Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Owning an Alembic => Troubleshooting => Topic started by: pinbacking on January 08, 2008, 07:01:53 PM
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I need some help, I just bought a new Epic (used) through guitar center, and a couple of things are irking me and I'm not positively sure of the control layout, I think something may be broken. Here's a pic
4 most obviously seems to be volume, 2 seems to be a tone, 3 doesn't seem to do anything at all. 1 is weird, in that when it is turned up it is nice and loud and sounds great, but when I turn it down the sound goes away, leading me to believe that this may be the pan and that a pickup is out or something. Any help would be much appreciated; I want to fix the problem if possible, if not then I'd really like to send it back! which would suck. Please help
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If you can post a picture of the inside of the electronics cavity I could identify the functions for you easily. In a normal installation:
1- pan
2- volume
3- treble
4- bass
So what you've observed seems to be different from what we usually do. First, make sure both pickupst are plugged into the pan module. Don't pull the wires, touch the housing only (use needle nose pliers if you need to ).
If someone moved the control positions, check and see if the solder side of one board is in contact with the conductive paint on the side of the cavity and shorting out. This can happen at the end of rotation if the nut holding the bushing of the pot in place isn't held fast.
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Here's a couple pics of the control cavity
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/394/47432.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/394/47433.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/394/47434.jpg)
If you need it any brighter please tell me, thanks
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Uneducated guess, and I'm looking at it on my cellphone, so it's hard to tell, but I'm not sure those are Alembic electronics.
If you want, I can bring my epic to work with me on Thursday, and we can compare notes.
Alternately, some pictures of my control cavity (well, the one on my epic, anyway) are here : http://club.alembic.com/Images/393/34467.html?1166478383 (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=3586)
Bradley
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Well, it still has the alembic PU's, at first glance anyway. It might be helpful if you know some things about soldering and could help me fix it. Looks like all the stuff is there, red cord, yellow cord, black cord, big grey cord; its just all messed up and, from the looks and sound of it, the person who had it before tried to change the orientation, perhaps. Still too early to tell
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The control knobs do look different than Alembic ones though
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Ya, it does look a lot different. None of variable gain tone pots like in your picture or in my other alembic. Damn, what should I do?
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If it were me and the electronics truly aren't Alembic I would return it. After all you expected and paid for an all Alembic instrument. To quote Paul TBO, There will always be another.
Keith
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What happend to the silver shielding paint in teh control cavity?
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Looks like maybe it spent some (low) quality time with a router to make room for some more conventional electronics, thus the silver paint is gone...
John
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Seconding that those aren't Alembic electronics.
The circuit board doesn't look like an Alembic part, nor do the pots, and the wiring looks like nothing that would be let out of Santa Rosa.
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Looks like Italian electronics, as in spaghetti.
I'd want a BIG discount or my $ back.
Bill, tgo
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Well, I returned it. $50 hit for shipping, but I guess it's worth it to find the right one. It was pretty sad to return it, even if the electronics were switched and botched!
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Dude. That sucks. :-(
At least you only got hit for $50 on the shipping. Still, that's really weak. Bummer man.
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Kind of makes you wonder what Guitar Center will do with it now.
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Well, Dave, as a former GC employee, my guess would be sell it, as a full-blown Alembic, again.
Peter
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In hind sight it would have maybe been a good idea to get the serial number and put a post in the Serial Number / History Requests section of this forum about the bass. You know Guitard Centre is going to turn around and sell it to someone else as a full-blown Alembic - and just hope that person isn't wise enough to figure out the modification.
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And to be fair . . . . if you traded in an Alembic at most any music store, unless they had somebody that knew them or someone there was curious enough to come here or call Mica, they really wouldn't know anything about it or if it was still original internally.
Most wouldn't know if they opened it up and saw solder joints everywhere that SOMETHING was not kosher !
J o e y
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Why would the previous owner want to mess around with Alembic electronics anyway?? These type of people are INSANE!!!!!!
How very sad to purchase an Alembic only to discover such a problem. Bad luck
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Well brian, I did put it up to see what was going on with it but it unfortunately it did not get answered. Check it:
http://club.alembic.com/Images/394/46237.html?1198898131 (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=5989)
It was obviously bought under false pretense that it worked! It was also only $800, a major steal that I thought somebody else was going to jump on so I had to be quick. But now we know it doesn't work.
and BTW, they are selling it full blown at GC under used section. Too bad they don't have a review section to chime in the truth.