Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Factory to Customer => Topic started by: mica on March 11, 2015, 06:37:11 PM
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So let's start off with a nice "before" picture:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207392.jpg)
At first glance, things don't look too bad here, even the crazing of the finish looks pretty cool. But there are some serious issues to address. First, we gotta get those Bird's-eye Maple inlays to stay put:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207393.jpg)
and then we need to scrape off the finish that was starting to fall off in chunks:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207394.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207395.jpg)
and it's pretty well stripped now:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207396.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207397.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207398.jpg)
This is one of those oxidization lines I was telling you about on the phone:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207399.jpg)
And that nasty business at the bottom (gee, that sounds gross!):
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207400.jpg)
Inlay looks cool (and the first pass at the bevel):
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207401.jpg)
One of the inlays might want replacing:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207402.jpg)
And you'll be able to see the side dots again:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207403.jpg)
Like I mentioned on the phone, we've got to give the wood a week or so to develop the purple color again. There's a few things we meed to discuss further, but all in all, it's looking good!
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This is what the bottom looked like before we stripped it:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207406.jpg)
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Wow. I'm glad you called me first
All in all, not bad for being 38 though...
Anyone reading this - Mica asked if I saw this and just liked it, or asked for this design. Actually, and soooo hard to imagine doing this today, back in 77, after deciding on the long scale with small body, I just asked Rick Turner to make something really cool. I didn't see it until it was done. I worked a little more closely with Ron, though. I told him I wanted a lot of knobs and a lot of control and asked what he'd suggest. It's got one SF-2 filter and one series 2, plus some cool switches that put the filters in and out of series. Hey, I was a kid and I figured they knew what they were doing. And they did. And still do.
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It will be really nice to see this one restored!
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I agree Dave it is a lovely looking bass. I'm sure I've seen another with a similar look but not the same electronics.
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Wow this is incredibly unique! Yes, can't wait to see this one restored. In addition I am very curious how it sounds with all of those features? Is it more unique sounding the standard series electronics? I haven't seen a setup like this.
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Quite certainly I feel surges of lust for this Bass as well ; from many different perspectives in fact ! Both sides of my brain simultaneously ,mind , body and soul even ! What is not to love here ? So she is in the salon for a make over , watch out when she steps out ! She will mesmerize everyone with looks , charm and sound . A Beautiful Rare Bird .
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Sounds pretty amazing. Or pretty terrible there are a LOT of ways to screw the sound up. Usually I get a basic sound I'm happy with with the straight series electronics, then put the SF into bandpass with a relatively high Q and sweep it around looking for some general ranges, then pull the Q back down and check out either low or high pass, depending on what the room/amp needs. The pickup selector also comes into play - options are neck to SF + bridge to Series, reverse, neck to both, or bridge to both. I've only rarely run the elecs in series, never really got the hang of that.
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She's got a sister, btw - a fretless, same shape, same electronics. Same core woods, but ebony front and back (and fingerboard). Bone nut. Oil finish. Really, really amazing instrument, tender and expressive. Both of them have the great low fundamental from the long scale, both have a fair amount of neck dive from the lack of balance between the long neck and the small body (i've got 2 of the 7 or so that ever Alembic made in that combo, because of that result). The fretless goes back for an oil change and tune up once this one comes back.
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That was great Wolf, ha!
Mark, that is a heavy duty, functional setup! Ron is truly amazing! So if you had a custom build to do all over again would you add in the onboard SF2 like you have here or would you change anything?
A hot sister too! Yeah! Pictures please, lol!
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Just a little more sanding on the body and we're in full wait mode:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207461.jpg)
A little better view of a few of the cracks and the oxidization lines:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207462.jpg)
The cracks will repair nicely, and once we get a coat of sealer on we can see how those oxidization lines wind up looking.
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At least on the front, the lines you pointed out are along the grain, so I'm guessing probably won't be so noticeable. Nice to see the wood again!
