| Author | Message | ||
| effclef
Junior Username: effclef Post Number: 13 Registered: 1-2004 |
OK, check out this photo (attached) I found on the web.  Beautiful hunk of Alembic zebrawood! But look....it sure looks like a Series 1 from the controls. Spoiler body, pickup selector switch down by the controls as opposed to the horn, OK... Five pin jack and 1/4 jack...OK... But wait! The 1/4" jack is on the wrong side of the 5 pin. And what took me a long time to notice....THERE IS NO DUMMY HUMCANCELLING PICKUP! What the heck? If I were a betting man I'd say this started life as a Spoiler, and someone perhaps added Signature electronics to it, and a 5 pin jack to run power in and stereo (?) out from the pickups...? Or worse, under the cover plate is some sort of Poly-Paks (oops I'm showing my age) collection of op-amps and mylar capacitors making something which only loosely resembles an Alembic inside...! Very odd! EffClef (Message edited by effclef on February 06, 2004) | ||
| bracheen
Advanced Member Username: bracheen Post Number: 212 Registered: 11-2003 |
That would look real nice next to my Epic. Of course with all that Zebrawood I'd have to keep the window open. | ||
| davehouck
Advanced Member Username: davehouck Post Number: 354 Registered: 5-2002 |
My guess. I think the electronics are probably genuine Alembic; I think this is a custom order bass. I'm guessing the electronics are 20th Anniversary and I'm guessing the 5-pin is purely for the stereo out, not power in. Nice looking bass; purpleheart neck laminates, nice zebrawood. The bridge looks like it has a little age on it. Spoiler with 20th Anniv. controls; maybe it was built in 1989. I suppose another alternative is that the electonics are Series I and the humcancelling pickup is hidden in the body. | ||
| kungfusheriff
Junior Username: kungfusheriff Post Number: 42 Registered: 8-2003 |
I was talking to the Guitar Broker hisself before the bass sold...he believed they were Series electronics until I informed him the bass had Anniversary electronics, which are a step down from the top-of-the-line Series package. | ||
| davehouck
Advanced Member Username: davehouck Post Number: 355 Registered: 5-2002 |
Just curious; what was the selling price? | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 1431 Registered: 6-2000 |
Actually, I checked the file for this bass for a customer today. It's totally custom. The 5-pin is original, but it's got 2 sets of AE-1 Activators with a pickup sel switch (not noted if 3 or 4 position). That is similar to Anniversary, but we didn't start making the Anniversary model until later, and it doesn't have a 5-pin out. The serial number for this bass is 86S3993 and the "S" designates it as a Spoiler, it's just a very custom one. In general, Series I and II instruments won't have a letter in the serial number. If they do, it may be an A, AC, AE or C. I think the gentleman I spoke with earlier already purchased this bass. | ||
| kungfusheriff
Junior Username: kungfusheriff Post Number: 43 Registered: 8-2003 |
The price dropped from $2250 to $1995 over a series of months. | ||
| dela217
Advanced Member Username: dela217 Post Number: 277 Registered: 6-2002 |
I thought I was the first one to order the option of a 5-pin with non series electronics. I guess Alembic has done it all. | ||
| 811952
Member Username: 811952 Post Number: 77 Registered: 10-2003 |
I noticed Greg Lake's pirate-themed 8-string doesn't have a visible hum-canceller either. Just curious what electronics inhabit that bass? That would have been a mid '70s instrument if memory serves ('76 or '77). The bass I'm referencing is one which Entwistle had, which I think Oliver had posted a couple of months back.. John | ||
| senmen
Advanced Member Username: senmen Post Number: 216 Registered: 7-2003 |
John, you mean the pirate bass right? Here´s again the pic. The bass has/had s/no. (if correct) 8 79 1300. Oliver (Spyderman)  | ||
| dela217
Advanced Member Username: dela217 Post Number: 281 Registered: 6-2002 |
Back then some of the series basses had the hum caceller mounted inside the body. Just like the famed doubleneck of John Judge. Not that I know who he is, I just remember the ads. | ||
| effclef
Junior Username: effclef Post Number: 17 Registered: 1-2004 |
FYI it was not me who bought it! :-) Interesing "Pirate" 8 string. No strap buttons? Greg played it sitting down? As for the hidden humcanceller on a real Series bass - where is it? Still between the pickups? I would wonder about neck strength if it is somehow routed in from the back. But I suppose you could put the canceller anywhere as long as it was angled in the same plane as the pickups, to receive the same hum field so to speak. I wondered if the control layout was too neatly done to have been a cellar hack job. ;-) Nice to know it really is pedigreed. EffClef PS what's this rumor about scratch-n-sniff zebrawood pictures in the next Alembic catalog? | ||
| dela217
Advanced Member Username: dela217 Post Number: 282 Registered: 6-2002 |
EffClef, The hum cancellers were sometimes placed inside the control cavity, but mostly in a routed out hole under the tailpiece. | ||
| 811952
