Al's Essence

[ajdover]

Here's my new (to me) Essence, a '92 bought at Conn-Signment in Raleigh, NC.  Enjoy!
 
Alan
 

[keith_h]

Alan,
Congratulations. I was wondering if that was the bass you got. I saw it when I was up in Moore Square/City Market for a Harley/bike festival. I thought it looked pretty nice at the time. I will say adding a Q switch will improve the tone even more. I added one to the Essence electronics in my Orion 5 and it was amazing.      
 
Keith

[ajdover]

Keith,
 
    How much did the Q switch run you, and was it difficult to install (other than drilling a hole for it)?
 
    BTW, Conn-Signment is a really neat place.  Spent a couple of hours there talking to Mike, great guy, very knowledgeable, and every bass I tried was set up perfectly (for me anyway).  They're having a bass get together there the first Saturday in December, and I'm going to go if I'm not otherwise occupied.  
 
Alan

[keith_h]

Alan,
I'll pop you a note with the price I paid.  
 
I found mine pretty easy to install. At the time my preamp had failed and was picking up RF. Alembic went ahead and sent me the switch prewired to the new tone control assembly. Looking at both the old and new pc board it looks like the switch assembly replaces a component on the pc board (I could not cross reference the part number). It should be straight forward for anyone comfortable with soldering.  
 
I consider the drilling the harder part. On my bass I had to not only drill the hole but also remove wood from the back side so that the switch  threads would make through the front of bass. I  had to go through the accent wood and had to remove some of the front laminate. This part made me a little nervous.  
 
If you go to the get together pop me a note and I can meet you up there. It only takes me 15-20 minutes to get downtown. We get a bite to eat and consume a few beverages.    
 
Keith