Epic $700 preamp fail!, lol

[Deathshead]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Alembic-Active-Bass-Pickups-Jazz-Bass-Style_W0QQitemZ220570589856QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item335b081aa0



This Gentleman claims to of paid just over $1000,00 for this preamp-pickup combo for this GL jazz, he now decides they are not for him and wants $700.

for $1000,00 ya think the control plate disaster could of been avoided? ROFL!

For $1000 bucks Unicorn tears and rainbows better fly out of my amp.

[Freuds_Cat]

Gotta be a wind up doesn't it?

[TBird1958]

$700.00 for that little bit of mismatched crap?

Clue me here FTW?

[chromium]

That's an Alembic Activator setup.  They really are that expensive new (~a grand), but like their other products -  Superfilters, preamps, etc.. - you can usually find them used for quite a bit less.  I haven't paid attention to the prices of the Activators, but 50% of new isn't uncommon for the other stuff.  I'd guess 700 is overly optimistic...

That kludge of a control plate was the seller or a previous owner's handiwork.  They'd probably do better just leaving that out of the deal lol.

[lowend1]

$700? I'll just turn the amp up, thanks.

[rahock]

$700? I'll just turn the amp up, thanks.

That's always been my strategy. If I'm getting the tone I like and the amp has got the juice , WTF
Rick

[gweimer]

I've never fully understood the need for a pre-amp in the bass.  Is it really that much of a nuisance to turn around and adjust a few knobs on the amp?

[GonzoBass]

For $1000 bucks Unicorn tears and rainbows better fly out of my amp.

...or at least make coffee.

[rahock]

For $1000 bucks Unicorn tears and rainbows better fly out of my amp.

I used to get pills for that................lot cheaper too
Rick

[Hornisse]

This is more realistic.  If I had a Jazz bass they'd be mine.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/msg/1652543002.html

[Dave W]

That's more like it. I think Harry (hieronymous) paid under $300 for an Alembic Activator P pickup when he redid his Tele Bass a couple of years ago.

[hieronymous]

$275 for P-Bass Activators! I really lucked out on that one. Here's the thread about my Tele Bass. I would love to score another set so I can have a P-Bass out here in California - the Tele lives in Massachusetts.

The Alembic Activators are different than regular active pickups. "Normal" active pups just boost bass and treble frequencies (and sometimes mids) - Activators are filters with sweepable frequency. It's a subtle difference - not too good at explaining it, but I can definitely say that I am not a fan of active pickups, but I love the Activators and Alembic electronics in general. I think active basses have a reputation for being "cold" but I was surprised to find how warm and organic Alembic stuff sounds.

The guy selling the Jazz set should definitely lose the control plate - it looks terrible!

[chromium]

The Alembic Activators are different than regular active pickups. "Normal" active pups just boost bass and treble frequencies (and sometimes mids) - Activators are filters with sweepable frequency. It's a subtle difference - not too good at explaining it

An analogy might be to compare it to EQ - fixed band (graphic) versus parametric.  Most other tone controls in basses leverage "low pass filters" like the Alembic, but rather than just control how much of the high end is rolled off at a single fixed frequency point, the Alembic setup lets you sweep this filter cutoff point - kinda like a parametric EQ would on a given band.  I don't know too much about what's available out there in this space for active bass setups - I'd imagine that there are other active setups that do this too, but that's one of the things that always made the Activators seem a little different to me.

I prefer just having a good passive setup in a bass and use outboard gear for processing, but the Alembic setups can in fact sound really nice to me.  I'm not much for over-the-top higs, and I like that I can get a great "passive bass sound" out of my Distillate!!!     I think I get along with their setup since its not about boosting crazy amounts of highs and scooping mids, and also (at least in their basses) I like the "Q" (aka filter resonance) control that kinda puts a little peak at a nice spot in the mids to punch thru the mix sometimes.  You can really dial that in on the Series basses, but even with the more limited settings on the distillate its been useful to me.  I don't think the Activators have that feature.

That setup on CL is a nice deal for a set!  I'd never buy a new Activator setup, though, since you can score a used Spoiler or Distillate for not too much more than that depending on the time of year (prices always seem very cyclical to me on the Alembic stuff)