(x) History, Built/Wood request Essence 93K7712

[DaMitz]

Hello, I just bought my first Alembic Bass. It's an Essence 4 string with the serial number above.
I would love to know more about it. The woods, or is there something special about it?
And a question: when I turn the pickup blend clockwise, it turns to the pickup in the back......is that normal?
Greetings from Germany.
Thomas
PS: I lived 1991 as a exchange student in Santa Rosa and I loved that town

[rv_bass]

Hi DaMitz,

Welcome and congratulations, Alembics are wonderful instruments!

It might take a little while for Mica to look up the build record, but if you post a picture there are people here who can tell you a little bit about the woods and electronics.   I would say that turning the pan control clockwise typically selects the neck pickup.

[DaMitz]

Hi, ok, then here the first pictures.
Cheers, Thomas

[pauldo]

Welcome to the camp Thomas!

I admit to letting out a soft moan when I saw that top wood picture.

I don't know what it is other than beautiful... someone here will recognize the grain and glamour of it!

[edwardofhuncote]

Welcome Thomas,  Congratulations & Compliments on your new-to-you Alembic. I think I know what that top wood is, but I will just wait until Mica gets time to look it up for you. It certainly is a beauty.

Intuitively, yes, like RV says, turning the Pan knob clockwise should bias the pickup blend toward the neck. It sounds like your pickup leads are reversed on the preamp... this is an easy fix - simply switch them. They are modular plugs, so unplug each from it's current position and switch with the opposite. The knob will them seem to work opposite the way it does now. I don't know if there is a right or wrong here, it's just how most folks see it, with a pointer.

Again, Welcome. 

[DaMitz]

Thanx a lot for your kind words....with the pickups I gonna try tomorrow.
Thomas

[DaMitz]

Couldn't waite.....but the wires of the pickups are soldered on the blend-poti.
Thomas

[StephenR]

That sure is a pretty bass Thomas! I also have an idea what the top wood is but best to wait for the official word.

As far as the pan pot. I only own one bass with a pan pot, it is a G Gould not an Alembic, turning the pan control clockwise engages the bridge pickup. I find that makes the most sense since looking down at the bass in playing position the neck pickup is to my left and the bridge to the right. Not sure I would want it reversed but ultimately it probably makes no difference unless it really bugs you.

Pan pot aside, how do you like the sound and feel of your new bass?

[rv_bass]

The top looks to me like Bubinga (or possibly Schedua), but as others have stated, need to wait for the final official word on that.

The body core looks to me like mahogany.  The neck is three piece maple with likely thin walnut spacers. The fingerboard looks like ebony.

If you wanted to reverse the pickups, you should be able to gently slide out and reverse these two connectors on the pan filter, they should not be soldered, but the plastic connectors clipped in place to a two-pin connector. But as Stephen says, you can just leave it as is too, functions well either way.

[rv_bass]

There is also a pinstripe layer of maple between the body and top.  Very nice bass!

[rv_bass]

-

[DaMitz]

I leave the blend.....I get used to it soon.
The Sound: with every day I love it more. There are so mmany different sounds possible with the two pickups and the alembic sound poti.....this bass  could become my "holy grail" I' m always searching for....

Woods.....top Bubinga......could be possible, but was it "flamed" or something??
Neck....yes, sure maple...
Body....mahagony......or vermilion?!?
By the way....what kind of tree is vermilion? I can't translate in a known German wood

[pauldo]

Oh yes!

Glad you are digging it.
You are on the right path.   

All of a sudden everything is new and different.  Alembics have such nuance that plucking hand position can have a HUGE impact on tone - then there are the switches and knobs that add even more flavor!   

Enjoy!
:-D

[mica]

Hi Thomas,

Very pretty bass - this is a nicely figured Bubinga!

Here's the detail from the instrument file:

model name: Essence
model number: KLB4
top: Bubinga
accent: Maple pinstripe
body: Mahogany
neck: 3-piece Maple with 2 Walnut pinstripes
scale: 34" long
fingerboard: Ebony
backplates: black plastic
pickups: Alembic MXY4
controls: "Essence" volume, pan, filter, mono output
finish: polyester clear gloss
originally made for: Wils, The Netherlands
birthday: not recorded, but likely around April 19, 1993

In 2000 your bass was living in Belgium. The pickup connections were not done at the factory like that - we always use the modular connectors like you find on the rest of the electronics. Sometimes people don't realize you can pop the plastic housing off to thread the pickup wired through the ferrite shielding bead.I guess they just soldered them on the board in reverse. You can swap these as previously suggested. If you want to be fancy you can get a couple of of precrimped wires to splice on your pickups, and a couple of connector to replace the ones removed from the board from me.

[DaMitz]

Hi, and thanx a lot for all informations.
And yes, I would love to make the two wires factory-like, again.
I' ve two more questions:
1. There is a tiny poti (blue square box) which belongs to the tone control. What is it for?
2. My second bass is a Fender Precision. The Alembic is far louder. When play both basses on one amp I always have to turn the amp down/up so both basses are equally loud. Is there the possibility in the electronic to make the Alembic less loud?
Cheers, Thomas