Sadowsky Guitars MasterBuilt 21-Fret Standard M/J Bass [2024 Limited Edition]

The Masterbuilt series J/MM style, featuring a combination of high-quality wood, has arrived!

Founded in 1979, Sadowsky Guitars established the "active JB" style, now adopted by many manufacturers, through modifying instruments for New York studio musicians, including the famous Marcus Miller's '77 JB, and manufacturing instruments under its own brand. It is a brand that has proposed new possibilities for bass sound to the music scene since the 1980s.
With a sound variety that can accommodate all musical genres, low noise, and ultimate functionality, Sadowsky instruments have always been with musicians and continue to evolve.

The current Metroline series, licensed and sold by Warwick, inherits the highly-regarded Sadowsky circuitry known for its practical sound, while leveraging the strengths of the factory, which boasts abundant wood stock and state-of-the-art facilities, to produce high-quality basses in a wide variety of styles. In particular, the "Custom Shop/MasterBuilt" models are attractive for their superior finish, using carefully selected materials that rival those of NYC.

The body top is made of "padauk," a rare wood with a vibrant reddish hue that is also used in high-end furniture. Due to its robustness, it is also used as neck and fretboard material in musical instruments.
This instrument features a balanced combination of the deep reddish core and the natural color of the sapwood on the body top, a specification only achievable by Warwick, which boasts one of the world's largest wood stocks. Furthermore, by combining it with lightweight okoume wood for the body back, it achieves an ultra-lightweight 3.59kg for a 5-string bass, allowing even artists with intense stage presence to focus on their performance without strain.

The neck is made of roasted flame maple with a clearly visible flame grain, resulting in a moderately aged, full-bodied, and woody sound. The fingerboard is made of Madagascar rosewood, which is said to have a sound similar to jacaranda (Brazilian rosewood) and is also robust, so it produces a crisp, well-defined tone without losing edge when slapping or picking.

This 5-string model features a stacked humbucker front J-type pickup and a rear quarter-pound MM-type pickup, both of which can be selected in parallel, series, or coil-tapped configurations via a mini-switch. Combined with the 2-band EQ and tone control, this allows for a wide range of sounds to be created.

*Although the model name is listed as 2024, it will be available in Japan from summer 2025.

[MB21 MJ5 LTD2024]
■Body：Heavily Marbled Padouk Top / Okoume Back
■Neck: Roasted Flamed Maple (C-Shape, Bolt-On), 34inch (864 mm)
■Fingerboard: Madagascar Rosewood
■Nut: Sadowsky Just-A-Nut III, 1.75 (44.5 mm)
■Frets: 21 Nickel Silver (width: 0.094 (2.4 mm) / height: 0.051 (1.3 mm))
■Pickup: Sadowsky J-Style - Stacked, Passive, Hum-cancelling/Passive Humbucker (Quad Coil) with Alnico V Magnets
■Preamp: Active Sadowsky 2-way electronics with Vintage Tone Control (VTC)
■Controls: Volume, Balance, Tone (Pull/Pass), Treble/Bass
■Toggle switch: Series / Parallel / Single Coil ×2
■Bridge Sadowsky bridge with quick string release (18 mm)
■Machine Heads Sadowsky light open gear machine heads
■Strings Sadowsky Blue Label, Nickel, Taperwound, 045-130
■Weight ≈ 3.58kg

Gig bag included