Double Bass Underwood

[bassturtle]

One of my buddies is letting have an old Underwood that he doesn't use any more. I've read in several threads that some of you guys will only use one of the pieces under the wing...is it a phase issue or something....have you had better results with using only one?
Also, I've been told that the underwood is a bit more 'midrange-ie' sounding because of the location, being close to the strings, as opposed to something like the realist, a bit more woody sounding, because it's flush against the body. Is this a safe ASSumption?
And finally, how many run-on-sentences/misuses of the 'comma' did I use in this post?

 

[McBass]

One of my buddies is letting have an old Underwood that he doesn't use any more. I've read in several threads that some of you guys will only use one of the pieces under the wing...is it a phase issue or something....have you had better results with using only one?
Also, I've been told that the underwood is a bit more 'midrange-ie' sounding because of the location, being close to the strings, as opposed to something like the realist, a bit more woody sounding, because it's flush against the body. Is this a safe ASSumption?
And finally, how many run-on-sentences/misuses of the 'comma' did I use in this post?[/QUOTE

Sounds like you've got the basic jist of the underwood. You can try it with only one of the elements inserted for a more "thumpy" sound, but not much tone improvement. The most important thing about the underwood is its fit in the wing slots. The elements should make full contact with the surfaces of the bridge, not just at one point. The bridge surfaces need to be flat and parallel.

 

[Sam Sherry]

McB is dead-on.

If your bridge has wings that end in a curly-cue the Underwood won't work well. You need a bridge that has wings that end flat.

FWIW, I'm a 25+year Underwood user.

 

[bassturtle]

Cool thanks guys. I just installed it about an hour ago. I started with just one of the elements in, but it seemed a bit hollow sounding, so I put the other one in....that seemed to do the trick. The whole thing is very even and veeeery articulate. I think I'll have to keep the top end rolled off a bit tho.

So anyway, thanks again for the input.

So far so good with the Underwood Hey, that rhymed!

 

[songdog]

My luthier set up a new bridge on a 55 year old kay and no fault to her made the curly wings. The ole underwood craped out. However, my christopher was set up with flat wings and sounds fantastic through my baby baby blue. Later Gator