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hammer
Advanced Member
Username: hammer

Post Number: 285
Registered: 9-2009
Posted on Monday, November 26, 2012 - 9:46 am:   Edit Post

I admit that I use a pick 60% of the time and when I'm using my fingers it's in the traditional manner sans any slapping and popping, but can the latter technique really do this much damage to the PU covers. Looks like some pretty deep grooves here in this Ebay offering.

Slap-Pop damage.jpg
jazzyvee
Senior Member
Username: jazzyvee

Post Number: 3235
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Monday, November 26, 2012 - 10:08 am:   Edit Post

I saw that and wondered what playing technique could have caused that much mojo... :-)

Jazzyvee
tubeperson
Advanced Member
Username: tubeperson

Post Number: 393
Registered: 5-2005
Posted on Monday, November 26, 2012 - 10:27 am:   Edit Post

It could be the strings were set too low without a proper neck adjustment, and an aggressive picking technique (ever see Will Lee with the Fab Faux tear up the upstrokes on his bass?), could have cause that damage.
neyman
Intermediate Member
Username: neyman

Post Number: 126
Registered: 7-2002
Posted on Monday, November 26, 2012 - 10:53 am:   Edit Post

I have a Steinberger with the same type of wear (except more extreme) on the bridge pickup. It comes from using a pick and playing hard over the pickup.
hammer
Advanced Member
Username: hammer

Post Number: 286
Registered: 9-2009
Posted on Monday, November 26, 2012 - 11:55 am:   Edit Post

Wow! I've been a picker for 30+ years and never seen any damage done to the PUs on any of my basses or those of the people I know. It must be an incredibly aggressive technique in combination with the neck adjustment that the owner uses.

As far as aggressive upstrokes causing the damage, wouldn't the wear patters suggest it was the down stroke that was the culprit? And can one pick hard enough to hit the hum canceler which is lower than the PUs.
tubeperson
Advanced Member
Username: tubeperson

Post Number: 394
Registered: 5-2005
Posted on Monday, November 26, 2012 - 12:09 pm:   Edit Post

Hello Hammer:

I only brought up the power of Will Lee's upstrokes as an illustration that the powerful picking motion exerts a lot of force. I would agree that it looks like down strokes are the culprit here. If the picker was chanelling Pete Townsend and doing the windmill, then the hum canceller could have been marred as well.

I have seen damage to pickup covers on fretless basses as well. Same deal, strings too low in relation to the neck adjustment, and a whacking hand motion (anybody use a pick with a fretless?).
flpete1uw
Intermediate Member
Username: flpete1uw

Post Number: 102
Registered: 11-2011
Posted on Monday, November 26, 2012 - 12:13 pm:   Edit Post

Well this conversation is a little disconcerting. I'm in negotiations for this Bass. Any input from my Alembic brethren on this Bass would be appreciated.

Always value the input here

Pete
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 10952
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Monday, November 26, 2012 - 3:58 pm:   Edit Post

Perhaps more than neck adjustment, it may be that the wear is related to the pickups being raised to get them close to the strings for a bit more dirtier tone. The neck pickup appears to be angled so that the trailing edge, where most of the wear is, is higher than the leading edge. The bridge pickup seems more level; and if he was picking anywhere but right over the bridge pickup, then the leading edge would get the wear. I don't think he was flailing away because the wood around the pickups looks great; just that the pickups are close to the strings. It's a pre-77, single truss rod, so it could be that the same guy has been picking above those pickups for a long time. As for the humx, I don't know. Maybe he was anchoring his little finger there while picking and thirty years of sweat slowly wore it away.

Pete; I haven't seen the listing, but other than comments about the appearance of the pickups in close-up pictures, I don't know that anything has been said that would otherwise be disconcerting about the bass.
flpete1uw
Intermediate Member
Username: flpete1uw

Post Number: 103
Registered: 11-2011
Posted on Monday, November 26, 2012 - 4:04 pm:   Edit Post

Thank You Dave, I'll let you know when it arrives :-)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1975-Alembic-Series-1-electric-bass-with-2-pre-amps-and-road-case-/170945166220?pt=Guitar&hash=item27cd203b8c
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 10953
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Monday, November 26, 2012 - 5:51 pm:   Edit Post

Congrats! Looks like you got a great deal on a very nice bass, two power supplies and two cases. I love the back laminate!
hammer
Advanced Member
Username: hammer

Post Number: 288
Registered: 9-2009
Posted on Monday, November 26, 2012 - 9:12 pm:   Edit Post

Peter:

In spite of the PU cover marring, you purchased yourself a beautiful bass. Given the price you paid versus what I've seen a lot of other Series I basses go for you could in all likelihood purchase a sufficient number of PU covers to last you a life time.
adriaan
Moderator
Username: adriaan

Post Number: 2997
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 12:06 am:   Edit Post

Nice one!

