I'm torn... | Sadowsky MetroExpress 21 Hybrid PJ Bass [Review/Demo] 

UPDATE: Apologies, I got the price a bit wrong! That was the old MetroExpress - These basses will retail for around €945

Vintage Ass Room.. very nice. I'll be there!!

The ajustable nut comes from Warwick basses because these Sadowsky are made by Warwick in thier chinese factories

You will get nominated for the best pronunciation of the name Sadowsky😂

When the video came on I though your shirt said vintage ass room

I have to correct you a bit here, the 400-450 pound models are the old MetroExpress RSD models. The new models, like the one that you got, will retail for around double the price. Actually the 400-450 pound RSD models are also regularly around 650 pounds, they are just on sale at Thomann since they will get the new lineup soon. You can check other stores to confirm prices, but some stores might also have reduced prices.

Holy crap man. Vintage Ass Room. I was like: Man you changed...haha

They'd had such issues with the QC on the previous 'RSD' versions, I'm sure we were all really rooting for them to have got it sorted on this one.

The reversed blend knob is daft. Makes no sense and it's contrary to just about every other bass out there.

One thing with that preamp is that it's 2 bands boost only, which means that at zero is where the bass and treble are flat, from there you're always boosting the frequencies. It's kind of limited but that's how it was designed in most Sadowsky preamps and it's part of the signature sound.

Copper shielding inside the electronics cavity... BUT NOT ON THE INSIDE OF THE PLASTIC COVER PLATE??? What good does this do??

All my sadowskys (US) have the pickup blend the way you described it...nothing special for sadowsky players:)

You are describing similar experiences like I had with my MetroExpress (one of the „old“ RSD ones which are on sale at Thomann) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jZkJb76-sos.htmlsi=qcTZT4yWR1ENHTas seems like they didn’t improve that much with the new series… I would definitely not pay around 1000 € for that kind of quality. The sad thing is that these basses have great potential but sloppy quality control…😢

I have no clue what you mean about a bad fret job. I have 3 and they great.

Glad to see them sending their basses to RU-vidrs in the UK! This probably means they will finally start selling them on this side of the pond too. I've been drooling over those for months now, want to get a 5-string JJ, but shipping one from US is just brutal.

Warwick does adjustable nuts more or less since the 1980s ... first they had those Webster saddles made of brass where you have a brass screw for each string to adjust the hight. Later they came up with the "Just a nut" thing, which are probably cheaper to produce.

Cheers for the honest review, I was about to order one of those, but if the frets are that bad, I'd go for something else. Nice Vintage ASS t-shirt;)

Just this afternoon I've played one of the top-end models of MetroExpress line into a music store...at the end I chose a Mark Bass bass which was way better in comparison. Very disappointed by this line of basses.

About that pic balance thing, at this point it is ergonomically not a great idea to reverse the pickup order because it is a standard now like the order of a cars pedals. Imagine if I was chief ingeneer at Opel, and decided that I like better the gaz pedal to be on the left foot. Sure people can adapt, but if you do as one usually do with bass, and change cars sometime, at some point you will crash. Same here, if most people expect to have the neck pickup when fully rolled clockwise because it is the norm, doing otherwise is not a good move because people will have to readjust everytime they pickup this, or another bass. Obviously, you can swap the wires inside, but that will void waranty, so personally I would not buy this bass on that alone, because when you play onstage, and have to swap bass between songs, you expect consistency because you do not want to think about that. I play only Yamaha partly for that reason, their preamp have the bass knob on the neck side and treeble one is bridge side and I know that other basses do the other way around (Ibanez and Cort I think), so I avoid myself confusion that way.

for circa 1000€ the new korean sadowsky metroexpress are... quite good :) but... if I think that a Japan Made BB is around 2000€... well, i will go to Yamaha, one day :)

Like your energy and this comment is not aimed towards you or your playing but darn, even if the basses look decent. They sound terrible imho. Both the old ones and this one. Especially compared to other basses at the same price point from Cort, Sire, Yamaha and others. Also, if the fret job is bad? How the hell will they sell these basses? Sounds is key and like mentioned? Just no. Thank you for this video.

