Author Topic: To Flitz or not to Flitz?  (Read 898 times)

flpete1uw

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To Flitz or not to Flitz?
« on: April 01, 2016, 07:04:03 AM »
OK, This is probably something I shouldn't be overthinking about, but my inherent nature never allows me to stop over thinking. Yikes! 
 
  For those who have early model Alembics, mine being a 75. Is there any disadvantage to making all the brass parts shine? 
 
  Shown below is my 75 bass with an unpolished bridge compared to her sister a 75 bass (A bass that was for sale a while back) with a polished bridge. 
 
 Thank you for indulging me.   
Just curious. I will taking my bass apart for some maintenance and an opportunity will be there to polish or not.
Peace,
Pete
 
 
« Last Edit: March 20, 2020, 12:50:11 PM by adriaan »

willie

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To Flitz or not to Flitz?
« Reply #1 on: April 01, 2016, 07:26:03 AM »
Definitely Polish that Brass Bridge!
Makes it look new.
I disassemble my bridges every other finger board oiling and polish the Bridge parts and the Nut.
Just watch the Tail Piece. Some have a clear coating on them. A small drop of real light oil on the threads of the intonation screws helps them work smoother too.  
Willie

gregduboc

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« Reply #2 on: April 01, 2016, 07:28:29 AM »
I vote for polishing! I don't have an early Alembic, but I definitely prefer the looks of shining metal!

sonicus

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« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2016, 08:11:25 AM »
Hello Pete , I think that the Flitz treatment would be a positive gesture for your Bass . I have done so as well with mine .  
 
  Also thinking , RE- thinking & then moving forward and acting on  The Plan  , much of the time to rule out adverse variables !  
 
Wolf

jazzyvee

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To Flitz or not to Flitz?
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2016, 08:16:22 AM »
I have an 81 and want the brainwork glistening. I recently got hold of a fibreglass contact cleaner pen that I used to use in my days as an electrician. That brings up the brass really well then I use Brasso,to get the brass really shiny. I haven't seen Flitz on sale here.
The sound of Alembic is medicine for the soul!
http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_ktwins.html

flpete1uw

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« Reply #5 on: April 01, 2016, 08:30:36 AM »
Wolf,
 When many factors are taken into account I wound up with a yes maybe no outcome. Further facts come about making the answer a definite yes except when taking the invariables into the equation leaning the decision torwards a no. Further complicating the issue is the unforeseen contradictions of human behavior that throws everything back to yes maybe no.  
Repeat,

tomhug

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« Reply #6 on: April 01, 2016, 08:33:19 AM »
I'm not much help:
 
I polished the brass on my 1995 Epic.
 
I left the patina alone on my 1977 Series I.
 
I like them both.

sonicus

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« Reply #7 on: April 01, 2016, 09:08:41 AM »
Pete , I sometimes go through the same path of mentation as in your post 619 and I usually feel 100 % successful when both the sides of the equation become balanced due to a favorable reciprocal as well as the final results.   A WIN-WIN thing .  At times such unforeseen contradictions of human behavior appear in the form of that welcome epiphany ! In deed so very welcomed and often then  celebrated upon !  ( It must be that Viking DNA of mine ) LOL !!  
 
 
Wolf

xlrogue6

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« Reply #8 on: April 01, 2016, 09:20:11 AM »
If you do go the polish route, be sure to finish up with lemon Pledge--your brass will stay shiny a lot longer.

tomhug

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« Reply #9 on: April 01, 2016, 09:23:02 AM »
I used Alberto V05, which is recommended elsewhere on this board. Same principle I believe. A neutral non-reactive coating that keeps the brass from tarnishing

lbpesq

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« Reply #10 on: April 01, 2016, 09:28:17 AM »
Alembics are not like old Gibsons, Fenders, and Tiffany lamps that lose value if 50 year old crud is cleaned off.  I have polished the brass on my old Alembics, which include a '76 Series I guitar, a '77 Series I 12 string guitar, and Old #10, a 1972 guitar.  After polishing, I rub on a light coat of Alberto VO5 - an old fashioned hair treatment.  It works wonderfully to help maintain the shine!
 
Bill, tgo

edwardofhuncote

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« Reply #11 on: April 01, 2016, 10:53:49 AM »
I vote 'nay' Pete, but not just to be obtuse... I love a spit-shined classic, like the bass on the right, but there's plenty of allure to the look of honest playing wear too. No abuse been committed there, just a guy playing a Stradivarius like it was meant to be played. A racehorse has gotta' run.  
 
