Help with controls?

[Karl Clews (karl)]

I'm new to this discussion group, and new to Alembic basses - just bought an MK signature standard with a beautiful quilted maple top, after years of playing an English Alembic-looky-likey Jaydee. I have to say, I'm over the moon with the Alembic - it feels so rock solid and professional, and sounds both subtle and powerful - better than anything else I've ever played. And it's a work of art to look at.
 
But what's overwhelming me is the sheer variety of sounds you can get out of an Alembic. My old Jaydee had basically one sound - admittedly one great sound - which I modified more by the way I played than by messing with the control settings. The Alembic leaves me a bit baffled - the guy in the shop had a go at explaining how the tone controls and filters worked, but I wasn't following too closely (I think the quilted maple had me hypnotized), and since then I've been choosing sounds by twiddling at random. It's easy to get a great twangy, punchy slap sound, but when I was asked to get a dub reggae sound for a session the other week, it took me quite a while to find something suitable by trial and error, and I haven't been able to replicate the exact sound since.
 
Anyway, I was wondering if someone might be able to explain, in layman's terms, how the controls on an MK sig standard work - they're not a simple treble and bass boost and cut, by any means, are they? And when you flick the Q switches, they become something else entirely. I'm sure if I could just visualize what the controls are doing, I'd have a better idea of how to get the sounds I need at any given time.
 
Alternatively, if anybody cares to post any control settings (and descriptioons of the sounds they produce) that they have found to be particularly useful, that would certainly help.
 
Many thanks,
 
K.

[mica]

Hi Karl,
 
The controls on a Signature Standard bass are:
volume
pan/blend
filter + Q for neck pickup
filter + Q for bridge pickup
 
One way to approach making agreeable sounds is to think of the pan as a bass/treble control. Pan to the bridge pickup for a more trebly sound, likewise, add more neck pickup if you want a rich full sound. I make this initial setting with the filters fully open and the Q switches off (up).
 
Then I go for the filters. The range is from 350Hz-6KHz. Wherever you set the filter, only frequencies below that cutoff point are passed. When you add mid and high frequencies, the low frequencies are unaffected.  
 
The Q switches work with the filters, one for each. When the Q switch is in the off position (up) you get the flat filter response. When you flick the switch on (down), an 8dB boost is added at the cutoff frequency. Just flicking the switch back and forth while sustaining a note doesn't sound much different because the Q affects mainly the attack portion of the note. When the Q switch is on, you'll hear a distinct wah-wah if you rotate the filter frequency control while sustaining a note.
 
For reggae type sounds, I suggest you start with a good helping of neck pickup and the filters rolled way back (increase to add higher frequencies to taste) and the Q switches off.
 
For slap, you'll probably want more bridge pickup, the filters open much more and the Q switches on.
 
In my opinion, the worst sound on any of our basses is when the filters are turned all the way up with the Q switches on. It thins out a bit too much for my taste. The brightest I like the filters is rolled back to about 80%.  
 
Hope you can get some bearings in the sea of tone you've found yourself in the middle of.

[Wayne McLemore (wayne)]

Mica-
 
So, am I reading rightly that nothing above 6KHz is being sent through to the amp?  Is that true for all models?  In other words, the filters are the same on the Series basses - you just get more Q options.
 
Gee, Mica, I bet you'd hate the way I've got the Unicorn running - bridge filter wide open w/ 80% CVQ and neck filter 85% open with 60% CVQ.....
 
C-Ya.................wayne

[mica]

On the basses the range is the same for all filters.  
 
Your settings don't seem too harsh, Wayne. I don't know if my suggested settings will hold true for Ebony necks. Of course, in experienced hands, a full open filter and Q setting isn't a bad sounding place to play. But you know how folks try out a bass in a store: turn everything full open and decide that's the only sound the bass makes. On ours, it's just one of many available sounds.

[Karl Clews (karl)]

Thanks ever so much, Mica - that's very helpful: it's starting to make sense to me now. You're a beacon in this sea of tone . . .
 
K.