Member Username: 811952 Post Number: 79 Registered: 10-2003 |
That's a beautiful instrument (so, of course, is the lovely spoiler which begat this thread). Fanfare for the Common Man has to have the definitive 8-string bass sound IMHO... Thanks for the info, guys... John | ||
| effclef
Junior Username: effclef Post Number: 20 Registered: 1-2004 |
Speaking of holes under the tailpiece, what IS that plate for in the Series basses? I can't think of why it's there unless it's going to a ground stud on the taipliece, underneath. I mean the little round one on the back of the neck, under basically the tailpiece area. EffClef | ||
| dela217
Advanced Member Username: dela217 Post Number: 294 Registered: 6-2002 |
Do you mean the plate that covers the 2 nine volt batteries? | ||
| effclef
Junior Username: effclef Post Number: 21 Registered: 1-2004 |
I am not sure. Here's a shot of the back of one of the Autumn's Delight custom: http://alembic.com/cgi-bin/alembic-club/show.cgi?393/8109 There, the plate is wood, and square. Do the batteries go there? So the left (as viewed) plate contains only the controls, and the right is only the electronics? Sorry, that's not the round plate I was looking for...there must be a shot of that somewhere on the Club! But this must be the same idea. I did not think two 9V batteries would fit where the round plate was. EffClef | ||
| malthumb
Intermediate Member Username: malthumb Post Number: 161 Registered: 5-2002 |
Here's a picture showing the backs of my Series I and Series II. The Series I has a round brass battery cover. The Series II has a square wood batterie cover. Two 9V under each. It's cozy in there, but they fit.  | ||
| rockandroller
Member Username: rockandroller Post Number: 78 Registered: 11-2002 |
speaking of "ground stud on the taipiece" - do any or all Alembic basses have a "string ground"? | ||
| xlrogue6
Junior Username: xlrogue6 Post Number: 50 Registered: 8-2002 |
The Alembic PU/electronics design we all love so well doesn't require a bridge ground, so none is installed. | ||
| dfung60
Junior Username: dfung60 Post Number: 28 Registered: 5-2002 |
I'm surprised that dela didn't mention that the Greg Lake/Entwistle Pirate bass has a graphite neck! It looks like one of the really early ones with the crystalline graphite finish (for those who like graphite trivia, it was the crystals, then checkerboard weave, then irregular polygons. Graphite or wood, cutting a chunk of the neck structure shouldn't matter too much - the pickup routings are done that same way and it's stabilized on both sides being glued to the body wings. The hum cancelling coil doesn't need to be near the strings to work. The canceller is a wound bobbin like a pickup but with no magnets, so it can't "hear" metallic strings. It will "hear" any radiated electromagnetic fields which is what was causing the hum in your pickups. Flip that signal over, subtract it from the magnetic pickup output and you have string sound minus noise. Awesome. It would probably work better if in the same 3-D orientation as the pickups, so the normal position in between is optimal but anywhere on the instrument would be fine. There aren't that many instruments out there that have hum cancellers, but they typically were hidden rather than visible. If you've ever seen the original PRS bass, it had 3 pickups on the front and a hum canceller that looked just like a pickup on the back under the bridge area. Also, Fender Elite Strats from the early 1980's had a hum canceller hiding underneath the pickguard between the pickups. David Fung | ||
| kungfusheriff
Junior Username: kungfusheriff Post Number: 49 Registered: 8-2003 |
Just a little something to add; While I havn't received my Series II yet (I'll be paying for it for a loooong time before I get my mitts on it) and can't attest to how well its humcancelling system works, I've played my old PRS for years and feel comfortable saying that design doesn't work very well. When playing in front of my TV through a headphone amp--hey, it's better than listening to that drivel they broadcast--not only is there a loud, constant buzz, but the pickups "hear" little chirps when I change channels with the remote. Just a lil' FYI, KFS | ||
| 811952
Member Username: 811952 Post Number: 93 Registered: 10-2003 |
KFS, The Series hum-canceller works incredibly well. And you can ditch the headphone amp, too. You're gonna love your new bass! John | ||
| kungfusheriff
Junior Username: kungfusheriff Post Number: 50 Registered: 8-2003 |
I'm sure I will, John. To the group, I'll be posting pics ASAP. Here's a teaser: '80 short-scale S2 with graphite neck and flamed koa top and back. | ||
| 811952
Member Username: 811952 Post Number: 95 Registered: 10-2003 |
Oh yeah! Very nice. When I was shopping for my Alembic back in pre-historic times, I played a few of those at Vic Zinn music in Indiana (he always had like a dozen Alembics on hand) and really thought the koa and graphite looked great together on that body. Sounded great too. Sweet! Welcome to Heaven... John | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 1453 Registered: 6-2000 |
A little dose of Alembic trivia: Vic Zinn was the very first Alembic dealer. |
