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Alembic instruments have always commanded attention for their
clear, direct sound. We were the first to bring active circuitry to basses and guitars way
back in 1969 -- even before we made instruments. You could say that Alembic pioneered the
replacement pickups and electronics industry.
You may be accustomed to active electronics
sounding "sterile." While this may be true for other manufacturers' electronics,
Alembic Activators produce rich, natural tones. The Activator pickups and
electronics systems feature a simple straightforward design that accurately
reproduces the motion of the string, including your own subtle fingering techniques. Unlike
traditional pickups where the coils are used to "voice" or color the sound, the Activator
pickups serve only to translate the string motion into the corresponding electronic signals
with the highest fidelity possible. The pickups reject magnetic hum and are completely
sheilded with an expanded copper Faraday cage to eliminate noise.
Ease of installation
 Activators are designed for easy installation. In fact, most models can be installed without
woodworking or even soldering -- they simply plug together with friction-locked connectors.
The contact surfaces are goldplated to ensure a long, reliable life.
We also have convenient collet knobs available.
Using a conical sleeve instead of set screws, the collet knob grips the shaft of the pot
equally from all around. The knob is also automatically centered.
Please note that some installations, Fender P basses in particular, require additional routing to make room for the 9V battery. You may not want to add Alembic Activators to valuable vintage instruments if routing is required for the installation.
Why Filters?
 The heart of the system is the active electronics preamp/low-pass filter module. You can adjust
the gain with a small trimpot located on the preamp board. The tone coloration is adjusted by
the frequency control which tunes the low-pass filter section giving you a wide range of usable
tonal effects.
We selected this unique low-pass filter for our tone
control through our own research that showed the low-pass filter to be the closest electronic
equivalent to the waveforms of naturally resonating acoustic instruments. This yields a
sound that is unlike any other pickup system on the market and lets you create music with
these "natural" sounds.
Any musical style can benefit from the clean,
clear Alembic sound. It rounds out jazz, cuts through grinding distorted guitars, and
articulates solo performances. Activate your instrument!
Selecting Your Activator
With Alembic Activators, it is possible to improve the tone from instruments you already
own without routing. With the variety of pickup shapes available, you can design a system that
fits your instrument and your playing style.
Pickup shapes for basses:
- Fender P shape
- Fender JZ neck shape
- Fender JZ bridge shape (slightly longer than neck)
- Gibson Humbucker shape
- Rickenbacker neck shape
- Rickenbacker bridge shape
- Alembic AXY series
- Alembic MXY series
- Custom shapes available
- Fender, Gibson and Rickenbaker are registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Simply select the pickup shape or shapes that fit the existing routing in your bass. Then
consult the price list for models and prices. Thats
all there is to it!
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