Author Topic: Alembic Jazz Pick-ups (Read 212 times)

angelboy · « **on:** February 04, 2010, 11:36:48 PM »

I have some Alembic Jazz pick ups, never used, but I don't know what they're worth.

They don't have the rest of the electronics just the pair of pick-ups.

Anyone know what I should be looking to get? (I'm in the UK by the way so selling them over here will no doubt carry the usual premium that anything stamped with Alembic gets)

terryc · « **Reply #1 on:** February 05, 2010, 07:32:48 AM »

They are useless without the pre amps

angelboy · « **Reply #2 on:** February 06, 2010, 01:15:56 AM »

Surely they work the same as a standard pair of pick-up regardless of the pre-amps?

When you say 'useless' that sort of means to me that they're lumos of plastic and copper and won't work, is that what you're saying?

elwoodblue · « **Reply #3 on:** February 06, 2010, 01:49:49 AM »

They will work , but not like they are supposed to.
The pre-amp does make a world of difference.

Without the preamp the sound will be weak and thin. They are not worthless by any means, but you will have to wait for a buyer that needs replacements or has the preamp but no pickups.

If no one here has that need I would suspect ebay would be your best bet for finding a buyer.
A new set with preamp and controls is $1050 in the Alembic store,unfortunately it's tough to find someone who needs just the pickups so I would hazard a guess at a fraction of that price...maybe 150-200 dollars.
I could be mistaken with that estimate but that's what I would think about paying for them if I was in market.
Others here might chime in still.

I hope this helps somewhat,
Kris

(Message edited by elwoodblue on February 06, 2010)

slawie · « **Reply #4 on:** February 06, 2010, 02:32:23 PM »

I think Terry was right when he said useless. In the context of standalone pickups.

Have you ever tried palying an active bass without the battery installed....the output is useless/non-existant.

The whole point of the active pickups is to be driven by a voltage to make them well, active.
You may find someone on ebay that requires spares or replacements. Good luck.

I have this setup on my Jazz Bass and when the
battery connector broke I could not hear any output from the pickups.

slawie

nnek · « **Reply #5 on:** February 06, 2010, 04:39:23 PM »

Can you use any other pre-amp with them?

mike1762 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 06, 2010, 06:51:26 PM »

Don't forget that the Alembic PUPs are low impedance. You can't just use them as a replacement for a high impedance PUP. They really HAVE to have the pre-amp (I guess it doesn't HAVE to be an Alembic pre-amp).

tmoney61092 · « **Reply #7 on:** February 06, 2010, 11:08:48 PM »

Audere makes a pre-amp that has a switch that selects between hi/mid/lo impedance so you can use it with that and experiment with the different impedances, but those pre-amps are not cheap...

~Taylor

jazzyvee · « **Reply #8 on:** February 07, 2010, 10:30:30 AM »

You could try this one http://www.acguitars.co.uk/index.php
they are UK based and have filter circuit to replace jazz bass electronics.

http://www.acguitars.co.uk/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=8
I'm not sure if they are low impedance though but you could always ask.

Jazzyvee

terryc · « **Reply #9 on:** February 07, 2010, 12:16:45 PM »

angelboy..if you remember vinyl records then having a pair of Alembic PU's is like having a turntable without a stylus and cartridge.
These PU's do not work like your run of the mill PU's.
The output is so small that you need the pre amp to boost them before you get a signal HOWEVER as elwoodblue says you will get a signal but it is so small that your amp will struggle to boost the sound.
The were designed by Alembic to be used exclusively with their pre amps..jazzyvee may be correct in saying the acguitar pre amp may do the job but I would imagine Ron Wickersham(the owner of the company and electronics genius) has put many hours of R & D into matching his PU's to his pre amps.

adriaan · « **Reply #10 on:** February 08, 2010, 12:56:59 AM »

As member bass4worship found out, you can skip the pre-amp.

Passive switch installed

This was done on an Excel with a Fatboy pickup, which has a lot more output than the regular AXY/MXY. Since the Jazz pickups have less output than the AXY/MXY, you may not get the same results as with a Fatboy.

angelboy · « **Reply #11 on:** February 08, 2010, 07:25:04 AM »

So I can't just stick them in an Active Jazz Deluxe for example?

I'd looked into the J-Retro pre-amp when I was going to get a project together and I assumed they'd be OK.

mike1762 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 08, 2010, 03:44:10 PM »

You could probably get away with replacing another low impedance PUP with these (assuming the pre-amp is intact), but there are not too many low impedance PUPs out there. A pre-amp designed for high impedance PUP probably will not work very well.

edwin · « **Reply #13 on:** February 08, 2010, 07:13:07 PM »

Actually, I think it would be more of a problem the other way around. Running a low impedance into a high input impedance is less problematic than running a high impedance into a low input impedance. This is why so often piezos sound thin and scratchy until you put them into an input that's at least 1 megohm. You might not get as much gain as you need, but the tone should be fine.

elwoodblue · « **Reply #14 on:** February 10, 2010, 01:40:20 PM »

.

(Message edited by elwoodblue on February 10, 2010)