Hey herbbone -
It's more likely that things are working right than wrong. As has been mentioned, older Alembics like this one (until sometime in the 80s) have a stereo 1/4 jack. If you stick a normal guitar plug into the 1/4 jack, you're dependent on the two 9V batteries and you'll only hear the bridge pickup only in two of the four selector positions (bridge only and both pickup positions). In the neck only position, you'll hear nothing and you'll also hear nothing in the standby position.
You need to use a stereo 1/4 cable to get both pickups out of the 1/4 jack and, if this is a Y-cable that comes out to two 1/4 jacks, they need to be plugged into amp channels that are electrically isolated from each other, otherwise you're hear nothing. Bass amps often have only one preamp channel, but may have two paralleled inputs. If you try to parallel the stereo pickup outputs, they short out and you get no output, and this will happen if the amp inputs are in parallel too.
You can convert the output from the 1/4 jack to a mono out to use with a regular guitar cord or wireless unit by adding two resistors in series with each of the outputs then connecting them together (I don't know the values off the top of my head). This can be done inside the bass for $2 of parts.
The onboard preamps of the Series basses are optimized for great headroom and sound and not for battery life! So unlike an EMG setup where a 9V battery lasts for 1000 hours, the two 9V batteries in a Series will be dead in less than 40 hours. As they drop, at first it will sound fuzzy, then you'll get squeaking and squealing, then probably no output except for the squeaking.
If you can tolerate the short cable, use the 5-pin with power supply and make sure the jumper cords to the amp are good and your sound will be as awesome as your bass looks!
David Fung
