Suggested P/U settings for AXY56

[wick5]

People out there,
May some of you out there in Alembic Land discuss and give advice on how you adjust your sound using the pan control, the bass and treble filters, and when you use the Q switches?
I'm very new to my lovely new MK Signature Deluxe 5 string dressed in coco bolo with AXY56 standard pups.  I even like smelling it!

[jazzyvee]

Hi wick5, that's no simple question really as the filters are a extremely versatile in creating your tones. However the woods that make  up your bass also have an affect on what frequencies are emphasised even before you start to make moves with the filters.
 
My first Alembic with signature electronics was a Stanley Clarke signature with Cocobolo. After many frustrating months not knowing which way to turn what control to get the sound I wanted, I eventually found the best solution for me was to find a sound that i felt I could use on most of the music I was playing at the time which was RnB, Funk, Soul and a bit of Jazz. That position was, neck filter fully anti clockwise, q-switch off, neck filter fully open ( clockwise) with Q-switch on, pan control fully towards the neck pickup then very slightly turned back towards the bridge stopping as soon as I can hear the sharp attack from the bridge pickup.  
 
I call that my home position and even now when I pickup my signature basses to play I still put the controls at that position then everything else I do is from that point. This gives me a known reference point that I can go to or from quickly in order to change tones during a song.  
 
It's rare for me to use the Q switch on  the neck pickup unless maybe I'm doing something by Stanley Clarke or want something like his tone on something else. Depending on the rest of your bass rig you may find that small changes on the filters provide you with a noticeable change in tone unlike some basses where you seem to hear get most of the change at either end of the control. This makes me and many others a tweaker during a song as we fine tune the tone.
Also be aware that each pickup pre-amp has a gain pot insides so you can bias your sound towards one pickup or the other.  For example if you always like more bridge tone in your sound you can use the trim pots to set the output from of each pickup independently to provide whatever bias you choose in the output of your bass. I have left them both set to the same position.

[wick5]

Jazzyvee,
Many thanks for your detailed response; it will be most helpful.  As regards your neck filter, did you mean to give two sound choices for that pickup, or did you mean to type bridge pickup for one of your descriptions?

[jazzyvee]

Oops yes in my home position I meant neck filter closed and bridge fully open. Sorry for confusion.

[hieronymous]

Hi wick5, congrats on your new Alembic! I have had a 5-string Stanley Clarke Signature (tuned EADGC) with Anniversary electronics for several years now but have finally been getting to work with it in a band situation.  
 
I used to always plan on using both pickups, with the neck pickup supplying more of the bottom end and the bridge pickup for the treble spectrum. But recently, I've been using just the neck pickup with the Q switch off, with the filter set pretty low, either for a very deep, flatwound kind of sound or at more of the low-midrange for a surprisingly P-Bass sound. I honestly never dreamed that I would just use the neck pickup, until Mica mentioned it at a Gathering - I even dismissed the idea at the time, only to find it being my standard setting now.  
 
But maybe the most important question is: what sound are YOU going for? Also, are you playing with fingers? Pick? Slapping? What kind of music are you playing?Whatever the case, have fun in your tone quest!

[growlypants]

Hey, wick5!  I have an MK Sig Deluxe 5-er (which I also bought from Atl. Bass Gallery, by the way!) and while I don't play out much, I've just enjoyed this bass so much, I play along with CD's in the house.  As hieronymous says, I often just use the neck pick-up, and find the Q-switch to be extremely useful.  Have fun, and don't be surprised if years from now, you're still enjoying the versatility!!

[wick5]

Thanks, people in Alembic Land.
I play with my fingers, always. I'm searching for that Jimmy Johnson with James Taylor sound. Can that be achieved with my pickups?

[adriaan]

Psssst, promise not to tell anyone, but ... try this Showcase thread.

[reinier]

Hi Steve, congrats on your new MK 5-er! I'm the still very happy owner of a '99 Jimmy Johnson Signature 5-er equipped with AXY5/6 pups & Anniversary electronics. As a big fan of JJ's playing I've been looking for a similar sound from well before (finally) becoming an Alembic owner and the biggest leap forward in the right direction I found was switching to GHS Boomers on my then Dutch built 6-string (which did have Alembic pups & gut, but from a wood perspective was way off).
As for settings: my Anniversary controls are 2x vol rather than vol + pan so you may have to tweak a little differently, but (on my headphones) I get pretty close to JJ's sound as follows: neck pu full volume, Q-switch off & filter almost fully closed; bridge pu: volume rolled back to abt 75%, Q-switch engaged and filter fully open (gain pots inside cavity both fully open). When I want to make the sound a bit bigger I open the neck filter to halfway (and then regret there's no master vol to keep me level, but hey, that's a different [price] league altogether). In the thread Adriaan linked you to I believe JJ somewhere states he uses everything full up with the bridge pu getting some emphasis from the gain pots (which I believe are accessable thru the control plate on a SII, sigh) I now btw use DR Sunbeams (Tight wound variety) which are a tad milder than the Boomers, which imho makes up for the humcancelling pups sounding a bit harsher than single coils (which are standard on JJ's Series II basses, sigh). As a small consolation: I once had the pleasure of talking to JJ at a Michael Landau gig and he told me that his 3 SII's were ordered to largely the same specs but still all have a character of their own. The nice thing about Alembic I found is that there is so much nuance in even the smallest of settings changes, no doubt you'll find a whole palette of sounds you'll grow to love. Take care and happy New Year (shouldn't be an issue with a new Alembic?), Reinier