Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Introductions => Topic started by: RBW on February 22, 2019, 09:03:13 PM
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I love my new Alembic Spyder 4 bass! It's like being in a 747 without even a manual to fly. I have no F.... ing clue and it's certainly nothing like any of my other basses so where should I begin? Mica was nice today and she told me she would send me some hand done pointers but anything else would be of great help! I can't quite get my mind around 'it' where I should be a sound engineer but am not. Line 6 G10 is not going to be working with this either. I ordered the G50 hoping for a break... I hate being chained, haha...
direction, signs, the quest is on....
Thanks a lot, and greetings from a new Alembic member.
Richard an aspiring musician
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Just moments ago I finished the control map of your bass, and I posted it here on the club (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=24543.0), so I don't need to email it to you. This should at least get you started in navigating.
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Greetings, welcome, congratulations, and don’t freak out! Read the comments Mica posted in the FAQ section under Spyder Bass, go slow, and you will discover the variety of tones these instruments can produce. Ask questions under the “Owning an Alembic” section, lots of people here can help. Enjoy! :)
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Richard on a side note, as you probably already discovered, Alembic instruments are VERY dynamic, just a little with the ‘filter frequency’ (most instruments call these tone controls, but this for reals controls the freq) is really a lot.
Experiment, recognize the impact of just the position of your plucking hand on the response from this Rolls Royce of an electronics package. Mica’s description in the linked thread is spot on, and if you are like me knowing what these knobs and switches do is integral to understanding what is happening to your sound... but don’t forget to just use your ears and judge the results by the width of your smile.
Have fun and by this afternoon you will be a Master Musician.
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Thank you! Mica first! I'm in awe with all the experience and the people... this is definitely a step up from the rest, no doubt about it... different world! It's like fantastic, nothing like any of the other instruments I have! The sound is like developing a storm or a sunny day! Totally different than anything else... YES it's fantastic! I also noticed that my Genz Benz Streamliner 900 is SO much more easily worked with than my Gallien Krueger 550 fusion! What a difference! Clean can be manipulated and coordinated instead of sounding like the Gallien Krueger angle, if you will. I will find there are definite advantages to clean power instead of really colored amp power.
Thanks so much!
Richard
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Congrats and welcome!
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Thank you so much Mica, I will study and play with this. What a fantastic music machine! No limits... I'll really try to learn something. I noticed that it sounds so much better from my Genz Benz streamliner amp than my Gallien Krueger 550 fusion! Is it because of the simple clean amp instead of the such influence of the Gallien Krueger? Can you head me towards the pre amp and what will be the best to style what I play more to liking? Are some easier to play with the Alembic than others... it seems so...
Anyway I really appreciate it. Thanks you so much! Love it!
Richard
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In terms of a suggested preamp, a lot here including me would suggest you stick with alembic and try their f1-x or f2-b if you plan to go stereo. For most things the simplicity of the on bass controls and f1-x will do perfectly. If you want more control try an Sf-2 in your send, return loop.
https://alembic.stores.yahoo.net/preamps.html
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Thank you! I will probably head that way! I guess 1 channel would suffice. Just want to peak the bass and the preamp is probably the way.
Richard
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In terms of a suggested preamp, a lot here including me would suggest you stick with alembic and try their f1-x or f2-b if you plan to go stereo. For most things the simplicity of the on bass controls and f1-x will do perfectly. If you want more control try an Sf-2 in your send, return loop.
https://alembic.stores.yahoo.net/preamps.html
OK... I got the F1-x. Now can I plug in my Ashdown JE 1000 watt power amp to it and use 'it' as a preamp for that? I'm a layman as far as where to plug in the amp through the F1-X too... I got the directions on the description but of course it has no diagram of where and how to plug in my power amp to the pre amp and then I guess plug my Bass into the input from the preamp... Any descriptions would help.... thanks!
Richard
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Just moments ago I finished the control map of your bass, and I posted it here on the club (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=24543.0), so I don't need to email it to you. This should at least get you started in navigating.
