| Author | Message | ||
| ggunn
New Username: ggunn Post Number: 6 Registered: 3-2006 |
I have a 5 string Epic and I love it, but I am always open to improve my gear. Is there an upgrade path for the Epic electronics? | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 4390 Registered: 5-2002 |
Some folks have replaced the treble and bass controls with a filter a Q switch. | ||
| echo008
Advanced Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 236 Registered: 2-2003 |
For the amount of money it would take you to upgrade you might be better off buying an SF-2.... Of course I dont know what your budget is. You can pick up a new one for around 750... used, while getting harder and harder to find for around 400-600. - Tom | ||
| dumfuxx
Junior Username: dumfuxx Post Number: 35 Registered: 1-2005 |
I got the filter and q switch and installed it myself for 250. It's REALLY easy, you need no experience to install it correctly. | ||
| bracheen
Senior Member Username: bracheen Post Number: 1055 Registered: 11-2003 |
Gary Do you have a photo of the finished upgrade? It didn't leave any extra holes did it? Did it make a significant difference? | ||
| 57basstra
Advanced Member Username: 57basstra Post Number: 308 Registered: 4-2005 |
This is good to know...thanks.. | ||
| jseitang
Intermediate Member Username: jseitang Post Number: 168 Registered: 6-2002 |
is it possible to order a q switch with a specific frequency range? | ||
| adriaan
Senior Member Username: adriaan Post Number: 1043 Registered: 6-2002 |
Huh? Perhaps you're confusing the Q switch with some circuits that have a "mid" control, where you can select different center-frequencies for the mid control. The classic Alembic filter is a low-pass filter, so there is no center frequency involved. The tone pot sets the cut-off frequency. The Q switch sets the level of boost at the cut-off frequency. | ||
| dumfuxx
Junior Username: dumfuxx Post Number: 36 Registered: 1-2005 |
I don't have any pic's and I'm offshore right now with no access to my epic. The install removed two knobs and added a knob and a switch. No extra holes required. Alembic sent a washer that fits where the switch mounts because the switch has a smaller nut to mount it. All the connections were 'unplug this wire and plug that one there' type. Very good instructions that I had no problem following. the whole operation took about 10 minutes. It made an enormous difference in sound After reading up on what the q switch and filter actually were designed to do, I love it even more. You can (theoretically) dial in the frequency response of almost any other brand of pickup on the market with the circut. If you fret a note and rotate the filter knob it has a 'wah wah' sound to it which means you can dial in tone that almost sounds like singing a vowel. Pretty incredible difference IMO. | ||
| ggunn
New Username: ggunn Post Number: 8 Registered: 3-2006 |
"lter and q switch and installed it myself for 250. It's REALLY easy, you need no experience to install it correctly." Can you give me a link? I can't seem to find it on the Alembic website. | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 3550 Registered: 6-2000 |
It's one of the many things you just gotta call us up for. What you want is an AE-2 filter and the mounting hardware for an oversized hole. | ||
| bumhucker
Junior Username: bumhucker Post Number: 46 Registered: 3-2006 |
i didn't realize this either! i will probably go that route with my excel too. the nice thing is you can easily change it back if it isn't to your liking. pretty cool | ||
| dumfuxx
Junior Username: dumfuxx Post Number: 41 Registered: 1-2005 |
I just bought a 4 string epic off ebay and ordered the filter/q switch upgrade from Micah. I'll take pic's of the install for everyone who is curious. Maybe a side by side of my 5 string(which is already upgraded) and the 4 string(pre-upgrade) with the control cavities open. Gary P.S. The upgrade cost 300 (Message edited by dumfuxx on September 12, 2006) | ||
| ggunn
New Username: ggunn Post Number: 10 Registered: 3-2006 |
I just ordered the AE-2 for my Epic 5 today, too. I had a nice conversation with Mica; she is very knowledgeable and helpful. She promised me that the AE-2 will make me play just like Phil. ;^) Thanks for the advice, you guys. | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 3564 Registered: 6-2000 |
Wow - I've been sending out AE-2 filters all week! Please report back when you've installed them and tell us all what you think about the change in tone you notice. Thanks! | ||
| ggunn
Junior Username: ggunn Post Number: 11 Registered: 3-2006 |
Well, I got my AE-2, but I have a couple of installation issues. One is that the bass and treble knobs are hard to pry off as per the instructions, and I scored the wood a bit around them. Just a cosmetic issue, but... Another, though, is that the shaft on the new pot is 1/4" and the original pots have a much smaller shaft, so I can't put one of the original knobs on it, and a replacement knob wasn't included. Lastly, the instructions say to "loosen the collet with [a] large blade screwdriver". Anybody out there know what a "collet" is? m-w.com doesn't. Cheers, | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 3592 Registered: 6-2000 |
Your Epic is early enough that you need a new knob - I will send you one on Monday. But, I hope you didn't pry the knob off! Just the little cap of the knob with the white indicator line. When you remove the cap , you can see the collet mechanism. I'll post some more pictures about removing knobs on Monday as well. | ||
| ggunn
Junior Username: ggunn Post Number: 12 Registered: 3-2006 |
