Can an Underwood pickup go bad?

Yes they can. I used one side of an Underwood for a while after the other side died. It was the far side that went bad on mine so I just cut it off and peeled back the shielding to avoid a short. Check yours. If one side is still good it might still work for you at least as a backup if not your main pickup.

 

Can they go "bad"?
Yes. This one lasted about 20+ years and then went kaput.

 

Have you checked the fit of the elements in the wing slots? One might be (too) loose and vibrating. If it is loose, try shimming with a piece of paper or a business card to see if it improves or gets worse.
Try having someone lightly hold/touch the elements while you play to see if the "distortion" goes away.
Try removing 1 element at a time to see if the problem is specific to only 1 of the elements.
Good Luck.

 

No it just stopped working. As Don and Chris recommend check for a loose fit (easily shimmed with saxophone reeds) and check for shorting elsewhere in the system. When checking the wingslot fit you can also try over-shimming it and squashing the hell outta the pickup. This won't give you very nice sound but it might tell you if the element itself is delaminating and causing the problem.

 

I needed to repair my Shadow SH-950 (it's the prototype, so it might have some flaws in manufacturing) twice because of a broken shield connection at one element. Try to wiggle the cable(s) at the elements. If you get crackling or temporary sound it might be a broken cable. If this is the case, tell Don Underwood what you found out and I'm sure he will repair or replace it.

 

My understanding is that Don is retired and his daughters are running the company (and quite well, by all reports).

 

Oh, I'm assuming he's Don Underwood!

 

I had an old one that went bad, so I emailed them and sent it in for repair. They sent me a brand new one. (The first one was really old...maybe like 20 years?)

 

I had #008. About eight years ago I called Don to let him know my pickup was "finally" going bad. He absolutely insisted on sending me a new one. I tried to argue with him that I had owned the pickup many years longer than I ever expected, and I was actually happy to buy another. He still gave me a free replacement.

 

I had a similar experience when my Underwood pickup crapped out after at least 10 years of use. Don sent me a brand new one and wouldn't hear of taking any money for it.

 

I've had some recent correspondence with one of the girls. I don't think they're replacing pick-ups the way they used to. I got 20+ years out of my first one before it started acting funny. Don't know if Don is retired or not but he told me that to test the pick-up you plug in, place one the elements between your fingers and squeeze them. If there's a crackling noise it's about time to replace it.

 

I've heard by several reliable sources that Don't daughter is ow in charge of the company and operations. Returns are not as honored with lifetime replacement as Don did, plus the price has gone up considerably.

 

I've heard that Don't daughter is running things now and that there is a new and more restrictive return policy.

 

Hi fellow bassists,

Melissa from Underwood Pickups here. Just checking in, I know I'm not on here a lot, but for future people looking at this forum just want to say that we are always willing to help you guys out with any issues you may have. Just contact us! We do have a warranty policy, but it is by no means restrictive, most inquiries are taken on a case by case situation. There are plenty of happy customers who have just asked us for help. FYI, we don't recommend or suggest cutting off the end case at all because the pickup is a closed circuit design (you need both transducers) and this will ruin the pickup that may have been able to have been repaired. Also to address the prices, we are and have always been competitive with our pricing in the bass pickup world. Parts, gas, shipping, etc. all go up in price and we have never raised anything more than 8%, which is a standard price increase that most manufacturers of anything do at least once a year (if they are not able to increase their returns by finding lower priced sources for labor or materials). Our last increase was two years ago, and that was in the wholesale market. Our retail price we have kept the same for several years. I'd also like to mention that we are 100% made in the USA. Always have been, as it's a family business. We are very careful to source nearly all of our parts from US companies, as well. We are very thankful for all the support over the years. By the way, Don is still on hand to help out with lots of advice. So do say hi!

 

Please say Hi to Don.

 

Will do!