The name's Fran, from northeast PA, and I've finally joined the club! Just got a '91 Essence, and love it.After 35 years of playing yet! I have 24 other basses, various Fenders, Ricks, Hofners and Gibsons, but right now the Essence hasn't been put down, other than sleep, for 4 days now!  Looking around the site now, to check on her birthdate and construction, so I'll be back with comments and questions for sure. Seems to be a very attractive flame maple. Just had to show up and jump up and down with like-minded folks!

Oh, and I must add that the website and forum are excellent, with perhaps THE best tech FAQ categories I've ever encountered.

Hi Fran; welcome to the board and congrats on the Essence!

Thanks Dave! I'm as happy as a clam! I realize I should be getting all warm and fuzzy down in the proper Introductions or Community forums, so off I go.

Edited due to duplicate message and/or operator error. (me!)
 
(Message edited by fran4001 on July 27, 2009)

Welcome Fran!

Welcome Fran - pictures, pictures we like pictures! And we love Alembics!

Okay okay! I love pics too. Hoping for later this week. Brutal schedule, plus the old girl needs a good cleanup. Working on polishing the frets, cleaning the ebony, and the tailpiece is likely beyond a basic cleaning. That said, I'm going to Scotchbrite that, polish and re-clearcoat. The bridge should respond to a good cleaning only. Only other project is replacing two pickup screws which were missing, which I've already ordered from headquarters. Then she'll be ready to show off. Biggest impediment so far is that I can't stop playing it long enough to work on it! Good problem I suppose...I'll do my best.

Hi Fran,  
Welcome!  Congratulations on the Essence!  Enjoy yourself around here.
Play it Healthy!
Art

Thanks all! Warm and fuzzy feeling for sure. Aided by a beautiful summer night finally, and a few Guinnesses. All in good health of course! Cleaning up the old girl as we speak.

Fran - not to offend but are you sure that the pickup screws are missing?
 
Normal setup for Alembic pickups is two visible height adjustment screws diagonal from each other, the other two are 'hidden' underneath the pickup. The two visible set the top limit/ position of the pickup while the hidden ones set the bottom limit/ position. Then betwix the two sets they firmly hole the pickup in position.

Hmmm....Let me look. Seems at the moment I have 3 visible on top on the neck pickup, and all 4 visible on top on the bridge pickup. Haven't had it apart to check underneath though I intend to tomorrow. Wonder why the previous owner has them all on top?

You'll need to remount the pickups, which should be a fairly easy process once you have the correct screws.  I'm assuming you ordered the screws here.  It's a good idea to take your time when adjusting pickup heights and angles; if you're not careful you can accidentally crack the pickup shell by over tightening a screw.

Yes indeed, got the screws there!! I'll do a total redo on them, using the info here. Already knew about the overtightening scenario. Again, very odd that the previous fella had all the corners but one screwed down, albeit not overtight thankfully.  
Thanks for pointing this out too folks! I looked at pics and just didn't see the two diagonally positioned screws each. I'll report back!

fran4001..we need eye candy pics please, we are all anoraks when it comes to Alembics here.Post a pic or two plus some of your collection so we can drool into our beers when we are at our PC'.
Oh yes, welcome to our world