Alembic failures - are there any??

[terryc]

Okay last night the LED's in my MK stopped working, a bit of simple diagnostics showed the switch had failed, 5 minutes later with the soldering iron and a mini toggle I had in my spares drawer fixed it all.
The question to all of you, what is the Achilles Heel of any Alembic bass or guitar,(God Forbid!!!) what is the most common electronic component to fail over time or what part of the body/hardware does the same. I bet some of the answers will be interesting, some even from Mica.
I await in anticipation

[sonicus]

HI Terry,        
              it is good to read of your fast and successful diagnosis and repair talents .    In my experience it is electromechanical mechanisms  and switches  and the such that show failures more then less often. I find that to be expected and logical . This statement applies to all Audio Desks/mixers / Tape recorders/ Audio processing / and switches & pots, attenuators ,  found in musical instruments  and studio and live musical apparatus.  
   
IN short ; if it moves and grooves, sooner or later you must remove ___+LOL _!
 
Wolf ___

[jazzyvee]

Terry I thought your LEDs we're put in by Simms not alembic.  
I had the lever on my standby switch break but that was my fault using a right angled jack and not adjusting it before plonking it on my guitar stand.  
 
Jazzyvee

[growlypants]

Excellent synopsis, sonicus!!  (If it moves and grooves...)  I have an '09 MK5, and my LED switch sometimes needs to be jiggled a bit to work right, so you're not alone, Jazzyvee!

[JimmyJ]

I've replaced p/u selector switches.  I literally spin that after every song so it's not surprising that it would wear out after years.
 
I've also replaced several of my Schaller tuning pegs.  Same story, I change strings a lot and they get a good workout.
 
And one pickup stopped transmitting a few years ago which I imagine is a rare problem.
 
Alembic gear is built as robustly as can be.  Made to be rolled on and off the truck and work reliably every night.  That said, when I have my trunk on the road I carry spare everything, starting with a 2nd complete bass.  Plus a small case with cables, connectors, switches, preamp board, and even a spare set of pickups and wiring harness.
 
Even though the active circuitry of these instruments could be considered complicated compared to a passive axe, I've only had one preamp card fail in almost 40 years (Jeez!) of use.  Glad I had the spare card that moment!  I can tell the boring story if you want...
 
Curious to hear from Mica about what the most common repair is.
 
The move + groove = remove formula is great, and right on the money!
 
Jimmy J

[sonicus]

Thanks  guys for the thumbs up on the   moves + grooves = remove .
   
     Jimmy J , none of your stories have been boring , it seems reasonable that your spare card story would be interesting ___.
 
Wolf __

[mica]

ICs are the most commonly replaced electronic part. These are socketed on all but the earliest instruments, so the repair is both cheap and easy. Probably the pickup selector switch is after that.  
 
Then the 5-pin cables in general - but that's usually due to poor use habits. Not everyone is kind to the wire and uses the over-under looping method. I cringe when I see the techs at big name shows coiling cables over their elbows then cinching them up tight around the middle. The agony!
 
It's no surprise, and I think I've said this before but pegheads are the most vulnerable thing physically, as they are the smallest part of the instrument and bear all the tension of the strings. Since we know they will eventually break here (maybe not in our lifetimes, but someday something bad is bound to happen) they are made to be fairly easy and inexpensive to repair. For instance, now it's typically a $75 repair and though not invisible, it's strong and functional.  
 
I think especially with the long scale large body basses, they are more prone to damage of the peghead simply because they are hanging out longer than many players expect.

[pauldo]

Pick up selector switch on my Distillate.
 
On my 3rd one.  
 
Switch one and two were broken by my own robust carelessness.

[gtrguy]

Clarostat pot detents, if someone reefs on them.

[hammer]

LED switch on both of my Signatures.  Still work... but have to wiggle them a bit.
 
And Pauldo, you have a way with language.  I love your term, robust carelessness.

[slawie]

I have learnt that the neck pick up Q switch is not robust enough for drunk women to stand on.
 
It happened at a gig where there was no stage and we played just at the back of the dance floor.
 
My next trip to the states will be with my bass in hand for a full refurb by the mother ship.
 
slawie

[bsee]

I have one bad mini-toggle that rocks in a direction it isn't supposed to, but still works correctly. I also still have something going on with the Excel that remains undiagnosed. Prior to that no issues at all in 20 years of playing various Alembics. Going to have to rip the guts out and ship them to Santa Rosa one of these days.

[terryc]

Jazzyvee..yes they were installed by Martin Sims, just the other night I was about to noodle and no sound, thought it was the battery, no sound then I tried the LED's and they didn't come on..so after a little probing with a wire and battery(by-passing the switch) and they came on. Problem solved.  
Good to see such varied answers and obviously Sonicus's rule applies here.. I remember when I was an apprentice mechanic and old George(well he looked old to me as I was only 16!) said 'If it moves and heats up..it will wear out!' Which is just about everything really! Nice to see Mica chip in as well.

[jazzyvee]

Just as mica mentions here is a broken headstock.Not for the faint  hearted.
http://alembic.com/club/messages/393/114126.html?1317706724
 
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/3583/sam0046g.jpg
 
http://alembic.com/club/messages/393/28504.html
 
Jazzyvee

[terryc]

Yep..pretty horrific but they can repair anything at Alembic