• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Sadowsky 3 Band Preamp

Would you like to see a Sadowsky 3 band Pre

  • Total voters
    102
#21
IMHO, if you want to mess with the mids, the 4 band pre’s are WAAAAY better; because they let you affect the lower mids and upper mids as separate aspects. That’s important, because lower mids have the booty, while upper mids are honk. The Sadowsky Pre is highly useful, because the Bass control includes the Lower mids.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4StringTheory, Alessandro Cruz, chris_b and 1 other person
#22
bucephylus said:
IMHO, if you want to mess with the mids, the 4 band pre's are WAAAAY better; because they let you affect the lower mids and upper mids as separate aspects. That's important, because lower mids have the booty, while upper mids are honk. The Sadowsky Pre is highly useful, because the Bass control includes the Lower mids.
Click to expand...
I agree, but still I miss some mid frequencies with the Sadowsky preamp, and the treble didn't help.

I got everything I wanted with the 4-band Audere. Even more useful highs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ragetoca
#23
The Sadowsky preamp with VTC is my favorite out of my active basses. Just seems to always work, and I don't like things too complicated. Have two Laklands (one Bart and one Lakland preamp) and two Stingrays (regular and a Special) and have had an active fender in the past and the Sadowsky pre just seems to work better for me. I've always wondered what the others would be like if they had a vintage tone control as well, maybe it would elevate some of the others, but I'm not about to go modify anything.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ragetoca
#24
joel the bass player said:
The Sadowsky preamp with VTC is my favorite out of my active basses. Just seems to always work, and I don't like things too complicated. Have two Laklands (one Bart and one Lakland preamp) and two Stingrays (regular and a Special) and have had an active fender in the past and the Sadowsky pre just seems to work better for me. I've always wondered what the others would be like if they had a vintage tone control as well, maybe it would elevate some of the others, but I'm not about to go modify anything.
Click to expand...

You can add a VTC to any preamp.....some manuf. include it now or you can ask them to add it to a prewire preamp......Audere is nice, I like it a lot.....
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alessandro Cruz
#26
brianrost said:
Alex Aguilar designed the Sadowsky preamp, so just buy the Aguilar OBP-3.

Has anyone ever been able to AB the OBP-2 against the Sadowsky?
Click to expand...

While I have not AB'd them, they are completely different topologies. The closest Aguilar to the Sadowsky is the OBP-1, which is boost-only and I believe also FET instead of opamp. The OBP-2 is boost/cut w/opamps, as is the OBP-3.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alessandro Cruz and ragetoca
#29
joel the bass player said:
The Sadowsky preamp with VTC is my favorite out of my active basses. Just seems to always work, and I don't like things too complicated. Have two Laklands (one Bart and one Lakland preamp) and two Stingrays (regular and a Special) and have had an active fender in the past and the Sadowsky pre just seems to work better for me. I've always wondered what the others would be like if they had a vintage tone control as well, maybe it would elevate some of the others, but I'm not about to go modify anything.
Click to expand...
VTC is just a fancy name for a regular tone control. ALL basses can have this if you want.

My Audere Classic 4-band has it, even my EMG BQC System has it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ragetoca
#30
brianrost said:
Alex Aguilar designed the Sadowsky preamp, so just buy the Aguilar OBP-3.

Has anyone ever been able to AB the OBP-2 against the Sadowsky?
Click to expand...
To be honest, Aguilar is one of the last "name" preamps I would ever buy. Too boomy and NO modulation at all. You go 0 to 100 with just a touch on the knob. And, at least IMO, there's no similarity between them. And yes, I did the AB the Sadowsky vs OBP3 and I would keep going with the Sadowsky.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1kinal
#33
Antman3820 said:
Just got the trick fish, drop in plate. Has a four band EQ and you can adjust the frequencies via dip switch
Click to expand...
This is a crazy good preamp. The EQ options are far and wide. I left the EQ switches as it came except for the highs which I set to 10K.

Yeah, that’s way up there presumably out of the bass tone range. Ahh, but I find that frequency useful when I want to take the edge off the tone but not sound a towel was thrown on the strings. If I need to take off more tone, I use the passive tone control.

The J Core is my new favorite preamp.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alessandro Cruz and ragetoca
#34
ragetoca said:
I agree! And it sounds harsh
Click to expand...
I never liked any of the Aguilar preamps I tried, and I've tried them all at some point. The best was the OBP-1, and it is very similar to the Sadowsky, but I always felt like the Qs were different than the Sadowsky even though they have the same frequency centers. Maybe that was just my perception. The 2 and 3 seemed very harsh in the highs to my ears.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alessandro Cruz, 1kinal and ragetoca

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back