Author Topic: What's wrong here? (Read 498 times)

2400wattman · « **on:** April 14, 2009, 02:27:32 PM »

Pick up screws inappropriately placed? Not for me. After trying and trying to get the bridge p/up where I wanted it, the Alembic method which I respect for it's ease of adjustment AND solidity, simply was'nt working for me and rendered this bass almost unplayable for me. Unless I used a pick but I'm 99.9% of the time pushing flesh to steel. So, I went the route of how I adjust P/ups on my non-Alembics. Screws through the top with humbucker springs underneath to support and provide ultimate height adjustment.
The problem was the front of the p/up was angled down away from the strings while the back of it was in it's ideal spot..just not enough of the p/up was in this spot. So the springs allow me to adjust the p/up to follow the angle the strings are going in towards the fretboard. This has been my only gripe about this bass and the two things that kept from selling her was...
1.I believed I could get it where I needed it to be and...
2. The sound!!!
If any of you share my dilemma, this could be your answer. If you have a problem with shying away from the Alembic design remember it's a custom idea and that's what Alembic is all about! I love this bass that much more now!

olieoliver · « **Reply #1 on:** April 14, 2009, 02:34:53 PM »

Were you able to use the existing screw holes Adam?

OO

lbpesq · « **Reply #2 on:** April 14, 2009, 03:07:03 PM »

Adam:

When you tried to adjust the pick-up height with the original Alembic mounting system, did you adjust the two screws under the pick-up as well as the two on top? It would seem to me that if your pick-up was angled down, raising the screw under the pick-up should compensate for this.

Bill, tgo

2400wattman · « **Reply #3 on:** April 14, 2009, 03:35:16 PM »

Yes, Olie I used the existing holes.
Bill, I did adjust those screws in conjuction with the top screws. It just put the p/up in a wonky position. Hold your guitar up sideways so you can see the strings angle down across the p/ups, see how the front of the p/up angles away from the strings slightly? Now, imagine bigger strings and using your fingers to pluck them.....OUCH! I don't know if you play much bass but, we often like a table top to play off of when we use our fingers. It keeps our fingers from digging in too much, especially when you play back on the bridge p/up....strings are really tight back there.

David Houck · « **Reply #4 on:** April 14, 2009, 06:27:44 PM »

Adam; I've never really had that problem. There have been occasions when a pickup would get loose, but I would just tighten it back up and it would be fine.

Is this the only Alembic you've had that's had this problem?

For me, the regular Alembic method works fine at keeping the pickups level and tight at any height. The theory is that if the short screws are at the same height, and the two long screws are both tight, then the pickup will be level, and it won't go anywhere.

If you push down on a corner of the pickup that has a short screw underneath, well it can't go down any further because there is a screw underneath it. If you push down on a corner that has a long screw on top, well the opposite screw on top will keep that corner from going down. The only way it doesn't work is if one of the two top screws isn't tight.

I'm wondering if on this particular bass there is a problem with the holes that the top screws are screwed into that's keeping the screws from staying tight without the added pressure from the springs.

2400wattman · « **Reply #5 on:** April 14, 2009, 08:19:51 PM »

Dave, it's not an issue of them being or coming loose. When these screws are tightened the p/up is'nt going anywhere. The issue is the p/up height. Alembic's mounting system does'nt allow the p/up to do what I want, which is to have the p/up follow the angle of the strings. I'm use to my Jazz bass and being able to control not only p/up height but individual string height and getting that table top feel on the p/up. So I had been trying to get that same feel on my Series 2 and this is what I came up with. The springs allow me to angle the p/up with the strings to achieve the desired effect like my J bass(which the strings are pretty much straight across-minimal pitch downward toward the fretboard). This was the only thing I could think of to do and it's working out very well. I had this similar issue with my old Series 1 and I noticed it on yours as well when I visited your place. Now I'm able to get my Orion to do what I want with the stock system so I believe it's the shape of the p/up that has most to do with this....if you can believe that!

adriaan · « **Reply #6 on:** April 15, 2009, 03:53:53 AM »

Changing the angle of the surface of the p/up is perfectly simple with the standard Alembic mounting method, no springs required!

You're probably familiar with the up/down adjustment: to go down, first tighten the hidden screw, then tighten the visible screw - to go up, first loosen the visible screw, then loosen the hidden screw. (You may want to start by loosening both visible screws, to avoid any damage to the p/up shell.)

You normally adjust the pair of screws on the bass side of the p/up, or the pair on the treble side. This tilts the p/up across the strings.

To tilt the p/up along the strings you adjust the pair of screws on the neck side of the p/up, or the pair on the bridge side.

Happy experimenting!

(Message edited by adriaan on April 15, 2009)

mike1762 · « **Reply #7 on:** April 15, 2009, 05:38:07 AM »

Adam, I actually have/had the same problem. I have my PUPs set lower than I would prefer in order to get rid of the tilt you describe. I understand the process Adriaan recommends, but I never could get the PUP parallel to the strings. I just finally got used to the lower PUP height.

crgaston · « **Reply #8 on:** April 18, 2009, 08:02:45 PM »

Mike, I had a similar issue with the bridge P/U of the wenge Rogue I used to own. I just went down to the local hardware store and bought some slightly longer screws.

Also, I wonder if your screws are in the original configration..top screws diagonally opposite each other and bottom screws diagonally opposite each other? Mechanically, this configuration should give you 100% control over height and angle within the limits of the screw length.

Adam, are all your screws the same length? The hidden screws should probably be shorter by a quarter to a half inch. Glad to hear you got it working for you, though. Hope y'all had fun at the Peachtree Tavern tonight! Sorry I couldn't be there.

mike1762 · « **Reply #9 on:** April 18, 2009, 08:17:53 PM »

Peachtree Tavern in Atlanta???

crgaston · « **Reply #10 on:** April 18, 2009, 09:04:14 PM »

Yep. Adam plays in a Zepplin Tribute band calles ZOSO. I played there last night with the Scott Little Band opening for Wade Bowen.

2400wattman · « **Reply #11 on:** April 19, 2009, 05:12:48 PM »

I put a little more thought into this and the only thing I did not try was to use different length screws for under the pickup and I mean a different length for each screw to try to achieve what I already have now. Well, I'm tired of screwing with it and it's working out great so I'll leave it as is.

adriaan · « **Reply #12 on:** May 06, 2009, 03:15:32 AM »

Looking at my Spoiler with AXY pickups, I remember that I was trying to raise them as high as they would go, to add a little edge to the refined sound.

This was fine while playing up to the 20th fret, but above that the string would fret out on the pickup housing. So I slightly lowered the neck side of the pickup to get rid of that problem. Perhaps I also raised the bridge side just a bit, to get the pickup as close to the string as possible.

My action is not super low, but the tops of the pickups are now running roughly parallel to the strings. I'll post a picture later, and perhaps take some measurements too.

mike1762 · « **Reply #13 on:** May 06, 2009, 05:06:26 PM »

I wonder if that's the same Peachtree Tavern my band used to play back in the 80's??? I don't think I've seen too many clubs have that kind of longevity.

crgaston · « **Reply #14 on:** May 06, 2009, 06:25:56 PM »

Mike, this place was called The Chameleon Club in the '90's...not sure about the '80's.