Exploiter/Spoiler controls

[jphilauren]

Wanted to thank everyone for advice, purchased Exploiter from fellow member. Questions regarding output controls for pick ups,have read the forum posts and have tried to adjust pickup output to be evenly matched but seems the bridge pickup is still louder than neck, even with pot control on neck all the way clockwise and bridge turned down. Is this normal or am I missing something?
 
Upgrading to Distillate controls worth the extra money approx $300.00 or can I get same variety of sound with adjustments on amp, currently using SVT 4Pro and SVT 2 Pro?

[kungfusheriff]

Spoiler controls are master volume, master tone, a pickup selector that chooses neck-both-bridge-standby, and a mini-switch that selects between treble rolloff and Q, which you read about in the FAQ.
Unless I'm remembering this wrong, if you want to hear less bridge pickup, use the set screws to lower the pickup away from the strings.

[elwoodblue]

!!!!...and read the FAQ section on how to adjust the pickup height ...or you might crack the epoxy and damage the windings.
!!!
 
I'm not sure if all the pickups need this extra step, it's good to know even if yours doesn't.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Spoiler controls are master volume (knob), low-pass filter frequency (knob), pick-up selector (pointer knob w/detents), and 2-position Q (mini-toggle - turns a boost at the filter frequency off & on).  Distillate adds 2 mini-toggles; cut/boost each for bass & treble.  I would think the advantage (if you see it as such) over using the amp controls would be the the ability change on the fly, without going to the amp & looking for the spot on the knob.  The downside would be that the switches cut/boost a set amount, while the amp knobs are continuously variable.  So, to stop rambling and actually address your question, you could get a greater variety of sound with the amp; as to whether the convenience of the Distillate switches is worth the money, only you can answer that for yourself.
 
Peter

[jphilauren]

Am I correct in assuming that usually the neck pickup is the hotter or louder of the two because of its position. Mine seem just the opposite, not being totally familiar with these pickups is this normal. Most photos I've seen show the neck pu lowered in the body cavity. I'm the third owner of this bass and the original owner did some weird modifications at one time.

[David Houck]

Weird modifications?  What state is the bass currently in?
 
Have you read the FAQ on Spoiler controls here?  You should be able to adjust the trim pots inside the control cavity so that the relative gain outputs of the pickups are where you want them.

[elwoodblue]

can you post some pics?
...normally the neck pickup is lower by a little to allow for the greater throw of the string vibration at that point...of course playing style dictates what's appropriate.

[David Houck]

There are several reasons to adjust the height, and angle, of the pickups.  Commonly, the neck pickup is lowered to provide room between the pickup and strings for slap techniques.  Another reason pickup height, and angle, is changed is to change the tone; the further the pickup is from the strings, the cleaner the tone.  Some players find that if the pickups are too close to the strings, the strings physically hit the pickups with certain playing styles.  The trim pots will provide a far greater range for changing the gain output of the pickups than will pickup height adjustment.

[jphilauren]

My concern is that I cannot adjust the trim pots to balance the pick up output. According to the FAQ's, controls for pickup switch should be mute/neck/both/bridge. I found another posting for this on an Exploiter as mute/bridge/both/bridge.
The control pot closer to the bridge pickup is louder, I can turn this all the way down and still be louder than other pickup with trim pot all the way up. My louder pickup is the 4th position on the pickup selector switch.
The bass is in good condition, the original owner replaced the bridge with a Badass one. Changed machine heads to Hipshots I guess to lower weight. The second owner who is member of forum and great to deal with informed me of all of this.
 
I have the original machine heads  which I probably will install again. The pickups have been adjusted height wise, the original bridge was re installed by second owner.
 
The bass is in good condition otherwise. Just wanted to get bass back to original specs if possible. My only concern was the pickup output, maybe there has been an internal modification inside to the board, not sure.

[tbrannon]

If you can take a few pictures inside the control cavity there are several members who will be able to spot any modifications to the electronics.

