Sadowsky Metro Express BARGAINS at Thomann!

[tauzero]

On 26/04/2024 at 16:49, Burns-bass said:

If you start swapping decals it’s a good idea to mark it somehow to avoid future potential purchasers mistaking it for a real one!

 

Or have a Sadowsky TescoExpress decal.

[ProjeKtWEREWOLF]

I feel a little bad that I went for a Sire V5 instead of one of these. 

[King Tut]

23 minutes ago, ProjeKtWEREWOLF said:

I feel a little bad that I went for a Sire V5 instead of one of these. 

I wouldn’t worry mate, the Sires are cracking instruments too!

[Raslee]

I love this bass soooo much, since fitted my VTC pre, scored some Villex pickups and got a tort (ish) guard on it. Plays and sounds great.

[ProjeKtWEREWOLF]

4 hours ago, King Tut said:

I wouldn’t worry mate, the Sires are cracking instruments too!

Only played it for 10 minutes. I got the Minty green and copper one. It's a very nice bass for the money. I wanted a passive J bass, and that's what I got! 😁

[carlsim]

I find that these days a lot of the cheaper far east instruments are all of a similar quality and standard. They all need a little fettling to suit the player, but that's the deal with cheaper instruments. I don't think manufacturers can afford to try and offload cheap rubbish these days - word of mouth travels quickly these days via 't'net' and can destroy a brand very quickly. The 1st gen of the chinese metro express basses is a great example of that. Roger came out and said himself that he wasn't happy with the first iteration and problems would be fixed on the next batches. Credit to them, I never saw a first gen model but the next batches seem to be great basses for the money. Sires the same - great basses for the money although I don't think they have ever had QC issues like Sadowsky had to deal with on the first gen ME. 

Having said that, I don't think I would have spent £700+ on a ME, just for £350/£400, as others have mentioned, they are a great platform to mod and tinker! 

I keep thinking about the VTC but I don't know if it brings enough benefits to warrant the outlay! I may see if I can pick up a used one to try out. To spend money I like to see an obvious difference, I'm not sure if it would bring me that much to warrant a near £200 spend.

I recently put in a Glockenklang preamp in my Atelier Z DAL5 and that sounds amazing! It has the passive tone, 2 band EQ and is cut and boost rather than just boost. And it is just over half the cost of the VTC. A difficult decision but luckily not an urgent one as my MEs are not my main gigging basses.

 

9 hours ago, ProjeKtWEREWOLF said:

Only played it for 10 minutes. I got the Minty green and copper one. It's a very nice bass for the money. I wanted a passive J bass, and that's what I got! 😁

  

[Josh]

10 minutes ago, carlsim said:

I keep thinking about the VTC but I don't know if it brings enough benefits to warrant the outlay! I may see if I can pick up a used one to try out.

I think the best way to describe the difference of having the VTC over the standard EQ is that you effectively have a hi-pass filter which helps tame the treble if it’s a bit too harsh. I can’t speak for the passive tone side because I’ve never used any active bass in passive mode for more than a few minutes. 
 

You can buy just the VTC control individually at a fraction of the price of the whole drop-in unit, but apparently it’s a right faff to install. 

[carlsim]

10 minutes ago, Josh said:

I think the best way to describe the difference of having the VTC over the standard EQ is that you effectively have a hi-pass filter which helps tame the treble if it’s a bit too harsh. I can’t speak for the passive tone side because I’ve never used any active bass in passive mode for more than a few minutes. 
 

You can buy just the VTC control individually at a fraction of the price of the whole drop-in unit, but apparently it’s a right faff to install. 

 

Yeah, I saw the separate VTC option - I'm not sure if I fancy that!

[Paddy777]

3 hours ago, Josh said:

I think the best way to describe the difference of having the VTC over the standard EQ is that you effectively have a hi-pass filter* which helps tame the treble if it’s a bit too harsh. I can’t speak for the passive tone side because I’ve never used any active bass in passive mode for more than a few minutes. 
 

You can buy just the VTC control individually at a fraction of the price of the whole drop-in unit, but apparently it’s a right faff to install. 

*low pass filter 😝 but yeh the VTC is essentially the same as the tone control on a Fender, but it works in active and passive mode - very useful with Sadowsky preamp and it’s so hot and has a huge amount of sizzle at the top end, I found boosting bass by about 25% and treble a little more, then rolling the VTC/tone control back at least halfway and then fiddling to suit worked well. 

[chris_b]

I've got a VTC on my Sadowsky, and I think it's effect is pretty subtle. The bass and treble controls are so powerful I don't have much use for the VTC.

[SurroundedByManatees]

I bought the 5-21 hybrid a few weeks back. A green one with the Pao Ferro fretboard. The tag says it has been made in 2021, so it had been in stock for a while.

 

Given the mixed reviews I kinda expected to have some flaws that would need attention. But actually I can´t find any flaws. The bass plays beautifully with a low action, and there are no sharp fret ends to be found. Fit and finish is better than you´ll see on many USA Fenders in my experience. Soundwise it´s great too, I can´t see a reason to change the pickups or preamp. 