Mica, can you suggest a few things to start off as far as dial suggestions? I'm not really getting that great or fantastic a sound that I think is great yet... I'm embarrassed to say this but I have not found that fantastic sound yet.. is there a suggestion for dials to get a cleaner, crisper bite with still some bass below it? It seems so easy with my Music man with just a few adjustments of the dials... I'm still lacking or something... I'm kind of embarrassed but this should sound fantastic and I can't get it going yet... is it all me???/
Richard
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I replied on your other discussion about this - I think we should converse sometime next week, sometimes it's easier to have a back and forth conversation without the delays of messaging :)
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If you are using your F-1X, try dialing 2-4-7 (bass, mid, treble) with deep switch on. Then fool with the controls on your bass. On your bass, try setting your neck volume a little higher than your bridge volume (the neck pickup is very strong and clean on an Alembic). Then open up the filters and put the Q switches on middle or down positions for the greatest boost at the attack. These basses can produce a variety of tones. You will find the sound you want, you just have to experiment a bit to get there.
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I replied on your other discussion about this - I think we should converse sometime next week, sometimes it's easier to have a back and forth conversation without the delays of messaging :)
Mica,
I am open anytime you choose on Mondays or usually Fridays... My number is XXX XXX XXXX and if you want you can just text me and I'll call you... since you are 3 hours different.
Thanks,,, I can start over!
Richard
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You might want to edit out the phone number to prevent cranks from getting it and send it in an email. You can click on the little envelope below Mica's picture to do this.
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Thanks alot!
Richard
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OK... let me get this straight... I should put the mono/stereo switch towards the headstock for most things and only put it away from headstock if I'm using two amps or stereo? Very important because I generally have it (the switch) towards the base or away from headstock. Is this why I'm not getting the adjustments I want?
Thanks,
Richard
Spyder
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Just make sure that whatever mode you are in, that you can hear both pickups. You should only change the mono/stereo switch when you want to change the output. If half of the controls don't seem to have any impact on the sound, then you are probably in the stereo mode with a mono cable.
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Hi Mica,
OK I'm using a mono cord and I have the switch away from the headstock. I can hear both pickups and all the dials.
I'm on a new journey... I'm finally thinking that the clockwise/counterclockwise is exactly the opposite for usual basses compared to Alembic??? Instead of having my usual tone clockwise to about 1/8" of end I'm trying to do the Alembic's pickup frequency filter all the way counterclockwise to 1/8" before end and seeing if I can solve some of my sound problems... This should chew up and spit out a Fender Elite and I haven't been able to find how to get it to sound clean bass and slightly metallic treble hi's... Am I going in the wrong direction? I've read all the things and can't quite figure out why I'm not getting what i want...
Just trying to find the sweet spot and maybe I'm doing it wrong...
Just dumping... ha ha...
Later,
Richard
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Here is a link to a post from the Must Reads area of the club. It talks about the filters used to control the tone of your bass.
http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=308.0 (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=308.0)
Filters are a considerably different way to adjust the tone than the shelving tone controls on your Fender. In short unlike shelving tone controls that cut or boost around a set frequency the filter controls what frequencies are passed through. In practical terms for an Alembic bass when the low pass filter is fully open (fully clockwise) frequencies up to 6K Hz are passed through the preamp. When the the filter is fully closed (counter clockwise) frequencies up to 350 Hz are passed through. In other words closing the filter removes the higher frequencies only allowing those below the setting to get through. So wide open you will hear the most treble and fully closed will sound the most bassy. IMO the filter also puts more importance on your amplifier settings that shelving controls do.
I and some of the other players here tend to leave the filters mostly open and control what I think you are referring to as a "slightly metallic treble" with our fingers. By changing my hand position and using fatty parts of my fingers I can control the brightness and fret clack. I don't know where you are located but there might be a club member close enough and they would be willing to get together to work through some of this with you.
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I was reviewing this post and diagram last night and on my Spyders (#25 4-String, #2 8-String) the LED and Stereo / Mono switches are reversed from the diagram.