| Author | Message | ||
| hieronymous
Advanced Member Username: hieronymous Post Number: 342 Registered: 1-2005 |
I've been digging around, but haven't been able to find anything concrete about the origin of the "Stanley Clarke" model or the small body/small standard shape. It gets confusing, between model names (notice no Brown Bass on this page) and electronics and body shapes. Plus, in the history of the body shapes, Stanley Clarke's name isn't even mentioned! (Though there is reference to the "small standard" shape) He is mentioned in the long version of the Alembic history, but details about what became known as the "Stanley Clarke" body shape aren't given. Anyone familiar with the history of this shape? Were basses of this shape produced for other people? I know that there are a lot of shapes that I'm not so familiar with, like the "peanut" guitar and "pretzel" guitars and basses, so I don't want to make any assumptions. Thanks! | ||
| ulf
Junior Username: ulf Post Number: 11 Registered: 5-2008 |
Harry, the same questions that I have. I like to know what kind of Bass is Stanley playing on this picture?? Looks not as the new Stanley Clarke Signature Bass. Ulf  | ||
| keavin
Senior Member Username: keavin Post Number: 1443 Registered: 12-2002 |
thats a short scale seriesI he's playing here (1st brown bass),but stanley was playing a gig one night and rick turner bruoght an alembic for him to try out for a few songs that night & stanley fell in love with it instantly. but stanley didnt get a signature model until he became famous with that model (shortscale).....however stanley has several long scale alembics he mostly uses in the studio.... ive played his long scale on stage with him a couple times but his favorites are his shorties! | ||
| keavin
Senior Member Username: keavin Post Number: 1444 Registered: 12-2002 |
Exploding into the jazz world in 1971, Stanley was a lanky teenager from the Philadelphia Academy of Music. He arrived in New York City and immediately landed jobs with famous bandleaders such as: Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Pharaoh Saunders, Gil Evans, Stan Getz, and a budding young pianist composer named Chick Corea. All of these musicians recognized immediately the ferocious dexterity and complete musicality the young Clarke possessed on the acoustic bass. Not only was he expert at crafting bass lines and functioning as a timekeeper in the bass’ traditional role, Stanley also possessed a sense of lyricism and melody gained from his bass heroes Charles Mingus, Scott LaFaro, and others, including non-bass players like John Coltrane. Clarke recognized the opportunity to propel the bass into a viable melodic soloist role and was uniquely qualified to do just that. The opportunity to state melody and to propel the bass to the front of the concert stage came to fruition when Clarke and Corea formed the seminal electric jazz/fusion band Return to Forever. RTF was a showcase for each of the quartet’s strong musical personalities, composing prowess, and instrumental voices. Clarke surmised, “we really didn’t realize how much of an impact we were having on people at the time. We were touring so much then, we would just make a record and go back on the road.” The band recorded eight albums, two of which were certified gold (the wildly successful Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy and the classic Romantic Warrior), won a Grammy award (No Mystery) and received numerous nominations while touring incessantly. And this was a jazz band! Then Stanley, his now famous Alembic bass in hand, fired the shot heard ‘round the world’. He single-handedly started the 1970s “bass revolution,” paving the way for all bassist/soloist/bandleaders to follow. In 1974 he released his eponymous Stanley Clarke album, which featured a hit 45rpm “single” (we’re still talking about jazz here,) titled “Lopsy Lu.” In 1976 Stanley released School Days, of which the title track is now a bona fide bass anthem. He acknowledges, quite unboastfully: “Anyone who seriously wants to learn to play the bass has to buy that record and learn to play that song.” Aspiring bassists must also master the percussive slap funk technique that Stanley pioneered as well. Stanley saw Larry Graham’s technique (Sly and the Family Stone) and seized upon the idea. He built his facility to a frightening speed, and then adapted it to complex jazz harmonies. Says Stanley, “Larry started it, but he had only one lick. I saw him do it, and I took it from there.” Stanley was the first musician to pop over chord changes. “A lot of guys could jam all day in E, but couldn’t play it over changes.” Stanley Clarke became the first bassist in history to headline tours, selling out shows worldwide, and have his albums certified gold. The word “legend” was used to describe Stanley by the time he was 25 years old. In 1997 Epic/Sony released: By this tender young age, Stanley was already a celebrated pioneer in fusion jazz music. He was also the first bassist in history to double on acoustic and electric bass with equal virtuosity, power, and fire. He had also invented two new instruments: the piccolo bass and the tenor bass. The piccolo bass, built to his specifications by New York luthier Carl Thompson, is tuned one octave higher than the traditional electric bass guitar. The tenor bass is a standard Alembic