Shadow SH Sonic Doubleplay

Pickup and Sound Hole Preamplifier

The Legend Returns...

In the early 1970s, Shadow introduced the world's first dual pickup system. "Doubleplay" combined magnetic and under-saddle pickups and started a new era in the pickup industry.

30 Years later, Shadow rewrites history with the new edition of this legend and presents a dual pickup system that sets new standards.

Shadows sound hole preamps for acoustic and classical guitars are designed for perfect sound, easy installation and preservation of the original state of the guitar. Due to the installation of the preamplifier in the sound hole, the usual cut-out of the guitar sides is prevented.

Unlike usual pickups, Nanoflex pickups do not only pick up the vibrations of the strings. Nanoflex captures the string vibrations AND the vibrations of the instrument body at the same time. As a result, Nanoflex pickups produce a sound similar to that of a microphone/bass pickup combination. No other pickup technology achieves such a high level of amplified reproduction of the original sound of acoustic instruments.

NanoMAG is the only pickup of its kind, with a sound spectrum ranging from the authentic Western guitar sound to warm blues and jazz sounds. Furthermore, the pickup is characterised by high feedback resistance and impressive dynamics.

The heart of Sonic Doubplay is the blend knob. Through individual mixing of Nanoflex and NanoMAG, an unimagined sound diversity can be realised.

Tone provides a 2-Band control combined in one knob. Variation of the potentiometer either boosts the bass frequencies with careful attenuation of the treble, or adds more treble at slight bass decrease.

By pressing the phase switch, the frequency curve is rotated by 180 degrees, thus eliminating the usual "whistling" in feedback.

The LED indicator lights up when the batteries are low. The battery should be replaced within the next 30 minutes.

The complete system is extremely light and in total weighs less than a 9 V battery, which is commonly used with numerous preamplifiers.

For steel-string guitar
Combined magnetic and under-saddle pickup with sound hole preamplifier and phase switch
Volume, sound, and blend controls
Active Nanoflex pickup
Active NanoMAG pickup
Endpin jack

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Further Information

Humbucker	No
Single Coil	Yes
Active	Yes

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28 Customer Ratings:

5

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4

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8 customers have given this product a 4-star rating.

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3

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4 customers have given this product a 3-star rating.

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2
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4.4 / 5.0

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22 written ratings Read all reviews

The best brand for piezo pickups!

Sebsweden, 09.06.2014

I bought this after watching a bunch of Youtube-videos, and really liking the sound of the Nanoflex pickup. I figured that the added Nanomag would be a great compliment, but alas - no. The Nanoflex sounds so good, that I never bothered to plug in the Nanomag. I tried it at a couple of gigs, but it just sounded like a dull version of the Nanoflex.

If you're in the market for a great under-saddle-pickup, then I cannot recommend the Nanoflex enough. I should mention that I always reduce the treble a lot, it can be a little spikey, but once reduced it sounds awesome! It is the only piezo that doesn't have the dreaded "piezo quack" that us guitar players loathe. Luckily, Thomann has a great assortment of Nanoflex pickups, with or without preamps. I cannot see a future where I will be using any other piezo pickup than the Nanoflex. It has cured my "gear-acquisition-syndrome" at least when it comes to pickups =).

I should also mention that I prefer a bass and mid-heavy acoustic guitar sound, with plenty of "twang". Like an acoustic Telecaster. The shimmery trebles that a lot of people prefer is lost on me. A Nanoflex in a Taylor Guitar is a marriage made in heaven to my ears!

The only downside I can think of is that the whole construction is a little delicate, especially the piezo pickup itself. I've had some problems mounting the preamp as well. The bracing in the guitar got in the way...

I've been using a Nanoflex for six years, and I'm completely satisfied. Get one!

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Great, invisible system

Christian V. 192, 28.01.2013

I wanted to make my D-28 suitable for the stage and looked around for suitable amplifier solutions.

My conditions:
- perfect acoustic sound (that's clear ...) without any risk of feedback
- my D-28 should not be structurally changed to minimal => no frame preamp
- Ideally, I can do the installation myself.

Many microphone solutions are already gone because of the risk of feedback. First, I had looked at pure pickup solutions, but I did not like this quite conspicuous buyers in the sound hole not so good.
The Doubleplay had convinced me with the combi solution bridge and Schalllochabnehmer. In addition, I was confident on the basis of the user reviews that I can possibly do the installation myself.

Result:
The sound of the customer is perfect! Great acoustics sound with the bright part of the bridge and the warm part of the neck. In addition, this pickup solution is completely invisible. The preamp disappears discreetly in the sound hole, the neck pickup is flush with the neck and does not stand out in color. The only thing that is not so great: The Reglerweg to switch from the neck to the bridge pickup works for me something leaps and bounds. Say: there is no stepless transition from the bridge to the neck. For example, on the first third of the way from the bridge to the neck, the volume jumps quite strong when the neck sampler comes along. Possibly. Is this also because the bridge pickup is not quite perfect? I'll get clarified by a specialist.

installation:
I did the installation myself. And yes: It is quite possible if you are talented craftsman a bit. Gluing the neck and pre-amp works fine. Also, the 3mm hole for the bridge pickup are no problem. Since my Martin D-28 already had an 8mm hole for the end pin, I was a bit stuck with my standard wood drills because I could not just sit on the drill. It is recommended here a (very sharp) wedge drill with the correct diameter. I circumvented the problem by attaching larger bits of millimeter by millimeter.

Also, the grinding of the bridge is a bit tricky. Finally, attaching the cable holder inside the guitar is quite tedious for beginners.

I'm not sure if I'll make the installation myself or just let a professional run.

Conclusion: Installation a little tricky, but feasible. The sound itself is subjectively perfect and I'm not sure if there is currently a better solution. Absolute buy recommendation.

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188 €

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sales rank in this product group	21
at thomann.de	37671

item number	114832
sales unit	1 piece
available since	May 2007

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Shadow Sonic Doubleplay

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Shadow Sonic SonicBasic

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