One of the great things about writing the Bass of the Week column is that builders send us photos of some of their best work. This recent Sadowsky NYC Will Lee 5-string hit my inbox and stopped me in my tracks.
Built with a chambered swamp ash body, the bass’s candy apple orange finish and black pearl pickguard are enough to make you drool. Then you look closer and see the jaw-dropping flame on its roasted maple neck and fingerboard. Of course, looks aren’t everything. The Will Lee model’s pickups and electronics are designed for flexibility.
“Our Will Lee model instruments incorporate the legendary Letterman bassist’s favorite specs and combine them with the host of other options that have made Sadowsky basses the choice of session players, touring bassists, and working musicians of all types for nearly forty years,” the company writes. “Will’s mid-boost circuit, slimmer nut width, and 22-fret neck along with a Sadowsky P pickup and our new “Super J” bridge pickup make this a supremely versatile bass. The P pickup offers all the roundness and warmth of a vintage P with the power and flexibility of Sadowsky’s treble and bass boost preamp. The “Super J” bridge pickup allows for the selection of a bridge pickup in 60s location, 70s location, or both together by way of a three-way toggle switch. Will’s mid- boost circuit provides additional tone shaping with both narrow and wideband boosts at 500 or 800 Hz.”