bass tuned up one fourth higher than standard. With both of these instruments, Stanley’s melodic range is extended for playing in higher registers as he sees orchestrationally fit. Alembic honored Stanley by offering a signature model Stanley Clarke bass, the first time in the company’s history of making only custom built instruments to do so. Whatever the instrument: acoustic bass viol, electric bass guitar, tenor bass, piccolo bass, acoustic bass guitar, electric upright, or any of the hundreds of axes in his arsenal, Stanley’s musicality and command of these instruments clearly define him as the greatest living bass virtuoso in the world, second to none, hands down, end of discussion. Now king of the acoustic and electric jazz worlds, in 1981 Stanley teamed with George Duke to form the Clarke/Duke Project. Together they scored a top-twenty pop hit with “Sweet Baby,” recorded three albums and still tour to this day. Stanley’s involvement in additional projects as leader or active member include: Jeff Beck (tour of Japan and Europe, 1978-1979), Ronnie Wood's & Keith Richards’ New Barbarians (North American tour, 1979), Animal Logic (with Stewart Copeland, two albums and tours, 1989), The "Superband”(with Larry Carlton, Billy Cobham, Najee, and Deron Johnson, 1993-94), The Rite of Strings (with Jean Luc Ponty and Al Dimeola, 1995), Vertu’ (with Lenny White, 1999). A much more detailed listing of Stanley Clarke’s bands can be found in Discography. Clarke has won literally every major award available to a bass player: Grammys, Emmys, every readers’ poll out there, all the critics’ polls, gold and platinum records, walks of fame- you name it. He was Rolling Stone’s very first Jazzman of the Year, and bassist winner of Playboy’s Music Award for ten straight years. Ever seeking new challenges, in 1985 Stanley turned his boundless creative energy to film and television scoring. Starting on the small screen with an Emmy nominated score for Pee Wee’s Playhouse, he progressed onto the silver screen as composer, orchestrator, conductor and performer of scores for such blockbuster films as: Boys N the Hood, What’s Love Got to Do With It (the Tina Turner Story), Passenger 57, Higher Learning, Poetic Justice, Panther, The Five Heartbeats, Little Big League, and Romeo Must Die. He has even scored a Michael Jackson video release directed by Jon Singleton entitled Remember the Time. Currently his scoring may be heard on the number one rated show for the Showtime Network: Soul Food. Stanley has become one of the elite in-demand composers in Hollywood. Check out our Film Composer section. Stanley says that: “film has given me the opportunity to compose large orchestral scores and to compose music not normally associated with myself. It’s given me the chance to conduct orchestras and arrange music for various types of ensembles. It’s been a diverse experience for me musically, made me a more complete musician, and utilized my skills completely.” The 1995 release on Epic Soundtrax (Sony Music): Stanley Clarke At the Movies, bears stunning witness to this. (Stanley promises he will find the time to release an “At The Movies 2” as well as other recordings from his massive compositional library.) His artistry has spanned classical, jazz, R&B and pop idioms. He has already succeeded in a multitude of diverse careers, any one of which would be satisfactory to anyone else. Yet he still pushes on, as invigorated and as passionate about music as that teenage prodigy from Philadelphia with a dream. In 2001, Stanley returned more formally to his initial love: performing, recording, and playing the bass. The Biography of this incredible musician, like Stanley himself, is a continuing work in process. -Ivan Bodley New York City Stanley Clarke The Bass-ic Collection, which chronicles this fertile period of his history for the uninitiated. | ||
| keith_h
Senior Member Username: keith_h Post Number: 1059 Registered: 2-2005 |
There have been some minor changes to the small standard body shape over the years. The older ones are a little flatter on the bottom for one thing. The current Brown Bass is supposed to reflect the older body shape. There has been some previous talk about this in the club but I was unable to locate the threads. Keith | ||
| white_cloud
Senior Member Username: white_cloud Post Number: 418 Registered: 11-2007 |
I always felt a certain sympathy for Stanley - he didnt have as much time basking in the limelight as he deserved once Jaco Pastorius exploded onto the scene with such ferocity! Jaco's virtuosity and compositional /arrangement skills made stanley simply look like a really good player who was goofing around for me. Jaco pushed guys like Stan and Jeff Berlin into also ran stakes as "top dog" wich was a great shame. Stan was unlucky to share the same period of musical resonance as someone so far advanced he seemed to come from another planet! I have always loved the small body shape of Stans Alembic - it is iconic! John. | ||
| terryc
Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 537 Registered: 11-2004 |
