This Letter Made My Day!

I know you get emails like this all the time, and though I have no celebrity to add to your wall, I still feel compelled.

Bass #5625 is one of the finest electric guitars I have ever laid my hands on, and I have laid my hands on many more than my share. My two Sadowsky 6-string guitars (one S and one T) are pretty damned deluxe in their own right, but this bass just defines a whole other category. It is light as a feather and every aspect of it large and small is perfect, from the tone to the appearance. I naively whipped out my little phillips screwdriver when I first opened the bag, figuring I'd have to tweak saddles around to get the intonation my fancy meter demands. Nope, no need...perfect, like everything else. (I never found out if the saddle screws really are phillips.) The neck is so playable it plays itself. Feels like part of my hand. The wide nut-spacing is perfect. The resonance is..."shocking", I think is a suitable word. The bout dimensions are brilliant. Active or passive each choice is perfect for different situations. Did I mention the neck? I would vote for it for President.

Sorry to go on like a teenage girl, which I am far from. But this masterwork of contemporary luthier's art deserves a Public Display of Affection. I mean, once you play it for ten minutes, it really does sink in how even the top-of-the-line Fenders, some costing twice or 3x as much, look, feel and sound like happy-meal prizes compared to a Sadowsky...when their necks aren't leaning way over. During those then minutes, the $4k price tag on this axe went from a guilty pleasure that I had to persuade myself was just barely affordable, to looking like a Costco front-table fire-sale bargain.

Blah, blah, I know. But I need to pay tribute to the artists who put this precious instrument together. I don't want to make their heads any bigger, I'm sure their asses have been smooched by some of the best musicians on the planet. But in this case it would simply be wrong not to say thanks. Please convey them to all involved.

Thanks again.

--Ken Sarno