Alembic bass repair on the east coast

[senny]

I have a 1981 Alembic Series 1. I have owned it since 1987.
I have never played another Series 1, so I have never had anything to compare it with.
While my bass sounds and plays beautifully, I think there might be something wrong with the Q system.
I found this out because I purchased a HYAK bass, which has the same electronics as the Alembic and uses the same cable and power supply.
The boost and cut on my HYAK far exceed the Alembic, making me think something is not functioning in that complicated layout.
Of course, the best thing I could do would be to ship it to Alembic and have them check it out, but I fear my bass will be lost or destroyed in transit.
I have little faith in well-known shipping companies. I also have no love for the usual NYC repair shops that thumb their noses at anything other than a pre-CBS Fender.
That said, is there anyone on the East Coast who knows how the electronics in an Alembic should work and could work with Alembic to solve my problem?
In reality, the bass sounds great as is, but it bothers me to know that the instrument might have vastly more tonal capability, and I was not aware of it.

[edwardofhuncote]

Hey Tony, another Hyak-on-the-side player here.

While they are functionally similar, the circuits are quite different, starting with the pickups... and I'd expect them to sound different. I know you're primarily asking about the audible differences in the Filters and Q-boost; I'm not qualified or smart enough to help with the technical aspects of how those work. No idea what the frequency response or respective values are in a Hyak vs. Series I, but I'd be very surprised if they were the same. The construction also, with those graphite laminates in the neck beam kinda' influences how the whole thing responds. Probably less important to your issue.

There's another Club Member here who has probably owned more Hyak basses than anyone on the planet, (including the one I have...) as well as vintage Alembics, so he may chime in with some insight after while. There's just not many people with experience on that Hyak circuit, and their inventor doesn't work on them anymore, consequently there's not a ton of info about them. (I can point you to some here)

If your Alembic were to really need some work, I'd only recommend Alembic for that. You can insure your bass through Heritage for full replacement value for the trip both ways. Got one out there myself.

If you feel like sharing a few pictures, I'd love to see your bass. Here's a thread on mine. It's been quite a project. https://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=25569.0

[rv_bass]

Also, I think Mica has mentioned this person in the past, might want to give him a call

https://www.newyorkguitarrepair.com/

[StephenR]

If there is a way to contact the person who designed the Hyak circuit they should be able to tell you how much boost/cut is available via the Q-circuit in your Hyak. The specs for the Alembic are a known quantity so with the Hyak specs it would be easy to compare. Just because the two basses sound different doesn't mean there is anything wrong with your Alembic.

[senny]

You are correct.
The first step is to let my friend Danno, a member here, play mine.

[StephenR]

Sounds like an excellent first step... good luck sorting it out.

[edwardofhuncote]

Here is some documentation from Hyak printed literature... I can't remember what kind soul sent this to me, (it may even be buried deeeeep in a thread here on the Club) but it describes the filter/Q/pickups, neck layup, etc.


I would absolutely try Danno's opinion.