

I have a 5 string from the second batch which is absolutely flawless. Frets are perfect, electronics are great, bridge is perfect, no complaints whatsoever.

[Brian18242]

I ordered from thomann and got one of the early ones. Absolute mess😆 guess it's your luck which one they send out.

[BassAgent]

Well, I actually ordered two at the time (a 4 string and this one) and they were equally good. So lucky twice?

[LeftyJ]

1 hour ago, BassAgent said:

Well, I actually ordered two at the time (a 4 string and this one) and they were equally good. So lucky twice?

You received these for a review in De Bassist and kept them afterwards, if I'm not mistaken? Playing the devil's advocate here: Maybe they sent you two that stood out? 

[BassAgent]

Yes and no: I received the fiver for a review, and bought the four string afterwards. I can't imagine they've hand picked a fantastic green four string and sent it to me.

[asingardenof]

19 hours ago, Brian18242 said:

I'm interested in the price of the new 2023 range. Yes, improvements have been made (minimal as far as I can see) but if they come in at £800+ forget about it 😆

They're selling in the neighbourhood of $1100 at Sweetwater in the US, so I'd expect them to be in the region of £900 if that translates from the current exchange rate, which is Fender Player series price territory

[Oldman]

Whoa, stop the bus ! I was interested, but not now, there’s too much out there to take a punt. Well maybe, I see a twin set up appealing fretted and fret less. 🤷‍♂️

Edited September 19, 2023 by Oldman

[kevin_lindsay]

I received my 5 string P/J a couple of days ago. 

All I needed to do was tighten the truss rod slightly (using the very cool adjustment tool provided). The fret ends are smooth on my bass.

It plays great all over the neck.

4 year warranty from the date of purchase is included too.

The bass sounds great too, and the gig bag is a cool inclusion. 

 

[dub_junkie]

Well it arrived today and it has zero issues. Frets are fine, no preamp noise, everything as it should be and a nice light, weight. Plays great and sounds sweet  Really happy with this one from the off.

 

However.... it was shipped without the gig case. Came inside four boxes - An outer shipping box, then a Framus/Warwick/Sadowsky shipping box with two further boxes inside. No Sadowsky Porta Bag gig case anywhere to be seen so phoned them and told them it should have been included. They told me they'll look into it and get back to me. Not happy that they could ship it not including the gig case. 

 

However I'm trying to be content that the bass is as I hoped.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by dub_junkie

[Oldman]

I’m getting tempted for twins.

[TheGreek]

I was thinking about one but this thread has me having second thoughts. 

After all I don't really need another bass not to play. 

[MungoBass]

On 15/09/2023 at 10:17, Brian18242 said:

As they are currently heavily discounted I decided to pick one of these up. What a mistake!!

 

Even it £400+ the quality is shocking! Sharp fret edges, nut broken, and arrived with no set up.

 

Still amazed these basses made it to market with such little QC.

 

It's going straight back and I will wait for the reviews of the new line.

 

What's your experiences?

 

My experience was similar to yours. Dreadful ’finish’ on the frets with razor sharp edges and hopeless set up. The machine heads were tarnished too.

 

The only thing I liked about the package was the gig bag! That was good quality.

 

Sent mine back for a refund.

[Oldman]

Mmmm, I love the idea of matching basses, Fretless and fretted, same colour, spec, twins. These basses would rip my wallet of the thick end of  grand. But, 34”, a bit of negativity. So, I have a Peavey Cirrus, I tried to chase down a matching bass I could de fret. So what I did do was buy a Peavey ‘grind’, more or less the same spec as my cirrus, I will have it defretted., it’s black, I like black, my man said he could make the lines only visible to me! Total cost for both and a De fret, £900.00, both Neck Through, 35” scale. I have all the effects should the grind sound ‘not good’. The Cirrus is (IMO) as good as any other NT… At this price point I’m winning.

Edited September 23, 2023 by Oldman

[dub_junkie]

Total cost for my two MEs including the fret level on the black/maple J/J is £1020. No complaints as I have a great pair of gigging basses. Both play really well and both sound brilliant.  

[signals55]

Tried a first Gen shocking quality 

[Marty Forrer]

I bought a used first gen, and had none of the problems stated in previous posts. The frets were all good, fit and finish was spot on. The pickups were good, and I fitted a VTC preamp. However, the VTC was really a waste of money, the difference it made was minimal.