Hi Earl,
welcome to the club.
I have to dissapoint you but there is no such thing as handbook for an SII.
When wailing around this club you will find here and there explanations about the electronics.
I have an SII 5str and most of the time I sat down and gave it a try.
However: some tips
1. There are 3 volume knobs, an overall volume + 2 volume knobs one per pickup. Working an SII is starting to see the PU-volumeknobs as part of your tone-creating-gear. MOst other basses have a pan-knob to pan between the output of the PU's, it's an or - or situation. WIth the series you add the PU to each other. I'ts why the overall volume knob comes in handy.
2. Starting to master a Series bass -and any other Alembic and even 2 PU bass- starts by working with 1 PU and figure out the tone controls. So you have a position switch on your bass with off-bridge PU-both PU-neck PU positions. Start with the bridge PU. Tutn the Volume knob on full!
3. Each PU has a tone filter. Turning it back cut's off the highs above a the point you chose. Turning it full open let pass the complete sound spectrum of the (low-impedance) PU. I'm not good in this material but others will convince you that this is a completely different way of sound shaping than in other guitars.
4. The smaller pointer knob is a CVQ knob. On other basses this knob is a Q-switch. On Series II it's Continously Variable Q. What happens is that -on top of the sound position you choose with the filter- you kind of add a boost of highs. With a SII this adding goes by turning the knob and goes from +0db to + 15db. Again, this is the basis, I'm not technical at all. Others will come here and give you a more scientific explanation.
5. To start the mastering of your bass try to plug into a set-up with a horn or tweeter. The changes you make to the tone -and especially the CVQ- will be much more audible.
6. Don't be afraid to call help from a friend. It's no joke. While you play soem bass-loops you can ask your friend to turn and tweak the knobs. It's the fastest way to learning what happens.
Enjoy.
Paul
PS: It's why I invented the story that we Alembicians are sneaky growing a 3th arm.
