| Author | Message | ||
| wishbass
Advanced Member Username: wishbass Post Number: 300 Registered: 5-2011 |
If you could start over from scratch, knowing what you know now about your Alembic(s) , what would you order/ build different , if at all? Probably not much for some with their own custom build, but those of us with used Alembics might have a few tweeks if we were building, especially if we were ordering multiple instruments...... | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 10902 Registered: 5-2002 |
Really, nothing. It sounds amazing, and it is capable of so much more than I am able to bring to it. And it is so playable; it has brought so much out of me. There are some times late at night when I'm tired and should be in bed, when I sit there leaning over the bass and it seems to be playing itself; the beautiful tones just pour out from the speakers almost effortlessly, as if I'm only holding the bass and it's making all the music. So really, I wouldn't change a thing. The wood recipe, scale length, neck taper, electronics, all combine to create what is, for me, amazing tone and playability. I am so very grateful to everyone at Alembic for bringing this instrument into my life. | ||
| mario_farufyno
Senior Member Username: mario_farufyno Post Number: 833 Registered: 9-2008 |
Oh, Dave, It is lovely | ||
| that_sustain
Member Username: that_sustain Post Number: 51 Registered: 8-2012 |
Shoot, I'm grateful just to look at that bass! | ||
| wishbass
Advanced Member Username: wishbass Post Number: 303 Registered: 5-2011 |
One of my faves. I guess a better way of saying it is that once you've owned an Alembic, the better you understand what you would want in the next one based on experience. Mine being a used Elan, I have a lot of ceiling : ) | ||
| jazzyvee
Senior Member Username: jazzyvee Post Number: 3167 Registered: 6-2002 |
I have learnt so much about basses and Alembics in particular in my 10 years of ownership and assuming I was ordering the same instruments I already have but as new builds. For my SC Signature, I would have Anniversary electronics with additional master volume and 3 position q-switches, slightly slimmer neck profile and standard frets below the 12th fret and smaller frets above the 12th fret. I'd try out a vermillion core with two thick maple body laminates like PierreYves and keep the cocobolo top and back. For the Bocate Europa 5 I would have a cocobolo top instead of the bocate and Elan headstock, again anniversary electronics with additional master volume and 3 pos Q-switches For the Black Europa/Elan, I would have a standard neck width rather than the narrow one I have at the moment, I would stick with mainly maple construction but have African blackwood top and back, blackwood on the headstock front only, signature electronics with 3 position q-switches, alembic logo and name on the headstock. Possibly all black hardware too. Purple Elan 4, I'd just have a narrower neck profile and signature electronics, with clear finish to show off the body woods. I'd keep the P-style pickups but find a better way of securing them rather than the allen screws which keep unscrewing. Series II 5 I would just have an Elan headstock, and alembic name inlaid under the logo and the logo backlit when used with the DS-5 For all basses I would have the Europa's bass and treble boost and cut switches as they are fantastic for quick mood/tone changes in a live situation. If possible I'd like a trim pot inside the control cavity so that I can choose the frequency that the bass switch operates on as whenever I use it I feel that the boost needs to be at a lower frequency. Also the ability to use the Series cable to power the basses via the DS-5. For the series I guitar. I'd stick with the same body woods but on a a spectrum body, three pickups, 5 position blade switch, filters & 3 position q on all pickups, no individual pickup volumes just an overall master volume. That's about it. | ||
| richbass939
Senior Member Username: richbass939 Post Number: 1182 Registered: 11-2004 |
If I knew then what I know now, I would: 1) have not waited so long. I started playing bass shortly after Alembic started making them. I would have found a way to get one way back then. 2) I know this isn't exactly what this thread is about, but a long time ago I would have immersed myself in the music of the Grateful Dead. Gil (Laytonco) got me into it and I love it. I missed a few decades of some really fun stuff. Rich | ||
| bigredbass
Senior Member Username: bigredbass Post Number: 1936 Registered: 9-2002 |
I've not owned a Series axe, so I can't speak to them. I do know I like FatBoys WAY better than AXY's, which to me sound like studio monitors; FatBoys sound like really hot home speakers. Maybe the difference in a Neumann and an SM57. Still mighty clean, but a bit meatier for my ears. I still like tinted axes better. Despite the unbelievable wood that Alembic scores, at the end of the day they just look . . . brown to me. Although I really did like the inside-out look in a flat finish if I just had to 'go brown'. I just like color. Next time a see-thru blue or a honey amber, but I really like that orange-y shaded finish too. The Series shape is iconic to me. But in long scale, you have to learn to co-exist with the demands that gravity and the short horns gang up on you with, as they get neck heavy. Quick. I'd also go with vol/filter/pan/Q. The Sig setup on the Elan always finds me lost trying to play both pickups and get both filters right. I know why Jimmy marks his settings on his axe ! One filter set with a pan for both pickups would DEFINITELY be on the 'next time' list. IF I were day-dreaming, I'm old school all the way: An S1 in a classic wood recipe in honey tint, but . . . I'd opt to have the body done with both halves made like the top half, for symmetry. Weird, ain't it? J o e y (Message edited by bigredbass on October 08, 2012) | ||
| moonliner
Member Username: moonliner Post Number: 58 Registered: 12-2004 |
Is it possible to have the inlaid logo lit from behind? Has anyone done that yet? If so, pictures! :-) |
