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Review: Underhill Dual Filter Onboard Preamp

#61
I don't know if they are available in Australia, but one thing that works well for mounting is 3M "Command Hook" refills. They stay stuck, but are easier to remove than double stick tape (especially after a long time). It also won't pull off shielding paint. I have found that it pays to use a fresh piece whenever you remount more than once or twice. The flat pot surfaces are a good place to mount filters, and the PD can be stuck to the side or bottom of the cavity, either flat or on edge. Here's some examples:
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#63
Tim is shipping me PD3 preamp, with an adjustable filter and Q for each PU, volume and blend, for my Ibanez Portamento SRF700. Six knob set up. I'm dumping the piezos but sticking with the stock Barts for now. I reached out to Herrick Pickups, to see if they can build me a 4 Coil in a Bart size, and he says they are working on one as an option and should have one in a couple weeks. Walish?
 
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#64
Hmm, I've been considering a filter preamp for my (6-knob) Curbow 6, which also used to have piezos but doesn't anymore. I'll be really interested to hear what you think of it!

Johno Dunn said:
Tim is shipping me PD3 preamp, with an adjustable filter and Q for each PU, volume and blend, for my Ibanez Portamento SRF700. Six knob set up. I'm dumping the piezos but sticking with the stock Barts for now. I reached out to Herrick Pickups, to see if they can build me a 4 Coil in a Bart size, and he says they are working on one as an option and should have one in a couple weeks. Walish?
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#68
Johno Dunn said:
Does anyone have any words of wisdom for a rookie at preamp installation?
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I just sent you some tips in an email. I'll just post them here for reference:

"
It’s pretty easy. Get the pots in first, but plug the cables in before you mount them for good, they are tricky to line up down inside the cavity! Then connect the wires to the PD green screw terminals. If you want to test it without filters first, you can use the wire loops on the filter connectors and test the volume, blend, power etc. and make sure everything is working, then plug the filters in.

Make sure the connectors are seated all the way (they click into place and lie flat). Make sure there is no debris underneath them.

And, double check to make sure the positive and negative (ground) battery connections are right. Reverse polarity is bad!

Once everything is working, stick the PD and filters in a good position so nothing gets shorted out. The filters work well stuck to the top of the Q or Frequency pots. There’s some photos of clean installations I posted on the TB thread.
"
 
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#69
Finally got the PD3 installed in my Ibanez SRF700 Portamento fretless. Installing it was a struggle. To be fair, I am not handy with tools, and my big fat fingers don’t operate well on small fragile things real well, but with some help from my friends at Wilcox Guitars (the makers of Lightwave Basses!), and Tim, I was able to get everything up and running.
I went with the PD3, with a filter and Q selector for each PU, and a Blend and Volume. Big thumbs up to Tim for a great product and wonderful customer service! This thing really sounds fantastic! Though the amount of different tones available are almost endless, I am able to dial in my tone with ease. The Ibby sounded really good before, but now it sounds great!
Big shout out to the guys at Wilcox for all the help, and to Tim for a great pre amp!
Next upgrade is a Nordy Zen Blade for the bridge position!
 
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#71
Johno Dunn said:
Finally got the PD3 installed in my Ibanez SRF700 Portamento fretless. Installing it was a struggle. To be fair, I am not handy with tools, and my big fat fingers don’t operate well on small fragile things real well, but with some help from my friends at Wilcox Guitars (the makers of Lightwave Basses!), and Tim, I was able to get everything up and running.
I went with the PD3, with a filter and Q selector for each PU, and a Blend and Volume. Big thumbs up to Tim for a great product and wonderful customer service! This thing really sounds fantastic! Though the amount of different tones available are almost endless, I am able to dial in my tone with ease. The Ibby sounded really good before, but now it sounds great!
Big shout out to the guys at Wilcox for all the help, and to Tim for a great pre amp!
Next upgrade is a Nordy Zen Blade for the bridge position!
Click to expand...
Dang I bet along with the piezo that bass now has a million sounds! I think filter pres are particularly wonderful with fretless instruments where you can really dial in those woody resonances
 
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#73
sunbeast said:
Dang I bet along with the piezo that bass now has a million sounds! I think filter pres are particularly wonderful with fretless instruments where you can really dial in those woody resonances
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Just FYI, I don't have a built in piezo buffer option yet, but it's on my roadmap! If you are handy with surface mount stuff you can change a few resistors on the PD3 and probably get something decent. Or just feed your existing buffer to an input.
 
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#76
deepestend said:
Has anyone had success with piezo pickups on bass? I don’t feel like I’ve read many reviews where people are totally happy with them.
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I love the piezo sound on my Godin A4 Ultra fretless, though it is by far the best when EQ’ed and blended with the magnetic pickup sound. The piezos add air and nuance to the punch of the magnetic pickup (I scoop out alot of mids from the piezo so the mag pickup is providing the majority of the meat, which is where it shines). I do think piezos on a bass work best with their own independent EQ, which is how the Godin is wired. I’ve read of a number of people who loved the earlier iterations of these Godins as well (the regular A4 and the Acoustibass) and these instruments were piezo only
 
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