To Bisonic or Not to...

mellowgerman

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The album Skull**** is the easiest to hear. The way the tune kicks in after the drum break just roars.

One of my favorites. Didn't know that was the EB-0! Incidentally that album didn't cross my radar until a little late in the game, after several years of already listening to the dead. Actually was a gift to me by my current girlfriend years before we were together.
 

hieronymous

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hieronymous - Noted your new profile pic and am amused that I could create a similar one. My bottle, consumed and now empty, came across the country with a friend and was kept for obvious reasons. The Starfire is a Starfire I, with original Bisonic. We obviously share some good taste, at least in basses, but this suggests that Great Minds Drink Alike. :)

There's actually a story behind the beer - my bass was at Alembic for a couple of years! There were special circumstances, I am fortunate to have gotten to know the Wickersham family so this was a special arrangement. But I found out that in February they have Pliny the Younger for just two weeks in the same city (Santa Rosa) so I suggested that maybe if the bass was ready then I could go get some beer and then pick up my bass! Pliny the Younger doesn't get bottled, you can only drink it at Russian River Brewery or certain other locations that I wasn't able to find. So my wife and I waited in line for 3 1/2 hours! It was fun, I don't know if the beer was worth the wait - I prefer Pliny the Elder, the Younger is triple-hopped and that's not a flavor that I particularly need - but the whole experience was worthwhile because I came home with a bass that I've been playing every day since then!

Maybe we could start a "beer & bass" thread!
 

hieronymous

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oh man that is so killer. my first time seeing both bands was the HORDE tour in 1992. Houser is my all time number one player, that guy was the best ever. gone way too soon. Schools is also right in there with Phil and the others, he must be the best i've ever seen on bass. those guys were pretty locked in during the 1990s. I belive Schools played a Modulus bass back then. but honestly just like all the other great bass players, Schools just sounds like Schools no matter what he plays. That Alembic Moontimes bass he has though, is just crazy. that is the nicest one i've seen. one of Phils newer solidbodys comes real close to that, just a matter of taste at that point. i don't know how the Schools bass really sounds, but...what a creation!!!

I also heard a rumor, not sure if it is true, that he wound up acquiring a large part of Allen Woody's bass collection. which was (and still is), quite extensive.

I saw them on the '92 HORDE tour as well - Portland ME - I think my favorite part was watching Widespread come out while Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit were finishing their set with "Space is the Place" and jamming together into their set. Jon Fishman of Phish was dancing next to me! He turned to me and said "Dave Schools is so huge" and I was like "yeah" - then realized that Fishman is really small lol

I think you're right that he had switched to a Modulus by then - I seem to remember a G&L earlier on but I might be confusing him with Mike Gordon. I was able to interact with him back then a few times before or after shows, just to say hi. I stopped seeing shows from 1996-2002, but when I saw him playing with Govt. Mule after Woody died, I was able to go backstage and he looked at me (this is 10 years later) and said the name of my band (Jiggle the Handle) - he remembered!

I've never heard the Allen Woody bass collection story - interesting...
 

mavuser

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thats great! I remember your band Jiggle the Handle but don't really remember any of your songs. Also I went out to see JRAD last night at Brookly Bowl, and Dreiwitz had the Alembic Series bass out, he was dropping some serious heat! completely dominated set one, dude was owning the place.
 

mavuser

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Edwin and Harry both say the "Harry Alembic pickups" are drop in replacements for the post-bisonic bass humbuckers.

could you use the "Harry's" in a Bisonic route, if u had the humbucker rings?

I always thought the Dark star was a drop in for both vintage Bisonics, as well as the 70s bukcer.

do they not all fit each other? is it just the rings that are different?


thanks very much for any clarification
 

mellowgerman

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Edwin and Harry both say the "Harry Alembic pickups" are drop in replacements for the post-bisonic bass humbuckers.

could you use the "Harry's" in a Bisonic route, if u had the humbucker rings?

I always thought the Dark star was a drop in for both vintage Bisonics, as well as the 70s bukcer.

do they not all fit each other? is it just the rings that are different?


thanks very much for any clarification

I'm assuming the height adjustment screws on the side (for the 70's guild buckers but also the alembics?) account for the extra little bit of cavity that bisonic type pickups don't have
 

mavuser

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I'm assuming the height adjustment screws on the side (for the 70's guild buckers but also the alembics?) account for the extra little bit of cavity that bisonic type pickups don't have

thanks...my guess was basically the opposite- the four corner screws on the mounting rings themselves (not the height adjustment screws) would line up perfectly with the corresponding screw holes on both variations.

but now that i think about it, we are probably both right. in that scenario u would have to route out a 70s bucker bass to fit a dark star in? unless the routes are the same and the bisonic is just "has more room" in there? also do u have to have a control cavity for elecronics with the Harry Alembic pickups?

