Author Topic: What's the story on this Series II with 8 knobs and 3 switches? (Read 562 times)

effclef · « **on:** March 31, 2005, 06:24:36 AM »

http://www.elderly.com/vintage/items/55U-3408.htm

Serial 75-241. $6850.00

I am curious what all the knobs and switches might do. Could this perhaps have a Superfilter inside, rather than normal Series electronics?

One switch is probably for the side LEDs.

EffClef

kungfusheriff · « **Reply #1 on:** March 31, 2005, 09:40:53 AM »

Unless I'm mistaken, it has _two_ superfilters, one for each pickup.
There's a gent from Canada who posts on talkbass.com that has a hot-rodded Guild Starfire with the same guts. He says it makes sounds below the range of human hearing.
My kingdon for seven grand, I tellya...

effclef · « **Reply #2 on:** March 31, 2005, 10:06:15 AM »

Yes, that's what I meant - two SF channels.

But the layout is not as neat as I would have expected if it had started that way from the factory. I wonder if it was a retrofit that happened later - maybe when the side LEDs were added? (Were those available in '75? Doubt it.)

If you take away some controls you can almost see the Series 1 control layout pattern it might have started with.

This harkens back to my idea of making a Series bass with a small body and no controls - just have the humcanceller and preamp on the body of the bass, and run the output through the DS-5R/cable and into an SF-2 for tone shaping. If I can scrape up the cash and convince Mr. Wickersham to take on the project (after all, it's just leaving components OUT of the bass, not changing the circuits much) it may come to life!

EffClef

drjenney · « **Reply #3 on:** March 31, 2005, 12:40:03 PM »

EffClef,
The Series bass less controls: I've been thinking about something similar myself. The audiophile's mantra is the fewer components in the signal path, the purer the tone. With the right woods in a bass, I'd settle for one great tone directly to my rig [Glock BAC plus ART SGX Nightbass SE effects box].

Like you, I've been thinking Alembic pickups to preamp to cable, but I'd want something more generic than the five-pin--perhaps 2 balanced 1/4s or 2 XLRs. That way I could upgrade to a better cable [or at least a different one]. With the low crystaline OF audiophile cables available today, running a high quality broad band signal to the rig should be a piece of cake. Once there, all sorts of things could shape the tone.

The other possibility would be a variation on the Line 6 Variax. Only in this case, add a midi cable from the bass to the tone shaping unit, with only the midi controls themselves [say volume and sound selector] on the bass: analogue signal, digital controls. I know this means a dedicated external box, but haven't the Series basses always required that for the best tone?

What do you think?

effclef · « **Reply #4 on:** March 31, 2005, 12:47:28 PM »

Well, it all depends on what the factory is up to. I would think taking components out (THAT WOULD NOT COMPROMISE TONE IN THE PROCESS) should be possible but it all needs Ron's blessing.

Your MIDI control idea is a neat one.

If I skip my morning coffee, how long before I can afford a Series II? Oh wait...we have free coffee here!

EffClef

palembic · « **Reply #5 on:** March 31, 2005, 03:10:08 PM »

The guy from Canada with the Alembicised Guild Starfire is Brother Frank Goodrick.
I still owe him many thanks because he sold me a gorgeous Rob Allen MB-2 5 string.

Paul TBO

dela217 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 31, 2005, 06:42:07 PM »

Effclef - FYI........LED's for side markers were available back then. In fact, the very first Alembic made in 1971 had them.

Michael

lothartu · « **Reply #7 on:** April 03, 2005, 05:59:45 AM »

Just to chime in here since this tread caught my eye...

I was also thinking about a stripped down control Series Alembic but what I had in my head was moving all the Q controls to internal pots/switches and leaving only a pickup selector on the lower horn and two volumes on the face.

When I had my Series I I just left my tone controls set at a fixed position and controlled my tone by changing the pickup selector and/or changing my hand position.

- Jim

effclef · « **Reply #8 on:** April 08, 2005, 06:21:37 AM »

Michael - that's AMAZING. Sure, I saw LEDs around the house in 1971 (EEs in the family) but that is amazing that someone thought to use them as fret markets back then. Wow.

EffClef

yggdrasil · « **Reply #9 on:** April 19, 2005, 03:18:14 PM »

Hey Paul - How goes it in the Payottenland?

I'm on the hunt for a RA Mouse now, in my quest for ever-smaller basses (I replaced the RA MB2 5er with a MB2 4 :-)

Here's a pic page on the aforementioned Alembicized Guild Starfire. The control description is courtesy another poster in this thread, who owned the bass before I did.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/videoimage/Starfire.htm

Frank (the gent from Canada :-)

yggdrasil · « **Reply #10 on:** April 19, 2005, 03:27:19 PM »