| Author | Message | ||
| jand
New Username: jand Post Number: 1 Registered: 12-2011 |
Hello everyone! I'll introduce myself. My name is Jan Dobaczewski. I'm a 22 year old student from Poland. Quite some time ago, i was looking for a new bass. Remembering how many bad expiriences i had with various guitars and basses in the past, i decided to go an extra mile and buy something of higher quality. After long time thinking about choosing my new bass, i almost bought a Spector Rebop 5 string. I was just 1 store trip away from buying it. But i decided to have a look on US ebay to see if i can snag something cool there for the price i would pay here in Poland. And there it was, the Epic. I was mesmerised and i knew it was a chance to get something really special! And so i did. After a long hassle with ebay, paypal, customs and postal services i got it. I still remember how me and my buddy who gave me a ride were opening the box on top the trunk of the car in bright sunny day. I was extremely happy! Not to mention the countless hours i spent playing it afterwards... But here's a sour note to this whole story. With time i grew more and more dissapointed with the bass. First impressions were great but later on there things that urked me a lot. Not sure why i didn't notice it at the start... I started to feel that the bass is extremely hard to play. Action was really high, strings were stiff and lifeless (yes, it might be just them going dead, but hear me out). I was at the brink of selling it and trying to recover what i payed for it, with no hope for getting back a hefty sum i left at the customs. That's the thing, i'm very obsessive over small things and it can bring a man to stupid things. Luckily i decided not to do such a thing and investigate what was the reason for the bad playability, and a recent fret buzz on 12-14th fret on D-G string (more on that later). And i found it. I was going to buy a new set of strings and made extensive research about string tension and such and found out that the d'addario strings installed on epic were for lower tunings! No wonder why they felt stiff and lifeless, they were so fight tension that i couldn't set up the bass properly not to mention play it. I downtuned the whole thing do DGCF and it was like a new life given to the bass! Every note sounded way better then before, despite the fact that strings feel now like loose rubber bands. The dealer from whom i've bought the Epic must have not known that those 105-50 weren't for standard tuning, i suppose... That's my guess at least. As of now, i'm more determined to restore this bass to it's proper glory by all means necessary. And i'll need your help, since even though i was for a long time dissatisfied with the Epic, i loved it's sound. I'll describe what is going on in the troubleshooting section soon, and hopefully we can work it all out  For now, enough of my badly written ramblings. I will post Pictures of the bass itself soon enough, maybe with the face behind forum id, who knows... Cheers, Jan Dobaczewski | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 5006 Registered: 7-2004 |
Jan: Welcome to the club! I'm a guitar player, but all the bassists here (majority of members) swear by Joey's post on how to set up an Alembic bass. You can find it here. Enjoy your Epic and get some pics up soon, people around here LOVE pics! Bill, the guitar one | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 2179 Registered: 5-2009 |
Welcome , I would agree that Joey has very good instructions. | ||
| wishbass
Member Username: wishbass Post Number: 77 Registered: 5-2011 |
Jan, greetings from the left coast! Ditto to the above link.Sounds like all your problems are easily fixed.There is nothing like a properly set up instrument.It makes ALL the diffrerence in the world! Have fun! P.S. don't know if you're into them, but I'm a big Riverside fan! | ||
| jand
New Username: jand Post Number: 2 Registered: 12-2011 |
Thanks for the warm welcome Yeah, i've read that post and used the instructions. Very good indeed, although the only vague part would be the thickness of a medium pick, but i just assumed it's something between 0,3 mm to 0,7 mm (if i recall correctly that's what was written in Jerzy Drozd's bass setup guide). After detuning, the action now isn't an issue, but i'll post in troubleshooting soon enough after i form some kind of list of the little things i've found. Thanks for advice nonetheless | ||
| jcdlc72
Intermediate Member Username: jcdlc72 Post Number: 128 Registered: 11-2009 |
Greetings, Jan, and welcome to the club! As an Epic 5 caretaker(*) myself, I'd suggest you to follow on a step-by-step basis the guidelines on the aforementioned post on how to set up your Epic. Besides, mine is set up PRETTY low and easy to play. On mine I've found, of all the brands I can find here in Venezuela (which are not much anyway) what works the best (standard BEADG tuning) are Stainless Steel .040-120 Dunlops. The bass is a real breeze to play! (*) This is because I don't own the bass, it's the bass that owns me.... | ||
| artswork99
Moderator Username: artswork99 Post Number: 1630 Registered: 7-2007 |
Welcome Jan! | ||
| jand
New Username: jand Post Number: 3 Registered: 12-2011 |
Thanks again for all the responses :D wishbass: Never heard of Riverside to be honest, but i'll check them out on youtube. Thanks for the tip ;) jcdlc72: I did almost everything in that post, except intonation (i don't have imperial allen wrenches... although it might be an early christmas gift). I bought a replacement set, should be in my hands following week - Fodera Stainless Steel 44-106 - actually there was a crazy sale on one of the polish internet music stores and got them for half price! Just couldn't say no, and i've heard some good things about those strings. Definitely worth a try, especially for that price. Not to mention, for standard tuning they seem to have more reasonable thickness then those wacky d'addarios. Thanks again for all the warm welcomes and help, i'll elaborate on what i think might be going on with the bass later today, hopefully i'll get a moment to make a detailed description. (sheesh, i'm making it sound as if it's a secret or something dreadfull!) Cheers, Jan D. | ||
| jcdlc72
Intermediate Member Username: jcdlc72 Post Number: 129 Registered: 11-2009 |
My advice: Do the intonation thing AFTER you've put the new set of strings and have adjusted both the neck and the bridge to your taste. Can't miss. And again, welcome! | ||
| tncaveman
Junior Username: tncaveman Post Number: 50 Registered: 2-2011 |
Welcome Jan - My bass needed some tweaking to the truss rod and my Rogue is sweet as honey! I used standard round wound D'Addario strings w/ 0.045 to .100 and love them. Never a problem (been using them for >20 years). As for Riverside - it's the only Polish band I know of and just got two of their albums for Christmas. Here's a link to a good video and somemore info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverside_(band) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soWnOSgfqwY&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/user/linkhoochoon3#p/search/1/uhPArKJ52Kg http://www.youtube.com/user/linkhoochoon3#p/search/8/RXD9jKRHs3A Stephen |
