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

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

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.

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

Hey man, thanks for the info! I couldn’t find anything else online so assumed like a silly boy. That makes this a bit more disappointing tbh

@bassimprovjams3772

3 ай бұрын

Well then for that price they definitely need to get them fret edges in check, you could get a sire for the same price point and not deal with that, this is a great bass for someone looking to buy in this price range nonetheless

@nicktorious4829

3 ай бұрын

The 5 string model is up for 360 Euros. Are they the older models too?

@nicktorious4829

3 ай бұрын

Also do you have any info on the older models' quality that are on sale on Thomann?

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!

Glad to see them sending their basses to KZreadrs 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.

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

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

😂😂

@Bogweed

3 ай бұрын

Beware @dancedavodance ! it can get kinda hairy in there;)

@EricT43

2 күн бұрын

This needs to be in Jonny's merch store

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.

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.

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.

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

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

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

Yep 😂

@ChrisJohnsonChannel

3 ай бұрын

@@JonnyDibble haha

@everettevansky9324

3 ай бұрын

Me too 😂

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

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...

@bassyey

Ай бұрын

Good decision. I have an ESP Edwards, sold my Fender Professional even. It's really good. Just get something from Japan.

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

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

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

I changed?

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;)

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

Vintage Ass is life

@scottlovesplayingbass3495

3 ай бұрын

I have 3 of them and have no issues with the frets

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

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

One day I’ll write home

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 :)

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!

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

I know what you mean, I feel like roasted maple isn’t really a premium feature anymore - super common!

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

@tedbrookins

9 күн бұрын

The snap covers all have conductive paint on the back.

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

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

Yeah I know ☺️ It’s just very strange!

@EricT43

2 күн бұрын

I guess it makes sense if you consider the bottom half of the knob to be the reference instead of the top half.

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.

@JVMC_ZR1

3 ай бұрын

Get The Sire. The tone and craftsmanship of Sire is hard to beat at any price point.

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

Sire are up there for the best preamps in more affordable basses. I know the P8 isn’t their most affordable, but it does sound great!

@bassimprovjams3772

3 ай бұрын

I want their V5 I guess because the roasted neck and passive I really want the 5 string fretless just waiting for them to get back in stock at sweetwater tho

@ThePalestinians8myCat

3 ай бұрын

@@bassimprovjams3772I went from an active sire v7 to the v5. The v7 got sold on eBay as the v5’s are possibly sires best bass. As they’re relatively inexpensive they’re great for modding as well. Got full hipshot hardware on mine now, all for less than a v8.

@roopekanerva5606

2 ай бұрын

Brother, this bass is pure garbage compared to the sire P8 or even Corts B4 element and Aplus and the new Space bass. Then you have Yamaha PJ's in the same price range that sound a lot better for jazz, fusion, soul and yeah, everything beside slap perhaps. You did the right choice. Enjoy.

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

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

Must either be a lemon or negative reaction to temperature! Happens with Squiers a lot. I’ve never had one with a bad fret job but some people say they have had bad ones!

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)…

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

Prefer the Yamaha overall, but I didn’t get in with the chunkier neck at the time. The neck shape of this bass (frets aside) was nicer to me

@pieromancer208

3 ай бұрын

@@JonnyDibble fair assessment! Thanks for the reply!

Wish Fender had this setup option

Surprised at the 'such a good price'.

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.

@mggfrz

22 күн бұрын

A simple suggestion: mount the balance pot with the white line facing down when in the middle position. When rotating the knob, the white line will move toward the pickup you are engaging. I.e.: rotating fully clockwise, the white line moves to the right, indicating the bridge pickup.

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.

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

Those Mark Bass basses are great!

@joecasa85

3 ай бұрын

@@JonnyDibbleabsolutely! The neck is incredible and they're so light but deep sounding!

You are describing similar experiences like I had with my MetroExpress (one of the „old“ RSD ones which are on sale at Thomann) kzread.info/dash/bejne/nI6frMRwZpDZn9Y.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…😢

Can we get a tasty bassplayer

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

@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! 😎

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

I’ve already fed this back to the company 😊 This newer model isn’t in many people’s hands yet. I’m 29 btw 😂 Cheers

New Warwick’s … I mean Sadowsky look nice

I'm tom...

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

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

That’s probably a Japanese made one! The Chinese ones are far cheaper

@thierry18

3 ай бұрын

I never knew they had a budget line! I'm in the U.S. as well.

@TSBASSIST

3 ай бұрын

Can confirm, these go for over $1000 retail in the US

@martinj.bombsquad6695

3 ай бұрын

They are still not availeble in Austria or Germany,till now,!..and yess they will go for round about 1000 €!!!!..Thats realy to much for these Chineese Products,and now we already have 2024,and these new models(2023),are still NOT available!...ps.: I own a JJ21 vintage 5str.,from the older series 2020,and that Bass was horrible out of the box!....Neckangle Neck to body=I had to put a 5mm plate in the pocket,to bring the bridgesaddels up a little bit...Bridge=realy sharp edges on the massplate...the 5th tunigmachine mounted in the wrong angle,an a losen screw.......thats the truth about the around 800€ china Sadowsky!!!🤟

@martinj.bombsquad6695

3 ай бұрын

Sorry 0.5mm!!!

*promo sm*

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.

@ts4gv

Ай бұрын

yeah there's gotta be some weird production choices ruining the sound. no way the basses just sound like that. That'd be crazy

@bassyey

Ай бұрын

They will sell it in the hopes they can do it with name recognition. Sadowsky should stick to high-end basses. They're great. This line is straight up trash. They don't know the market for cheap basses.

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€.

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

I know they’re manufactured by Warwick… that’s who I’ve been dealing with. Price wise, I’ll accept that. I didn’t realise the price was so different from the previous non-roasted range

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

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

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.

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....

@dominikkavur5373

3 ай бұрын

He got a new model that will hit stores soon, there are some videos on official Sadowsky youtube channel and I think that these new models are also available on Warwick web store.

@SchismaticProductions

3 ай бұрын

Hello Christopher, I'm clearly not, Mr. Dibble, he's far more handsome! 😆 However, what you speak of were the older line, they ran from 2020 until 2022, they then changed them for 2023. Some differences are, roasted maple neck, the electronics panel now matches Warwick's and the head-stock simply says "Sadowsky," they are 800 Euros from Warwick. Both lines are made in China by Warwick's Chinese division. Also to note, the 2020 line of MetroExpress's were notoriously badly finished, it was apparently due to Covid restrictions and no QA testing. Roger Sadowsky was forced to address this, that's how bad they were, hence why he said he's now comfortable putting his name on the affordable MetroExpress range. P.s, this also happened with Cor-Tek during 2020, loads of Corts, Squiers, Ibanezs, et cetera, were terribly assembled. I hope that helps. 😉

@christopherstorrier5560

3 ай бұрын

@@SchismaticProductions ....thanks bud...

@JonnyDibble

3 ай бұрын

Thanks for the info!

The amp sim sections are barely audible?