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Brian - 1) yes, Ron is amazing!, and 2) definitely would go with SF again. But i'd go with 2 channels, not just one. The other change i'd make, and maybe i can still make it on this one, is to have notch filtering. My SF channel has hi pass, bandpass,, and lowpass, but not notch.
Mica - is that possible, to add back in the SF notch filtering (would mean a 4 way switch instead of the 3 way toggle, plus whatever magic Ron would have to do to the electronics)? If it helps, I just found the schematics (in your dad's hand) for the electronics.
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I'll ask dad about adding the notch filtering to this bass (and I guess the fretless one too). If it's not too much trouble, please scan and send me what you have - I may or may not have the same documentation. Here's where we are now. We did the first bit of repairing cracks and have a sealer coat on. General view:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207723.jpg)
Closeup of the cracks and oxidization I posted last Friday:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207724.jpg)
There is some more work to do on the central core laminate, but all in all, this is looking good! Closeup of the nasty business:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207725.jpg)
With it so shiny, it's kinda hard to tell what is going on here, but I think you can see how nice the color matching went, especially right next to the neck. Here you can see more of the oxidization lines - I don't find them distracting myself. I just wanted to show another view of the lovely colors:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207726.jpg)
The Cherry core looks sublime. The black border around the inlaid top needed repair all around. There's gobs of black glue and Ebony dust that when sanded away will neaten that sharp line right up. And that logo you haven't seen like this in a while:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207727.jpg)
Things are looking really nice I think.
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Wow wow wow wow That purple heart is amazing. The repairs look like things that if i didn't know about, I wouldn't see.
Also - wow!
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Looks great!
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With the black goop sanded back, just a quick snapshot to show how snappy things are looking here:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207869.jpg)
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I love it! Gosh it looks like a new build.
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It just keeps getting better and better!
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In the spirit of #tbt, here's a before the before picture:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/207877.jpg)
I'm six years old and the bass is newborn!
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Now that's a cool picture!!
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The update picture is pretty cool as well; and yes, it does look like a new build.
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Mica , Now that is Kool picture . What a trip it must be that you now get to monitor the rejuvenation of this fine specimen . I really like this Bass. The maple inlaying of the top seems somewhat John Cipollina inspired to my interpretation. The electronics are Molto Gustoso !
(Message edited by sonicus on March 26, 2015)
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Mica, You need to get one of Erik with the bass for the photo album when it is finished. Something for him to look back on when he is older or now for that matter.
Keith
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How cool is that Mica, that you found that photo?
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That's the best photo ever, Mica! In addition to Erik with the bass, we definitely need one of you in the same pose...
ALSO - holy cow that thing looks amazing. It really does look like a new build.
like like like like like like like (where's the darned like button?!)
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the picture explains the cracks What a great bass. I would love it even with the oxidation, cracks 'n stuff.
Incredible how this top was made, there weren't any cnc milling machines back then right?. Was the curvy piece on the top a hand cut job then??
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How beautiful! I'm so enjoying seeing the restoration of this beauty... and that picture with Mica and the bass, kind of takes me back to the Chicago gathering when I remember Erik going thru all the instruments to 'test' them
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Keith, I love your idea of taking the same picture with Eric once it is finished! That would be a special shot indeed! Mica, you could take the same shot too & use it in an Alembic Ad & say something like Alembic, ageless beauty! With the advances in photography, the restoration bass will look even better than it did when it was brand new.
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The bass will be perfect... Now, if only I looked the way i did in 77 when i got the bass, I'd be a happy (and much thinner) man. I wonder if there's an Alembic for humans. I need a personal refin.
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I imagine that this is also quite a treat for folks at Alembic who were there when this thing was born.
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Mark,
Don't feel like you are the only one in that situation.
Keith
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Remarkable how much the top wood has darkened with age.
My favorite line from this post - I just asked Rick Turner to build me something cool. That statement alone speaks volumes about how far beyond custom Alembic already was by '76.
