Sadowsky MV5 Metro

This bass is pretty cut and dry. No bells and whistles. Super light alder body, and maple fret board. I installed the vintage tone control which lets you roll of some high end when in passive or active mode. It has sadowsky hum-canceling pups and pre amp. Very solid bass. One last feature is the weight. This bass is very light. I gig every night, and this bass is very forgiving on my body. Its one of those things you would sacrifice for the sound, but here are both in one. A great sounding lightwieght bass

This is the bass I've been looking for. It sounds amazing. Very versatile. Its very even and full. The treble boost really gives the bass a "hot" sound. ITs unique to sadowsky. Very clear and piercing. Check out Marcus Miller. Similarly, the bass boost is huge. Carefull not to blow your amp. This bass is very capable. The passive mode sounds great. It sounds like a very precise jazz bass. This is by far the best sounding slap bass I've ever played. It sounds so good it makes you play better. Its just full and rich. Very tight low B.

Everything came set up great. I haven't changed a thing except the strings. Its obvious that someone personally constructed this bass and set it up.

Its a tank. A great piece of wood and great electronics. The rest is in your hands.

Sadowsky is known for great costomer support. Everytime I've called someone answed and helped me out. I emailed Roger Sadowosky, and he emailed me back the next day.

I have this bass and a 75 jazz bass. They're all I need. I sold my warwick streamer stage 1 days after I played this sadowsky. I play full time and this is my primary bass. It records really well and is capable of many sounds. Its great in the studio and live. I get compliments all the time. Play one if can.

New 2004 Sadowsky Metro MV5 5- string bass in '59 Burst color.Ordered in 9/04, received late 11/04- 21 Fret Maple Neck,34" scale, Ash Body, Vintage Tone Control option added($150.00 extra), Controls are: Volume, Pan, Tone(treble roll-off) Treble/Bass( concentric knob,the highest quality one I've used!), Sadowsky- made Active Twin J Bass pickups, Hipshot Tuners,Quick-change Bridge, Ultralite case and Hex wrenches included. I've replaced the strap buttons with Dunlop Strap Locks.

Very Versatile tonally. I can get every sound I need fron the MV5. Very full bass range with no dead spots or drop offs. I'm glad I chose the Vintage tone control(recommended)as one can get a pretty authentic Motown sound by rolling off some high end. I prefer the pan control slightly biased toward the bridge pickup for a bit of J-bass growl. I was almost thinking of selling my old SWR rig until I got this bass, but not now, I've finally got the tone I've been seeking all these years,KILLER!

Fit & Finish are impeccable!Set up was damn-near perfect out of the box.I played a gig hours after it came via Fed-Ex, it was comfortable immediately. I did have a slight fret buzz that was apparent and probably could have tweaked myself, but I'm about an hour from the Sadowsky shop in NY, so I brought it in and Roger was very attentive to me, and adjusted things while I waited. Action is now low and comfortable,and no buzz at all. Roger and staff know their stuff, first-rate customer service. As the Metro basses are made in Japan, I was concerned that the Tokyo stuff was not on par with NYC-made Sadowsky's, but rest assured, play one and you'll see.My bass was strung with Sadowsky Stainless Steel Strings 130-45. I still have the original strings on them, and they've held up great. I did order two more sets of the same from Sadowsky for when I do have to replace them.

N/A - I've had it two months with no negative issues.It's so well constructed, I don't foresee any problems arising.

Tremendous customer support! Right from the beginning, when I was in the "just-looking" phase of my purchase, Kevin from Sadowsky answered all my questions and talked me through the whole process. I had initially ordered an RS4 4 string bass, but changed my order to the 5 string a week later after hearing from enough players that Sadowsky 5 string basses played as effortlessly as their 4 strings. As I was a life-long 4 string player, it was a little scary committing some serious change to an instrument that was foreign to me, every 5 string bass I had played up to that point had horrble action and huge chunky necks. Kevin explained the differences in body and fingerboard woods to me and I ended up with the maple neck/ash body combo. The MV5 has a thin, comfortable and most importantly, straight neck. There is always someone knowledgable to speak to at the shop, often Roger Sadowsky himself. My e-mails were always promptly answered. My
neck was adjusted,free of charge of course, by Roger himself, while I waited. I also had a chance to play some of the other basses while I waited, all amazing stuff. A VERY positive customer support experience.

