Double Bass When Did Underwood Pickups Get So Expensive?

[Erik Turkman]

I, too, paid about $100 for an Underwood pickup back in the early 1980s. Several years later, I had some problems with the pickup so called Don to see if I could get it fixed. He sent me a brand new one for free, even though the original warranty had expired long before.

 

[MMiller28]

Complaining about $265 for a piece of electronic gear in 2025.

 

[Jason Sypher]

I remember my one and only Underwoid I purchased in ‘89. It worked great and I thought it sounded really good with my cheap plywood strung with La Bella guts straight into a GK or SWR. I used to get tons of compliments on my sound. It was such a simple design, I guess I’d expect it to be around $200 now. I’m surprised it would be preferred now over a Full Circle or Realist.

 

[brianrost]

I’m surprised it would be preferred now over a Full Circle or Realist.

My interest is because it is not as “natural“ sounding, instead a big thump. The sound I hear these guys getting out of a gut/Kay/Underwood setup is something I can't get on my laminate basses both of which have Full Circles installed. My pickup and string journey has gotten me closer to MBOL, but sometimes I think about going to guts and whether a different pickup would be in order. I’m also jealous how these guys get really loud on stage without feedback issues.

I’m not ready to drop over $500 just to try out guts and an Underwood

Complaining about $265 for a piece of electronic gear in 2025.

Electronics continue to fall in price steadily. Cameras, phones, computers, TVs, etc. all have higher performance for less money than they did 40 years ago.

I remember the very first thumb drive I bought back around 1985, it was $100 for 64MB. Not GB, MB.

My first Macintosh was a Color Computer II, with monitor I paid just over $1000 for a used one. Today, I can buy Mac laptops with just as large a screen but with processing power and storage that was science fiction back then for less than $1000 brand new.

I’ve never paid more than $500 for a TV, but every time I buy a new one it’s bigger than the last one. How did I ever survive watching 19” CRT TVs back in the 1970s?

 

[DJ Bebop]

My observation has been the Underwood sounds like my bass if I could listen to it from standing in front of it. The Realist sounds like my bass standing from where I play it at.

But that's just me

 

[Ric Vice]

We can all remember when the Underwood was the best thing available because it’s predecessors were the Polytone, Barcus Berry, and the DeArmond were really tough to get a respectable sound from. The Realist was the next evolution but using one in the studio under a microscope the microphone always sounded infinitely better on my bass. Just my take

 

[Earl]

I’ve been pretty happy with my equipment and haven’t priced out any DB stuff in a while and the prices of everything for the instrument have gone up quite a bit. The Krivo pickup is $240 now which is 100% material costs for the high quality stuff he uses. I’m sure it’s the same for the underwood.

What is KILLING me is the price of the European strings I’ve been using forever. My Superflexible solos are a little long in the tooth figured it’s time for a new set. Looked at the prices of Thomastik and Pirastro string and holy crap. I luckily had a set of Sprio Weich on hand and that’s what the bass is going to be wearing for the foreseeable future….

Thomann has the cheapest string prices, even with shipping.

 

[HateyMcAmp]

Complaining about $265 for a piece of electronic gear in 2025.

This is an OLD design to be fair. That old design might be pretty expensive to put together material wise at this point though so I see your point.

Thomann has the cheapest string prices, even with shipping.

Maybe I should try them again. When I lived in Europe I was amazed at the great prices I would get stuff for.
I think I paid like $70 USD for the shadow pickup in Sweden of all places.

I remember my one and only Underwoid I purchased in ‘89. It worked great and I thought it sounded really good with my cheap plywood strung with La Bella guts straight into a GK or SWR. I used to get tons of compliments on my sound. It was such a simple design, I guess I’d expect it to be around $200 now. I’m surprised it would be preferred now over a Full Circle or Realist.

I prefer the sound of a full circle for pretty much everything at this point but I will say there is something to a bridge wing piezo and gut strings….just works in the mix.

