What years were these particular font Alembic printed pickups used by Alembic?

[welovecats]

Thoughts?

[David Houck]

You can probably get a good idea by perusing the pictures in the Showcase section of the board, starting with Series instruments made the same year as yours and moving forward in time from there.

[gearhed289]

I can't fully answer the question, but I can tell you that those pickups are on my '86 Distillate. My favorite of the pickup logos actually.

[StephenR]

My 1978 Series bass has pickups with no logo at all. I think they were added a few years later. David's suggestion to check the Showcase section is a good one.

[edwardofhuncote]

'81 Distillate has bald, shiny pickups, '85 has this type with logo.

The P and J shaped activators were intro'd early/mid-1980's...

Maybe I'm reading too much into your post, but if you're curious, those pickups are newer than 1976. If I were guessing, I'd say they were replaced during an upgrade. You could have the fine folks here look it up... but... you already know that. 

Nice bass. Play the splinters out of it.

*FWIW, Alembic will still make a set of pickups molded with this logo. I have a set of AXY FatBoys with it. Love 'em.

[welovecats]

'81 Distillate has bald, shiny pickups, '85 has this type with logo.

The P and J shaped activators were intro'd early/mid-1980's...

Maybe I'm reading too much into your post, but if you're curious, those pickups are newer than 1976. If I were guessing, I'd say they were replaced during an upgrade. You could have the fine folks here look it up... but... you already know that. 

Nice bass. Play the splinters out of it.

*FWIW, Alembic will still make a set of pickups molded with this logo. I have a set of AXY FatBoys with it. Love 'em.

Hi, yes was just trying to figure out if they might have been replaced. I’m thinking of going back to no logo black or maybe even caramel. I’ll try to speak to Mica. Thanks!

[StephenR]

I thought you were already aware the pickups had been replaced. If you are going to replace them again you may as well have the hum cancelling circuit upgrade done, too, unless it has already been done. In some cases as part of the upgrade they replace the pickups with new ones that are more closely matched, naturally you could order those with or without a logo and in your color of choice.  If you know the electronics weren't previously upgraded I would spend some time playing the bass in different environments before considering the upgrade, if it isn't noisy in most environments it may not be worth spending money on, and beyond the cost of shipping, you will lose access to the bass while in the shop.

[JimmyJ]

You can usually determine if the upgrade has already been done by closely examining the preamp card.  Ron's fine-tuning often includes adding a couple caps or resistors to the existing components.  Some bonus parts artistically attached.  I don't have a good visual example handy but of you post a pic of your preamp card here we might be able answer that question without asking Mica to look it up.

Now if you're considering changing your pickups purely for aesthetic reasons, be aware that if the bass has already had the upgrade you may negate the work and need to have it redone to match the new pickups.  Just an fyi.

That's a classic looking axe!  Enjoy the big tone.

Jimmy J

[welovecats]

Thanks guys for all your thoughts. Here are some pics inside electronics.

[rv_bass]

Looks like it has not had the upgrade.  Those I have seen with the upgrade have some components attached to the four together in the top left of your photo. 

As a side note, I believe you can get an estimate of when the bass was made by the numbers stamped on the control pots.  This one was made around the 39th week of 1976.

[JimmyJ]

I agree, that board looks original and unaltered so it has not had the upgrade.  It even has the flatpack op-amps mounted on the underside which is consistent with the build date.

But I do believe your pickups have been replaced.  And when that was done, instead of using adaptors to connect the new pickups to the old mini-coax connectors, somebody decided to solder the wires directly to the board - even the hum canceller.  (I guess they were on a roll with the soldering iron.)  That's only a problem if you ever need to service any of those pieces. 

If you find this bass to be generally noise-free then there's no pressing reason to do the upgrade.  But if you're contemplating replacing the pickups anyway ... you might consider booking an appointment with the head Wizard (Ron W.) so he can bring it up to current specs.

Jimmy J

[hammer]

As others have indicated this all really depends on how the bass is working for you in the environments in which you will be playing it. Given the backlogs Alembic has with respect to getting this work done (their is really only one wizard) it’s not worth the time you will be missing the bass to do this purely for cosmetic reasons. I have 4 Series I basses at this point. Two have the originals PUs with no upgrades and are as quiet as any basses I’ve ever played. One could definitely use an upgrade. Another spent time at the mothership due RF noise and the hum canceler not working. When they finished working on it, Mica was almost apologetic that they Ron couldn’t get it to the point where it was perfectly quiet. Since it’s been returned, I played it in multiple locations including an ultra quiet studio and neither I nor anyone around me hears any noise whatsoever! The point I’m trying to make here is that if you need the update done, while it might take some time, what you’ll get back will be as close to perfect as one can get.

[edwardofhuncote]

Cats, you're in the catbird's seat. You have two '76 zebrawood Series basses, one already has the coveted caramel-colored pickups, and a '77 Series guitar. (and a Custom Order pending too?)

Back to my original statement... just play the splinters out of it/them.

[gtrguy]

Replaced pickups, maybe go through your own hum canceling procedure adjusting the trimmers through the outside of the brass cover plate and then enjoy the heck out of it!

[welovecats]

Cats, you're in the catbird's seat. You have two '76 zebrawood Series basses, one already has the coveted caramel-colored pickups, and a '77 Series guitar. (and a Custom Order pending too?)

Back to my original statement... just play the splinters out of it/them.

I just love your post. Don’t get me wrong I feel very lucky! Love the way you laid it out here. I’m in no hurry, spoke to Mica, and yes, it’s all working great as is.

Cheers and thanks to all who chimed in!