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Sadowsky Onboard Preamp (w/VTC) - Still Good?
- Thread starter Smallmouth_Bass
- Start date
Then you like "the Sadowsky Sound"! Same here. When I don't use my Sadowsky bass I almost always use the pre pedal on my passive basses.
To the OP--the Sadowsky has a special magic to it and it has an identifiable sound. It doesn't take much, only the slightest boosting gives this very solid, clear and focused sound that sits in a mix so great - it sounds "produced" for lack of a better term. Super tight and focused low end in a mix. I've tried replicating the EQ in my DAW and there's some other fairy dust going on in the pre that is unique, but subtle.
I find the same here.
I think rolling the VTC back gets you a little mid hump and the bass and treble boost helps fill things in.
I don't really love the preamp without the VTC. I think it adds a lot.
I have the outboard Aguilar DB925 as well, and it also sounds good, but it tends to overdrive/distort too easily for me. I don't know if that's by design as "warmth" but I find that I can only use it with fairly low outputs. That said, the frequency centers are similar to Sadowsky (go figure, they worked together) and the amount of boost feels similar.
The Sadowsky preamp feels much cleaner and "hifi" to me.
I really like MM Stingray preamps, but I feel like that is made specifically for that pickup and configuration.
Thanks everyone. I have ordered the Sadowsky pre (with VTC). I will report back once I get it and have it installed.
I am installing a new one in my older MIJ Sadowsky as we speak (something funky was going on w the old volume pot, easier to just drop in the whole new prewired assembly). I can't imagine it w/o the VTC, IMO it completes it (when I use the outboard pre on my passive basses I then of course have a tone knob on the bass, gets me to the same place). FWIW it doesn't take much boost--I never boost the bass or treble past maybe 20%.
So the installation is complete. I would not recommend this preamp in a Sandberg VM or VT. Not because it sounds bad, but because it doesn't (really) fit.
See my problems here:
Sandberg and Sadowsky Onboard Preamp Installation Issues
With that caveat, my initial impression is that it sounds good. It sounds big and thick. The treble is not in the click-y range and the VTC is very useful. I will have to test it on the gig to give it a real appraisal, but so far, so good!
See my problems here:
Sandberg and Sadowsky Onboard Preamp Installation Issues
With that caveat, my initial impression is that it sounds good. It sounds big and thick. The treble is not in the click-y range and the VTC is very useful. I will have to test it on the gig to give it a real appraisal, but so far, so good!
I had a vaguely analogous experience with my Sandberg last week. I removed the battery to test it, and it had plenty of charge so I reinstalled it. The next day, I discovered active mode didn't work at all, so I opened the battery box to the smell of overheated electronics, and the battery was extremely hot to the touch. So I removed it, discarded it, let the bass cool down, and installed a new battery. Everything has been fine since then. With the design of Sandberg's battery box I don't think I could have installed the battery incorrectly, and I recalled checking to make sure I had installed it correctly, but who knows. Maybe the battery failed. It had plenty of charge, but was a few years old. I'm just glad it didn't fry anything.
I usually play my Sandberg in passive mode, but apart from a very weak center detent on the bass control, I think the preamp is fine. It's relatively transparent, and I sometimes use it on stage.
Was that a lithium battery? Never heard of an alkaline heating up like that. Was it a rechargeable?
I thought the stock Sandberg 2-band preamp was fine too. If it wasn't acting up, I wouldn't have changed it.
My VT5 is passive. There's a certain amount of comfort in knowing that it is less likely for something to go wrong with it.
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Just a regular alkaline, AC Delco brand "SuperALKALINE," which I believe came with the bass in December 2022. I use active mode so rarely that my batteries last a long time. Even in my active-only G&L M-2500 the batteries last years, I think because it's 18v, I usually cut the bass by about 25% and the treble by about 80%, and I often cut the volume too.
Sounds like something was shorting in the circuit. I'd check that out. You don't want to damage your preamp. Might be the battery box.
I read what happens when a 9v is installed backwards, and it matches what I experienced, so I must have done that somehow. It's performing fine now, with no extra heat, noise, etc. I'm glad I caught it relatively early, because with another few hours it could have fried some of the pre.
Yes, that could be it, created current flow between the two 9Vs. Well, you cannot do that with snap caps.
Does the bass work without batteries installed? Some do, some don't. Depends on whether the battery is in the circuit before the switch to preamp. When my snap cap broke on my Fender Jazz Plus I decided not to repair it, since the bass still worked in passive, which is how I played it most of the time anyway.
Yes, it does work without the battery, including the passive tone. For the sake of science, I tried to get the old battery into the box backwards, and it doesn't work. It won't go in far enough to close the compartment. So I think I'm back to my "old battery" theory, though you're right that a short somewhere in the circuit could cause exactly the symptoms I experienced. I'll play in active mode tonight at rehearsal and see what happens.
