Author Topic: 1995 Series I Europa Body (Read 3635 times)

5a_quilt_top · « **Reply #15 on:** February 13, 2013, 08:23:28 AM »

If I recall correctly - your SII Europa has 3 ebony neck lams - ?

If so, from your observation, it would seem that PU placement has as much, if not more of an impact on low end than ebony vs purpleheart neck lams.

jazzyvee · « **Reply #16 on:** February 13, 2013, 11:35:45 AM »

You are correct David that it does indeed have ebony neck lams. However I can't even determine what the ebony adds to the sound of the Series II without comparing it to anything else. So as much as I'm assuming the difference is pickup placement, someone with more sophisticated ears would probably be better at analysing what is going on. That said, i had a conversation with Will Gunn on facebook last night and he confirmed that the pickup placement would be a strong factor in the pronounced bottom end. When I have some free time, i'm going to look for a frequency analyser in my Logic Pro software and see if there is anything there I can use to compare signals from both instruments.

Jazzyvee

mario_farufyno · « **Reply #17 on:** February 14, 2013, 05:30:04 AM »

Jazzyvee, Europa King!

5a_quilt_top · « **Reply #18 on:** February 14, 2013, 08:34:51 AM »

Forgot to mention that your new bass is stunning, BTW.

On one hand, I envy you for acquiring both this AND the 5-string quilt maple twin. On the other hand, I don't envy you re: choosing which one to play...;-)

Also, I asked about the ebony lam vs PU placement because, after much deliberation, I recently decided to revise the neck spec on my custom Europa 5 string project to remove the 1 ebony + 2 purpleheart lams that I originally requested and go with the standard 3 purpleheart lams.

The thought of sacrificing the effect of the ebony in the neck made me a little nervous, but your remark validated a similar observation that I had while playing my Spyder (which has 3 purpleheart lams and no ebony) - PU placement is critical.

That beast certainly does not lack low end OR sustain...

jazzyvee · « **Reply #19 on:** February 14, 2013, 09:17:02 AM »

Hi David, I guess I am fortunate that I did not have to make the decision in respect of ebony or not. if I was having a new build I think the financial outlay would be the deciding factor. So for me it is what it is and as a package it sounds incredible with the Ebony and the other bass does sound great without it. The narrower gap between pickup and neck will require more accuracy when plaing slap and pop style to stay in the space and avoid the extra click of hitting the strings over the bottom of the neck. But having that extra booty in the sound will be welcome.

I'm not being negative against ebony at all i'm sure it adds a lot to the game otherwise it wouldn't have been used as a premier musical instrument wood for as long as it has.

I look forward to seeing your Custom Europa. Are you having a build record of it?

Jazzyvee

5a_quilt_top · « **Reply #20 on:** February 14, 2013, 11:00:45 AM »

JV -

No FTC yet for the Europa, although I have received some pix of work in progress.

Re: ebony - nothing negative from me, either. In fact, it's in one of my other necks (also in progress). $$ was the reason for the Europa neck spec change.

To prevent further hijack here, I'll send you a private email.

jazzyvee · « **Reply #21 on:** February 19, 2013, 06:37:12 AM »

Hi 5A, I have a few reggae gigs coming up and I usually use my Black or Bocate Europa for those gigs, but in April I have a couple of gigs with my Jazz-funk band so will use that opportunity to take a different series bass to each gig. That should give me a feel for how each of them fare.

To my shame I haven't taken the Other Twin on a full gig yet.

Jazzyvee

5a_quilt_top · « **Reply #22 on:** February 19, 2013, 08:28:20 AM »

Looking forward to your evaluation!

jazzyvee · « **Reply #23 on:** March 14, 2013, 04:34:29 AM »

I've been playing both this bass and my SII side by side for a few weeks now and they sound ridiculously awesome. I do now wish I had access to a premier non-alembic bass so that I could compare the sound to these. But alas I don't.
Here's the thing even though the Q application is different on each bass, when I'm playing the SI I don't feel anything is lacking by having the q-switched rather than via a pot or that there is some sound I am not able to get. They both are different instruments and have their own character. What I do miss though is the master volume. I do wonder if there a mod to give me that and whether I am brave enough to take a drill to the bass to install it if there is?

Jazzyvee

(Message edited by jazzyvee on March 14, 2013)

flpete1uw · « **Reply #24 on:** March 14, 2013, 07:30:14 AM »

Hi Jazzy,
This is what I presented to the club here http://club.alembic.com/Images/394/146978.html?1357768198 I to would love a master volume maybe something will come up other than the suggestions I recieved. I am getting used to it but a Master would go a long way. Good Luck!

Pete

jazzyvee · « **Reply #25 on:** March 14, 2013, 10:48:10 AM »

Thanks for the link, I just read the thread and it's interesting. The thing is that it's not just turning the sound up generally, when you change the filter by a significant amount the overall volume output from the instrument changes, then you end up having to alter both volumes to keep the bass output the same and try to maintain the same ratio between the pickups in order to keep the tone at a lower or higher volume. On the Series II I can just whack the master volume up or down and it's sorted, however with the SI I have think do I alter the volume of the filter I just changed or adjust the other volume pot.

I guess I've been spoilt as a guitarist by just having master volumes on my strats so that feels normal. Had I been a Les Paul player this migration would have been simpler. I have no doubt that in a significantly large number of months time I will put it down to experience and I will become a fine tuning instinctive and confident tweaker like Mr Clarke and it will be all second nature.

I have to say that at the meet last year, I was watching with interest the way Victor, Nate, AfroBeatFool and others were instinctively changing the controls as they found the sounds they wanted. No hint of confusion or uncertainty, so it is possible. Time is the great healer I guess and patience is a virtue I need to embrace in this respect.

Right time to get fingers at the bass.
Jazzyvee

5a_quilt_top · « **Reply #26 on:** March 14, 2013, 11:49:32 AM »

Hey Jazzy -

Any other observations re: the effect of the 3 ebony neck lams in the S2 vs the effect of the pickup placement in the S1 with 3 PH neck lams?

flpete1uw · « **Reply #27 on:** March 14, 2013, 01:52:13 PM »

You?re Welcome Jazzy,
That was my point exactly by changing the pots separately in fact does change the overall sound so hard sought after. I'm having the same issues. I just don't want to put another thing in the chain IE Volume pedal. The beauty of these series Ladies are in the subtleties. I still wish I had a master volume. But I?m working on it.

Pete

edwin · « **Reply #28 on:** March 15, 2013, 12:18:55 AM »

I have to say that I love the vol/blend setup that Alembic can do on a Series bass. My shorty had it and it was really intuitive and allowed excellent tonal variation and the volume adjustment didn't affect the tone at all. When I sold it to Pierreyves, I bet he was thinking of bringing back to the standard vol/vol setup but he agreed that it was very flexible.

A master volume addition electronically is pretty straightforward. It's basically a dual 10k pot. I thought about going that way, but three volumes just seems a little crazy if you can get it all done with two knobs that each do a specific function.

jazzyvee · « **Reply #29 on:** April 01, 2013, 11:10:47 PM »

Yeah I really thought that arrangement would be perfect for me because I am really used to single volume guitars so its an arrangement that still feels natural and instinctive to me. However having basses with both options signature basses and their vol/blend and series with individual volumes, i think there is a place for both in my collection but there is a bigger learning curve with the series because turning a blend knob does different things to the sound than turning an individual volume knob. But both systems are great and have their merits.

Jazzyvee