Sounds alright. - Nothing to really wright home about....You did mention something about the fretwork.

All sadowsky basses even the NYC have that blend pot wired that way. It is how roger likes it if you are not familiar with it

I'll just get something from Japan, no thanks. These high-end companies should stop these cheap-ass chinese bass. They keep overpricing their instrument for rich people and where did that bring them? Back to chinese factories lol.

If I’m going to spend over $1,000 on a bass that was made in China, it’s going to be a Dingwall. I’ve never heard anything negative about their QC.

Thanks for the review. I'm a guitarist looking for my first bass (eventually), and I'd been trying to feel out how the 2024 update of the MetroExpress line is. This is the first video I've seen of an actual production model, and.... yeah kind of looking like I should look elsewhere. All the reviews I've seen have sounded great, but stuff like the fretwork and the setup shifting that quickly do give me pause. I'm used to my American Fender and Japanese Ibanez guitars that handle pretty giant seasonal changes (hot, humid summers to dry winters) without fuss, and I don't want to end up with a bass that I'll need to constantly be fiddling with. And with that I set my sights back to a Yamaha BB or FGN Jazz Bass...

I have one of these. There’s a lot to like. But some really big things not to like. Namely the embarrassing noise level of the pickups through the preamp. I put a hum free dimarzio in to replace the j and went a long way, but I’m still feeling ripped off for what I paid.

#93_July27_2024_🇺🇸

I'm pretty impressed by the ones I've seen so far. I did have the same issue with the frets tho

You sure about the price? They are all over $1000 in the united states

@3:44 since they sent you this bass, then they will be reading these comments. Why couldn't you *ASK US* if anyone else received a bass with jagged fret edges? That would help this company with their quality control. As far as they know, you're the only one who got the lemon, because you didn't *ASK US* however you're still a young kid, so I'm sure there may be some narcissism involved with that, no worries! 😎

Hi JD.. Good honest review. I've been looking for these new updated SMX versions. Where can you buy these in the UK? Thomann is still selling the previous versions In the blend knob. Apparently, you can swap the wires around on the blend pot to get a standard sweep Thanks.Stu

New Warwick’s … I mean Sadowsky look nice

For someone with a bass channel you're pretty poorly informed! These basses are manufactured by Warwick in it's chinese factory. It's Warwick's IFT, not Sadowsky's! The retail price in the EU is 949€.

Was gunna comment on the vintage ass room clip but you guys got it covered lmao, glad your channel is getting the traction it deserves Johnny!

Was unsure whether to get this one or the Sire P8. Saw a good deal on a P8 and got that one a few weeks ago... so far, so good. But I'm still curious about the Metro Express Hybrid.

Why did I sell my UV70 *raises hands to the sky*

Can we get a tasty bassplayer

Surprised at the 'such a good price'.

*promo sm*

Great review as always. But I don't think a roasted maple neck plus minor changes justifies a near doubling of price to €800 (from €440) by Warwick/Sadowsky... I'd rather buy a Sire, Harley Benton etc with similar specs and keep 400 quid!

Wish Fender had this setup option

Man. I'm not big on PJ, but this sounds so sick..

This or yamaha bb735 which one do you prefer

I'm tom...

How do you find this compares to the Yamaha bb434? (I feel like I’ve seen you demo that one but maybe I’m wrong)…

I think playing with a pick doesn't tell the truth on the true sound of the bass. Plastic on the metal strings rather than fingers kinda covers the true quality of the tone. No matter what the setting was it still sound thin. I watched another video that give me a better picture of the sound. Rather than a pick he used fingers and that made all the difference. I'm sold on the Sadowsky 🤫🤔 yadig....

Bad frets and a Jazz Bass Body… that’s a No from me ..

Hi Jonny, i'm a bit confused...the £400-£500 Metro Express's do not say Sadowsky on the headstock...they say Metro Express...?!?!....i just looked them up online....

The amp sim sections are barely audible?