Epic 5 pickup mounting/adjusting screws

[dumfuxx]

Hi all,
  I bought an epic 5 off ebay and I love it, just a couple of small problems.  The truss rod was adjusted as tight as it could go, so it was way out of whack, it's finally just about right.  The pickups had foam weatherstripping under them with galvanized slotted screws holding them in.  I replaced the foam with springs and the screws with allen head machine screws but I know this is not how they are from the factory from other close-ups I have seen.  Can anyone describe in detail or furnish pictures of how I can re-create the factory adjustments?  Is there anyway I could purchase this as a kit somewhere?  thanks in advance.
Gary, the weird one

[because]

Here's how the pickup mounts into your Epic.  There are 4 screw holes in the pickup and 4 corresponding threaded bosses in the body of the bass.  Two of the boss are used to hold short length philips head machine screws that go UNDER the pickup.  They are diagonal from each other and reside at the upper left and bottom right screw bosses ( as viewing the pickup head on ).  They set the height of the pickup.  The pickup is set down on top of the heads of these screws.  Two longer screws are screwed into the remaining holes and gently snugged.  They lock the pickup.  The whole setup makes for an infinitely adjustable, solid anchor.  The pickup can be tilted to any angle ( within reason ) and it will stay that way.  
 
To adjust the pickup, you loosen the two upper screws a little bit.  Then tighten or loosen the lower screws as appropriate by inserting a fine philips head screwdriver through the holes in the pickup.  Then snug the upper screws.  Not too tight - it doesn't require much to hold a pickup in.  The pickup can be tilted by trial and error loosening / tightening of the corners till you get the pickup where you want it.  It works good.  
 
The factory screws apprear to be stainless but suitable replacements can be obtained from a hardware vendor.  The correct thread pitch on my Epic is # 6-32.
 
Springs and foam are for matresses.....  :-)

[richbass939]

Gary two, as far as the pickup adjustment goes there are some really good posts on the club that describe how to set up the pickups.  Look under Must Read and FAQ at the top of the club's first screen.  Dave Houck has done some great work organizing the threads so we can find them easily.  
If all the original screws are on the pickups there is no need for foam or springs.  One of the great things about Alembic's pickup design is that the two different screws on each side set the height and hold the pickup in place independently of each other.  If you have to remove a pickup you can reinstall it without having to adjust it again.  The threads get into a lot of detail about the why and how.  
I just got an Epic 5 to go with my Epic 4 and I love them both.  If I remember correctly you work offshore.  Do you get to take your bass out to the rig and play it?  Or do you have to pine away waiting until you have shore time?  
Rich
(edit-Sorry for the redundant info.  Typing and posting at the same time.)
 
(Message edited by richbass939 on March 20, 2005)

[David Houck]

Thanks Rich; I'm glad the new sections are helpful, although I still have a lot of work to do on them.
 
Gary; in addition to what was said above, I seem to recall reading a post wherein it was stated that not just any screws will do.  I can't recall the reasoning, but I think it had something to do with how some screws might interact with the signal.  If I ever run across that post I'll add it to the FAQ's.  So, you might want to just order new screws from Alembic.

[dumfuxx]

I do have to pine away til i return home, unless I want to risk the skill of the baggage handlers at the heliport (shudder).  It would make sense that any kind of ferrous metal screws would interfere with a magnetic signal.  I will ditch the springs and acquire some stainless screws to re-mount my pickups when I return home.  Thanks for the info.
Gary, the weird one.

[effclef]

Gary, the screws are available at the Alembic Store at:
 
http://store.yahoo.com/alembic/pickupscrews.html
 
But yeah, hardware store stainless #6-32 pan head screws will work, but I don't know the lengths offhand. Two are short for under the pickups, and two are long.  
 
EffClef