Author Topic: 89 Elan 4 Str (Read 5476 times)

jazzyvee · « **Reply #15 on:** July 15, 2007, 05:22:57 AM »

I've now swapped the filter and the pan pots round so they are in the Usual place. and its much more natural to operate now.
I also swapped the pickup connectors round so the pan from front to rear is the correct orientation.
I've been playing it a lot yesterday and today and still need to make some more adjustments. The pj pickups have more output on the bass side than the treble side so I wonder if raising the height of the treble pair of pickups on the neck and bridge side will change the volume on that side so that I can balance them then adjust the overall gain inside with the trim pots.

Also the neck adjustment on the bass side has no more adjustment anti-clockwise although it does on the treble side. I was trying to add some concave neck relief to cure a buzz at the 1st four frets on the E-string. Would raising the nut do this?

I'm guessing ( hoping) that the lack of adjustment of the neck truss rod on the bass side may be due to the very light gauge strings 35,55,70,90 applying less tension on the neck.

In actual fact I plan to put some medium gauge: .045 - .065 - .080 - .105 strings on the bass soon as the sound needs a bit more meat and thats the gauge I prefer, giving me more string resistance when playing.

Other than that I'm still a happy bunny.
I have first rehearsal with the band I've just joined Taz( Stereo Nation) this week so hopefully will be able to try the Elan out there.

Jazzyvee

thebass · « **Reply #16 on:** July 15, 2007, 07:19:53 AM »

Changing to heavier gauge strings will add tension and concave relief. I did it before. The light strings were just a tryout which I don't prefer any more. My MK is also strung with medium gauge now.

FC Bass · « **Reply #17 on:** July 15, 2007, 12:53:16 PM »

Nice catch Jazzy, congrats!

David Houck · « **Reply #18 on:** July 15, 2007, 08:50:33 PM »

Cool! I'm glad that the pot switching thing worked!

Raising the treble side pickups should make them louder; it should also change the tone somewhat as well. I believe it is the case that the lower the pickups, the cleaner the sound. However, the difference in tone may not be appreciable.

The heavier strings should help cure the buzz problem.

Note that even though the truss rod nut is loose on the E string side, the nut on the G side still has an effect on the E side. So loosening the G side nut can help with an E buzz.

Go here and read what Joey says about when you should adjust the nut. Generally, if you have buzz when playing an open string, a nut adjustment may address that. But my guess is that your issue is not enough forward bow, which would be truss rod adjustment or higher tension strings.

jazzyvee · « **Reply #19 on:** August 08, 2007, 01:34:50 AM »

I took the elan to rehearsal last night for the first time. The rehearsal room had an ampeg 4x10 and a 1x15 cab with an ashdown amp.
I tried that for a bit but couldn't get a good sound out of the Ashdown.

So I tried it with my Mesa Walkabout which sounded really ok but not great,then later the ampeg rig started showing a bright light inside which I was a bit concerned about so the studio changed to an Ashdown 8x10 bass cab, which I felt was not very meaty in the bottom end.

I couldn't seem to get the kind of sound I like on my other alembics which is a deep heavy, mellow sound with a crisp edge to the attack. I found the sound on the Elan to be either bassy but not, (dub reggae bassy), enough or very bright and crisp.

On my own mesa rig or thru the FX1,sf-2/QSC i can get the bass to give me anything I want.

Am experiencing the tendency of the Elan to be brighter and punchier in tone that the mahogany bodied basses.

I probably need to spend more time with the bass but I wondered if this is the nature of the all maple Elan bass.

Don't get me wrong I love it's different sound but it wasn't suited to what I was doing yesterday.
Jazzyvee

the_8_string_king · « **Reply #20 on:** August 08, 2007, 08:40:27 AM »

My old Elan 6-string was pretty bright -all Maple except for the 5 Purpleheart lams in the neck.

I tend to think that since Alembic uses Mahogany for the body wood on most of their basses, they consider Maple to be a more specialized sound.

It's sure a beauty!

jazzyvee · « **Reply #21 on:** September 10, 2008, 01:30:43 PM »

I took my Elan out for two outdoor calypso gigs last weekend and it sounded great through my Mesa boogie Walkabout and 4x10 cab.

I've got more used to the sound of it now at home but need to get out gigging with it more often to get a grip on how it should sound live.

Jazzyvee

tbrannon · « **Reply #22 on:** September 11, 2008, 04:09:17 PM »

Good stuff Jazzy- my wife is from the US Virgin Islands so it's pretty common to find calypso coming out of our home stereo.

Who was the gig with? Any links to audio?

Toby

aquaman · « **Reply #23 on:** September 11, 2008, 06:55:06 PM »

Beautiful bass. Let's hear it for the colored Alembics!

rrozzie · « **Reply #24 on:** September 25, 2008, 04:48:19 AM »

That is a beautiful bass. What scale is the neck? Long?

jazzyvee · « **Reply #25 on:** September 25, 2008, 05:31:03 PM »

it's a standard 34 scale length and the neck is quite slim compared to my sc deluxe. If I was brave enough I'd get the sc neck re-profiled to the same.

When I first saw the bass for sale I was put off by the colour but by the time I reasoned that i should not put off getting the bass due to it's colour, it had already been sold.

So, I was pleased when it became available to buy from a member here and managed to work out a fair price for it. Now it's mine mine mine mine.

Now I have it, the colour is not an issue at all, unless I decided to wear a green shirt at a gig hahahaha.

Jazzyvee

Jazzyvee

(Message edited by jazzyvee on September 25, 2008)

tbrannon · « **Reply #26 on:** October 04, 2008, 06:59:05 AM »

Jazzy-

If you ever get an opportunity to record some sound clips I'd LOVE to hear that double P setup with the all maple body of your Elan. I'd also be interested to hear your impressions of the differences tonally between the neck and bridge set (I'm assuming you have vol, filter, pan w/ those 3 knobs).

My PJ Elan is getting close to being completed and I find myself coming back to check all these Elan showcase threads as a way to tide me over.

jazzyvee · « **Reply #27 on:** February 03, 2010, 05:03:37 PM »

Last week I decided to try Joey's Post on Setting Up Your Bass on the elan and now i have managed to get the action lower and it now has a much more comfortable feel without any buzzing at all.

I've been playing it quite a bit this week to get the pickup height right and the balance between bridge and neck pickups and now i think it is sounding closer to the way I prefer.

Jazzyvee

jazzyvee · « **Reply #28 on:** June 17, 2010, 06:12:38 PM »

Spoke too soon, the neck seems to have moved again and the truss rods nuts are loose again and strings buzzing and choking. Even raising the bridge and nut didn't get rid of it till the strings were too high off the fretboard for sensible use.

I called Alembic this afternoon and Mary put me through to James in setup and he suggested some heavier gauge strings as a first option to put more tension in the neck and if that doesn't work i may need to send it in for a heat bend on the neck.....!!!!!

Any string recommendations?
FC, you have some Elans, do you have any neck issues with yours and what brand and gauge of strings do you use?

Jazzyvee

FC Bass · « **Reply #29 on:** June 18, 2010, 11:09:31 AM »

Hey Jazzy,

One Elan right here and one Elan that will hopefully be finished at the end of this week (...) :-)
I mainly use R.Cocco strings and prefer the RC 4H set (50, 70, 80, 110)
No serious neck issues here, I only did a few slight adjustments due to the change of climate. (on all basses)

What strings do you use?