Can't wait to see the fretless sister!
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Some snaps of her fretless sister. Pardon the dust, please Turner told me the ebony was from the same log as Stanley Clarke's late 70s bass. I choose to believe it.
[edited for picture alignment]
(Message edited by adriaan on April 13, 2015)
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Saweeet!!! Very nice!
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Absolutely irresistible !
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Yeah, I had roughly the same reaction... WOW! =)
Did you commission them separately, or was the idea all along to have a fretless counterpart? I salute the idea... I've done roughly that with my Turner basses, and in the process of doing it with my Alembic too... it's a kinda' twisted OCD thing.
That's quite the pair of basses you have there Mark - thanks for sharing.
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Yeah, they're pretty sweet I feel very lucky to have them. I had been playing a fretless p-bass as my main axe back then but needed something with frets also, so it seemed like a no-brainer other than the then-outrageous amount of money they each cost - basically what we'd now pay for some of the nicer burl tops. Ordered them both at the same time, with anvil flight cases that cost the similarly outrageous $100 each.
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Anything new, Mica? Also, did you get the tech drawings I scanned and sent? Thanks!
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I did, thanks!
We're in the tail-end of the long and boring road of finish. There's still a few more coats to go. I think we are pickier than we used to be, as the front wasn't totally flat, and we sanded it as flat as we dare, but there's a few dippy streaks that really glare out so we have to pool up the finish a touch in those areas, and it takes a little longer, but it will be so worth it.
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Any new news, Mica? Got a bunch of gigs coming up this summer, and I soooooo want to be playing my very-much-missed beautiful bass again!
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Final cure! Just waiting for the finish to finish hardening, and in the queue for rub out and set up. meanwhile, Tony and dad are working on the electronics so they are ready to drop in your bass when James needs them. I'll try and sneak a picture in for you this week, and you should have the bass this month
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Woot! And WOO HOO! Any feedback on the notch filter idea you were going to ask your dad about for the SF channel? Also - please check email re a few other things I'm interested in...
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Hey Mark,
Working on the electronics, and dad will need to speak with you, probably sometime next week. In other news, the finish is all cured and we have the first part of the rubout complete:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/210643.jpg)
Looking great!
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Rubout is done and James started loading parts.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/210738.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/210739.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/210740.jpg)
There's 2 upgrades in line in front of yours, plus a little extra electronics work, so it will be a little while before much besides mounting pickups and hardware and strings happen, but I'll keep you posted. It is soooooooooooooo beautiful! Erik was checking it out tonight:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/210741.jpg)
You'll have to wait until it's all done for the picture in front of the barn
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Looking really great! Mica - i sent you an email about connecting with your dad. Please advise. Thanks!
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What are the four mini-switches located closest to the bridge for?
I'm absolutely enthralled by this bass. It's just breathtaking. (I just stopped breathing, to prove it.)
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It's a pretty cool bass! I can't tell you how much i miss it!. The switch closest to the neck changes the state of the super filter channel between hi/band/low pass. the second puts the two filters in series or parallel (you can use the normal SII lowpass on top of whatever you do with the SF). The third one takes the SII filter in or out of the circuit (can get pure pickup, no EQ), and the fourth is a stereo/mono switch. I like knobs and switches
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Mica, from a amateur french polisher/restorer, how did you repair that bad shrinkage crack on the bottom of the bass ? Did you fill it with a thin maple laminate ?
It is a great restoration job, the new finish really does the all the repair work justice, a classic 70's west coast design from Alembic brought into the 21st century!
I guess glues are much better these days and hopefully new basses will not suffer this in the future
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We use Titebond glue now just like we did back then. There were some issues with the original build itself - on the one side the joint was pretty messy - the wood had furred up a bit, and it simply wasn't square. We used a combination of what we call moon dust and glue. The moon dust is the fine dust from all Alembics that settles on the highest rafters here. We collect it and use it for purposes just like this one. The color was a pretty good match. I'll post pictures where I try to highlight the repaired area.
