My first 6-string bass, and it's an Alembic

[Leon]

Greetings! Yesterday I recieved my '94 alembic Epic 6 (serial number 94W8786), after spending a few weeks researching 6-string basses as I wanted to expand my range in both directions. Originally I was gonna pick up an Ibanez, but happened to come across videoes of Alembic epics, and fell head-over-heels for the tone, and decided that breaking my budget was justified, and bought this bass unseen. I must say I'm not dissapointed at all, and I'm in fact worried that I'll end up neglecting my Musicman Stingray since this bass just feels so much more boutique.

I'm planning on slapping some new strings on it (the E-A-D-G strings are dead, allthough the B and C are still nice and bright, perhaps the previous owner preferred four-strings?), and setting the action a bit lower, and whilst inspecting the bass to figure out how I want to set it up, I noticed the pickups are canted off at weird angles (particularily the neck pickup). Is this how they should be, or is this the result of a previous owner not really knowing what they were doing? I blame my ignorance on this matter on the fact that Stingrays have half as many pickups to think about haha
Is there a base-height that I should set them to, from which I can fine tune to preference?
Also, am I correct in my assessment that the alen screws on the bridge adjustments take metric alen wrenches, or is this one of those cases where the metric and imperial tools are close enough that using the metric version will strip out the screw head?

I'm now beginning to realise that I have neglected to actually introduce myself, I'm Leon, and I live in Norway. Hello!

[pauldo]

Leon, welcome to the camp!  The pickup height, angle and gain settings are flexible and designed to be adjusted.  There are other members here that most certainly can help you find the best setting(s).  I haven’t adjusted mine in twenty years.

Your Epic is beautiful.  I am certain that your Stingray won’t mind a little time left alone.

Paul

[JimmyJ]

Hey Leon,

Welcome to the club and congratulations on becoming the new owner/operator of that fine looking bass.  Hope you enjoy it to its fullest.

The pickups are held in place by 4 Phillips-head screws.  The two that you can see are holding the pickup down while the two you can't see are underneath the pickup (in the opposite corners) holding the pickup up. 

If you loosen the upper screws the pickup will teeter back and forth on the two lower screws.  Then if you want to change the height of the pickup you pass a small Phillips-head screwdriver through the corner holes and turn the hidden screws clockwise to lower it or counter-clockwise to raise it.

Once you have the pickup at the height you want then you snug down the two upper screws to hold it in place.  (This is the moment where you can level them out!). Do not over-tighten the upper screws because it's only the molded resin of the pickup that is resisting this twisting force.  Just make them tight enough to hold the pickup in position with no rattle.

Have fun with that thing!!

Jimmy J

[Leon]

Took a look at adjusting the pickups, but found that the top screws were barely threaded in, so they were as high up as they could go. Seems surprisingly low to me, as I'm used to pickups that can be adjusted so high they touch the strings (not that that's desirable at all haha). Straightened out the angle a bit though, and the bass sounds fantastic with a set of new super slinkies, so it's not really a problem. Output is a bit lower than I'm used to from my stingray, but not to the point where I have to turn up the volume on the amp more than just a fraction, and my stingray is pretty hot anyways.

[StephenR]

Leon have you adjusted the gain on the internal trimpots or at least checked to see if they are maxed out? If they are set to maximum gain already does the bass have a new set of batteries in it? Also if you haven't already looked there is a lot of excellent info in the FAQ section of the forum including things that are specific to each model.
https://club.alembic.com/index.php?board=6.0

[Leon]

I'm not familiar with the internal trim pots, so no, haven't checked them. Are they attached to the pickups, or are they in the electronics cavity? Haven't checked the battery as I originally planned on picking up a new one when I was at the shops earlier today, but completely forgot and it's cold out so I'd rather sit here and play my beautiful new bass than go back out haha
I'll have to remember to pick up a couple next time i'm out

[StephenR]

The information about adjusting the trimpots is in the FAQ link that I posted under "Information Related to All Instruments"...

[hammer]

As Jimmy indicated, it's the bottom (the not visible screws) that set height and the uppers that just snug the PU. Based on what you wrote I'm not sure if your PUs are set as high as they can go or you adjusted the wrong set of screws. My experience with several Alembics is that there is a good deal of PU travel with the approach they have taken. If you have those bottom screws set as high as the PU will go and you're still way below the strings, you might want to check out your bridge and nut heights. How low action is your bass at this point?


One reason why the PUs might have seemed off kilter is that on most but not all basses, the upper strings, especially the G-string, just doesn't have the degree of fullness, sustain and volume as the E and A. Most 4-string players I know will rarely use the lower frets on the G-string preferring instead to move up on the neck in an attempt to get that fatter sound. One way to compensate for this lack of fullness on the upper strings is to have the PUs closer to those strings than the lower register ones.  Adjusting the trimpots can increase/decrease your overall output from the neck and bridge PUs but won't solve that upper register strings sounding less full than the lower.

[adriaan]

Just to be sure, on a regular 94 Epic there will be just one trimpot for the overall output level.

[Leon]

Checked the trim-pot, and it was set at about 50%. Adjusted it to about 75% and now the output seems to be about where I am used to. Handy little feature.
In regards to the pup-screws, I'm fairly sure I was adjusting the correct screws, the top ones on the neck pup are threaded on maybe half a turn, so it seems they maybe have have been replaced with shorter screws at some point? The upper screws are about 19mm long, and they are the correct non-magnet stainless steel. The neck pup is about 6mm below the B-string, whilst the bridge pup is 4mm below. I have set the action to just a smidge over 2mm at the 24th fret (i like it low). The pickup doesn't really need to come up any higher as the neck pickup is already giving a nice rich tone with plenty of output, it's just a bit surprising that the securing screws are barely threaded in like that 🤔

[JimmyJ]

Great that you found some extra gain. 

Here's the story on the pickup screws:
https://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=215.0
So your 19mm / .75" screws appear to be stock for that pickup.  You can always get longer "hold down" screws (stainless steel) if you want it to be higher.  But as you have discovered there's plenty of bass already so there may be no benefit in raising it further unless it's just your preference.

Jimmy J