Sadowsky Metroline Will Lee 5 59´Transparent Burst (pre-owned)

Sadowsky MetroLine Will Lee 5 — '59 Burst

Roger Sadowsky built his name in New York making Fenders behave, and the Will Lee model is the purest distillation of that idea — a J-bass that keeps the vintage soul but loses the mud, the noise and the dead spots. This is the German-built MetroLine version of Will Lee’s own signature 5-string, wearing a translucent ’59 Burst that lets the red alder grain read straight through the gloss.

Will Lee has held the bass chair on late-night television for decades, and the spec sheet reads like a working pro’s wish list: light weight, a fast neck, and a preamp voiced to cut through a horn section without ever turning harsh. Pick it up and it disappears into your hands.

Body, Neck & Woods

The undersized red alder body is where the Will Lee gets its balance. Alder gives you that even, slightly warm midrange — the classic J-bass core — without the weight penalty, and Sadowsky’s contours keep it hanging comfortably whether you’re seated or four sets deep. The ’59 Burst is a transparent high-polish finish, so you’re looking at real grain, not paint.

The bolt-on maple neck carries a morado (pau ferro) fingerboard with a flat 12-inch radius, which is a big part of why this bass takes such a low, fast action. Morado sits tonally between rosewood and ebony — a little of rosewood’s warmth with more snap and note definition on top — so the attack stays crisp under the active EQ.

Twenty-two nickel-silver frets and a 34-inch scale keep everything familiar to anyone coming off a Fender, but the Just-A-Nut III and Sadowsky’s fretwork are what set it apart: string release is effortless and the low B stays tight and defined all the way down.

Condition

This is a 2023 build in mint condition — it looks and plays like it just left the German workshop. No fret wear worth noting, the finish is clean with no dings or buckle rash, and the electronics are quiet and fully functional across the whole range of the preamp.

It comes with the original Sadowsky Portabag gig bag and the case candy. We’ve been over it end to end — it’s ready to gig or record the day it arrives.

Electronics, Sound & Feel

Two passive Sadowsky J-style single coils do the heavy lifting, wired hum-canceling so you can run them at different balances without the usual J-bass buzz. On their own they’ve got that woody, articulate J voice; together they tighten into a focused, punchy tone that sits perfectly in a band.

The custom Will Lee preamp is the party trick. Alongside the usual bass and treble boost you get Sadowsky’s Vintage Tone Control — a passive-style treble roll-off that works even with the preamp bypassed — plus a switchable mid-boost you can set to 500 or 800 Hz in wide or narrow bands. Flip it on and the bass leans forward through a dense mix; leave it off and you’ve got a clean, hi-fi J-bass.

This is a working professional’s 5-string. If you want the vintage J feel with modern quiet, a real low B and enough EQ range to handle any room, the Will Lee is one of the most complete J-style basses money buys — and at pre-owned money, it’s a lot of bass for the euro.