Why does Scott Devine hate Sadowsky basses?

[warwickhunt]

2 hours ago, TheGhostofJaco said:

 

A fellow named Jason Newsted played a Sadowsky during the peak of his bands fame. That band was named Metallica.

 

Also Tal Wilkenfeld, who took one of the most famous bass solos in the past 15 years with Jeff Beck, and also has played with Incubus. Darryl Jones, Marcus Miller, Verdine White, Roscoe Beck.

 

 

 

Let's be honest though, every single one of those bassists has also endorsed different manufacturer as well!   

[Mrbigstuff]

24 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

Did Marcus play an actual Sadowsky or a Fender modified by Rodger?

Just the electrics from sadowsky

[Terry M.]

5 minutes ago, Mrbigstuff said:

Just the electrics from sadowsky

Roger installed a Stars Guitars preamp in Marcus' Fender and when that failed he replaced it with a Bartolini circuit. I'm not sure a Sadowsky circuit was ever used. That's to my knowledge only,I could be wrong.

[Mrbigstuff]

48 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

Roger installed a Stars Guitars preamp in Marcus' Fender and when that failed he replaced it with a Bartolini circuit. I'm not sure a Sadowsky circuit was ever used. That's to my knowledge only,I could be wrong.

I’m not sure, but Bartolini rings a bell. I just remember he was getting so much work for electric upgrades and repairs he thought what else can I do to improve the fenders. Quite a lot it turned out!

[TheGhostofJaco]

1 hour ago, warwickhunt said:

 

Let's be honest though, every single one of those bassists has also endorsed different manufacturer as well!   

 

Yes but thats the case now for almost every known bass player. They almost have to be influencers as well and have multiple brands they work with. Before IG/YT influencing really took off, it was more about visibility - live shows, crowd sizes, TV appearances..etc would get you the free stuff or artist discounts. 

[manol]

I absolutely cannot stand IMA. Ridiculously annoying individual, I've blocked from my YT feed. It's just click bait nonsense. It's just a shame because I love Spencer and Lull basses, but seeing IMA's face everywhere is awful. 

[Terry M.]

2 hours ago, joel406 said:

Personally, I'm not a Sadowsky fan. Their 5 string models just don't fit.

They don't fit you? Is that what you mean?

[Sean]

On 13/04/2025 at 22:46, Jack said:

Ian is American isn't he? 

He's from Montana.

On 13/04/2025 at 21:56, Aidan63 said:

Neither Scott or Ian are 'merican, so they maybe don't pander quite so much to the whole MAGA boutique builders thing that some from the US would; they've had them, but maybe prefer things with a bit more character/flaws - they also have personal relationships with Lull and Overwater and others; by the same token they are probably not reciprocally on Spector, Warwick or Sadowsky's radar much themselves so aren't likely to be leveraged by those brands in order to increase those companies' sales.

IMA is the most active and vocal Spector endorsee there is (not a Spector in the pic).

 

 

Edited 18 hours ago by Sean

[BigRedX]

14 hours ago, Terry M. said:

For me personally as a five string player,other versions of what Fender invented can offer better B strings,more comfortable fingerboard radii,better colour options,build quality,more frets etc etc. I have nothing against the brand but found that they're not necessarily the "best" at what they started. It hasn't stopped me having one in the stable still however albeit with a Sadowsky onboard preamp modification. To date my favourite take on a jazz bass is an actual Sadowsky.

 

Fair enough. I don't really get on with the J-Bass shape, whilst it's not as clunky as the P it still feels too big.

 

And I've never worked out what was so special about the Sadowsky pre-amp. I once spent a very pleasant morning at the Sadowsky workshop/showroom when they were still in Brooklyn playing all their 5-string demo models, and IMO every single one sounded better to me with the pre-amp turned off. Also none of the 5-string models played as well as the basses I was using at the the time - Overwater Original and Gus G3.

[prowla]

"Hate" is such an extreme word for indifference.

[LukeFRC]

6 minutes ago, prowla said:

"Hate" is such an extreme word for indifference.

Quite.

 

in all my years on basschat I have not owned, nor been seen playing, or said anything positive about, or given away in a raffle some brands: Spector, Smith, Rickenbacker, Stagg, Reverend,  F bass, Moon or Tobias. 
I can confirm I do not “hate” any of them. My indifference ranges from unaffordababilty to really just not giving a flying fish. 
but I am not a hater.

thank you

 

[Killerfridge]

1 hour ago, prowla said:

"Hate" is such an extreme word for indifference.

I think @TheGhostofJaco was making a play/joke on the clickbait titles of SBLs videos, and said as much in the first line of his post:

 

On 13/04/2025 at 16:20, TheGhostofJaco said:

Ok this was a parody title because I have been watching his channel and all the titles are super clickbaity, so I could not resist. I think the guy is great and him and Ian would be very fun to hang out with. 
 

Edited 15 hours ago by Killerfridge

[Terry M.]

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

Fair enough. I don't really get on with the J-Bass shape, whilst it's not as clunky as the P it still feels too big.

 

And I've never worked out what was so special about the Sadowsky pre-amp. I once spent a very pleasant morning at the Sadowsky workshop/showroom when they were still in Brooklyn playing all their 5-string demo models, and IMO every single one sounded better to me with the pre-amp turned off. Also none of the 5-string models played as well as the basses I was using at the the time - Overwater Original and Gus G3.

I agree about the j-bass shape.My main basses are Warwicks with much smaller and symmetrical bodies. With regards to any bass I think the real sonic test is playing them live.That will really reveal what they can and can't do. Basses that sound great on their own or in the workshop environment you mentioned might not cut it live and vice versa. I once had a Stingray 5 with the ceramic-era pickup and it sounded a bit harsh and sterile in my living room. I then took it out live a few times and wondered if it was the same bass-amazing clear sound that cut through effortlessly with no hint of harshness.They need to be judged tonally on live playing in my opinion. 