The top plates had lifted on the outside edges. This was an experimental build, and by looking at how we made it and how it aged, we can learn how to make something similar now that will hold up better over time - you have got to learn from your mistakes, right? The Bird's-eye Maple and the black binding and fill extend over the roundover, and that put extra stress on that joint. We managed to reglue it and it should be good for another few decades at least. I think now we would have the inlaid top stop before the roundover started.
Since we stripped the bass down to the wood, the overall finish wasn't difficult to get looking great. What surprised me was the Purpleheart. Even in the original images, I never remember it being very purple, but it sure is now! I always thought the top of this bass was Cherry from the images (the core is). But then again, they are old pictures and have aged plenty themselves.
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Mica ,
it is truly amazing to me that as the decades blaze past us , You , your Mother & Father and the dedication OF The Sound the method with excellence and the result and Essence of Alembic remain in 100% in constitution . Alembic is now and will remain to be sound that is the Sandard of Perfection .
Wolf
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gimme gimme gimme gimme! Didn't know about the moon dust, but I do remember you reminding me that I'd sent a letter to your mom and dad 35 years ago asking for a bag of Alembic dust to put in the studio i was building then... and i'll finally get some!
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Thanks for info Mica, I have used the same technique myself with wood dust and glue and using a syringe to squeeze it into any cracks.
Restoration can sometimes be more satisfying than a new project as you are;-
a) Extending it's time value
b) Saving it from the scrap bin
c) Thinking of innovative methods of repair
Great repair work indeed!!
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Regarding the Alembic dust... that's so funny and ingenious at the same time! Wondering whose job it is to climb up there to collect it? =)
If I ever get out there for a visit, right at the top of my list is to see the shop and meet some of those folks too.
Both of these basses are just so cool... Congratulations & Compliments!
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Mica - I've sent emails, left voice mail... any news?
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Your electronics are on dad's bench now. He works on 2 instruments at the same time, so when one gets frustrating he shifts over to the other. We had a hard time scheduling time for you and him to chat during his eye stuff, but that's all over now, and next week is good for him on Wednesday or Thursday if you are available. You can email me to coordinate.
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Mica - I sent you a note with times for Thursday. Please let me know asap what works. Thanks! Mark.
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Anything?
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Yup! Finally got the replacement tuners you requested, James got them installed and all tuned up. Shipping will be Tuesday or Wednesday, arrival based on your preferences for shipping service. Looks great, plays great, sounds great.
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Can you please let me know the options? Email is best, or leave a message on my phone. Thanks!
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AND... we've shipped! Should have this long-lost love in my hands again in a week. I can't wait! In the meantime, Mica, any chance of posting a few pictures?
WOO HOO!
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Here's a few shots to keep you company until next week...
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Congratulations & Compliments Mark! Yours has been my favorite build (or rather, re-build) thread yet.
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Wow...nice!!! Now you must be even more excited... Enjoy your reunion.
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Wow; looks great! Congrats!
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What a stunning result! In person it will be even better, I'm sure.
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wow.
just wow.
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It just arrived at my office - did the grand unboxing, cleaned up the peanuts that fell on the floor, and omg this this is magnificent! The woods are beautiful, the purple heart is rich and purple, but not garish. Somehow, the brass and gold look new again.
Within seconds of playing this, it felt like returning home after, well, the year and a few months that it was away. Just feels right in my hands. It's going to be a good year :)
Can't wait to get home and plug it in. It was supposed to ship with flats on it, but they're rounds so I'll swap them out when i get home. I'll post some pics and maybe some soundfiles soon, once i figure out which things do what. There's some cool stuff possible with the SF + regular SII filter, and the brand new notch filter added as a SF mod.
Mica - since the electronics have changed, can you please email me some updated diagrams and schematics?
Thanks, Alembic!!!
And a serious WOO HOO!
