Alembic Guitars Club

Alembic products => Owning an Alembic => Fun Stories => Topic started by: rklisme on October 15, 2004, 07:17:54 PM

Title: I need some help!
Post by: rklisme on October 15, 2004, 07:17:54 PM

Hey Guys
 
I need some advice. When I play my new Alembic in the bridge position it seems to create unbelievable distortion. We are talking fuzz tone if I play only on the bridge pickup but it is still there when I switch to the neck pickup as well, just not as dominant. My first thought was the battery but it seems to be doing it's thing does anyone else have a thought or should I ship it back to Ron for more calibration?

Title: I need some help!
Post by: mica on October 15, 2004, 07:27:43 PM

There's no calibration on the Signature electronics in your bass.  
 
I can't tell if you changed the battery from your post. Make sure you try a brand new 9V battery to eliminate it as the problem, as distortion is a symptom of a low battery.
 
Next, make sure you isolate the problem to the bass. Try it with at least one other amp to make sure if you have one available. Maybe the gain trimpots are too loud for your amp? You may want to turn them down.  
 
Otherwise, please email me at help@alembic.com (mailto:help@alembic.com) to set up a time that dad will be available to check out the electronics. Even though you're only an hour away, it's best to make sure he'll be here when you'll be here.

Title: I need some help!
Post by: bsee on October 15, 2004, 07:29:29 PM

Does it go away if you turn down the gain, either by the trim pots or the knobs?  You may be overdriving whatever you're using as a preamp/amp with too hot a signal.  Do you have another bass that behaves normally that you can A/B it against for volume?
 
Hopefully you just have the gain up too high and this is it.  Otherwise, it sounds like it would have to be a bad component or some such and require more interesting troubleshooting methods to identify.  Methods beyond my knowledge of the Alembic electronics cavity...

Title: I need some help!
Post by: rklisme on October 15, 2004, 07:41:27 PM

I need to go out and purchase some nine volts since all my basses run on them.I will try that as the first solution even though the current battery tested okay. I don't have this problem with any of my other basses. I should probably be more clear about the problem, when I play finger style near the bridge I have a problem with distortion. When I slap or play finger style near the neck the distortion is less audible but still there. I was wondering if there is some weird dynamics that maybe some of you engineer types might want to take a crack at. Thanks for the advice everyone.
 
Rory

Title: I need some help!
Post by: bigredbass on October 15, 2004, 10:38:17 PM

Get a NEW battery, try it through several amps, check your trimpots/pickup heights, and remember the neck pickup is inherently, noticeably louder due to its position along the vibrating string.
 
J o e y

Title: I need some help!
Post by: rklisme on October 24, 2004, 12:44:19 PM

Hey Guys
 
This was a fix for Ron. It seems there was a issue with a connection but the repair has been taken care of and it is sweet!
 
Rory