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Alembic Club » Swap Shop and Wish Lists » Seen on craigslist, eBay, and elsewhere » Archive through October 27, 2009 » Pluto Filter bank « Previous Next »

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elwoodblue
Senior Member
Username: elwoodblue

Post Number: 831
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Sunday, August 30, 2009 - 10:51 am:   Edit Post

Here's something you don't see everyday.
I wonder just how high the reserve is.



sonicus
Advanced Member
Username: sonicus

Post Number: 285
Registered: 5-2009
Posted on Sunday, August 30, 2009 - 12:11 pm:   Edit Post

Interesting! I remember when George was making these in the mid 1970's He showed me a prototype and later Installed his Pluto Filter design in my old Guild Starfire that already had Alembic Pick ups and bridge and tail piece installed by the previous owner.
sonicus
Advanced Member
Username: sonicus

Post Number: 286
Registered: 5-2009
Posted on Sunday, August 30, 2009 - 12:28 pm:   Edit Post

I won't bid on this one, I am saving my coins for an ALEMBIC SF-2 SUPER FILTER instead !
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 8668
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Sunday, August 30, 2009 - 3:40 pm:   Edit Post

What do vertical and horizontal mean in this context? My guess is that they refer to the shape of the curve before application of the resonance control. That maybe the vertical filter would have a roll off of 3db per octave and the horizontal filter would roll off at 12db per octave. I have no idea, I'm just making a wild guess. Does anybody know? It would be nice to see a picture of the sweep pedal.
sonicus
Advanced Member
Username: sonicus

Post Number: 287
Registered: 5-2009
Posted on Sunday, August 30, 2009 - 8:19 pm:   Edit Post

If my memory serves me right the specially designed foot pedal
that George designed to work with this unit is dual action and moved in 4 directions .He demonstrated it to me about 30 years ago ;so, my opening statement 'IF MEMORY SERVES ME RIGHT' definitely applies. The pluto filters that he installed in my Bass did not use a pedal.
llobsterbass
Member
Username: llobsterbass

Post Number: 60
Registered: 5-2004
Posted on Monday, August 31, 2009 - 9:45 am:   Edit Post

Wow, cool. As the seller said, this is the rarest of the rare...I'd never even seen a picture of one before.

But I think he's wrong when he says the Pluto pedal can be used for quad output, as Phil did with Big Brown in the Wall of Sound era. For one thing, the pedal only has one 1/4" output!

If I were rich I'd grab it for rarity value...but I don't see anything on it that an Alembic SF-2 wouldn't do for less $$$, and under warranty.
elwoodblue
Senior Member
Username: elwoodblue

Post Number: 832
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Monday, August 31, 2009 - 11:18 am:   Edit Post

I agree Steve,
I'm curious about the footswitch functions.
It must be like the old fender pedal steel volume pedals that slide sideways for tone control.
...and if the resonance is set high on the pluto filter bank (like the damping factor on the SF-2's), wouldn't that make for some unreasonable boominess if you sweep the pedal into the low hz area without out making other adjustments(filter gain).

On a slightly different subject...If Alembic ever makes a wah pedal I bet it would stand out from the rest.
hieronymous
Senior Member
Username: hieronymous

Post Number: 639
Registered: 1-2005
Posted on Monday, August 31, 2009 - 12:43 pm:   Edit Post

This thing is fascinating! Thanks for posting it.

I'm wondering if "horizontal" and "vertical" refer to the pedal directions? So sweeping the pedal up and down affects one filter and left and right does the other?

I think the pedal controllability makes it different from the SF-2, and of course the rarity/collectability/Dead connection/cool factor is considerable, but I agree that an SF-2 is excellent GAS relief on this thing!
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 8678
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Monday, August 31, 2009 - 1:00 pm:   Edit Post

Harry; that makes a lot more sense than my suggestion. I think you're right.
elwoodblue
Senior Member
Username: elwoodblue

Post Number: 833
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Monday, August 31, 2009 - 1:05 pm:   Edit Post

That makes sense Harry.
Following that logic would make the pedal a sort of vector control of the filters.
So it could be mono, but with two axis to work with you would have an almost infinite amount of coordinates to choose from.
I have a morley stereo volume/pan pedal that pan's sideways...I might have to try it out with an SF-2 ( or two).
elwoodblue
Senior Member
Username: elwoodblue

Post Number: 834
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Monday, August 31, 2009 - 11:18 pm:   Edit Post

Ended early...someone must have saved him the ebay fees.
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 8683
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Tuesday, September 01, 2009 - 9:41 am:   Edit Post

How much time was left? The last I checked the bid appeared to still be climbing. It seems unusual to end early to save fees when the bid is still climbing.
elwoodblue
Senior Member
Username: elwoodblue

Post Number: 835
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Tuesday, September 01, 2009 - 12:32 pm:   Edit Post

It would have had 3-4 days left, the reserve was met and the bid amount was 1750 the last time I checked before it was pulled.

Maybe someone offered him 2000 and he had some bills to pay ( just a guess ).
pace
Senior Member
Username: pace

Post Number: 422
Registered: 4-2004
Posted on Friday, September 04, 2009 - 3:20 pm:   Edit Post

Well at least some of us now know what one looks like!!! :-)

(Message edited by pace on September 04, 2009)
smokinbear
Junior
Username: smokinbear

Post Number: 33
Registered: 11-2008
Posted on Monday, September 14, 2009 - 9:39 am:   Edit Post

What Ever happened to George M. And the pluto pedal? Is the man still around? Please pardon my ignorance on this subject.
hydrargyrum
Senior Member
Username: hydrargyrum

Post Number: 661
Registered: 3-2004
Posted on Monday, September 14, 2009 - 9:58 am:   Edit Post

Premier Guitar had an article about weird and rare effects. They mention this effect briefly. I'll provide a link if anyone is interested.

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2008/Nov/The_Wild_and_Wacky_World_of_Collectible_Effects.aspx

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