Welcome to “Meet Your Maker,” a series dedicated to bringing you closer to the
individuals behind the instruments that inspire us.
IN THE WORLD OF BASS, FEW BUILDERS ARE AS CLOSELY
connected to a specific tone as Roger Sadowsky. His instruments are celebrated
for their tight and clear lows, smooth midrange, and crisp treble
response. As such, they remain a favorite among players in the studio and
on the stage. Vintage in look and feel but powered by his signature modern
preamp, Roger’s basses represent a beautiful marriage of the old and the
new, and it’s a union that has clearly stood the test of time.
FROM BASSOON TO BASS
Roger’s musical journey began with a bassoon in elementary school, although
his stint on this instrument was ultimately short lived. “I went through
$40 in reeds in two weeks,” he remembers. “My parents
just couldn’t afford that, so they moved me to baritone
horn.” Roger enjoyed playing the horn, but due to a sudden
vacancy switched to tuba a few months later, an instrument
he continued play throughout his high school years.
As a psychology major in college, however, he discovered
his true passion: the guitar. “In 1969, I attended this folk
festival on campus. There were all these acoustic guitars,
banjos, concertinas, quilts, macramé, people with long
beards and long hair, and I immediately felt at home.”
The next day a friend took him to a music store where
he bought a $40 Aria nylon string guitar, and Roger soon
began teaching himself how to play via Gordon Lightfoot
and Simon & Garfunkel tunes.
For the next few years, Roger kept playing that guitar.
He also kept going to school. The early ’70 found him
enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Rutgers University, studying
psychobiology and practicing brain surgery. He did not
enjoy his studies, however. “I was miserable. And the
more miserable I got, the more time I spent playing
guitar.” In the little free time he had, Sadowsky began
tinkering around with his own instruments, aided
by a few articles from the 1970 edition of the Whole
Earth Catalog (an American countercultural magazine
published from 1968-72). “I suddenly got this
notion that if I could learn to build guitars I could
get out of the rat race. I would have my cabin in the
woods, musicians would beat a path to my door, and
I would live happily ever after.” Roger continued his
studies, but for a full year he contacted luthiers all
over the world trying to find an apprenticeship—
with no luck. Frustrated but not defeated, he finally
quit school and took a job selling guitars at a music
store in New Jersey, still hoping to eventually work
with a builder. That opportunity eventually came
via an off er to make $80 a week working for Augie
LoPrinzie on flat-top acoustic guitars, which he did
for the next two years. After that, Roger took over a
well-known repair shop in the Philly area, where he
spent the next five years honing his chops on repair
and restoration work.
MARCUS & WILL
1979 was a great year for Sadowsky. Building on his
success in Philly, Roger moved up to New York and
officially opened his own shop. Soon after, a friend
introduced him to Marcus Miller. “Marcus came by
the shop and gave me his ’77 Fender Jazz Bass. He
told me, ‘Do what you can to make this the best bass
it can be.’” Roger talked Marcus into letting him
put one of his active preamps into it, and the rest
is history. He also did the same thing for another
rising New York player, Will Lee of the newly formed
David Letterman Band. In those early years, players
would approach Roger wanting advice on getting a
good bass. He would have them buy an early-’60s
L-series J-Bass, which at the time you could pick
up for $800. “They would bring the bass to me, and
I would basically do what I’d done for Marcus and
for Will: install a preamp, give it a fret job, shield
the electronics, and maybe upgrade the bridge.” At
the end of the day, for $1,300–$1,500 he’d provide
them with a first-class instrument.
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| Sadowsky Vintage 4 |
By the mid ’80s, however, the vintage market was in full swing, and those
$800 basses were now worth three times the money. “At that point, I realized
it would make more sense for me to just build an instrument from scratch that
incorporated everything good about a Fender, plus everything I brought to the
table.” Thus, the Sadowsky bass was born. Appropriately, two of his first customers
were Marcus and Will. “I will forever be indebted to both Marcus and
Will for giving me the momentum that basically led me to be primarily a bass
maker. I didn’t set out to be a bass maker; it’s just where the current took me.”
By the late ’80s, Marcus was all the rage in Japan and Will Lee was making his
mark in the U.S., both factors that significantly contributed to Sadowsky’s growing
reputation and steady increase in sales.
A WORKING MAN’S INSTRUMENT
Roger has always seen electric guitars as primarily acoustic instruments: the
better they sound acoustically, the better they sound when amplified. “That is
still my foundation in choosing lightweight resonant acoustic woods,” he says.
About ten years ago, Roger noticed that his basses were getting heavier. Whereas
they used to weigh eight pounds, now they weighed around nine. He talked
with his wood suppliers, but they couldn’t seem to find lighter wood. It was at
this point that he decided to chamber the body of his instruments (a process in
which he routs a series of channels in the body). “Players like Michael Rhodes
and Hugh McDonald—guys who had my older and newer instruments—commented
on how much better-sounding these lighter, chambered instruments
were. That convinced me I was on the right path.”
For Sadowsky, that path continues to guide the journeys of many working
musicians, from Nashville to New York to L.A. He insists that there’s no magic to
instrument making—and when this former doctoral student says, “it’s not brain
surgery,” he knows what he’s talking about. “It all boils down to good materials,
good workmanship, thoughtful design, and the ability to really listen to your clients.”
Roger has clearly mastered the art of that combination and remains one
of the most respected builders of Fender-inspired instruments as a result. We’ve
all heard the expression, “Leo got it right,” but that doesn’t mean his creations
couldn’t be improved upon. Of that, Sadowsky basses off er ample proof.
SADOWSKY GUITARS
INFO
BUILDER Roger Sadowsky
LOCATION Long Island City,
New York
PRICE RANGE Metro
Line, $2,350–$3,100; NYC,
$3,775–$6,000
MISSION To build instruments
that provide working
bassists with a vintageinspired
tone that delivers in
the studio and on the stage.
NOTABLE PLAYERS Will Lee,
Rickey Minor, Tom Hamilton,
Hugh McDonald
CONTACT sadowsky.com