Wanted: series II neck pick up

[fthec]

I?m looking for a Series II neck pick up. Four string. It was build in 1981 and the neck pu seems to be replaced but I want the original one. Can you help me? Must be shipped to Germany.
regards hilmar

[David Houck]

Hilmar; the shell designs have changed from time to time over the years, and different designs might be used within the same year; so you may want to post a picture of the pickup that you want to match to.  The only difference between the neck pickup and the bridge pickup is the length of the cable that runs from the pickup to the PC board; and Series I and Series II use the same pickups.  I believe Alembic has some of the older designs in stock at their shop; you may want to contact them.

[fthec]

Here is a picture, the neck pu seems to be not original

[keurosix]

Hello Hilmar,
I once owned a 1982 Series 1, and the original pickups had no Alembic script. They were blank, like your neck pickup. Which may mean that your bridge pickup is the newer one. Just ask Alembic for the one you want: with Alembic logo, or without so you can get a matched set to your liking. They should have both types in stock.
Kris

[keavin]

 
 
(Message edited by keavin on February 26, 2008)

[keavin]

take the pick-up out & look under it to verify. it should say alembic, it looks origonal to me.

[FC Bass]

+1  
It looks like the bridge pickup was replaced, my '83 Spoiler also has the blank pickups. The pickups on my '87 Spoiler have the same script style like your bridge pickup.

[fthec]

I think the neck pu was replaced. A friend of mine checked it for an Alembic logo and it has none. But nevertheless the bridge is more noisy under some circumstances and in addition the wiring seems to be in the wrong way. so it?s?out of phase when using both pu?s. So it might be better to replace this one. But I will check. concerning the serial number the bass was build in 1982.

[FC Bass]

None of my Alembic pickups have a logo or name on the back, I think it's highly unlikely the neck pickup is not original... (or it was replaced with one that looks like the the pickup that was on the bass)  
On the pickups of my '83 (and my former '83) is nothing that indicates that they are Alembics.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that the Alembic name on the face of the pickup was first used in '84 (maybe late '83)
 
Edit: You might also want to make sure the replaced pickup (regardless which one was replaced) wasn't replaced with an AXY pickup ;-)
 
(Message edited by fc_spoiler on February 26, 2008)

[mica]

Just listen to hum. With the humbalance trimpots turned all the way off, orient the bass physically in space to where the hum is the loudest. Now, listening to one pickup at a time, see that the hum decreases and then increases when adjusting the trimpot through the null (about halfway up). If both pickups null when listened to individually, then that means that all 3 coils (neck, hx, and bridge) have the same polarity.  
 
If they do, try the humcancelling procedure.  
 
If you want to check the resistance, all 3 pickups should have approximately the same DC resistance. If you make these measurements, let me know and we can comment if they are close enough.  
 
Magnetic polarity can be confirmed by placing the faces of the neck and bridge pickups together, they should repel eachother.  
 
Turn humcanceller all the way off (turn down both humbalance trimpots) and listen to see if the the pickups have approx the same volume, and that they don't sound out of phase with the humcanceller turned off.  
 
Let me know what you find out with all this testing.

[fthec]

Thanks Mica, I will find the time for the testing next week
hilmar

[pennyball]

Hi everybody, I think the bridge pickup is a later replacement, too. If you want to find the easy way out, here is what I've done in a similar circumstance, when BOTH shells are black.
Remove the bridge pickup, carefully avoiding to pull the hot wire, as they slip inside the shield and the epoxy casing, eventually killing your pickup forever.
Gently sand the shell with extra fine sandpaper until the logo is gone. Polish the shell with some fine compound or a brass polishing cream, until it shines like the neck pickup. Et voil? you have 2 matching pickups. Hope this helps.

[fthec]

Have done the humecancelling procedure:
the bridge pu is nearly quite, the neck pu gives some high frequency noise.
the resistence of all pu?s is between 3.1 and 3.2 kOhm. but I don?t know if its DC resistance.  
the magnetic polarity of both pu?s is different. I guess this is the cause of the out / of phase sound when both pu?s are switched on. To avoid thsi I?ve changed the polarity of the wire from the neck pu. the sound than is in phase but it?s more noisy.
so what do you recommend
 
regards hilmar