So, I wrote what ended up being a VERY long post, went to post it, and? the site was down! Fortunately I was able to save it. Basically I wanted to share some recent thoughts on this subject, very much in agreement with Sonofa_lembic assessment of some of the ?simpler? Alembics. Here it is:
I am very fortunate in that I've been able to own/be a caretaker for a variety of Alembic electronics varieties. My first was a 32 Spoiler, the doubleneck is Series I, my Stanley Clarke 5-string started out Signature, now it's Anniversary. Plus, I have two Activator-equipped Fenders - the Telembic has a standard P, my AlFeMbic is PJ with the 3-position Q-switch added.
I got some great trebly sounds with the Spoiler, though in my limited use of it with a band I wasn't 100% happy with the low end, though I think it is because of lack of experience that I later acquired. I will say that I have never gotten that punchy yet snappy sound with any of my other Alembics.
One of my theories about the seeming lack of bottom end is this: Alembic pickups give a much more even and balanced frequency response than classic passive pickups - traditional pickups have a very colored sound - think P-bass with that midrange bump that is often perceived as low-end. Two pickup basses like the Jazz or Rickenbacker 4001 give a more scooped sound with clearer high-end and seemingly-boosted bass. I think this is what many think of as an Alembic sound.
But an Alembic pickup doesn't lack bass - it's just giving a much more accurate picture of the whole range of the sound instead of coloring the sound. That's what the filter is for! Well, amp/outboard preamp too. So one approach is to take just the neck pickup, no Q boost, filter set all the way open. Adjust your amp/outboard preamp to boost the bass - the frequencies are there, they just need to be brought out. If you subtract some midrange you get even more pronounced bass, just need to turn up a bit louder!
This is actually the simple Alembic circuit - it's in every filter-equipped Alembic, from Spoiler to Series II. With no Q-boost, you can adjust the filter to cut off wherever you like - way low for a flatwound kind of sound, around the midrange for some more growl, wide open for some more clang or snap.
One thing I discovered with my two Activated basses is that the Q switch is very useful, because it allows you to have no Q! On my Telembic with the one P-pickup, it sounds great with the Q boosted (hardwired at +9!) in the low frequencies, but if you set your amp to that and want to change the filter frequency, then you are losing the low end that you were boosting so the sound will be a lot thinner. That's why I like to let the preamp/amp do the bass-boosting, so that I am free to adjust the Q without affecting the bass. Maybe we can think of it as a no-Q mode of thinking. With my AlFeMbic which has a 3-position Q-switch (+0/+6/+9), I use this approach and can go from fat flatwound P to a grindier midrange P to mid-scooped PJ, with high end or without. If I REALLY want some high end, I can set the Q-switch to +6 and boost one of the higher frequencies. I have to admit, I do love the sheen of the highest range on the Alembic pickups - the bright switch on the F-2B really brings it out! And this is all with what I consider a simpler Alembic setup. The key is NOT using the Q boost. Just let the pickup sense the strings in a balanced way, but cut off where you like, where you want to emphasize something.
The sound I used to go to for with my Anniversary-equipped (the closest you can get to Series without being Series) Stanley Clarke was this: Q-boost the low frequency I like (that I have found with my Activated basses) with the neck pickup, then blend in the bridge pickup for the midrange/high end boost I want, in my mind with the Q boosted here as well. This would presumably give me the midscooped sound that I like in a Jazz or Rick.
But at some point, due to a comment from Mica that she likes the single pickup setup, I've just been using the neck pickup the way I described above for the no-Q mode. And so far I love it! In a way, it feels like maybe I'm not taking advantage of the potential power of the bass, but I have been so happy with it this way - sometimes it almost gets that P-Bass growl, or I can go super-deep. Actually, I am a fairly recent convert to the flatwound sound - I have several basses strung with them - and I feel like I have found it in this bass, though I have the potential to get the roundwound sound too, since it is still strung with rounds.
Reading back through this essay (!!!) that I wrote, I guess I am saying this - Sonofa_lembic is right, the simpler Alembics are incredible instruments in their own right, even if they don't allow all the options of some of the more advanced electronics packages.
But part of me wishes that my Stanley Clarke was prepped for Series - I am realizing that the variable Q is actually an intriguing idea - it allows you to explore the more subtle area of a lower Q-boost, like +3, that isn't available in Series I/Anniversary/Signature models...
