| Author | Message | ||
| Bill Payne (beatlejuice)
New Username: beatlejuice Post Number: 3 Registered: 3-2003 |
Mica, Could you tell me anything you can about my Spoiler (83 S 2511). Other than it being an '83, looks, plays and sounds excellent, I know nothing about it (except that it could lead to more).Thanx a bunch. Beatlejuice | ||
| bigredbass
Member Username: bigredbass Post Number: 87 Registered: 9-2002 |
Bill: Have you figured out the tone/Q or seen the pickup mixer in the control cavity? I drive a SPOILER too and can give you the heads up on this. Mica can get you the history as her schedule allows. Let me know if I can help. J o e y | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 831 Registered: 6-2000 |
Hi Beatlejuice, Here's what I found out about your particular Spoiler. 83S2511 SMSB4: body: solid Koa neck: 3-piece Maple 32" medium scale fingerboard: Ebony, inlays not recorded, but likely plastic ovals peghead veneers: Maple and Koa controls: volume, filter, Q switch, 4-position pickup selector switch. originally sold to: Jimmy Roger's House of Music, SC birthday: February 23, 1983 There was one previous recorded owner of this instrument. You can check out the last spec sheet for the Spoiler, though yours is one of the early ones and the body and neck features differ slightly. 95% of all the Spoilers were medium scale, though many people didn't immediately realize that was why they were so comfortable to play. -Mica | ||
| beatlejuice
New Username: beatlejuice Post Number: 5 Registered: 3-2003 |
Thanx, Mica. You're an angel. Now I know what to say when someone asks "What kinda wood IS that? Darn, me and the Spoiler just almost had the same bdays. Joey, I pretty much have the tone/Q figured out thanx to one of mica's earlier posts (very helpful). "Pickup mixer"? Don't know anything about that. Any help appriciated. Thanx, again The Juice | ||
| bigredbass
Member Username: bigredbass Post Number: 89 Registered: 9-2002 |
BPJuice: A little background: Pickups' tone changes as their clearance to the strings raises (more output, more highs, less lows) or lowers (less output, less highs, a little bassier, warmer). This can be very pronounced with hotter passive (i.e., no battery) pickups, such as Seymour's Quarter Pounders or the the big MusicMan humbuckers. Now, with active (battery), low impedance pickups that ALEMBIC pioneered, these height/tone changes are much less pronounced. To the point where you can basically put them at any height you prefer to get the tone YOU like. It's entirely subjective, there is no RIGHT height/tone. You'll notice small output changes as you do this. So now you adjust the neck pickup where you think it's perfect for your ears. Ditto for the bridge pickup. But when you turn your selector to the BOTH pickup position, you wish the blend was different, say a little more bridge pickup. Or separately, one pickup is noticeably louder than the other. On virtually any other bass, all you could do was go back and readjust the heights and hope you could live with the resulting 'solo'd' pickup tones. Not with your ALEMBIC. Once you get the pickups as you like separately, IF you need to adjust the balance of the two together, or their separate volumes, you're in luck. Remove the back cover, and look in the control cavity. You'll see two little blue blocks below the battery. In the blocks you'll see a white trim pot in each. With a small, flat screw driver you can adjust the volume of each to match, and/or change the blend of the two together. Of course, you'll want to do this plugged into your amp, and be careful of the wiring while the back cover is off. This is just one more small dose of genius that truly allows the owner to tweak his axe to taste. Of course, you also saw that the back cover was attached with machine screws in inserts instead of wood screws. These are lifetime instruments. And if no one's told you, let me tip you off to ALEMBIC's pickup mounting system. This is VERY IMPORTANT if you plan to do these tweaks. When you look down, you'll say 'Where's the other two screws?' Look through the 'empty' holes in the pickup and you'll see the heads of the other 2 screws. By now I was really confused! The 2 'below' screws set the pickup heights, the 2 screw you can see tighten the pickup against those 2. So, loosen the 2 'above'screws FIRST to loosen the pickups. THEN adjust the 2 'below' screws to fine tune your height/tone. Once you're finished, just snug the 'above' screws to lock them in place. I mean just SNUG them, like a valve cover gasket bolt or an oil filter. NOT hard tight. Don't be surprised if you revise these settings over time as you live with your SPOILER. I typically use a small ruler as I prefer the pickups parallel to the strings. You may want to 'cant' the pickups closer on the high or low side if you prefer that sound. Again it's all up to you. I hope this clues you in on another terrific feature, that like so many others on our basses, is uniquely ALEMBIC. J o e y | ||
| beatlejuice
New Username: beatlejuice Post Number: 6 Registered: 3-2003 |
Joey, Thanx for the background and all the info. The more I learn about this Spoiler the more I really can appriciate it. I had no idea it was gonna be this adjustable. Alembics are defintely the Rolls Royce of the bass kingdom. Bill Payne (Beatlejuice) |
