1) There's another good thread in this section going about the Q and filter relationship that should help clear things up for you. The trimpots on the back are arranged with a gain for each pickup (the outside controls) and the hum-balance controls to be the two inside trimmers.
2) If the buzz is 60Hz, you can eliminate it with the hum-balance trimpots on the backplate (the two center ones). I'll post a hum balance procedure later in the Owning an Alembic section - seems the most appropriate place.
If the buzz is higher frequency, it's what is to be expected on older basses. The only cure is to send it home for an upgrade where we eliminate any directional or persistant high frequency noise.
3) If you don't modify to mono, you get only 1 pickup when you plug in with a regular guitar cord. This isn't convenient if you just want to sit in with your friend's band. Making the jack mono lets you use it like any other non-Alembic guitar.
If you leave the 1/4 jack stereo, you can plug headphones directly into the bass and practice without an amp.
4) You can leave it as long as the bass stays in tune. If you notice all the strings going slowly flat, you should get it repaired. The headstock is the weakest part of any bass, and we construct ours so that when they get broken, they break in a predictable and easily repaired manner. Prices for repairing range from $75-450 (it only gets to the expensive end if the bass arrives headless).
5) I've indicated that what I've heard from some players the Pyramids aren't the same (and the fact they were originally made by Framus which is no more). The rumor I heard from the olden days is the operator the machine that made the Pyramid Golds died, and nobody could get the yield that he did. Also, the call for flatwounds declined and the product was discontinued. Perhaps it's all hooey, but that was our understanding. As with any strings, you should trust your ears and experiment with lots of different kinds, you really can hear a huge difference when you change strings on an Alembic.