I notice that most people submitting reviews tend to be very generous about what they own and review, it may be difficult to get impartial information, and I hate to sound like a commercial for Sadowsky, but I can't find anything I don't like about this bass. I do wish it came with Straplocks like the NYC basses do, but that's a minor issue, I suppose. If it were lost or stolen, I'd have to replace it with another Sadowsky, as I've quickly become "spoiled" with the ability the dial in any tone I want and a playability I haven't found elsewhere. In my 27 years of playing, I've tried alot of gear, always searching for the Holy Grail of tone, be it in the form of a different set of pick-ups, a dfferent cabinet, or an effects rack item. I now run my MV5 into my SWR SM400 head and an SWR Triad/ Hartke 410XL cabinet combo, straight with no effects, and I couldn't be happier with my tone. I 've also used an Eden 210 cabinet with killer results. If you're in the market for a new 5-string,or 4 string, for that matter, you'd be doing yourself a serious disservice if you don't look into Sadowsky basses. The prices are definitely not cheap, especially for the NYC basses, but the Metro line's lower prices made it possible for me to get that same NYC quality for about about $1300.00 less.

It has volume, pan, treble and bass knobs. The pan know is backwards from other jazz basses. You turn it clockwise to pan towards the bridge pickup. The thinking behind this is that you turn it up to solo. It takes a little getting used to it. The bass and treble knobs start flat (all the way back). You add bass or treble gradually from that point where needed. Since this is diffent and takes some getting used to it. I give a 9 for being original (non-standard).

It's always hard to describe a sound with temperature adjectives (warm, dark, whatever). After playing my first club weekend, I was impressed on how it cut through the mix. Sadowsky has a unique tone that sounds very full spectum and clean. It can get a great bridge pickup growl, but it is a clean growl. I've got an Ex-factor and Modulus Genesis and this compares, if not exceeds their tone quality.

Perfect, however I lowered the action to my taste. Perfect finish. It had a loose volume knob.

Excellent. I called Sadowsky for a few questions. They picked up the phone right away. I actually talked to a human at first instead of a damn phone system.

I love this bass. Sounds great through the Aguilar DB750, empirical Labs Distressor EL-8 and the Aguilar GS410 and GS115 cabs. However, by using my wireless, I went out into the crowd to hear it going through a 40,000 watt system. That was the true test. I was blown away! It's the simple things in life that make me happy. 10!

2004 Sadowsky Metro MV5. 5 string, natural finish ash body, maple neck and fingerboard, 21 frets, black pickguard. Sadowsky hum cancelling J pickups with Sadowsky 9volt onboard preamp, preamp bypass. Ultralight hard case included. Vintage 70's jazz bass vibe but VERY updated. Slap, fingerstyle, muted, pick, etc...this bass really does it all. Made in Japan.

I've never owned a bass that sounds as good as this bass does. It doesn't matter if you're going direct, through PA monitors or mains, straight into a recording system, this bass sounds INCREDIBLE. The tone is consistent throughout the fingerboard, no dead spots. Very piano like and warm.

Perfect from the moment I pulled it out of the case. Haven't had to make any adjustments.

The first week I had this bass I was doing an outdoor gig in 90+ degree weather, sweating, sunscreen dripping from my hands, and this bass withstood it all. I was also going through the mains without an amp, and we all know this usually is a recipe for disaster, but my tone was great. I do many gigs a week and I'm confident that this bass can handle it, I don't need a back up.

I've called Sadowsky a couple of times to ask questions and Roger answers the phone. He is very helpful. I also own a Preamp/DI pedal that is getting repaired, they seem to be willing to get that taken care of very quickly.

If you're looking for a bass in the $1500-2500 range, don't waste your money on anything other that one of these basses. This bass is not a piece of furniture to look at in awe, it is a bass that needs to be played, it can take it. If it were stolen I would buy another one right away. Sadowsky is so consistent with their products, unlike some other manufacturers, that I did not hesitate buying this bass from a dealer out of state.
John from www.bassemporium.com is one of the nicest guys to deal with. This is the third high dollar item I've bought from him and I trust him. By the way, I'm located in Southern California.