Author Topic: Alembic Super cords anyone? (Read 289 times)

jazzyvee · « **on:** July 26, 2010, 12:01:50 PM »

I just noticed this on Station Music Web site.

http://www.station-music.de/bass/alembic.html
I didn't realise they were already finished and ready to rock.

Jazzyvee

dadabass2001 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 26, 2010, 12:39:17 PM »

The description sounds reversed to me. Wouldn't you want the preamp (box) closer to the instrument, so that a boosted signal is making the longer run to the amplifier? I believe that's the idea behind active electronics mounted in the instruments we all love

Mike

David Houck · « **Reply #2 on:** July 26, 2010, 03:13:47 PM »

Here it is in the store.

mica · « **Reply #3 on:** July 26, 2010, 05:56:54 PM »

Well, the preamp is spread out between the connectors and the box. Don't worry - it does what it's supposed to do! Dad is thinking about changing the name to Preamp Plug - cable attached.

This product is not intended for use with Alembics or other active instruments - they already have preamps of course. This is for vintage stuff that you don't want to modify. Or if you have a hundred passive guitars, you don't have to modify all of them.

hieronymous · « **Reply #4 on:** July 26, 2010, 06:57:50 PM »

Mica, if you were using effects, would this go before or after them? How about custom wood choices or inlays on the box? (Just kidding on the second question, kind of...)

jazzyvee · « **Reply #5 on:** July 27, 2010, 06:47:14 AM »

Here is the cable manufacturers web site if you wanna get the jack cable that alembic is using for the preamp unless it is a custom cable.

http://www.gotham.ch/en/index.php
Jazzyvee

sonicus · « **Reply #6 on:** July 27, 2010, 08:16:30 AM »

jazzyvee ,
Thanks for this link, what a great site !

This is a total candy store ! The 3rd floor Flea market !

Das ist Kool , I can read it in German . JA !

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #7 on:** July 27, 2010, 08:35:11 AM »

I'm just curious how this is different from a Stratoblaster or other clean boost for guitar. I'm also a little curious regarding what the advantage to hard wiring this into your signal path provides over a stomp box format (aside from the nice wooden box).

David Houck · « **Reply #8 on:** July 27, 2010, 09:09:39 AM »

Kevin; the advantage of active electronics is that it gets the preamp as close to the pickups as possible, thus avoiding loss of high-end frequencies in the signal. Thus, the best thing is to put a preamp in the instrument like Alembic does. In this case, for those who have a passive instrument that they don't want to modify, the preamp is build into the cable itself. As Mica said above, the preamp is spread out between the connectors and the box. If you were to just put a preamp in a stomp box, then you would be back where you started, a passive instrument and a regular cord; and by the time the signal got to your stomp box, you've got that same loss of high-end frequencies.

That's my general, if not highly accurate, understanding of it anyway.

David Houck · « **Reply #9 on:** July 27, 2010, 09:20:46 AM »

To add to my previous post, David Fung stated in a previous thread that when you turn down the volume pot on a passive bass, you?re increasing the series resistance, and because the tone control and cable present a parallel capacitance, you end up rolling off the highs as you turn the volume down. So it looks to me that this Super Cord addresses the problems that a regular cable adds to passive instruments.

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #10 on:** July 27, 2010, 11:57:00 AM »

Dave,

I guess I'm just not certain why connecting a preamp (which is what a Zvex Super Hard On, or other clean boost is) through 1/4 jacks is different than hard wiring the cable to the circuit board (other than the minimal difference internal resistance between such connections). Mica said her father thought about changing the name to Preamp Plug - cable attached, which would seem to imply to me that the cable is just like any other, except for the addition of the preamp. Am I mistaken here, and if so, how is it different? It was my assumption that like other preamps it imparted a high input impedance resulting in more even signal response. Am I incorrect?

mica · « **Reply #11 on:** July 27, 2010, 02:01:23 PM »

It's not different - except you don't have to modify your guitar. As I explained, this is especially useful for those who have vintage instruments that they wouldn't dream of modifying, or for people with large collections that can share one SuperCord.

If you don't mind about modification, then install a Blaster or a complete set of Activators and skip the SuperCord. While they both do the same thing, they aren't necessarily made for the same guitars.

The cable itself is not custom made. We are also now using Gotham for our 5-pin cables.

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #12 on:** July 27, 2010, 02:40:21 PM »

Thanks for the clarification Mica. I guess I'm still having a little trouble seeing the benefit of hard wiring this into a cord, rather than just building it as a stompbox that could be bypassed, placed anywhere in a effects chain, and would allow instant cable swapping in the event of a plug failure. I would love to have a fancy wooden Alembic stompbox, complete with the logo.

terryc · « **Reply #13 on:** July 28, 2010, 02:56:33 AM »

I looked into active PU's and pre amps years ago when I was using passive basses.
The effect of losing highs when the PU's are loaded due to turning the volume down is well known. This is very noticable on guitars(especially single coils), you can install a treble bleed capacitor in your Strat/Tele which reduces this high frequency loss but I found the only way is to buy and use low impedance PU's and pre amps.
As Dave says they key is to make the signal path as short as possible to the pre amp.
There was a guitar tech in the UK, Tim Whalley, who built pre amps to use with passive PU's, he used a buffer in the circuit to 'convert' the high impedance PU's to low impedance.
I am definitely not an expert in the electronic theory of all this but I do understand the resistance loading and high frequency loss due to long cable runs.
As everyone knows using active instruments with stomp boxes produced the best results but some stomp boxes cannot handle the high output of active set ups.
Amp manufactures realised this and offered active and passive inputs, the active input puts a 12 to 15dB pad on the input to prevent overload.
To give vintage owners the benefit of better output without changing the instrument is a great idea although one friend of mine took the entire front panel from his vintage Strat and replaced it with a Bartoloni PU and pre amp set up, if he ever sells his guitar he can just put the plate back.

hydrargyrum · « **Reply #14 on:** July 28, 2010, 01:25:02 PM »

I hear what you're saying about the keeping the preamp close to the guitar. My dilemma is that my boutique fuzz pedals also like to be first in the chain, or otherwise they lose all of their sparkle. This is the same problem many people have encountered with active electronics and fuzz pedals. Consequently, I run my clean boost at the end(unless I am only playing clean parts, and then it's the only pedal I will probably use). I don't get the impedance benefit, but I do get the option to increase volume during solos, etc.