BTW the pickups do not have covers.
flpete1uw
Intermediate Member
Username: flpete1uw

Post Number: 109
Registered: 11-2011
Posted on Friday, November 30, 2012 - 5:32 pm:   Edit Post

What is the material that encases the pickups around the magnets? I was wondering if there was a way of filling these grooves in with multiple thin layers of a non magnetic epoxy or even Krazy Glue?
dela217
Senior Member
Username: dela217

Post Number: 1123
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Friday, November 30, 2012 - 6:11 pm:   Edit Post

If it were me, I would not fill them in. You could replace them with new pickups rather inexpensively, but I really would not do that either. I wouldn't even polish that bridge.

I bid on that bass too because it was sooooo original, but you beat me to it. It looks as though the neck q switch was changed, but thats it. No adjustable nut, moved strap button or pickup selector switch, truss rod cover etc... was added. Nice bass!

For what it's worth there was a bass running around New Orleans for a while that was just two serial numbers away from that one. It was a mirror image of this bass. It had the zebra front with the koa back. In fact, it looked as though the wood used on it were the next consecutive sheets. I recognize the two knots on the front of your bass as exactly as what was on the rear of the one that was just two numbers away. The zebrawood even followed the same pattern in the way in angles away from the horns.

Great score and I know you will enjoy that one.

Michael
flpete1uw
Intermediate Member
Username: flpete1uw

Post Number: 110
Registered: 11-2011
Posted on Friday, November 30, 2012 - 6:48 pm:   Edit Post

Wow!! Thank You Michael,
I have no real intensions of doing anything at least impulsively. And I agree she has been alluring since the first time I laid eyes on her. That Koa is Beautiful. It's just that my mind never stops in a quest to repair or make things better (Real or Perceived). I guess I always like to know my options.
Nice call on the Q Switch I will look closer at it when she arrives.
Thank You for your kind words,
Peace
Pete
sonicus
Senior Member
Username: sonicus

Post Number: 2724
Registered: 5-2009
Posted on Friday, November 30, 2012 - 7:46 pm:   Edit Post

I agree with Michael, if the pickups are functional, leave them or if the worn in esthetic bothers you, replace them with new ones but don't fill them in .
To be honest with you that Bass was in my watch list and I even emailed the seller with an inquiry regarding shipping details and choices for shipping. I ended deciding not to bid at the last minute and descend upon it during the last few seconds like a bird of prey and fly away with it ! Congratulations __ She's a keeper !
flpete1uw
Intermediate Member
Username: flpete1uw

Post Number: 111
Registered: 11-2011
Posted on Saturday, December 01, 2012 - 3:07 am:   Edit Post

Ha!!! While I was in the E-Mail exchange with owner and having an agreement for the sale. (only the details needing to be worked out) I kept getting comments from him that people were all of a sudden making offers ;) However to his credit, He was a Man of his word and a Deal was a Deal.
Wolf, I can’t fully explain this but from the first time I saw her I just knew this Bass would be mine. Weird things like the SN# and Born On dates having significant meanings throughout my life. Plus that Koa!
Anyway, Thank You all for not pushing too hard on the bidding
~Pete
cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member
Username: cozmik_cowboy

Post Number: 1345
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Saturday, December 01, 2012 - 5:57 am:   Edit Post

"...if the worn in esthetic bothers you, replace them with new ones but don't fill them in."

But keep the originals!

Peter
flpete1uw
Intermediate Member
Username: flpete1uw

Post Number: 112
Registered: 11-2011
Posted on Saturday, December 01, 2012 - 9:37 am:   Edit Post

Also curious what the Neck with it's Walnut/Maple construction is going to sound like?
Has anyone seen any examples of this arrangement?

As you can probably tell I'm having a hard time waiting for the delivery truck.
dela217
Senior Member
Username: dela217

Post Number: 1124
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Saturday, December 01, 2012 - 11:53 am:   Edit Post

It's gonna sound great.

I have a couple of 70's basses right now with that same neck recipe. It works well.

By the way, I really like that maple core too!

Michael
gtrguy
Senior Member
Username: gtrguy

Post Number: 550
Registered: 9-2004
Posted on Saturday, December 01, 2012 - 9:37 pm:   Edit Post

The pickups are a cast Polyester resin, BTW, with the electronics encapsulated.
afrobeat_fool
Senior Member
Username: afrobeat_fool

Post Number: 481
Registered: 7-2009
Posted on Saturday, December 01, 2012 - 10:04 pm:   Edit Post

Hi Pete! I am glad to see you have fully caught the Alembic bug! I knew it would not be too long before you got a series bass. I am very fond of my maple and walnut neck combo. It is warmer than the purple heart/maple neck. It lends itself to a smoother sound. I would order the neck maple/walnut if I could afford a new one.

Nick
flpete1uw
Intermediate Member
Username: flpete1uw

Post Number: 113
Registered: 11-2011
Posted on Sunday, December 02, 2012 - 10:24 am:   Edit Post

Nick, I guess that Persuader infected me until I needed to Distill my thoughts to now make a Series run of it!!
Thanks for your input on the neck. I am a finger style player and the more I learn of this Basses configuration the more I think She will be Great!
~Pete

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