| Author | Message | ||
| jagerphan84
Junior Username: jagerphan84 Post Number: 17 Registered: 10-2003 |
Hello fellow club members and good folks at Alembic, I have an interesting idea: I own an '82 Distillate which has a 2.5" x 1.5" rectangular brass plate installed on the front of the instrument with a red LED installed near the top of the plate. The remainder of the plate is blank and a significant portion of it is unobstructed inside the control cavity. This open space got me to thinking, and I was curious if it would somehow be possible to install an onboard octave effect. My dream would be a 3-way selector knob in the style of the 4-way pickup selector with the settings of: [orig. note & one octave lower]-[orig. note only]-[orig. note & one octave higher] I would want the switch installed on the brass plate such that the switch is horizontal in the center position and pointed 45 degrees up or down to activate the effect respectively. Has my daydreaming gone out of control, or is this possible? | ||
| bsee
Junior Username: bsee Post Number: 25 Registered: 3-2004 |
Hmmm, just a couple thoughts off the top of my head... The Boss octave box (or pitch shifter, for that matter) fits in a pedal, so the electronics required to do this are probably not that large. It does suck batteries, though, so I would make sure this was running on it's own power source. You would want the off setting to be a complete bypass in the event of battery death. After adding the switch and the battery, how much room do you think you have left for a circuit board to do the work? You would probably want at least two pots for this in addition to the switch, though they could probably be mounted internally and controlled by mini screwdriver. These would let you balance the relative gain of the two octave effect signals against the original signal. I wouldn't want it hard-wired at any particular level. I think Korg used to make a box that did both an octave up and an octave down, but most of these things either just do lower octaves, or are variable pitch-shifters. I think the electronics will have to be custom built to get what you want rather than just pulling the guts out of a pedal and slapping them in your guitar. I hope that they can design a circuit that has the sound and quality appropriate to the Alembic name if you're going to stick it in one of their basses. Sounds like fun! | ||
| jagerphan84
Junior Username: jagerphan84 Post Number: 20 Registered: 10-2003 |
bsee, Your comments were the EXACT other thoughts that I had come up with about how I wanted it set up... - Separate power supply (likely a 9v battery) - Center setting is bypass - Gain control of both effect signals As for the amount of space in the cavity, it seems to me that there would be plenty if a little bit of rearranging could be done. [I apologize in advance for my complete lack of technical knowledge once the CC cover comes off] There is a little red box with a tiny red barrel attached, and 2 wires (gray and purple) connect to the box. If this box could be moved, a nice amount of space would be free for another board as big as the existing board or even a little bigger. As for the other 9v, that could get a bit cramped, but I think it is possible. Can't wait to hear back from Alembic about this. Adam | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 1604 Registered: 6-2000 |
Adam, I'd like to see your Distillate, the rectangular front plate sounds non-standard. To see if it's possible, I'd also need to see the inside of your electronics cavity. For practicality, it's probably best to think in terms of onboard mounting an existing outboard effctor unit. At least we need to start there, and then understand the modifications/improvements you would need. | ||
| jagerphan84
Junior Username: jagerphan84 Post Number: 21 Registered: 10-2003 |
Trying to post pics; do not know if this will work or not. [crosses fingers] Here is a shot of the body front:  Close-up of the controls and plate:  Electronics cavity:  I'm open to any thoughts or ideas. | ||
| bsee
Junior Username: bsee Post Number: 28 Registered: 3-2004 |
That explains it. The output jack was moved from the top of the bass to the side. The top plate was then installed to cover the hole from the original jack. I'm no expert, but there doesn't appear to be a lot of room in there without rearranging things a bit, if that's possible. | ||
| jagerphan84
Junior Username: jagerphan84 Post Number: 22 Registered: 10-2003 |
Here is what I have been picturing in the cavity: [I know, I know, my Microsoft Paint skills are not up to speed]  The blue is the missing wood from the original jack being removed. Green is all open space except for the wiring. The purple dotted lines show more open space IF the object in the purple box could be moved. I was thinking it might fit directly 'below' the board in this view (between the bottom tips of the green and purple sections). With a little bit of wood removal, a second battery would be able to fit adjacent to the existing battery. | ||
| jagerphan84
Junior Username: jagerphan84 Post Number: 24 Registered: 10-2003 |
Mica, Any thoughts? I'm anxious to get this started if it is possible, and if not, there are still several repairs and modifications I'd like to have done. Adam | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 1634 Registered: 6-2000 |
Hi Adam, It looks like you'll have room to add something in there. I'm not specifically familiar with the Boss unit bsee describes. I'll be happy to check one out the next time I'm in a music store (probably not until next weekend, I'm all mom's this weekend) and see how big the guts are. I'm inclined to think we can figure away to fit it all in there. If anyone else has one of these units, please post a picture. Also, I'd suggest that either you try out the specific effector unit you want to combine with your bass before you have us join them. I'm sure there are various styles and qualities available, so it's best to test first. Your task will involve some participation from my father. This is the bad news, as his time is booked fairly far in advance, with the next appointments available in a couple of months. We can still get alot of the legwork done before then, as well as other mods/repairs. Have we emailed about this bass before? I wonder how many Distillates have the kind of damage this one does. I remember I couldn't give a price quote about repairing the damage without a look-see. -Mica | ||
| jagerphan84
Junior Username: jagerphan84 Post Number: 28 Registered: 10-2003 |
Mica, I have in the past tried several of these units and my top choice would be the EBS Octabass. The only drawback with this is, if I recall correctly, this unit only drops the octave, it does not go up. Even if that is the case and I am unable to find a suitable unit that goes both directions, I think that I would still want to go ahead with just the octave drop. Now the wheels are turning again. With just an octave drop, I wouldn't want the selector switch like I had previously described. I'd probably then (ideally) go for a mini toggle and perhaps a second LED in blue which would engage when the effect is on... And Mica, we have indeed emailed about this bass in the past. See [Alembic.com #78]. Here is an additional pic showing the current state of the output jack.  Note that the light spot with the ridges on the left is from the flash, and the silvery-grey gunk is hard like plastic. If this allows you to get a better idea of shop time/repair cost, feel free to post here or email me regarding such. Adam |
