Author Topic: New (old) F2B owner  (Read 207 times)

tomb11112

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New (old) F2B owner
« on: July 21, 2023, 01:32:39 PM »
Hello all,

I am the proud new owner of an original F2B preamp.
I am a guitar player first, but play bass in a few bands.

Being a Floyd fan the Alembic was a sought after bit of kit.

I joined here as I am trying to reach out to Alembic to get a new transformer sent to the UK.

I've emailed the help and Mica email address - I initially got a reply from Mica but recently haven't had any response in a few weeks.
I've tried a few new email and even tried messaging Mica directly on here - not sure what is going wrong but can someone at Alembic please send me a DM or look for emails from the email registered to this account?

I'm hoping this is just some odd IT issues - hopefully someone can help me out here.

Thank you in advance,

Tom

hammer

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Re: New (old) F2B owner
« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2023, 07:47:36 AM »
Have you tried calling. I know there is an 8 hour time difference but someone will typically pick up between 10:00 and 4:00 pacific coast time.

tomb11112

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Re: New (old) F2B owner
« Reply #2 on: July 22, 2023, 08:57:41 AM »
Several times - including leaving voicemail messages.

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to make contact. I will keep trying over the next few days, but I am starting to get the impression that sending a replacement transformer to the UK is too much effort. :(

I really hope this can all turn around and be a positive experience.

In more positive light - I gave the internals a clean. I suspect there may be a newer transformer anyway as there was a lot of dirt and grime on the inside (possibly an original transformer went up in smoke?). The shielding over the unused taps isn't in keeping with what I have seen previously.

Before cleaning:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/gJZxpS5axGdfQEZV7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Sf5mEWV5CkoDNxQ37
https://photos.app.goo.gl/m8o5Wd4FK7crPhNM9

After cleaning:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MevpGvLZEKkSacycA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/nm26SwRGWMFtLG3W9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5QWCX8hpfMsR1fhK9
« Last Edit: July 22, 2023, 08:59:38 AM by tomb11112 »

JimmyJ

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Re: New (old) F2B owner
« Reply #3 on: July 22, 2023, 11:10:28 AM »
Hey Tom,

Nice clean up job!  I think you are correct, based on the discoloration on the inside of the lid my guess is you have a 115V US model which was mistakenly been plugged into 240V UK power and that's cooked your power transformer.  We're starting to get used to computer power supplies which no longer care what the input voltage is.  I'm glad we don't need to carry those voltage converting transformers anymore for our laptops but musical instrument gear is another story.  Especially vintage equipment.

You definitely want to source this transformer from Alembic because of the specific voltages, size and fit.  Hopefully they have a couple 240V versions in stock and can arrange to get one to you.  Alembic is a small family-owned and operated business so you must be patient when trying to reach them or get a response.  As hammer said your best bet is calling weekdays between 6pm - midnight your time.

Jimmy J

jazzyvee

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Re: New (old) F2B owner
« Reply #4 on: July 22, 2023, 12:58:52 PM »
Just a thought, i'm in the states next month on tour and will be ordering some parts from alembic to send to the address i will be staying, if you can get in touch with mica and get your order in, i'm happy for mica to send it to me as long as it's not heavy and can bring it back with me and you could then just cover the internal postage for me to send it to you.
The sound of Alembic is medicine for the soul!
http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_ktwins.html

tomb11112

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Re: New (old) F2B owner
« Reply #5 on: July 22, 2023, 03:02:42 PM »
Hey Tom,

Nice clean up job!  I think you are correct, based on the discoloration on the inside of the lid my guess is you have a 115V US model which was mistakenly been plugged into 240V UK power and that's cooked your power transformer.  We're starting to get used to computer power supplies which no longer care what the input voltage is.  I'm glad we don't need to carry those voltage converting transformers anymore for our laptops but musical instrument gear is another story.  Especially vintage equipment.

You definitely want to source this transformer from Alembic because of the specific voltages, size and fit.  Hopefully they have a couple 240V versions in stock and can arrange to get one to you.  Alembic is a small family-owned and operated business so you must be patient when trying to reach them or get a response.  As hammer said your best bet is calling weekdays between 6pm - midnight your time.

Jimmy J

Thanks Jimmy,

I'm thrilled with how well this came up. All I used was some Muck Off (bike cleaner) and a little acetone on the worst areas.
The unit came from Japan - and I wouldn't be surprised if a liquid was spilled inside. The bottom panel had the worst of the dirt/grime, and it was mainly above the transformer where there looked to be any heat damage.