 

The only thing I need to do is change the stock strings. I play them, but they feel a bit rough. So I´ll probably fit a standard set of d´addarios.

 

All in all I´d say these basses can be a very good deal for a modest price.

 

Edit: the only downside is that the headstock decal is as ugly as F*ck. I´ll keep it like this though, as in 30 years this will be one of the rare ones that doesn´t have the decal sanded off.

Edited May 20 by SurroundedByManatees

[carlsim]

3 minutes ago, SurroundedByManatees said:

I bought the 5-21 hybrid a few weeks back. A green one with the Pao Ferro fretboard. The tag says it has been made in 2021, so it had been in stock for a while.

 

Given the mixed reviews I kinda expected to have some flaws that would need attention. But actually I can´t find any flaws. The bass plays beautifully with a low action, and there are no sharp fret ends to be found. Fit and finish is better than you´ll see on many USA Fenders in my experience. Soundwise it´s great too, I can´t see a reason to change the pickups or preamp. 

 

The only thing I need to do is change the stock strings. I play them, but they feel a bit rough. So I´ll probably fit a standard set of d´addarios.

 

All in all I´d say these basses can be a very good deal for a modest price.

 

Edit: the only downside is that the headstock decal is as ugly as F*ck. I´ll keep it like this though, as in 30 years this will be one of the rare ones that doesn´t have the decal sanded off.

 

Completely with you - although I hadn't thought about the headstock from that perspective! I have probably just devalued mine! 🤪

 

Stock strings are a bit naff... I need to change my fretted one when  get the chance.... I put some EB flats on my fretless - it sings! I with you about the Preamp and pups... mine is nice and quiet and I don't think £200 is worth it just to add the VTC...

[Paddy777]

I really like a tone control/‘VTC’ and it’s a big gripe of mine on a lot of really decent active basses like my Lakland 55/02 that there isn’t one, so I think I’d get the upgraded preamp but I’ve not really read about or spoken to anyone who was either unhappy with the stock pickups or who changed the pickups and thought it was worth doing - in fact most people I’ve read about who’ve done it said there wasn’t a lot of point, unless you’re going for a totally different sound it seems pointless. Andy Irvine was saying how good his sounded with Nordstrand’s in but he’s a Nordstrand artist so I kinda discounted that opinion - I’d probably stick Nordstrands in too if they were free 😝 

[dub_junkie]

I like the stock pickups/preamp

sound and I'm happy gigging these as they are. I've always been able to get them to sound good in any song/mix/room.

I have the Sadowsky preamp with VTC on my Valenti Jazz and it's a nice feature but find it easy to get a great sound just with just the active EQ on these Metro Expresses and I can always reach out and cut treble on the amp if needed.

Never felt any need to change the decal either. Agreed it's a bit pants but with the fettling/set up/ fret level jobs I'm having done on all of mine, they're playing so effortlessly I kind of like the fact they are what they are. 

 

My most recent five string P/J hybrid ( I also bought the green/morado J/J half visible in the pic too)

 

 

 

 

 

[Paddy777]

Green/Morado is one of my favourite colours they do it looks absolutely class 👌🏼 

[Bonin-in-the boneyard]

Got my hands on a lefty 5 string fretless really is a lovely Bass 

Everything is top notch apart from the very powerful preamp but I keep it flat and it sounds sweet 

I replaced the string with flatwounds

Great Bass for the money

 

[martthebass]

3 hours ago, Bonin-in-the boneyard said:

Got my hands on a lefty 5 string fretless really is a lovely Bass 

Everything is top notch apart from the very powerful preamp but I keep it flat and it sounds sweet 

I replaced the string with flatwounds

Great Bass for the money

 

That looks sweet. I love my fretless, this might be heresy but I prefer mine to the EBMM fretless stingray I used to own.

[King Tut]

Do these have a passive bypass? If so, does the tone control work in passive? And do they come with a gig bag?

[Hellzero]

By pulling the bass knob, you enter the passive mode without tone control.

 

If you want a tone control, you can buy the expensive VTC upgrade kit or do it yourself or put a Sadowsky VTC preamp.

 

They come with the Sadowsky Portabag and the whole lot of goodies.

[King Tut]

1 hour ago, Hellzero said:

By pulling the bass knob, you enter the passive mode without tone control.

 

If you want a tone control, you can buy the expensive VTC upgrade kit or do it yourself or put a Sadowsky VTC preamp.

 

They come with the Sadowsky Portabag and the whole lot of goodies.

Thanks - I’m tempted. I see they’re creeping up in price a bit!

[Hellzero]

This is mine, bought the 6th of December 2023.

 

I put an old original epoxied American Sadowsky VTC preamp that I had in the drawer as well as some brand new real deal original Sadowsky pickups.

 

That said, it was already excellent sounding with the Chinese pickups and preamp.

 

I also put a Sadowsky decal, but let everything else.

 

The Sadowsky Portabag is also pictured @King Tut