Hi All
I am hoping the collective knowledge of this site can help me out.
I am a player and collector of older basses 1960's Fendr Gibson & Guilds and am being offered a 1973`4 Long scale Series 1 with a birdseye top. The setup is great but it has no powersupply or case. It plays acoustically like a dream but I need some advice as to a fair price. The guy is asking 3500.00CAD. Is this fair?... and how hard it will be to get a power supply and what will it cost?
Thanks
Phil
PERSONAL OPINION ONLY!!! USE WITH CAUTION!!!
$3,500 CDN = @ $2,950 USD
If I were buying a used Series I, I'd expect to pay in the neighborhood of $2,500 - 3,500 USD, including power supply and cable. I'd also expect some sort of case, though I would not be hung up on the original case.
If the physical condition is above average and you like the way it plays acoustically, I'd say go for it. I think I've seen the bass you're talking about posted recently and if I recall, it appears to be in very nice physical condition.
You can pick up a rackmount DS-5R on eBay for about $200 - 300 if you're patient enough for one to come up. (there's one up now, actually, but it's in the UK). You can get a cord made by someon here at the Alembic Club. You can also buy a new DS-5R and cable from Alembic. I'll let Mica or Val quote you a price there.
Oh.....and Welcome to the Alembic Club!!
Peace,
James
(Message edited by malthumb on September 05, 2005)
Hi James
The welcome is appreciated.
Can you(or anyone else) give me or point me to a brief explanation of the use of the Series 1 with 1)batteries,I've read that 9 volts may not work and that they only power one pickup? and 2)What the power supply and cable actually do
Thanks
Phil
If the electronics are healthy, you'll be able to power them with batteries, but nine-volt batteries are too large to fit in the cavity of a Series basses that old, I hear. If you happen to have two wall-wart power supplies with nine-volt-style connectors and switchable voltage, that might work as an ad-hoc solution but it sounds like you'll need the power supply and cable.
I've never played a Series that old, so you might also be able to connect the leads to two nine-volts and just leave them dangling out of the battery cavity while you audition the bass. I don't know.
If that works, a standard mono cable will be capable of passing signal from the neck pickup only; if you plug a stereo-to-mono cable into the 1/4 output you should be able to hear both pickups.
Series electronics are stereo and require at least 18 volts. The five-pin cable brings in power to the dedicated electronics of each pickup, and brings out a signal from each pickup you can run mono into one amp out of the power supply, or split each pickup's signal into a different amp.
Check the FAQ section for a tutotial on the basic ins and outs of Series basses, and as James said, welcome. This is a great group.
Hi Phil; to add to what James and Shawn said, the battery size in Alembics from that period are slightly smaller than the standard 9v battery but can be ordered if I remember correctly. I believe Michael posted a source for them. But the general rule is that Series basses run through batteries quickly and that you are going to want a power supply.