Mica wrote, "But, I hope you didn't pry the knob off! Just the little cap of the knob with the white indicator line. When you remove the cap , you can see the collet mechanism. " Well, yes I did just pry them off. The knobs on my bass have only one white indicator line, and that's down at the base, and that's where I pried, as per (my interpretation of) the instructions. Also, I have no idea what a "collet" is in this context, and neither does the online dictionary. I tried to call Alembic when the knobs were so hard to get off, but got the answer machine, and I had no idea you'd be on this forum on the weekend, and I need this done for a session in a coupla hours. So I did what I thought the instructions said to do, hard as it was. I have since gotten one of the knobs and I see what you were talking about, but as I say, there's no white indicator line on the cap. There's a very faint line (where the plastic is a little smoother) that you can see when you look closely (I need a magnifier to see it), but it's not white. I think that the instructions could have been a bit more clear. BTW, there are a couple of other omissions (you talk about the three pin cable and not the other one, you don't say which component goes into which hole), but I figured those out. Anyway, I got it in and I absolutely love the sound of it. I don't like the depressions in the wood around the knob and switch that I made trying to get the old knobs off, but that's spilt milk now. | ||
| bracheen
Senior Member Username: bracheen Post Number: 1063 Registered: 11-2003 |
How early an Epic needs a new knob? Mine is a '94. I was dropping Christmas hints to my wife about this upgrade. Her response? "I'm not going to rememeber that crap. I'll remember Alembic blah, blah, blah. Buttons blah, blah, blah" But she's the one who thought my Ashdown cabinet was to put things in. I am very interested in this upgrade and appreciate the review and extra heads ups. Sam | ||
| ggunn
Junior Username: ggunn Post Number: 13 Registered: 3-2006 |
I really like the sound of it. With the knob all the way treble and the Q switch on, you get a boost of the top of the midrange for a little "clang" on the attack but a cut of the very high stuff where nothing but fret noise is. It's got other good settings as well, but I haven't had much of a chance to play with it yet. | ||
| keurosix
Member Username: keurosix Post Number: 78 Registered: 10-2005 |
Gordon, The Collet is the nut at the top of the shaft that holds the big plastic knob onto it. You first remove this with a flat blade screwdriver then the knob lifts off nice and easy. Too little too late! Mica, I will also need a replacement knob for the 1/4" shaft of the new AE-2 filter. My Epic5 has the 1/8" shafts for Bass & Treble controls. Thank you. Kris | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 4415 Registered: 5-2002 |
Since several people seem to be keeping up with this thread, here is Mica's new collet knob removal page. | ||
| bob
Senior Member Username: bob Post Number: 703 Registered: 11-2002 |
The one small addition I would make (since I can't comment in the FAQ thread itself), is that you hold the knob (keep it from turning) while loosening the collet, or tightening when you put it back on. Do *not* simply start turning the screwdriver or nut driver until the pot gets to one end, and then turn harder. This will quite possibly damage the pot. The collet simply squeezes some other bits in the knob itself, which in turn clamp tightly around the shaft. So you are actually loosening or tightening the collet against the knob, not directly against the shaft. When you replace the knob, slip it over the shaft, rotate it to wherever it belongs, lift slightly from the body of the instrument so it won't scrape (a business card or something similar works nicely as a spacer), then hold the knob in that position and tighten the collet. (And by the way, while 6mm is correct, even a 1/4" nut driver is better than a screwdriver.) | ||
| tbrannon
Intermediate Member Username: tbrannon Post Number: 155 Registered: 11-2004 |
I'm sure that a nut driver is a useful tool, but it sure sounds like a horrible device. =) Thanks to Mica for the FAQ update and to Bob for that helpful tidbit above. An Epic is 2nd on my list of future acquisitions and this info just might come in handy. | ||
| ggunn
Junior Username: ggunn Post Number: 14 Registered: 3-2006 |
UPDATE: I really like the change in my sound with the AE-2, especially with the Q switch on. Last night I listened to a recording of a session we did on Saturday, and my Epic cut through the mix much better than it did before. The downside is that now I want to go back and rerecord everything I've done before the swap! Thanks again, you guys, for the tip! | ||
| ggunn
Junior Username: ggunn Post Number: 15 Registered: 3-2006 |
"The Collet is the nut at the top of the shaft that holds the big plastic knob onto it. You first remove this with a flat blade screwdriver then the knob lifts off nice and easy. Too little too late!" Three little words would have saved me a lot of time and trouble, as well as some cosmetic damage to my bass: "inside the knob". | ||
| keurosix
Member Username: keurosix Post Number: 89 Registered: 10-2005 |
Finally got my Epic back from the guitar shop and finished the AE-2 Install. It went fairly smoothly. I had to position the switch in the top hole nearest the fingerboard because the circuit board would not fit in the cavity at that hole. No matter, the switch works in the direction that I wanted: up for normal, down for boost. All-in-all, a great improvement. Now the bass sounds like a top-end alembic with the Q filter, like my Europa, but of course different because of the woods, the set neck, and lack of Europa quick tone switches. I am pleased with the result. Kris |