My Fendowsky jazz I mentioned previously is so capable out live that I sometimes solo the bridge pickup which is something I NEVER really do,especially at home alone.

Edited 15 hours ago by Terry M.

[prowla]

1 hour ago, Killerfridge said:

I think @TheGhostofJaco was making a play/joke on the clickbait titles of SBLs videos, and said as much in the first line of his post:

 

 

3 hours ago, prowla said:

"Hate" is such an extreme word for indifference.

 

[neepheid]

I'm in the "I don't care" camp.  It's not hatred, they just don't appeal to me, they might as well not exist as far as I'm concerned.  That's doesn't mean they're bad.  I have no opinion.  Contrary to common belief, that is a valid option.

[Belka]

3 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

Fair enough. I don't really get on with the J-Bass shape, whilst it's not as clunky as the P it still feels too big.

 

And I've never worked out what was so special about the Sadowsky pre-amp. I once spent a very pleasant morning at the Sadowsky workshop/showroom when they were still in Brooklyn playing all their 5-string demo models, and IMO every single one sounded better to me with the pre-amp turned off. Also none of the 5-string models played as well as the basses I was using at the the time - Overwater Original and Gus G3.

I think a lot of Sadowsky's success is down to the time and place they were in. New York is full of session/theatre musicians who were mostly using Fenders. No doubt a lot of them had reliability issues, or became too valuable to play out, or didn't have a low B. Sadowsky was able to solve all these issues locally while still giving them an FSO that was familiar/comfortable to them and their employers, so it's no wonder they became successful. That said, there's nothing inherently pioneering/groundbreaking about them - B strings and active electronics had been around for a while when Sadowsky started making his own basses - he just put them into a package that appealed to a lot of people, and which also happened to be a high quality product.

 

I'd guess that a lot of the hype about the Sadowsky preamp is less due to the fact that it is unique and special in some way, and more due to the fact that it was the first active preamp available on a traditional looking/sounding bass.

 

 

[Terry M.]

13 minutes ago, Belka said:

 

 

I'd guess that a lot of the hype about the Sadowsky preamp is less due to the fact that it is unique and special in some way, and more due to the fact that it was the first active preamp available on a traditional looking/sounding bass.

 

 

As an ex-owner of a Sadowsky outboard preamp pedal and current Fendowsky owner I would say it's how the circuit makes the bass frequencies cut through live mixes with hardly any loss of nuances. 

[Killerfridge]

52 minutes ago, prowla said:

 

 

I feel like I've missed something

[Killerfridge]

Just now, Terry M. said:

As an ex-owner of a Sadowsky outboard preamp pedal and current Fendowsky owner I would say it's how the circuit makes the bass frequencies cut through live mixes with hardly any loss of nuances. 

As a current owner of a Sadowsky, the preamp feels special because it boosts in ways that don't feel oppressive. When I boost the treble, the bass sounds sweeter and more modern, but I don't fear it getting "brittle" or harsh. When I boost the bass it just sounds bigger, but not boomy and I don't lose any of the articulation. I just get to decide how forward in the mix I'm going to sound, and it just feels very well thought out frequency response-wise

[Terry M.]

2 minutes ago, Killerfridge said:

As a current owner of a Sadowsky, the preamp feels special because it boosts in ways that don't feel oppressive. When I boost the treble, the bass sounds sweeter and more modern, but I don't fear it getting "brittle" or harsh. When I boost the bass it just sounds bigger, but not boomy and I don't lose any of the articulation. I just get to decide how forward in the mix I'm going to sound, and it just feels very well thought out frequency response-wise

Very well put. The treble pot never gets harsh sounding like loads of other choices out there. I even add it to solo bridge pickup which I would never have done with some other brands.

Edited 13 hours ago by Terry M.

[MNY]

19 hours ago, Terry M. said:

Did Marcus play an actual Sadowsky or a Fender modified by Rodger?

I’m sure he played a five string Sadowsky on High Life by Wayne Shorter, specifically on the track ‘On the Milky Way Express’, absolutely kills it! 

Edited 12 hours ago by MNY

[Terry M.]

16 minutes ago, MNY said:

I’m sure he played a five string Sadowsky on High Life by Wayne Shorter, specifically on the track ‘On the Milky Way Express’, absolutely kills it! 

I'm pretty sure there are few basses he hasn't gotten his hands on at some point but was he ever endorsed by Sadowsky? Tal Wilkenfield,Verdine White,Will Lee (for example) were/are.

[Terry M.]

2 hours ago, neepheid said:

I'm in the "I don't care" camp.  It's not hatred, they just don't appeal to me, they might as well not exist as far as I'm concerned.  That's doesn't mean they're bad.  I have no opinion.  Contrary to common belief, that is a valid option.

That's me and expensive brands like Fodera,Alembic,Ken Smith etc. Have you never tried a Sadowsky out of curiosity? Actually I put them in the expensive category,the USA ones anyway 🤣

[TrevorR]

On 14/04/2025 at 12:09, Killerfridge said:

They did a video recently (ish) talking about Warwick, and despite calling the section "Warwick Thumb", they only showcased Streamers, which felt like a bit of a disservice

Research is not a strong point in their gear videos… lots of mistakes that a quick pre-record check would have avoided.

[neepheid]

45 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

That's me and expensive brands like Fodera,Alembic,Ken Smith etc. Have you never tried a Sadowsky out of curiosity? Actually I put them in the expensive category,the USA ones anyway 🤣

 

I have not, that I recall.  In that rarefied air, I have played a Ritter before - when I say "played" I mean "gingerly wore, scared to breathe on it wrong"