I've got these two Martin guitars... the first, a 2001 D-18 Vintage Series, that's as pristine as any brand new guitar, though I've played it almost daily since new. The second is a 1950 D-18 that's got so much playing wear on it that G. Gruhn himself once commented it was distressed-looking before the distressed look was even thought of. He was not being complementary of my treasured vintage classic, not even a little.  
 
Me... I'm an absolute fanatic about instrument care, yet I love both looks equally. Same goes for your basses. Leave it man... skip the TLC and go put some more play wear on it.  
 
Jus' my .02  =)

flpete1uw

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« Reply #12 on: April 01, 2016, 08:39:09 PM »
Thanks guys for your indulgence on this.  
I couldn't tell you the last time this bridge has been polished but I owed her for about 3 years now.  
 
Bill, your input on the Alembics value not affected by patina was helpful.  
 Figuring it isn't my patina so I think it's going.  
I've heard about Alberto VO5, need to try it!  
Pete

sonicus

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« Reply #13 on: April 01, 2016, 09:40:57 PM »
I remember back in the 1980's I had a girlfriend who was an electrician who told me that she put the the VO5 on her expensive Kline brand  electrical side cutters and pliers and the such to keep the oxidation off of them . I tried it on mine and it actually worked.  
 
  Wolf

ed_zeppelin

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« Reply #14 on: April 02, 2016, 09:02:13 AM »
What's going on with your bridge? I've been wracking my well-wracked brain to recall ever seeing an Alembic bridge canted at that angle.
 
 

 
 
I've been a guitar repairman for decades, and I'm not here to criticize or mock. Especially here, because we all come here for the same reason: to admire sheer excellence, and to learn. 
 
Your Alembic has been injured, and you should have it healed. It was not only the finest bass on the planet in 1975, it still is! Consider this: in '75 Stanley Clarke had just begun showing the world what Alembics sounded like. I'm sure many people here can tell you how many basses Alembic made that year, without looking. But I'm guessing somewhere around thirty, which means very few bassists were lucky enough to own one.
 
I know, because my Alembic is a 1975 Series 1 (75-240).
 
So let me put my imaginary guitar CSI cap on, and I'll show you what I mean. The gap at one end of the sustain block shows that it's been replaced (either that or it shrank  ). When new holes were drilled for the bridge bolts, they were placed slightly south (toward the knobs), which you can see following the string alignment from the tailpiece to the neck and comparing them with the lams. (It's easier to see in your original picture.)
 
Alembic uses hex-head bridge bolts:
 
 
 
Flathead machine screws on an Alembic are like a Formula 1 race car on bicycle wheels. They are an abomination. The upper one has clearly migrated from uppy-downy alignment with the hole, which is kinda weird when you consider that somebody went through all that trouble to slant the bridge in the first place. (What Cletus calls; ball-peen detailing.) Apparently not enough.
 
Now for the good news: they actually did a pretty good job, if only in not damaging your bass in any way, as far as I can tell. It takes balls the size of church bells to redesign an Alembic's bridge in the first place, much less pull the sustain block out of there without using a crowbar or something.
 
From another standpoint, the only reason to slant the bridge is to address temperament. If you want to put a whole party to sleep almost instantly, bring up the subject of temperament to a group of musicians. I think of it as an agreement on how many notes you can get in tune, and by how much.
 
Fortunately, a Swedish company called True Temperament spent years hunched over a strobo-tuner, mapping the precise points at which upper overtones and harmonics achieved harmony with the universe or some such, uh ... time for a picture:
 
 
 
See that serious jag on the G string at the first fret? That gives you an idea of how far off normal frets are. Note that the only straight fret on the guitar is the one at the twelfth fret. So everything between the nut and the 12th fret is mirrored by the bridge saddles and their relation to the 12th fret. The G string saddle is always forward to shorten the length of the string, to compensate for that.
 
For reference, you can go through the Alembic Featured Custom Vault and check the position of the G string saddles in relation to the others. They're all the same. With the True Temperament fingerboard as a reference, you can see why (spot any slanted bridges while you're in there?) 
 
Jimmy Johnson has a fantastic post about temperament in this thread. (Just scroll down to the picture of a grand piano's innards, illustrated with red lines.)
 
In my opinion, your bass bridge was probably involved in a hit and miss (or hit and run, I'm not sure which) attempt to address that issue. 
 
You should return to the mothership for re-grooving. And avoid flatheads (especially the human kind).
« Last Edit: March 20, 2020, 12:52:16 PM by adriaan »