 

[james condino]

$265 for an Underwood Pickup? Yes.
As a 70 yr old Boomer, I'm shocked and sickened by the Many Youngs (& Olds) who are quick to complain about the cost of handmade things/stuff/gear.
Come back at me after you have successfully made or fixed (by hand) any "thing" - not a virtual "thing" or an idea for a "thing", but a tangible, working, "THING".
Yeah. I've made some "things" in the past.
$hee$h...
Don't get me started.
IMFO, of course.

You dadgum'nd kidz get off my lawn!!!!!!

 

[Earl]

String Emporium sells the Underwood for $199

 

[Eric Hochberg]

I remember my one and only Underwoid I purchased in '89. It worked great and I thought it sounded really good with my cheap plywood strung with La Bella guts straight into a GK or SWR. I used to get tons of compliments on my sound. It was such a simple design, I guess I'd expect it to be around $200 now. I'm surprised it would be preferred now over a Full Circle or Realist.

An excellent NYC bassist uses my bass, which is mounted with Underwood, Full Circle and Schertler, when he's in town .
He likes the Underwood best.

 

[billiard]

An old trick some Nashville guys used in he 90's was to leave the farthest pickup of the two from the Jack to just dangle

 

[Eric Hochberg]

An old trick some Nashville guys used in he 90's was to leave the farthest pickup of the two from the Jack to just dangle

That’s how I use mine. Backstory was that in the middle of a concert, with Sam Rivers no less, my sound unexpectedly got fuller and more natural. I finally realized the G side element had fallen out and was dangling. I never put it back in.

 

[billiard]

Some people cut it off, but that changes the impedance. Let it dangle. Usually sounds like the bass.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

The two elements act partially against each other because the bridge moves more left and right than up and down.

For my DIY EUB bridge feet pickup elements I first buffer each element, one with an inverted phase, before mixing the signals.

This is not (easily) possible with a passive two-Element pressure sensitive pickup like the Underwood.

It is possible, but then both elements need to be constructed differently, piezoceramic disk mounted upside down but connected in reverse to get the shield still on the brass, and the two different elements should not get mixed up with other elements having two of the same kind during assembly.
Turning one element upside down does not have the same effect, only reversing shield and hot has, which would put the hot signal on the outer brass enclosure of one element. Therefor the different inner construction would be needed.

 

[DJ Bebop]

The two elements act partially against each other because the bridge moves more left and right than up and down.

For my DIY EUB bridge feet pickup elements I first buffer each element, one with an inverted phase, before mixing the signals.

This is not (easily) possible with a passive two-Element pressure sensitive pickup like the Underwood.

It is possible, but then both elements need to be constructed differently, piezoceramic disk mounted upside down but connected in reverse to get the shield still on the brass, and the two different elements should not get mixed up with other elements having two of the same kind during assembly.
Turning one element upside down does not have the same effect, only reversing shield and hot has, which would put the hot signal on the outer brass enclosure of one element. Therefor the different inner construction would be needed.

I don't doubt what you are saying. However, I had Belinda Underwood tell me if I thought my bass sounded thin with the pickup to flip one of the elements upside down. For whatever reason that worked for me. It made it sound thicker and fuller. Again I don't know why, especially based on your understanding of it but it did work for me

 

[DoubleMIDI]

One side of the ceramic needs to be isolated against the brass enclosure, so there is some isolating plastic that may damp a bit more than the other side that is in direct contact with the brass.
But the signal is not inverted by this as it is still pressure. Just the frequency response gets changed a bit by the damping material.

 

[svenyonson]

After watching yet another bassist with gut strings on a Kay bass using an Underwood with only one half installed on the G side of the bridge I got to thinking maybe I should give that pickup another shot (used one briefly in the 1990s during my pickups from hell rathole period).

So I went to their website and discovered the current price is $265. Ouch. When did the price get that high? I recall paying about $100 and yes, I understand inflation, but still was surprised.

I just picked one up from String Emporium for $199. I'm replacing the one I've been using for 42 years - who knows what I paid back then, but for me it's a good investment.

 

[DJ Bebop]

I just picked one up from String Emporium for $199. I'm replacing the one I've been using for 42 years - who knows what I paid back then, but for me it's a good investment.

Maybe something like this?