Aguilar OBP-3 in Pedulla ThunderBass

I installed an OBP-3 in a BSD customer's Pedulla ThunderBass today. The setup is:

Volume
Blend
Mid with push-pull frequency select (400 and 800 Hz)
Stacked bass/treble
Active/passive switch

It took a fair amount of time to install since the preamp wasn't pre-wired. We also replaced the pickups with Bartolini passive soapbars, each with its coils wired in series.

As expected, it has a nice rich tone when set flat and in most EQ settings. It's very versatile, with tones suitable for the most vintage of vintage to the barky J tones I prefer. I played it through a GK Fusion 500 and Bergantino CN212, which is the same rig the customer has. He's offshore for a week, so he hasn't played it yet, but I hope he likes it as much as I do.

Here's a pic. There sure were a lot of wires to hook up.

 

More or less, yes. I'm always reluctant to cut the wires, assuming that someone may remove the preamp and want to install it in something else. I typically don't shorten the pickup wires especially (as you can see). I thought about using a cardboard template of the cavity layout to do the pre-wiring, but I got the bass on the day I started the installation, so I just put the pots in the cavity (loose, so I could take them out), adjusted the wire lengths, and started soldering.

I put an OBP-2 in an SX 6-string, and the preamp was pre-wired, so it was a snap. Fortunately I love to solder so the tedium of wiring everything up doesn't bother me.

 

I concur. It's a slightly different flavor from the Pope Flex Core but shares the versatility and great tones.