Getting to know the latest series from the beloved bass manufacturer.
There’s few musical instrument manufacturers that focus almost exclusively on one medium, but Sadowsky, hailing from Long Island, New York does exactly that.
Since ‘79, when company founder Roger Sadowsky began modifying basses by upgrading their electronics with active and passive electronics, his basses have become known for quiet, dynamic operation, coupled with supreme playability and masterfully crafted bodies and necks. Since then, Sadowsky has transitioned into a leading manufacturer of stringed instruments.
Known mostly for their custom, hand-made basses produced in New York City, Sadowsky now introduces the Metro Line, a dynamic range of 21, 22 or 24 fret basses available with four or five strings, all produced out of Germany. Available exclusively with bolt-on necks, the range offers basses in a few familiar colour combinations, and a lot of similar specs and designs of the custom-made N.Y.C. creations, without the custom price tag.
The Metro Line really does have a bass for every player. Most of the configurations are either a ‘Vintage J’ style or ‘Hybrid PJ’ body shape, and come with either maple or morando (also known as pau ferro) fretboards. Both maple and morando offer a tighter wood grain and therefore snappier tone than rosewood, which bodes well for the frequencies that basses usually occupy and amplify in your band.
You’ve got an option of four or five strings, and Sadowsky hum-cancelling P or J style pickups with active two-way electronics. This offers a treble or bass boost and Sadowsky’s own Vintage Tone Control, a passive high-pass filter that works in both active and passive modes of operation. The Metro Line features mostly Sadowsky’s own in-house hardware, such as light open gear machine heads, quick string-release bridge, and S-security locks.
The body material will change depending on your colour preference, but vary between American Red Alder and American Swamp Ash, namely on the 24 fret “Modern”, Sadowsky’s own original body shape, which also makes an appearance as a part of the Metro Line.
Finally, the Metro Line also features an artist model, the Will Lee, an alder-bodied signature model for the bass player for Letterman’s house band, The World’s Most Dangerous Band. The Will Lee is an alder body, 22-fret bass available in either Candy Apple Red or Olympic White high polish. The remainder of the range are finished in high polish or satin.
All in all, the new Metro Line from Sadowsky is a show stopper. While admittedly, the US-made basses may be a little out of reach for some, the Metro Line pulls Sadowsky as a whole just that little bit closer. The Metro Line is masterfully designed, with great cuts of carefully selected tonewoods.
Sadowsky have been building only the best for decades, and while the Metro Line is their more affordable range, it doesn’t mean by any stretch that they are anything less than a professional level instrument. They feature tried, tested and refined pre-amps, as well as Sadowsky’s own in-house pickup systems, intuitive controls and solid hardware that will keep you in tune and out of trouble.
Sadowsky is distributed in Australia via Amber Technology.
