It actually is $9000 now, for Series II pickups, electronics, power supply and cord (upgrade price for non series Alembics)
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Alembic Basses
- Thread starter brocco
- Start date
I made the 'mistake' of playing an Alembic Essence in a music store in Italy some years ago.
I was very v. poor at the time, so I had to be realistic. Obviously I didn't buy it.
The mistake? It was perfect in every way.
I was very v. poor at the time, so I had to be realistic. Obviously I didn't buy it.
The mistake? It was perfect in every way.
I always thought the actual Series I and Series II pickups were the same, and that the difference was in the controls. Is that correct or am I mistaken?
I'm pretty new to Alembics, but so far I've found the Q switch on my Distillate to be of no use to me.
The Q switch is a pretty nuanced thing. It works in tandem with the frequency you set the low pass filter at. I'm not exactly sure the settings are with a Distillate but on my Series I, it is a 3 way switch with the settings 0dB, +6dB, or +9dB bump applied to the frequency you set the filter at. I find this very useful when trying to get that "Jaco-y" tone. When I emphasize the bridge pickup, set the low pass filter on the this pickup in the midrange frequency area, and set the Q switch at +9dB, I get a very pleasing tone. I ended up using this setting in a cd I recorded a few years back with great success.
I would recommend playing around with your Q and filter and seeing what you can achieve. I think you will end up finding the Q to be your friend.
Bones
It kinda is I guess
That's pricing before discount, though I don't think the monthly special applies to custom electronics. (if there's a discount on the base price) Dealer discount wil make it a bit more bearable...
It also includes the body upgrade (thicker semi hollow body, with lots of silver paint)
The pots are insanely expensive also, they're top quality and custom made to Alembic's specs (+ some are dual) and they cant order them in batches of 10.000 (I think they used less then 40.000 -with varying specs- since '69)
And there's the magic touch from the master himself, Mr. Wickersham can spend a lot of time making sure the instrument is totally quiet (noise-wise)
I did ask what it would cost to have my Elan prepared for Series II with Anniversary Electronics (which would include the bodywork, tons of silver paint and dummy hc)
But Susan said she really would wanted to do the JPJ version and gave me a great price, so the quote never came through... My guess is, it will be a couple of $K's
I'm not going to ask again, my next customs will get Series II. Though insane, I think its worth it (and you get a cord!)
Alembic has installed Series electronics in non Alembics (one has been back at Alembic recently for the electronics upgrade, i think it was the Smith/Fodera?)
I'm not sure if they will do it on a Fernandes though, they were a bit agitated back then iirc. And as Muller said its much wiser to spend the $$$ on a couple of real deals.
Don't give up on the used market though, its extremely rare but apparently these sets can come up for sale sometimes.
I bought a complete 70's Series I set a couple of years ago, with the intention of putting it in my '88 Spoiler.
I decided to keep the Spoiler original and sold it to an Alembic club member who was restoring poor Alembic that had it's electronics removed. I guess that's how they pop up for sale sometimes, some people put EMG's in their vintage Alembics...
I also ended up wit a couple of spare pickups after troubleshooting/repairing my Series I, which I sold on the local online market. (I wonder what the buyer had planned with them, I did tell him they're pretty much useless without the electronics and HC)
Iirc the pickups (SC-1) are indeed all identical (SI/II, neck and bridge) and I think they're available to anyone, when Mica send me the new pickups she told me to keep a set as spares or "you can sell them". (I got two pickups for the price of one)
Excellent! Thanks for the reply.
I've only had it about a week, so will definitely be playing around with it more. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised just how great this bass sounds. The neck pick-up is warm and punchy and the bridge is very Rick'ish, and to top it off, it's dead quiet! There's an awful lot of volume drop with both pu's selected, though. I'm not sure if there's something I can do to compensate for that through adjustments.
I've only had it about a week, so will definitely be playing around with it more. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised just how great this bass sounds. The neck pick-up is warm and punchy and the bridge is very Rick'ish, and to top it off, it's dead quiet! There's an awful lot of volume drop with both pu's selected, though. I'm not sure if there's something I can do to compensate for that through adjustments.
Well, that makes the cost justifiable, now....Though insane, I think its worth it (and you get a cord!)
What does Alembic do the deepen/thicken the body? Do they just make a whole new body, or do they actually slice the back off and add on to it?
I don't think they do it with instruments that aren't thick enough...
They did it with a couple of Jason Newsted's basses (Persuader and Elan) and Mica (or Susan) said they won't do it again ever (too much work)
The affect of the Q-switch can mainly be heard in the "attack" of the note and is more pronounced in the lower range of the filter. There are a lot of unique tones to be found in the lower ranges of the filter, definitely worth taking time to explore. I rarely have the filters fully open and if I do never use the Q-switch in conjunction with higher frequencies. Enjoy your new Distillate!
That make more sense. I had a '87 Persuader and an '84 Exploiter, and can only image what it would have taken to make the bodies deeper!
I added two-position Q switches to the two Alembics I had, along with some other electronic mods (all Alembic parts - except for one thing on each bass), which switched between the high Q filter and a standard tone roll-off control. Surprisingly, I preferred the latter, tonally.
Maybe one of the pickups has a low gain setting? You can set the gain for each pickup with the blue trimpots on the electronics board.
Edit: see also: Link Removed
Thanks, I found those doing some research before I pulled the trigger. I'll play around with the trimpots, but both pu's are pretty equal output now.
BTW, I believe my Q switch is a 2 position.
BTW, I believe my Q switch is a 2 position.
Do you have one of the Distillates with an LED near the jack that lights up when the bass is plugged in? If so try putting in new batteries before adjusting the gain controls. The early Distillates with the LED all chew through batteries at an alarming rate because of the LED. My first Alembic was a 1982 Distillate and I estimate that battery was only good for between 20 and 25 hours. When the battery goes it happens quickly, lack of gain, distortion then silence. After the first time this happened on stage I changed batteries constantly to make sure it never happened again. Alembic stopped putting the LED in a few years later but you can also disconnect it if you have one and the batteries will last a lot longer.
If you decide you like the effect of the Q-switch but want more control it is easy to swap the two-position one for the three (0/+6/+9dB), circuit is modular so it is a plug and play mod. Call Mica to order the part.
Also important to note that the Alembic's that come with a filter but no Q-switch have about a +8 dB boost baked in that is applied to the center frequency set by the filter. Adding a Q-switch gives you control and a way to defeat and vary the effect.
If you decide you like the effect of the Q-switch but want more control it is easy to swap the two-position one for the three (0/+6/+9dB), circuit is modular so it is a plug and play mod. Call Mica to order the part.
Also important to note that the Alembic's that come with a filter but no Q-switch have about a +8 dB boost baked in that is applied to the center frequency set by the filter. Adding a Q-switch gives you control and a way to defeat and vary the effect.
That wasn't the case with my two basses. I had to solder in the switch, in line with a resistor that I had to pull one leg out of its solder pad on a circuit board to install the switch. Not difficult but it definitely was not P-'N-P. Perhaps, after a certain date they became easy to swap out.
Thanks for the correction! I haven't had to make this kind of mod myself so I will change my comment to "may be a modular plug and play connection"
