Author Topic: Loose pickup on Mark King 5  (Read 639 times)

SwissFrank

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Loose pickup on Mark King 5
« on: September 05, 2020, 12:21:51 AM »
I bought a Mark King 5 about eight years ago and it's mostly been in the case since then.

Luckily the dealer sill has it listed on the his website archive:  https://planetbass.com/shop/alembic-mark-king-5-3/

I pulled it out of the case and the bridge pickup is loose while the neck pickup somehow sunk in so far that only half the expected amount is sticking out.  It is extremely loose: I can move it like 1/4" or 1/2 cm in and out.

I haven't ever adjusted the pickups and don't know HOW they adjust (clearly the two-screw setup is something unusual to look into).

QUESTION 1: How could these get so loose from just sitting there?  Among 20 instruments over 25 years I've never had that happen.  Is there some spring that ages, for instance?

QUESTION 2: I'm unfamiliar with the adjustment procedure, given only two screws instead of the four one usually sees.  Any tips pointers or links for this procedure?

jazzyvee

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Re: Loose pickup on Mark King 5
« Reply #1 on: September 05, 2020, 01:06:04 AM »
Welcome to the club, Pickup height adjustment is different from other manufacturers. Have a look at these guidance notes.
http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=214.0
The sound of Alembic is medicine for the soul!
http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_ktwins.html

adriaan

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Re: Loose pickup on Mark King 5
« Reply #2 on: September 05, 2020, 01:09:51 AM »
Hi Frank, welcome to the Club! You sure missed out on a lot of quality time leaving that bass in its case so let's see about that setup...
The pickups on my basses seem to stay put over the years, my guess is yours weren't "locked in" snug enough, as per Joey's Classic Setup Post. Spend some time over a few days to fine-tune your setup, and don't be afraid to go too low with the bridge or too straight with the neck, as it's all perfectly easy to redress.

jon_jackson

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Re: Loose pickup on Mark King 5
« Reply #3 on: September 05, 2020, 05:09:24 AM »
Frank, disregard if this is obvious to you, but the two height adjusting screws are below the pickup and accessed by a narrow screwdriver through the two vacant holes in the pickup. The two visible screws secure the pickup once the height has been set by the two lower screws.
2011 Quilted Maple Dragon Wing, Anniversary Electronics
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2006 Cocobolo SC Deluxe SS
2003 Quilted Maple Series II Europa ("Almost Twins")
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David Houck

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Re: Loose pickup on Mark King 5
« Reply #4 on: September 05, 2020, 07:42:55 PM »
Welcome Frank!  Gorgeous bass; the transparent black is wonderful!

The pickup adjustment system is unique, is easily adjustable, and will hold the pickups at the heights and angles that sound best to you.

A lot of players like having the neck pickup low as it results in a cleaner tone, and also leaves more room for certain slapping techniques.

bigredbass

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Re: Loose pickup on Mark King 5
« Reply #5 on: September 06, 2020, 12:26:14 AM »
SwissFrank, Alembic's adustment method is so different that a lot of times, they can be loose as someone gave up trying to figure it out.

It's simple and ingenious.

First, there's no springs or foam under the pickups.

So, you unscrew the two screws that are on top of the pickup shells to free the pickups.  Then with an appropriate Phillips screwdriver that can reach through the holes, you screw in or screw out those two screws that are beneath the shells to set your heights.  Once you get the heights where you want them, then re-tighten the screws atop the shells to snug them in place.  It's that simple.

A few field notes:

Snug is good enough.  Think valve-cover gasket snug, not tighten it till you grunt.  Tighten the visible screws down HARD and you may very well crack the plastic shells.

Remember these are low-impedance pickups, and their is no 'right' answer for your heights.  If you want to run them right below the strings, you can do it, provided your playing technique allows for it.  You will hear a change in tone as they get closer or further from the strings.  Not a big swing, but as they're not high-impedance, the magnets aren't strong enough to introduce any magnetic damping as would happen with high-impedance pickups, especially hot ones.

And you can fine tune this further:  Take the back plate off the electronics cavity, and in an amongst the pots you'll see two blue boxes with a white adjustment that uses a tiny blade screwdriver.  These are adjustable gains for each pickup.  Crank your balance to the middle stop and you can set your blend via those two controls. 

The circuitry allows you to essentially adjust pickup heights for tone, then the blue preamp boxes allow you set relative loudness of each.  A brilliant facility rarely found in other makes.

pauldo

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Re: Loose pickup on Mark King 5
« Reply #6 on: September 06, 2020, 01:15:33 PM »
...
Snug is good enough.  Think valve-cover gasket snug, not tighten it till you grunt.  Tighten the visible screws down HARD and you may very well crack the plastic shells.
...


This can NOT be stressed enough!
Nice one Joey.  8)

SwissFrank

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Re: Loose pickup on Mark King 5
« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2020, 10:58:26 AM »
Thanks all for the welcomes and pointers.  I figured I'd learn more asking than experimenting and indeed that's the case!  I had no idea there'd be trim pots inside for instance...

A few twists of the wrist later and they're about where they "look right."  I've never bothered too much with height on my other guitars and basses for whatever reason, just used something that looked "typical" then learn to play things that sound good with the resulting tone.