Lookin' good Bro. Elwood. 

Refresh my memory; what are the top two switches for on C&W there? I remember the drill pattern from the old pictures, but I don't remember if it was ever functional when you acquired him. 

Dad gave a check to the ribbon cable and says your connections are all correct. You might have to take some off when you add the caps and resistors, when we build them we put those parts on first. I'm sorry I should have told you that when I posted the pictures. You weren't kidding that you were ready to go!

Brown isn't used - trim that back to the place where the wires are all still bonded together. This will save future me from getting a phone call about the disconnected brown wire 

Quote from: mica on August 20, 2026, 06:11:10 AMDad gave a check to the ribbon cable and says your connections are all correct. You might have to take some off when you add the caps and resistors, when we build them we put those parts on first. I'm sorry I should have told you that when I posted the pictures. You weren't kidding that you were ready to go!

Brown isn't used - trim that back to the place where the wires are all still bonded together. This will save future me from getting a phone call about the disconnected brown wire 

Yeah.......NO BROWN NOTES! 

Quote from: mica on August 20, 2026, 06:11:10 AMDad gave a check to the ribbon cable and says your connections are all correct. You might have to take some off when you add the caps and resistors, when we build them we put those parts on first. I'm sorry I should have told you that when I posted the pictures. You weren't kidding that you were ready to go!

Brown isn't used - trim that back to the place where the wires are all still bonded together. This will save future me from getting a phone call about the disconnected brown wire 

Thank you Mica and Ron 
I was careful to leave space for leads, so I might not have to have any backwards steps.
 I think I'll have time today to tackle the next steps. I'm so happy that this is going to work.

Quote from: edwardofhuncote on August 20, 2026, 02:29:08 AMLookin' good Bro. Elwood. 

Refresh my memory; what are the top two switches for on C&W there? I remember the drill pattern from the old pictures, but I don't remember if it was ever functional when you acquired him.

There was a mellow filter module originally, unfortunately it has apparently lost functionality...so those switches are just there
to fill the holes and look fancy. Maybe in the future they can be used for something; a "Talent" boost? 

Rotary Switch connections:

 Here's where I am...

Black    - stereo jack common ground
Brown   - bridge single pot Pin 2 (wiper)
Orange  -  ?? *
Violet    -  ??  *
Grey     - neck single pot Pin 2 (wiper)

*Here's a pic I found with the Orange and Violet connected to the DIN jack.
However I noticed this instrument has resistors from those pins connecting with somewhere on the stereo jack,
so I'm not sure that this is where I should make those connections if I am following Alembic protocol.

I see two extra resistors on the sample pics Mica posted; from tab 3 on the single pots to Pin 3 and Pin 4 of the switches.
 I'm guessing these were a later addition (maybe for noise suppression).
 I was only supplied with 6 resistors total (four 5.1k and two 100 ohm).
 Should I ignore those extra resistors for the time being?

Thanks again for the guidance

Capacitors and Resistors installed !!

According to Ron's schematics, the .0033 caps coming from Pin 1 of the upper dual pots goes to ground.
Where are these typically connected for a good ground?




Rotary Switch connections:
 I have connected the grey and brown wires from the rotary switch (to the wiper tabs of the single pots).
I'm pretty sure the black goes the common ground on the side of the stereo jack.
I'm still not sure about the orange and purple connections.

Bridge ground wire:
 I'm guessing that can go with the other grounds on the side of the stereo jack.

Getting close to the finish line I believe  ; ))

Those resistors coming from pins-2&3 of the XLR are the mod which makes the 1/4" jack mono.  If you want to make yours mono those resistors (weirdly, almost any value will work) "sum" at terminal 4 of the 1/4" jack.  If you want to keep the 1/4" jack stereo it's pin-2 of the XLR (usually orange wire) to terminal 4 of the 1/4" jack AND pin-3 of the XLR (usually violet wire) to terminal 8 of the 1/4" jack.

You're on a roll, keep going!

Jimmy J

Quote from: JimmyJ on August 20, 2026, 04:16:51 PMThose resistors coming from pins-2&3 of the XLR are the mod which makes the 1/4" jack mono.  If you want to make yours mono those resistors (weirdly, almost any value will work) "sum" at terminal 4 of the 1/4" jack.  If you want to keep the 1/4" jack stereo it's pin-2 of the XLR (usually orange wire) to terminal 4 of the 1/4" jack AND pin-3 of the XLR (usually violet wire) to terminal 8 of the 1/4" jack.

You're on a roll, keep going!

Jimmy J

Ah that makes sense.
I'll keep it stereo for now.
Since I have added shrink wrap to the XLR connections already, I'll make the connection from the rotary switch (orange and violet) to the corresponding points at the stereo 1/4" jack (terminal 4 and terminal 8 respectively).

Thanks Jimmy!
I think I just need to ground those .0033 caps coming from the dual pot assembly and I'll be ready to test.
I might have time to jump back in tomorrow.

cheers!

Quote from: elwoodblue on August 20, 2026, 11:43:52 AMI see two extra resistors on the sample pics Mica posted; from tab 3 on the single pots to Pin 3 and Pin 4 of the switches.
 I'm guessing these were a later addition (maybe for noise suppression).
 I was only supplied with 6 resistors total (four 5.1k and two 100 ohm).
 Should I ignore those extra resistors for the time being?

Thanks again for the guidance

No, the additional resistors from what you've labeled pin 3 and 4 are 620 ohm resistors and are required for the resonant circuit to function.    They go to the CCW terminal of the volume control closest which has either a black or green wire from the ribbon cable (these wires are the circuit ground for each control cluster).

I'll put them downstairs for Mary to send to you tomorrow.  And also include two 20 Kohm for mono conversion in case that option is what you decide sometime in the future.

The presently unconnected end of the .0033 also connect to the cluster ground on the volume control, black or green respectfully.

" Bridge ground wire:  I'm guessing that can go with the other grounds on the side of the stereo jack."
Since the Alembic pickup design incorporates full electrostatic shielding, we normally don't ground the bridge (and thus the strings).  This means that your hands are not grounded to the bass rig ground and avoids shock when also touching another system's "ground" (such as a microphone connected to the sound system).  My guess is that if non-Alembic pickups that are not shielded or partially shielded were installed for a time, then grounded strings would have been beneficial.    You can connect the bridge ground wire with the other ground wires on the side of the stereo jack as you noted, or you can leave the bridge ground off.

Pay attention to that man behind the curtain Dorothy!  

Thank you so much Ron,
 I'm really glad I have this detailed guidance.
If my address isn't still on file I'll email that today.

All my best,
Kris