[David Houck]

John, sometimes I'm a bit slow.  I still don't know what you mean by the term control pot.
 
Normally, the positions on the switch are mute/neck/both/bridge, but by switching the pickup leads you can change it to mute/bridge/both/neck.  It doesn't really matter as long as you know which switch position is for which pickup.
 
For purposes of the following troubleshooting suggestions, set the volume control wide open, open the filter control all the way (treblely), flip the Q switch to on (down) and leave them all that way.
 
If you're not sure which pickup you are hearing, the bridge should sound more treblely and cleaner, while the neck should have more midrange growl.  If you're still not sure, you can remove one pickup (if you've never adjusted the pickup heights, make sure you read the instructions first) and wiggle the wire to see which one it is.  Then gently (by grasping the housing, not the wires; again, review the instructions) unplug the lead from the pc card.  You should now be able to identify that lead with the position on the switch which no longer has any sound.
 
If you do have the pickups identified with switch positions, choose a switch position for just one pickup.  One trim pot will now have no effect, the other trim pot can be adjusted up or down to the desired level.  Now switch the selector switch to the other pickup by itself.  You should now be able to adjust this second trim pot to where the level of output sounds the same as the first.  If you set the first pickup's trim pot at midway through the rotation, then you should definitely be able to adjust the second pickup's trim pot to where you hear the same level of output.

[dfung60]

Here's a couple of things to try.
 
First, the easiest way to identify which pickup is active and what the pickup selector switch is doing it to gently tap the top of pickup with a metal screwdriver while amplified.  When you tap on an active pickup, you'll hear the tapping sound through the amp; if the pickup is not active, it won't be amplified.
 
You were already in the ballpark when you took a look at the gain trimpots on the EQ board.  I'd try setting them both at midpoint.  If you situation is as you describe, one of the pickups will be much louder than the other (you can determine this in the both pickups on position or individually by flipping between the bridge and neck).  Pan to both extremes and remember which end of the rotation was the louder pickup.  
 
OK, now unplug and swap the pickup connectors on the EQ board.  When you do this, the bridge pickup will be running through the neck pickup's electronics path and the neck pickup will be running through the bridge's path.  Pan to the extremes and note which end of the rotation has the louder sound.  
 
If the louder sound switched to the other end of the panpot rotation, then one of the pickups has lower output - if it's not a faulty connection on the pickup lead, then the pickup may need to be replaced.  There's no condition where a defective pickup will get louder, so the quieter pickup is the one with the problem.
 
If the louder sound stays in the same end of the panpot rotation after you swapped pickups, then the problem is in the electronics.  This could be a broken panpot, broken trimpot, or a problem in the EQ board.  
 
It's not covered directly in the Spoiler FAQ, but it sounds like the Spoiler only has a single preamp (e.g, it's amplified after the panpot blends the pickups together), but I could be wrong on that.  If there's only a single preamp, then that won't be at fault, but if there are individual preamps for the two pickups, then one of the preamps may be bad.
 
Good luck in your hunt,
 
David Fung

[David Houck]

David; I'm fairly certain that with Alembic electronics packages, those with two trim pots have two preamps, one for each.  Thus the Spoiler electronics would have two preamps.  Also, the Spoiler electronics do not have a Pan pot, just a pickup selector switch.  So John, when reading through David's excellent suggestions, substitute selector switch for pan; and let us know what you find.

[dfung60]

Dave H -  
 
Thanks for the corrections!  Too late when I wrote that I guess...  In an earlier thread about panpots, I remember there was some discussion about which instruments had single and dual preamps, although I don't think there was a definitive listing of which one has which.  A good FAQ addition down the line, I guess.
 
David Fung

[jphilauren]

Problems solved. Followd wires from pickups, they were swapped as David thought . Stupid me noticed that adjustment screws were not correct size. Neck pickup would only lower a small amount, purchased stainless steel  screws from Lowes, now have a better pick up height and can now adjust for a balanced output. Glad that electronics are OK.  
Thanks everyone!