It arrived wired for 100v - and this is how I left it. Once I get a new transformer I can get that installed and ensure this preamp is working to its full potential. Mica said all the new ones have multi taps for international voltages (which this one actually does have, but I am not sure I trust it if there was previous heat/potential liquid damage).

I appreciate Alembic are a small outfit. I had started an email exchange with Mica last month. The last message from her was on the 23rd June. I sent replies on the 3rd 12th and 17th July (after receiving the unit and confirming I needed/wanted a replacement transformer) and have since heard nothing. Even a direct DM on here hasn't yielded any acknowledgement.
I do hope everything is OK with them - but I would like to get a transformer ordered and on it's way to the UK.

If anyone from Alembic reads this - please reach out to me and let me know how best to proceed. :)

tomb11112

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Re: New (old) F2B owner
« Reply #6 on: July 22, 2023, 03:08:31 PM »
Just a thought, i'm in the states next month on tour and will be ordering some parts from alembic to send to the address i will be staying, if you can get in touch with mica and get your order in, i'm happy for mica to send it to me as long as it's not heavy and can bring it back with me and you could then just cover the internal postage for me to send it to you.

That's very kind of you - thank you.
I really appreciate the offer, but wouldn't want to inconvenience you.
As soon as I can re-establish contact with Alembic and get the transformers paid for/shipped we will all be golden.

This shows the Alembic community here are friendly, welcoming people. Thank you all for this.

I hope my first posts are not seen as a "bad egg" in the ranks. I want to support the company and community - I just find the lack of engagement from all mediums challenging. I'm hopeful it can all be resolved and everything will be sunshine and roses afterwards. :)

Have a great weekend all. My fingers are crossed to get the new transformer on order next week.

JimmyJ

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Re: New (old) F2B owner
« Reply #7 on: July 22, 2023, 05:38:25 PM »
Aha, glad to hear you have had some communication with the mothership already.  Stand by and you'll get it sorted. 

In the meantime let me suggest something...  I'm a bit of a wire-head myself so what I would probably do is remove that transformer (in anticipation of replacing it anyway) get it on the bench and see if I could test the windings with my volt-ohm meter to determine what's going on.

You've learned that the transformer in place is in fact the multi-voltage model and you can see that for your 100V Japanese setup the primary side is using the Black wire and the White wire.  The Green and the Orange wires are insulated, bundled up and unused.  Those are likely the alternate voltage inputs. 

I found a picture here:
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/alembic-f-2b-preamp.1294425/
Of the inside of a more recent build presumably wired for US power.  It looks like in this case the Black and Green (wound together) are being used for the primary while the White and Orange are unused.

Then the picture in this thread:
http://www.alembic.com/club/messages/449/8044.html
of an F2B which is conveniently wired for 240V.  And although harder to see it looks to me like the White and Green wires (twisted together) are unused and the Black and Orange wires are what are being used as the primary.

So my interpretation of all this is that Black is one end of the primary winding, White is the 100V tap, Green the 120V tap, and Orange the 240v end of the winding.  There's a chance that once removed you will see markings on the top of the transformer describing the connections but I'm not sure because this may be a custom made component.

You'd of course want to confirm all this before applying any power (!!) but in the meantime you could certainly check for continuity between the Black and Orange wires.  For the secondary you'd need to unsolder at least one of each of the pairs so you can check the transformer without any other circuitry in play.  But again, I think you should find continuity between both twisted pairs.

What you DON'T want to find is continuity between the primary winding and any of the secondary wires.  Plus the two secondary pairs should be isolated from each other so nothing between the Red or Blue sides.

Anyway, excuse the long story.  And take this all with with a grain of salt because I am only an amateur electronics dabbler.  I don't think I've ever done this kind of test so I don't even know what kind of meter readings to expect, but I understand what should and shouldn't be connected.

You'll get that thing up and running soon.  We're all happy to see somebody giving it some love!

Jimmy J

tomb11112

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Re: New (old) F2B owner
« Reply #8 on: July 28, 2023, 08:40:27 AM »
Update - pleased to report that earlier in the week I managed to call and speak to a lovely lady called Mary.
All sorted and paid for - now just waiting on the new transformer to make it's way over. :)

I want to make sure the unit works at its best - so wanting to put a new transformer in just to be safe!