SH RB-PRO Rockabilly Pro Pickup/Preamp System

Back in the late 90's, Bob worked with Dieter at K&K Sound to design the very first pickup system designed for the very specific needs of Rockabilly players -- the Bass Master Rockabilly System. It has been an incredibly successful product, and continues to be a best seller. Many players have continued to use it - or components from it - to get the distinctive "clicky" tone that many slapping players are looking for.

Since the release of that setup, several other manufacturers have come up with similar products, with some different features here and there. But most players have figured out that one of the best ways to get "the sound" for rockabilly is to use a blending preamp to combine a high-output "wing" pickup with a "clicky" (aka a pickup transducer adhered to the back of the fingerboard to capture the percussive elements.)

A new player in the rockabilly arena is actually a company that has been at the pickup game for quite a while. You've probably heard of Shadow, since they've got 40+ years of experience in the development and production of pickups for acoustic instruments. This new pickup, which they designed with the help of legendary rockabilly bassist Didi Beck, has some great new features for systems of this type, especially those that feature a compact preamp. The Shadow setup, like most, comes with a wing pickup (mounts between the leg and "curl" on the E-side of the bridge, which we call the "wing") and a fingerboard clicky, which has a strip of adhesive so you can easily jam it onto the back surface of your fingerboard. You plug 'em both into the blending preamp, and work the controls until you get a great sound with the main, wing pickup. That's the pickup that gets the "tone" of your bass; the clicky is just there for the "thump" and "thwack" and "click" of slapstyle play. Once you have your base (bass?) tone, you just dial in as much or as little of the "click" as you need/want, using the clicky channel on the preamp. It's a simple concept, and it's done elegantly with their new preamp, which has quite a few useful features, some of which you won't find on similar products from other manufacturers.

The preamp, unlike most others, is specifically designed to mount onto your tailpiece. It comes preinstalled with a velcro strap and a very cushy, rounded foam covered back panel, and includes a "hanger bar" to keep it from sliding down. It also has a separate battery bag, for ease of changing batteries -- and you can swap that out for a 9v wall wart power supply if you don't trust batteries.

The Preamp's Wing channel has the following features:

• Gain Control - Set the perfect input level to limit distortion or noise
• Three-band EQ - Bass, Mid, and Presence control to dial in your ideal tone
• Subsonic Filter - Cut unwanted low frequencies to reduce rumble and feedback, and tighten up your tone
• Pre-Shape - Engage a preset EQ profile to easily get a good sound
• Volume Control - A separate volume knob for this pickup allows for precise blending

The Fingerboard pickup channel has the following features:

• Gain Control - Set the perfect input level to limit distortion or noise
• Low Cut Control - Allows you to variably cut out the low end from the clicky to optimize click tone
• Treble EQ Control - Increase or Decrease the brightness of tone
• 4KHz-8KHz Switch - Alter the base frequency for the treble control for different tone variation
• Phase - Reverses the phase, which can help reduce feedback in some situations
• Volume Control - A separate volume knob for this pickup allows for precise blending

Additionally, the preamp features a built-in electronic tuner, which automatically mutes the output, for silent on-stage tuning. It has a display that is smartly installed on the top surface, so if you mount the preamp as intended, you look down... and it's right there.

Everything you need is included in the package, even a 9v battery. Just a standard "guitar" cable (sorry, that's what people call them) and you're all hooked up.

_{Note: This is a popular item that is sometimes subject to availability issues. We reserve the right to limit the number of these systems sold to any particular customer so that we can maintain stock availability for other customers as best as we can. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you.}