The Sadowsky Sound

“My goal was always to create a plug and play preamp that makes it very easy for the user to dial in a great sound. The sound of a Sadowsky bass has been praised for over 35 years by players, studio engineers, and front of house engineers. The Sadowsky sound has always been the result of a FET circuit, which is the solid-state equivalent of tubes. It is not possible to do cut and boost with a FET circuit, and you cannot adjust mids without affecting the treble and bass curves. However, the sonic results are extraordinary. Mid boost is a tricky issue as excess mids may sound great to the player, but reduce the ability of the bass to cut through in the mix. I have prototyped dozens of opamp circuits with cut and boost controls and mid controls and none of them are able to replicate the famous Sadowsky sound.” —Roger Sadowsky

History of the Sadowsky Preamp: 

“When I started using preamps in basses, NYC session players were looking for ways to cut through better, both live and in the studio. I had started to experiment with circuits from Stars Guitars in San Francisco and later with Bartolini.  After I had installed a few, Marcus Miller came to the shop asking me to do everything I could to improve his bass. In addition to a good fret job, a better bridge, and some electronic shielding, I installed the treble and bass boost FET circuit I was using and “the rest is history”! —Roger Sadowsky

Sadowsky Preamp/DI Pedals SBP 1 and SBP 2 Video Review

Preamp Basics:

“Our preamp pedals are a way for people to get the Sadowsky sound with basically any other passive or active bass. It’s the same circuit that we use in all Sadowsky basses. When used with basses with existing active tone circuits, we recommend bypassing them if possible or setting all controls flat.” Roger Sadowsky

The Players:

Bass A* Fender P bass with Labella deep talking Flats. Nordy p bass Pickup.

Bass B* Mbasses Brooklyn 5 with Dunlop nickel rounds. Mbasses prototype dual coil pickup.

Bass C* Azola bugbass with Thomastic infeld strings. Piezoelectric pickup.

For more information, visit online at sadowsky.com