“It’s a P! It’s a J! It’s Super P/J!” – Sadowsky Guitars – NYC Custom 4-21 Fret Bass Guitar

I have been a fan of fancy tops on custom basses for a long time, and I am also a fan of various tints or burst finishes which highlight, or at least show, the grain of the wood. I will admit in my younger, more foolish, days to exhibit some prejudice towards fully painted basses; believing, perhaps, that the body wood must be in some way sub-par, or else why wouldn’t the luthier want to show it off? Surely, the best body blanks were destined towards a finish which showed off their greatness, whereas the less exceptional would be fated for paint, right? Later in life, something changed in my perspective a bit, and I started looking at painted instruments in a different light. I may still be foolish in many ways, but I started to come around to the beauty and attraction of painted basses, and if I had to pick one color/finish which definitely made me a convert, it is Sadowsky’s take on a Candy Apple Orange finish. It looks stunning in any light, and it looks equally at home with chrome or black hardware.

For wood selection, I have always loved mahogany bodies, paired up with a maple neck and an ebony fingerboard. This combination tends to work very well for my personal preferences. Roger and co. suggested okoume as an excellent substitute for mahogany, and I have had very positive results using okoume on other basses. In terms of tone and response, this bass seems to land just where I was hoping it would. The black ebony fingerboard is unadorned by face dots, which really highlights the mother of pearl Skyline inlay. Classy!

The real impetus for this build, though, were the new (at the time) Super P and Super J pickups, which I first experienced at the 2020 NAMM Show. I’ve long been a P/J fan, and I enjoy both the “regular” and “reverse” configurations on the split-P neck pickup. My older Sadowsky P/J5 has the universal route, which allows for both regular and reverse configurations (though this does require swapping out the pickguard, which is not super convenient). I also see merit in both the ‘60s bridge J-bass pickup location (my overall favorite), and the ‘70s bridge J-bass pickup location (which I agree is superior for certain styles/tones). While various luthiers have offered different setups which allow for selecting regular/reverse for the P-bass neck pickup and ‘60s/’70s location for the J-bass bridge pickup, Sadowsky’s new “Super P” and “Super J” are the highest evolution of these concepts which I have seen, to date.

The neck Super P has two sets of split coils, and a 3-way mini-toggle switch allows you to select sets of coils in “regular P” configuration, or in “reverse P” configuration, or all four coils in parallel. The bridge Super J has two stacked coils. J-style pickups, with one set of magnets/coils in the ‘60s position, and one in the ‘70s position. Like the Super P, there is a 3-way mini-toggle which allows you to select between the two locations, or run both pickups in parallel. I really love having these options available in such an easy-to-use fashion. I also appreciate the elegant way that the pickups are housed. Yes, it is a larger footprint than you would get with a straightforward P/J, and yes, the housings extend a bit further past the strings, but to my eyes, they still look great – and the pickup housings still make for a comfortable thumb anchor point.

Details, Details

You can get this pickup configuration any of the various bass models offered by the NYC shop. If you opt for a 20-fret model, you can select either a P-bass body shape or a J-bass body shape. The 21-fret model, here, is only available as a (slightly undersized) J-bass body shape, but it can be ordered with a “Vintage” control layout (as exhibited on this bass), with a pickguard and a control plate, or you can opt for the “Standard” layout (either in-line or “diamond” layout), which does not have a pickguard and features a rear route. There are many, many options available on the NYC custom order form (https://sadowsky.com/order/custom-order-2/), including multiple fingerboard radius and nut width options. I opted for a 1.5” nut width, and a 12” fingerboard radius.

The Sadowsky onboard preamp has long been admired and appreciated as one of the best bass preamps on the market. Its approach is very simple and straightforward, but – like everything Roger designs – very musical and effective. This preamp uses FETs, instead of op-amps, with boost only (+ 18dB) controls for bass (40Hz) and treble (4kHz), combined with volume, blend, and the VTC (“Vintage Tone Control) passive tone roll-off. It is possible to add the “Will Lee” mid boost preamp to this setup, but I find that with most P/J’s (and definitely this Super P/J), I can get all the midrange content I want by varying the pickup blend (and not boosting the bass/treble too much). In fact, this bass pretty much captures the ideal “tone in my head” with the neck pickup set to reverse P, the bridge pickup set to the ‘60s location, the VTC all the way up (no roll-off), and no boost on the bass or treble controls. As my strings age, I may add a touch of treble boost.

Rounding out the hardware choices, the 4-21 has a recessed cup ¼” input jack and employs a single, in-line string retainer for the top three strings. By contrast, my older WL4 has a single, round string retainer for just the top two strings, whereas my older still P/J 5 uses a string bar for all five strings between the nut and the tuning pegs. At first, I thought that the tuning pegs on the 4-21 are not quite as tall as those on the WL4 or P/J 5 (though still plenty tall to get all the windings you’d want/need), but upon closer inspection, the pegs are the same height, but the headstock is thicker on the new 4-21.

Comparisons

To try and put the 4-21 Super P/J into perspective, I spent a good bit of time directly comparing it to my Will Lee 4 and Super P/J 5, through a variety of rigs. First up, I threw a fresh set of Sadowsky Black Label stainless steel strings on the basses. I do like the Blue Label strings, as well, but I slightly prefer the more tactile feel of the Black Labels. Both types of strings sound fantastic, IME/IMHO. As expected, there were some definite similarities between the three, especially between the P/J 5 and the 4-21 Super P/J. I was a little surprised, though, at how close the WL4 could sound to the two P/J’s if you favor the neck pickup a bit, but even so, it was a bit more precise/dry than the other two. The feel and playability of the two 4-strings was very similar, and the thinner neck on the WL4 (1.45” at the nut, versus 1.5” for the 4-21) was only barely noticeable, and even then, only in the lowest positions.

Breaking out the P/J 5 (which I leave setup as a reverse-P), it proved to be slightly stronger in the “middle mids.” The 4-21 Super P/J, by contrast, definitely seemed to go deeper and had a stronger low-end presence than either of the other two Sadowsky’s; regardless of how I had the Super P/J coils set, the deeper response was apparent. For an additional comparison point, I broke out my Brubaker JXB-4 – which, like the JXB-4 I reviewed a couple of years ago, has Ulyate P/J pickups, with a reverse-P. Compared to the 4-21 Super P/J, the JXB-4 proved to be a bit more clear/cutting up top, slightly scooped in the mids, and close, but not quite as deep in the lows.

The Bottom Line

This Sadowsky 4-21 Super P/J is about as close as I may find for a “desert island bass” – presuming said island had electricity and a killer bass rig. Except for the few songs I play which require something below a low D, this bass can cover darned near every style I need to play in my main band (rock/pop from the ‘70s through today). Every Sadowsky I have played has been extremely comfortable to play, and this is no exception. It is very light, and ergonomically spot-on. In fact, as I try to grade this instrument for my subjective scoring, I really can’t find any characteristics where this bass is not on par with the best of the best. Accordingly, this bass receives perfect marks from me, which is an extreme rarity.

As the world changes around us, it is reassuring to have some stable elements, and the high quality and credibility of Roger Sadowsky and his instruments are certainly some of these reassuring elements. The NYC Custom Shop has so many options, almost any player should be able to dial in their own personal dream bass. I know I found mine.

1-5 (unacceptable to impeccable)

Low: Very full and present, even without bass boost; tight and controlled
Mids: Balanced, and ready to “growl,” if you dig in; very connected to lows and highs
Highs: Great clarity; nice “singing” voice, and never gets brittle