| Author | Message | ||
| Albert Amato (spliffy)
New Username: spliffy Post Number: 3 Registered: 3-2003 |
Hi everyone, I am a new first time Alembic owner. I did post a picture of her on the showcase section, under D. I have a question with regards to the switches and knobs on the bass. Being a Fender player, I am used to 2 or 3 knobs. This thing has taken me to a land of unknowns!!!! I know where the volume and tone knobs are, but I am not sure what the little bump next to the cable input does. (I thought it was an LED, but it does not light up). I am also curious about the three switches and what they do! I am also curious about the 2 blue tweaking things inside the control cavity... I am sorry if I sound like an idiot, but I have only had normal basses, this baby is something else. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks   | ||
| Mica Wickersham (mica)
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 767 Registered: 6-2000 |
The two trimpots on the iside of the bass are the gain for each pickup. You can set the height of the pickup to the character of sound you like without worrying about the differing output levels. The controls are volume and low-pass filter (350Hz-6KHz). The 2-position switch is the Q switch, when playing, up is off and down is on. The Q adds an 8dB boost at the cutoff frequency of the filter. The other two switches are bass cut-flat-boost and treble cut-flat-boost (boost is down on these too). The little bump is an LED, but most people disconnected them because of the high battery drain. | ||
| Mark DuFresne (markus)
Junior Username: markus Post Number: 23 Registered: 5-2002 |
Hi Albert! Welcome! Nice axe! I think the bump is an LED. Some of these were disabled by their owners because they drained precious battery power. I think they lit when a cord was plugged in. The 'tone' knob is not actually what you're used to on other basses. Its a low pass filter that pretty much cuts off everything above the dialed in frequency. (As opposed to a tone knob that rolls off more and more mids and highs as you turn it down). The blue things are gains on your pickups. If your pickups don't have quite the same output when you switch from one to the other, you could use the gain pots to balance them. IMHO, you get the best funk slap sound when the outputs are equal -- more natural cancellations of frequencies. But that's just one bass players opinion... The three switches? My favorite part of my Distillate. One boosts and cuts bass frequencies, the center one boosts and cuts high frequencies (middle position is 0 gain), and the third, two position switch is the Q switch. There are others here that have described the frequencies of the boost and cut switches and the function of the Q swithch much better than I could. Try searching for "Q swithch" on this site for some great explanations. Try this: turn the Q on (towards the floor on mine), pluck the G string and let it ring while you turn the filter knob end to end. She's a beauty. Take care of her. Mark | ||
| Mark DuFresne (markus)
Junior Username: markus Post Number: 24 Registered: 5-2002 |
Mica, You're too fast for me. | ||
| Mica Wickersham (mica)
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 771 Registered: 6-2000 |
The more the merrier! | ||
| Albert Amato (spliffy)
New Username: spliffy Post Number: 4 Registered: 3-2003 |
Thanks Mica and Mark, I really appreciate the help. I am really happy to be a part of the Alembic tradition. |
