Inside Sadilah Guitars’ Rovid Fretless: A Desert-Inspired Short-Scale Bass from NAMM 2026
One of my favorite parts of roaming the halls at the NAMM Show is stumbling onto basses I’ve never seen. This year, I luckily ran into the Sadilah Guitars booth and met luthier Chuck Schlesinger, who showed me the Rovid Fretless bass.
Sadilah is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and this bass reflects the local culture. The short-scale four-string is built with Spanish Cedar for the body and neck. Turquoise inlays adorn the body and headstock, while the side dots are filled with crushed stones. The Pale Moon Ebony fretboard also evokes shifting desert sands.
A pair of Rio Grande Dirty Harry P90 ’51 P-Zazz pickups is matched to Rio Grande’s Tone Twister control set, which replaces the traditional two-volume setup with a four-position rotary knob. The knob allows you to play in “humbucker mode,” in which both pickups are wired in series for “maximum kapow with a familiar Jazz bass tonality,” Rio Grande writes. Hipshot hardware rounds out the build.
It’s hard to judge a bass on the NAMM floor, but the Rovid Fretless had an earthy, organic feel with a thumpy responsiveness that was fun to play.
Sadilah Guitars Rovid Fretless Bass Photos:
Sadilah Guitars Rovid Fretless Bass Specs:
| Scale: | 30″ |
| Body: | Spanish Cedar |
| Top Inlays: | Pale Moon Ebony and Stone |
| Neck: | Spanish Cedar |
| Fingerboard: | Pale Moon Ebony |
| Frets: | Fretless |
| Inlays: | Inlayed Stone Side Markers (on the note) |
| Pickups: | Rio Grande Dirty Harry P90 '51 P-Zazz |
| Electronics: | Rio Grande Tone Twister Controls |
| Bridge: | Hipshot |
| Tuners: | Hipshot Ultralite |
| Finish: | Natural |
| Other: | Headstock Turquoise Inlay |
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
