| Author | Message | ||
| puoi
New Username: puoi Post Number: 1 Registered: 4-2011 |
need help with a series 1 (1980) i just got. don't know how to operate this puppy. | ||
| tbrannon
Senior Member Username: tbrannon Post Number: 1313 Registered: 11-2004 |
Welcome to the forum and congratulations on an awesome bass... If you haven't already found it, the FAQ section has a good deal of information on the instruments- click the link below to get you started- if you have specific questions, post them here and I'm sure someone will be able to help. http://alembic.com/club/messages/16271/16308.html?1208918154 | ||
| mario_farufyno
Senior Member Username: mario_farufyno Post Number: 629 Registered: 9-2008 |
The big chalenge with Alembic's sistem is to get used to the Filters, Puoi. Different from any other Bass, Alembics uses a Low Pass Filter to change PU's frequency response. So you have 2 combined ways to reach a tone, tailoring each PU's tone with the filter and then mixing them together. Start playing with each PU at a time, getting used to how filter changes tone as you cut down highs with the filter (without the Q switch first). It is not as any Fender alike, where we usualy open all the highs up, note how the very nature of your Bass tone changes as you reduce its higher response. Then, try mixing both PUs toghether. Listen how you can simulate other Basses characteristics just changing PU's response. There is a good info about that here: http://alembic.com/club/messages/16271/16350.html?1107707912 Using the Q switch you can add a resonance bump at frequency cut off point that makes those characteristics more clear (and, sometimes, more agressive). Figuring all that out is part of Alembic's joy... Enjoy it! Info about Series I controls here: http://alembic.com/club/messages/16271/18483.html?1116292629 (Message edited by Mario Farufyno on April 03, 2011) (Message edited by Mario Farufyno on April 03, 2011) | ||
| jazzyvee
Senior Member Username: jazzyvee Post Number: 2375 Registered: 6-2002 |
I agree with Mario about the challenge, it does take quite a while to be able to get to grips with the sound of the alembic. My approach has been to find good useable sound that would work with most songs I would play. Then I always turn the bass to that sound when I pick it up to play. That becomes my reference point and then any other sound I get, I work out from that point. It then becomes easy to change sound and get back to my reference point quickly. I found that before I took that approach I was trying to find one sound in a million and not finding a sound that I could reproduce easily. Its almost like finding your main sound then using the controls to refine it to create a different sound but you always know what sound you are starting with. You have a great instrument there with a wide sonic pallate and patience really is a virtue in this circumstance. Jazzyvee | ||
| pierreyves
Senior Member Username: pierreyves Post Number: 790 Registered: 11-2006 |
HELLO puoi, the big challenge is to say Hello, I'm new, I need blabla... | ||
| rustyg61
Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 72 Registered: 2-2011 |
Hey Puoi congrats on the new bass & welcome to the club! I have a Stanley Clarke Signature Deluxe, so my electronics are a little different from yours, but I tend to run my neck PUP on the same lower frequency setting for a more bassy tone, with the Q switch off, & use the brige PUP filter to color the overall tone with the Q switch on. Just play with the knobs one PUP at a time to see what they do to the tone, & you'll figure out how to get the sound you want. The beauty of Alembic electronics is they can go from a muted bass drum tone to the high end of shattering glass & everything in between! The 1st gig I played with my bass I was amazed at the clarity of each note from low to high! My drummer commented that he heard notes that he had never heard me play before! Jazzyvee has a good suggestion to pick an overall tone you like & always start from there. There are so many tonal possibilities with the Alembics, it's easy to get lost & forget how to get back where you started from unless you memorize the basic setting you like. My band plays a lot of Journey, so I found that midrange tone that Journey's bass player uses, & took a picture of my knobs so I would have a reference on how to get that tone again at the gigs. Enjoy your new axe! | ||
| puoi
New Username: puoi Post Number: 2 Registered: 4-2011 |
Thanks all (even you pierre). Appreciate the tips. | ||
| mario_farufyno
Senior Member Username: mario_farufyno Post Number: 632 Registered: 9-2008 |
I use a Rogue, so I just have master volume, PU balance and a single Filter for both PUs (way easier than Series circuit) and I almost get all my tones just playing with balancing the PUs. Sometimes I disengage the ressonance gain at the filter (just a switch on Rogues) to get a more "plain" tone or control the "click" sound on Slap, sometimes I turn it on to push some frequency harder (usually those that enhance claritie, as between 800Hz to 2.5KHz, controled by the Filter). I usually don't use the Filter fully open, because I fill that makes me sound too agressive for the context I play, but I like to explore how those mid frequencies (specially with the boost switch engaged) changes my Tone on different arrangments. Combining that with the changes in PUs balance give all colors I need on my pallete. Nowadays I'm exploring the sound of using Neck PU soloed to get some kind of P-Bass tone with various Filter settings, from click bass fully open to dub sub-bass tone with filter almost fully closed. I would suggest you to check first both PUs equally open and the boost on filters engaged. Start with Filters fully open and hear how it sounds when you disengage the boost. Then, with boost on, start playing with how your Bass sounds when turning the Filters down (anti-clockwise) each PU at a time. Check how the tone changes when you disengage them, time to time. Don't rush it, it takes sometime to get used to the filters. | ||
| gtrguy
Advanced Member Username: gtrguy Post Number: 364 Registered: 9-2004 |
I get a good sound I like with both pickups up full and then turn one or the other up or down a little to change the tone for each song I want to change the tone on. I also put the Q switches in the middle and will move them up or down to get instant more or less lows. I pretty much leave the pickup selector switch in the middle. This is very simplistic I know, but works for me. Dave |
