lowquality.net

Yep. It’s time. It still seems like yesterday when my Sadowsky 5-String came in the mail ten years ago. Actually, it has got to be exactly ten years since I received it, as it was the summer of 1997. This bass survived my tenure at Berklee College of Music, nearly all of the gigs with the JJ Sadler Blues Band, and every gig I played with Jay Rakes. Some people have a hundred instruments, and some continuously buy and resell basses, looking for “that perfect one.” I tend to find something thats fairly “me” to begin with and then work with it until I can reach a compromise between the natural sound of the instrument and my own sound. This is why I like Fenders and Fender-styled instruments. They all have their own individual sounds, but they are also consistent.

Despite its age I haven’t had it in the shop much outside of the occasional setup or noisy potentiometer. It is covered with scratches and dings and the finish on the neck is practically worn through. It is my bass. All of these marks were caused by me.

Well it’s about time for me to send this bass out for a refret. Cosmetic wear and tear is one thing, but I Have worn some of the frets down to the point that they are buzzing like crazy and I can’t seem to get them to stop. As much as I hate the idea of shipping it, I think it is quite necessary that I send it back to the Sadowsky shop to have this work done. There are some good luthiers in the area, but it just makes sense to me to send this up to Brooklyn. I just emailed Roger Sadowsky for some input on the price and turnaround time. I suspect that it will need to have some fretboard work done on it too, in which case (since the board is maple) it will have to be refinished. My suspicion could be wrong though.We’ll see what the guru says.