1. Upright bass: the preamp has just three controls -- volume, bass boost, treble boost. The signal is flat when the tone controls are rolled fully counterclockwise. With the URB, a flat setting seems to be the most natural sounding (i.e. as close as possible to unplugged). It works like a dream -- smooths away all of the unpleasant crispy-hot piezo sounds. So far, so good; I'd be happy even if it went no further.

2. Electric bass: First, understand that I use the URB about 90% of the time & the electric bass I play occasionally in church services isn't all that great. In fact it is pretty limited -- a stock 1975 Fender Musicmaster with D'Addario XLs, good neck & fingerboard, but short scale, one Tele pickup, one volume & one tone control, body painted the color of cafeteria tapioca pudding. But believe it or not, run through the Sadowsky preamp this little thing came alive & sounded *great*. You could hear the warmth of wood, you could hear strings, the low notes were tight & focused, the high notes had bite. The best sound (to my ears) was obtained by boosting the preamp's bass control to about 10:00 & the treble to about 2:00. Don't know what this would look like in terms of graphical EQ; it just sounded good & cut right through two keyboards, horn section, guitar, & vocals. Everybody loved it.

Conclusion: Given the results with this little baby Fender, it is almost scary to think what this unit might do for a higher-grade electric instrument. If you have a good playing passive bass, consider this as an alternative to a new bass with an active circuit. To try one you have to order direct from Sadowsky Guitars, at least here in the States. Check out the website (http://www.sadowsky.com/) or send Roger some e-mail (sadowsky@bway.net). He is very responsive to online inquiries; I had a few minor questions after using it & had an answer from the man himself within 24 hours.