Author Topic: Epic upgrade (Read 665 times)

ggunn · « **Reply #15 on:** September 16, 2006, 11:56:07 AM »

Well, I got my AE-2, but I have a couple of installation issues. One is that the bass and treble knobs are hard to pry off as per the instructions, and I scored the wood a bit around them. Just a cosmetic issue, but...

Another, though, is that the shaft on the new pot is 1/4 and the original pots have a much smaller shaft, so I can't put one of the original knobs on it, and a replacement knob wasn't included.

Lastly, the instructions say to loosen the collet with [a] large blade screwdriver. Anybody out there know what a collet is? m-w.com doesn't.

Cheers,

mica · « **Reply #16 on:** September 16, 2006, 12:19:31 PM »

Your Epic is early enough that you need a new knob - I will send you one on Monday.

But, I hope you didn't pry the knob off! Just the little cap of the knob with the white indicator line. When you remove the cap , you can see the collet mechanism.

I'll post some more pictures about removing knobs on Monday as well.

ggunn · « **Reply #17 on:** September 16, 2006, 01:33:33 PM »

Mica wrote, But, I hope you didn't pry the knob off! Just the little cap of the knob with the white indicator line. When you remove the cap , you can see the collet mechanism.

Well, yes I did just pry them off. The knobs on my bass have only one white indicator line, and that's down at the base, and that's where I pried, as per (my interpretation of) the instructions. Also, I have no idea what a collet is in this context, and neither does the online dictionary.

I tried to call Alembic when the knobs were so hard to get off, but got the answer machine, and I had no idea you'd be on this forum on the weekend, and I need this done for a session in a coupla hours. So I did what I thought the instructions said to do, hard as it was.

I have since gotten one of the knobs and I see what you were talking about, but as I say, there's no white indicator line on the cap. There's a very faint line (where the plastic is a little smoother) that you can see when you look closely (I need a magnifier to see it), but it's not white. I think that the instructions could have been a bit more clear.

BTW, there are a couple of other omissions (you talk about the three pin cable and not the other one, you don't say which component goes into which hole), but I figured those out.

Anyway, I got it in and I absolutely love the sound of it. I don't like the depressions in the wood around the knob and switch that I made trying to get the old knobs off, but that's spilt milk now.

bracheen · « **Reply #18 on:** September 16, 2006, 03:19:36 PM »

How early an Epic needs a new knob? Mine is a '94. I was dropping Christmas hints to my wife about this upgrade. Her response? I'm not going to rememeber that crap. I'll remember Alembic blah, blah, blah. Buttons blah, blah, blah But she's the one who thought my Ashdown cabinet was to put things in.
I am very interested in this upgrade and appreciate the review and extra heads ups.

Sam

ggunn · « **Reply #19 on:** September 16, 2006, 03:38:49 PM »

I really like the sound of it. With the knob all the way treble and the Q switch on, you get a boost of the top of the midrange for a little clang on the attack but a cut of the very high stuff where nothing but fret noise is. It's got other good settings as well, but I haven't had much of a chance to play with it yet.

keurosix · « **Reply #20 on:** September 18, 2006, 03:35:07 PM »

Gordon,
The Collet is the nut at the top of the shaft that holds the big plastic knob onto it. You first remove this with a flat blade screwdriver then the knob lifts off nice and easy. Too little too late!
Mica, I will also need a replacement knob for the 1/4 shaft of the new AE-2 filter. My Epic5 has the 1/8 shafts for Bass & Treble controls.
Thank you.
Kris

David Houck · « **Reply #21 on:** September 18, 2006, 08:18:42 PM »

Since several people seem to be keeping up with this thread, here is Mica's new collet knob removal page.

bob · « **Reply #22 on:** September 18, 2006, 10:05:41 PM »

The one small addition I would make (since I can't comment in the FAQ thread itself), is that you hold the knob (keep it from turning) while loosening the collet, or tightening when you put it back on.

Do *not* simply start turning the screwdriver or nut driver until the pot gets to one end, and then turn harder. This will quite possibly damage the pot.

The collet simply squeezes some other bits in the knob itself, which in turn clamp tightly around the shaft. So you are actually loosening or tightening the collet against the knob, not directly against the shaft.

When you replace the knob, slip it over the shaft, rotate it to wherever it belongs, lift slightly from the body of the instrument so it won't scrape (a business card or something similar works nicely as a spacer), then hold the knob in that position and tighten the collet.

(And by the way, while 6mm is correct, even a 1/4 nut driver is better than a screwdriver.)

tbrannon · « **Reply #23 on:** September 18, 2006, 10:45:07 PM »

I'm sure that a nut driver is a useful tool, but it sure sounds like a horrible device. =)

Thanks to Mica for the FAQ update and to Bob for that helpful tidbit above. An Epic is 2nd on my list of future acquisitions and this info just might come in handy.

ggunn · « **Reply #24 on:** September 19, 2006, 12:46:27 PM »

UPDATE: I really like the change in my sound with the AE-2, especially with the Q switch on. Last night I listened to a recording of a session we did on Saturday, and my Epic cut through the mix much better than it did before. The downside is that now I want to go back and rerecord everything I've done before the swap!

Thanks again, you guys, for the tip!

ggunn · « **Reply #25 on:** September 19, 2006, 01:06:58 PM »

The Collet is the nut at the top of the shaft that holds the big plastic knob onto it. You first remove this with a flat blade screwdriver then the knob lifts off nice and easy. Too little too late!

Three little words would have saved me a lot of time and trouble, as well as some cosmetic damage to my bass: inside the knob.

keurosix · « **Reply #26 on:** October 03, 2006, 07:47:06 PM »

Finally got my Epic back from the guitar shop and finished the AE-2 Install. It went fairly smoothly. I had to position the switch in the top hole nearest the fingerboard because the circuit board would not fit in the cavity at that hole. No matter, the switch works in the direction that I wanted: up for normal, down for boost. All-in-all, a great improvement. Now the bass sounds like a top-end alembic with the Q filter, like my Europa, but of course different because of the woods, the set neck, and lack of Europa quick tone switches. I am pleased with the result.
Kris