I am asking because I have a fully hollow GSR M-85-II from New Hartford with stock newark street pickups, but now that I think about it, it has no control cavity. it sounds great but might be worthy of an upgrade even still. it is a killer, killer bass. and still almost brand new.
 

hieronymous

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Edwin and Harry both say the "Harry Alembic pickups" are drop in replacements for the post-bisonic bass humbuckers.

could you use the "Harry's" in a Bisonic route, if u had the humbucker rings?

I always thought the Dark star was a drop in for both vintage Bisonics, as well as the 70s bukcer.

do they not all fit each other? is it just the rings that are different?

I wish I could answer, but I'm not sure. I also feel like I remember reading that the humbuckers were basically interchangeable with Bi-Sonics, but can't find anything concrete. I have someone I can ask, hopefully someone else will chime in.

...also do u have to have a control cavity for elecronics with the Harry Alembic pickups?

I am asking because I have a fully hollow GSR M-85-II from New Hartford with stock newark street pickups, but now that I think about it, it has no control cavity. it sounds great but might be worthy of an upgrade even still. it is a killer, killer bass. and still almost brand new.

The electronics that I have (Anniversary) fit in the cavity of my M-85 - I would think there would be even more space in yours, just more difficult to install without routing an access door like Edwin's Starfire?

It sounds like a cool bass as-is!
 

mavuser

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I wish I could answer, but I'm not sure. I also feel like I remember reading that the humbuckers were basically interchangeable with Bi-Sonics, but can't find anything concrete. I have someone I can ask, hopefully someone else will chime in.



The electronics that I have (Anniversary) fit in the cavity of my M-85 - I would think there would be even more space in yours, just more difficult to install without routing an access door like Edwin's Starfire?

It sounds like a cool bass as-is!


it is fully hollow, u knock on it- it is fully hollow, so I would think access is pretty easy just by removing the pickups. however, there is nowhere to "mount" anything. everything existing is just routed into the top. I'm not cutting holes in the top of this one (or back, or sides).

it sounds great as is, honestly, especially the neck pickup. still, it is worthy/i want...some sort of west coast/USA guts inside that thing. I may swap a pair of Novaks in at some point, which will be totally unnecessary, yet a definite upgrade. if i got a pair that would give me his Bisonic and his Dark Star in both neck and bridge (and middle), plus the mini switch that comes stock on the bass which is either a low signal cut or something phasey...it already has so many different sounds, i suppose that would be more than enough. i would definitely consider Alembics first though, that thing is worthy, and I have other/vintage Bionics. i need to break that bass out soon, definitely in 2018. it is #25 of 25 GSR, i got it from a NH employee after the factory closed, with no case or strap or anything. had to mod an Epiphone Cassady case for it- absolutely nothing else fit.
 

hieronymous

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it is fully hollow, u knock on it- it is fully hollow, so I would think access is pretty easy just by removing the pickups. however, there is nowhere to "mount" anything. everything existing is just routed into the top. I'm not cutting holes in the top of this one (or back, or sides).

it sounds great as is, honestly, especially the neck pickup. still, it is worthy/i want...some sort of west coast/USA guts inside that thing. I may swap a pair of Novaks in at some point, which will be totally unnecessary, yet a definite upgrade. if i got a pair that would give me his Bisonic and his Dark Star in both neck and bridge (and middle), plus the mini switch that comes stock on the bass which is either a low signal cut or something phasey...it already has so many different sounds, i suppose that would be more than enough. i would definitely consider Alembics first though, that thing is worthy, and I have other/vintage Bionics. i need to break that bass out soon, definitely in 2018. it is #25 of 25 GSR, i got it from a NH employee after the factory closed, with no case or strap or anything. had to mod an Epiphone Cassady case for it- absolutely nothing else fit.

That sounds really cool, especially with the way you obtained it.

I realized that I totally forgot something that might nix the Alembic idea - you need someplace to put the battery :(
 

mavuser

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this one

duEkWu.jpg
 

mavuser

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if my math and my brains are all correct, a double pickup swap on the GSR M-85-II to a pair of Novak BS-DS pickups, both with the push-pull pots, would upgrade 6 Newark Street tone configurations, to 16 Novak tone configurations (due to the mini switch), all without cutting any holes in the wood. this does not even account for the tone knobs/controls. however, i could be off somehow.
 

mgod

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Now if I really wanted to stir the pot, I'd ask what would mgod do if he played in a Dead Tribute Band? Use his Lesh Guild? His Alembic? His favorite Starfire? A different bass for every set? :)
A different bass for every song.
 
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