New arrival in Brazil

[marcio.esteves]

Hello there,
I started playing bass in 85 when I was 14yrs at my school's Orchestra (Orquestra LaSalle) with a hand-made bass built by my father since we have no money. It was a piece of wood, freetless but help me to learn how to play.
At 18yr old I got my first "proffessional" bass and some lessons form the renowned Brazilian bass player Arthur Maia, which I had the honour to follow for some years playing in clubs and doing studio gigs.
In 97 i decided that was time to build my own instrument. Then I meet an Alembic for the first time; it became the instrument of my dreams. I borrowed from instrument's store and took measurements for the neck to build my own from logs of mahogany (body) Peroba Linheira (neck), and Pau Ferro (scale). I still play this bass and other bassist were quite impressed how good is playability and sound (some pics attached).

Several basses later, this Xmas my dream came true when I got my Essence 5 strings bought from nice gentleman at ebay. It has the Europa electronics and ambar side LED's (SN 03K013062).
Funny it arrived and I felt setup was not quite right. I setup it as my taste (very low action with no fret buzz at all) very easily. This is an AMAZING instrument. (pics also attached)

Now two weeks later I took for a gig and setup is REALLY BAD (fret buzz, truss rod...) due to wood accommodation on tropical weather (90% humidity).
So it's time to do setup again.

Cheers from Brazil.
Marcio

[edwardofhuncote]

Hola, and welcome Marcio. 

That is a beautiful instrument you have - Congratulations & Compliments!

Here is a helpful post from our own J O E Y on setting the action and intonation to your liking: http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=311.0

There are more comprehensive posts in this same section: http://club.alembic.com/index.php?board=29.0


Again, Welcome.

[marcio.esteves]

Thanks Edward.
Cheers..

[hammer]

Interesting story.  Welcome to the Club.

[jazzyvee]

Superb bass Marcio, i think you will soon find out how great the Europa electronics are for live work. The boost and cut switches frequencies are just in the right place and the simplicity and versatility of the one filter is such an asset when making quick tone changes on stage. Oh yes, welcome to the family.

[marcio.esteves]

Thank you Hammer and Jazzyvee for the warm welcome!
From yours experience, do you know how long takes to the wood to stabilises from such change in humidity?
The bass was living in Arizona (18% average humidity) and now it's in Juiz de Fora (80% average humidity).

Many thanks!

[jazzyvee]

I can't say for sure, my own experience with change in humidity was when I went on a Ccaribbean cruise in 2010. I took my Europa 5 bass and if I remember correctly I only had to make a slight adjustment when I got near the equator to calm a buzz and then only had to change it again when I got close to the UK.

[Twocan]

Congrats and beautiful bass!

[mario_farufyno]

Salve Marcio, bem vindo ao clube. Tem muita informação interessante aqui sobre os Alembics, música e luthieria. Pesquise sobre o filtro, pois o sistema da Alembic é realmente inovador e diferente do convencional. Vale à pena pesquisar aqui no Clube pra aprender a tirar o máximo do teu Essence.

Hail, Marcio, welcome to club. There is lots of interesting knowledge about Alembics, music e instrument making around. Since Alembic electronics are so inovative and unconventional, try learn deep about the Filter, you can learn how to take the most out of your Essence.

[mario_farufyno]

Ops, I'm from Sao Paulo, by the way...

[soflbass]

Congratulations! Nice Essence. And welcome to the forum.

[rv_bass]

Wow, very nice bass!  Congrats and I add to the chorus of welcomes! 

[marcio.esteves]

Olá Paulo, and thanks Y'all for the warmest welcome I've ever had in a forum! Looks like a family!
Yeah, the Q switch and lo/hi pass filters are amazingly convenient and give a world of tone. I'm still getting familiar with that to reach out "my tone" with a GK MB500 set.
but for now, I'm still dealing with the setup. Already adjust truss rod twice and I'm now getting there...
And here again, WOW! How simple and responsive the adjustments are with Alembic. Truly impressed!

Paulo, did you bought your bass in Brazil or brought it from abroad? If the last, did you find the setup changed big time with humidity?
A Luthier friend of mine that do a lot of setup told me that all basses when crosses equator need to rest for a week or so and then be setup. Not that much with guitars as the tension is not as much as long scale bass.
Not sure if it's related to equator line more than just big difference in humidity, thought.

Cheers,

[hammer]

Marcio...it takes a bit of time for an instrument that moves from a dry climate to a significantly more humid one to get use to its new surroundings with the length of time varying a bit based on the wood(s) in question. You've already found out that the adjustments are simple and straightforward. Just make sure that you do them in small increments (1/4 turn of the truss rod screw) and give the bass time to adjust (a few days) before the next adjustment. One of my basses came from Arizona to Minnesota (no where near the change yours has encountered) and I think it took about 2-3 weeks to fully stabilize.

The good thing is that once your bass adjusts to its new home unless there are significant changes in relative humidity from season to season or it's moving in and out of air conditioned buildings it's only a small tweak every so often that needs to occur.

Be happy with your new acquisition.

[marcio.esteves]

Marcio...it takes a bit of time for an instrument that moves from a dry climate to a significantly more humid one to get use to its new surroundings with the length of time varying a bit based on the wood(s) in question. You've already found out that the adjustments are simple and straightforward. Just make sure that you do them in small increments (1/4 turn of the truss rod screw) and give the bass time to adjust (a few days) before the next adjustment. One of my basses came from Arizona to Minnesota (no where near the change yours has encountered) and I think it took about 2-3 weeks to fully stabilize.

The good thing is that once your bass adjusts to its new home unless there are significant changes in relative humidity from season to season or it's moving in and out of air conditioned buildings it's only a small tweak every so often that needs to occur.

Be happy with your new acquisition.

Thanks a lot for the insight, Hammer! This is exactly what I'm doing. Unfortunately I just have time to play on weekends due to my (argh) work, so every weekend and I'm working a bit on the setup. It's now 3 weeks and I feel that I'm getting there.

Cheers,