Mark
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"Mica - since the electronics have changed, can you please email me some updated diagrams and schematics?"
And mebbe put them up here, too, for all us voyeurs?
I don't know if you'd noticed, Mark, but that thing is kind of spectacular.....
Peter
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Since the bass arrived 2 days ago, I've probably played it for 20 hours (and still somehow managed to do my day job).
It's a work of art. The feel is amazing, and the sound is solid and articulate. It plays better than when it was new. My fingers are really happy.
Ron designed a notch filter mod for the SF2 module - I think i'm going to be using that more than the other 3 filter modes - it's sweet and musical, and it complements the "regular" SII electronics in the other channel.
But the CVQ on the SF2 module wasn't working - no matter where i set it, it was a broad Q. I looked inside but didn't see anything obviously wrong.
Called in today, talked with Susan, who put me on with Ron, who helped me track down where to look - and I found a lead on the pot had broken off, but in a way that didn't look broken and i'd never have found on my own. Hopefully, they'll be sending me a replacement pot right away and I'll get that in there.
Probably my favorite part of the conversation with Ron was him casually asking "do you have a spare 10k resistor lying around to short the brown wire to ground?" as though normal people have spare resistors lying around. I love that he thinks we should.
Anyway, the thing is just amazing. As soon as I get the pot replaced and it's working, I'll record some audio with the notch filter - it's pretty cool (and will be even cooler when i can control the Q).
I am: HAPPY!
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Probably my favorite part of the conversation with Ron was him casually asking "do you have a spare 10k resistor lying around to short the brown wire to ground?" as though normal people have spare resistors lying around. I love that he thinks we should.
Some of us wouldn't think it proper not to have a few 10K resistors along with a good selection of other values. :D
Glad to hear you problem was quickly found with an easy solution.
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I went to sleep thinking about how wonderful to have an onboard notch filter
(let alone a superfilter! ;D ). It must sound heavenly.
I'm tuned in for more impressions and soundclips.
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Got the new CVQ pot, replaced it, and holy moley, this thing sounds amazing. The variable Q actually working makes a world of difference in the notch filter.
It's going to take me a while to get it all figured out, but my first use was going into bandpass mode on the SF channel, high q, and sweeping the freq around until it sounded horrible. Then i flipped the notch switch, which took out the ugly freq, played with the q to smooth it out - strong bottoms and tops, and a musical dip in exactly the right spot to even the whole tone out.
I also was able to create a space for the other pickup, which was set up with a very different sound, by notching with a broad q... imagine a throaty fendery sound sitting inside a big alembic sound...
Anyway, it's pretty damn cool.
Hopefully i'll have some time this weekend to record some filter sweeps and post them; if not, then soon.
Mica, Susan, Ron (and everyon else who worked on it) - the work you did brought this instrument to life in a way i'd never have expected. THANK YOU!!!
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So, how do the regular filter and SF work in the signal flow? Are the pickups assignable to each or permanently assigned? Does it affect the stereo output?
Very cool setup!
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Depending on the pickup selector, each filter gets a different pickup (regular gets neck and SF gets bridge, or I can reverse that), or both filters get the neck or the bridge pickup.
I don't usually come out of the bass in stereo, but the output from each filter goes to one side or the other in stereo. There's a mono switch on the bass that combines the two filters and adds a 10db boost on the SF output. I usually use it that way.
There's also a way to run the output of the SF into the input of the regular filter - so I can, for example, roll the treble off whatever i'm doing with the SF.
One of the switches lets you run the regular filter with, um, no filter - just straight pickup with a volume control.
The new notch filter switch just adds another mode to the SF module, but leaves all the other stuff (pickup selector, mono/stereo, filters in series or parallel) working normally.
It's pretty cool. Right now i'm running it into an F2B. Next step for me is figuring out how/where/when to use the SF2 i've got. Haven't had a chance to bring all the stuff to the rehearsal place and spend a few hours yet. But soon!