Well, I brought the employee guitar to rehearsal tonight with my dead band, Rough Around the Edges and played it through a real amp (Mesa Mark I) for the first time. I discoverd that the Alembic pickups definitely do not put out nearly enough signal on their own when used passively. The way this guitar is set up is that it uses the Stratoblaster as the preamp and then has a regular volume and tone pot. With the Blaster engaged it sounds great, just like an Alembic ... duh! It plays great too. It's like having an Alembic Strat, something I must admit I have considered should I get another custom. Now I've got one. I also have to admit that I love the fine tuners on the Kahler bridge. I'll have to think some more about changing to an Alembic bridge and Bird.
Bill, tgo