Alembic Spoiler String height

[JimmyJ]

Ah, well spotted.  Somebody has replaced the two nut "hold-up" screws with ... well, it looks like wood screws.  Yikes! This is likely a factor in your action adjustment issues.

The 3 adjustment screws on that nut are supposed to be allen-headed bolts.  The two on the outside are meant to be headless, and threaded into the upper portion of the nut.  Their job is to simply push up against the PLATE which should be the bottom bit of brass.  The center bolt has a small head on it (possibly trimmed down in diameter) and is in charge of holding the nut down.  It screws into a machine screw insert in the wood.  Found this pic below showing the outside adjustors - (middle string of the 5 is covering the hold-down bolt).


Jimmy J

[bassvibes]

I managed to get the nut down a bit before it start buzzing on open E.

The screws are allen head screws but they do seem a bit longer to other pictures of Alembics I have seen.  This is my first Alembic so sorry I am such a newbie - its a massive learning curve (baptism of fire)

[el8ed]

Strangely as soon as I loosened the strings it was straight into a back bow.  That truss rod is struggling

That statement gives me some pause … if you have a back bow with the strings loosened, shouldn’t your truss rod be “idle”, meaning the truss rod nuts should be completely loose? The truss rod works against too much forward bow, so if you still have tension on the truss rod I would try to loosen that first all the way and see what the neck is doing—maybe with the strings off? Then start adjusting the truss rod from scratch.
Hope this helps,
Oliver

[JimmyJ]

We're just all trying to figure out why the outer two bolts appear to have heads under the main part of the nut...  That's not a normal Alembic setup, as far as I know. However, if the nut is secure and you're able to lower it to that "zero fret" position, it doesn't really matter what's weird about it. 

Could we see the nut from the front - the string side?  Or, could you take the center bolt out and lift the nut off at some point and take a pic?  Just curious.

Jimmy J

[bassvibes]

Thanks all for you help so far.

The bolts function fine and give me ability to get to zero fret but due to the current neck set up I can't get to zero fret without buzzing on the open string.  Nor can I get the bridge any lower.

As for the back bow, unless it is a dual action truss rod it will only act against a forward bow.  So my thinking is that only the string tension will counter the back bow. 

Not sure any of the above will affect the upper fretboard action as the truss rod has no effect after the 12th fret.

[bassvibes]

The bass is on it's way to Alembic so I will post the update when I know more.  Thanks again

[BeenDown139]

The bass is on it's way to Alembic

probably the best course of action (pardon the pun) at this point.  good luck, hope it's nothing serious.

[pauldo]

This is my first Alembic so sorry I am such a newbie - its a massive learning curve (baptism of fire)

There is nothing to feel sorry about.   You have a problem, you are asking good questions and everyone is collaborating the best they can to help find a solution.  Sometimes with out physically handling the instrument, words and pictures do not capture everything. 

Paul (please let us know what they find at the Mothership)

[keith_h]

There is no reason to apologize for asking questions about your Alembic. We all started with little to no knowledge of how they are built and how to work on them. As a number of us have said without seeing the bass we can only provide suggestions however since it is on its way back to the Mothership I'm sure they'll be able to  straighten (BeenDown started it) it out.

[el8ed]

The bass is on it's way to Alembic so I will post the update when I know more.  Thanks again

Best of luck that it all gets sorted out quickly and painlessly.

[mica]

Malcolm and I have been emailing along side this thread. There's definitely some history this bass has been through. When it arrives we'll try and figure out how it got where it is and then go about getting it where it needs to be.

[JimmyJ]

An excellent turn of events!!  Malcom will soon have a properly tweaked instrument.

Jimmy J

[BeenDown139]

yas... then there will be nothing to fret about.

nyuk nyuk nyuk.

sorry.  couldn't help myself.  🤡