Can Series II electronics fit in an Essence?

[El Thumpo]

Yep, that’s my question.

I know the Essence was made with a body as small as possible, but I don’t know if “as possible” allows for an upgrade path. Europa electronics? Rogue electronics? The full Series II kit?

I ask because I love my Essences. Ergonomically, I haven’t found a more user-friendly instrument at any price.

[David Houck]

My recollection is that the short answer is no.  Looking through the examples on the Essence page at alembic.com, there are some with Europa, Signature, Anniversary, and East-Meets-West.  But my recollection is that these require larger control cavities carved when built; and my recollection is that some, probably the Anniversary in particular, were quite tight.  My guess is that Series would at the very least require a thicker body, and it may be that the circuit board is just too big.

If you're thinking of a new build, then talk with Mica and find out what's possible and what's not.

http://alembic.com/prod/essence.html

[mica]

The short answer is no.

The medium answer is on a custom build you'd have to make the body thicker to accommodate the parts, and not everything will actually fit, you can do something like Will Gunn did here with "Refinement I and II. He uses an SF-2 as the tone controls.

Otherwise, you'd have to modify the body shape to cram it all in there, and then, it won't be that Essence body shape you love.

Europa/Rogue do fit well (on a new build - hard to make them fit existing holes). We've crammed Signature electronics in there, but it is really really tight (hope you have skinny fingers!). Face-mounted jacks give you more room than side-mounted ones do.