The bass on the magazine pic is the one featured on the cover of 'If This Bass Could Only Talk' His very first Alembic was stolen along with his antique acoustic bass in New York which was later recovered but his first Alembic is still missing. If you notice that one in the pic has his initials inlaid at the end of the body, his first one has them absent. I had the pleasure of holding one of his basses back in 2000 at the factory(there is a pic of me holding it somewhere on this forum). Apparently he doesn't request any exotic customisation to either woods or electronics and is quite happy with the 'standard' Alembic sound. For me personally, he is the one who opened my eyes and ears to bass, no one else played it like Stan, at that time all those rock bassists seemed like novices compared to Stan. And then Jaco..but that is a volume in itself!!! | ||
| olieoliver
Senior Member Username: olieoliver Post Number: 1901 Registered: 2-2006 |
Same here Terry. Stanley is the guy that made me look at the bass in a whole new light. Jaco is one of my favorites but comparing he and Stanley is apples and oranges to me. Totaly different approach to the bass. I met Jeff Berlin in Dallas at a bass clinic at Brook Mays Music back in the 90's. He has a very radical and disciplined approach to bass guitar. A very under appreciated player in my opinion. OO | ||
| bassman10096
Senior Member Username: bassman10096 Post Number: 1150 Registered: 7-2003 |
The small standard body style predated Stanley's Alembic days (buy how much, I'm not sure). Susan (If I recall correctly) told me the body shape was influenced in part by the Gibson SG/EBO body. | ||
| hieronymous
Advanced Member Username: hieronymous Post Number: 343 Registered: 1-2005 |
Thanks for the various insights everybody! Stanley is definitely a bass/music god for me - I love Jaco too, but as far as I go they are apples & oranges as far as one being "better" than the other. bassman10096 - the comment about the small standard body being influenced by the Gibson SG/EB0 blows me away! I have always loved that shape, and I have a perverse love for those old Gibson basses... | ||
| malthumb
Senior Member Username: malthumb Post Number: 436 Registered: 5-2002 |
Keavin, The long scale you played on stage with Stanley....Was it an Omega bodied Series I? And was it before 2000? Bet you know why I'm asking ;^) Peace, James | ||
| keavin
Senior Member Username: keavin Post Number: 1446 Registered: 12-2002 |
yeah it was a long scale standard point body seriesII, this was in 1991 at the circle star theatre in san carlos California........but not (your) bass here LOL!!!  | ||
| keavin
Senior Member Username: keavin Post Number: 1447 Registered: 12-2002 |
do you still have this one??? | ||
| hendixclarke
Advanced Member Username: hendixclarke Post Number: 314 Registered: 6-2007 |
You need somebody who understands sound -- more than sound needs to be understood. This site is the best in the world for me -- No kidding people. It feels my heart deeply, to have people who love real tools and real art. GOOD JOB ALEMBICANS! | ||
| bigbadbill
Senior Member Username: bigbadbill Post Number: 439 Registered: 10-2003 |
John Strangely when I was younger both Stan AND Jaco were the men,neck and neck all the way, but when Jaco died it seemed to become all about Jaco, which I think is sad for both of them. My experience at the time was that Stanley seemed to appeal more to the bassist in the street as opposed to the real jazzheads. I actually bought the Brown Album and Jaco's debut on the same day (well I bought the Jaco one and my dad bought me Stanley's). I was expecting to like Jaco better as I'd heard so much about him. However the Brown Album stayed on my turntable nonstop, and I hardly listened to Jaco's at all for a long time after the first listen. Stan did it for me big time. I respect Jaco absolutely, but I'm a bigger fan of Stan, even now. | ||
| jazzyvee
Senior Member Username: jazzyvee Post Number: 1218 Registered: 6-2002 |
The stanley vs Jaco thing will go on forever and really they both appeal in different ways and its great that we have the contrast between them for us to fit into. I guess for one thing, getting jaco's sound is much cheaper than getting Stanley's. The small body shape alembic is easily my favourite shape. His bass on stage the other night with RTF was absolutely beautiful. Jazzyvee | ||
| white_cloud
Senior Member Username: white_cloud Post Number: 419 Registered: 11-2007 |
Oh yes, I can totally relate to that! It was Stan who changed my perspective about bass playing for sure! Stan injected a hell of a lot of fun into the whole thing - whereas Jaco was probably a far more intense & edgy individual and musician package! I feel its a shame that Stan, in a certain way, was overshadowed by Jaco. The two players cannot be compared at all, both so very different! Stan from a very early age had experienced the ravages of alcohol abuse at the hands of his sometimes abusive father and probably watched Jaco implode with sadness in his heart! The experiences that Stan lived through during his upbringing probably placed him in a better position than Jaco to deal emotionally with success in my humble opinion! Sorry guys for going off the subject of this thread. John. | ||
| hendixclarke
Advanced Member Username: hendixclarke Post Number: 315 Registered: 6-2007 |
Jaco [Dramatic pause -- Pan facial...] He was as close as you could get to a bass. Jaco gave emotions and expressions of love and softness like no bass player ever. His sound was pure as the flowing breath of a pacific blue whale crying in tears. "Beauty in even his sadness". Jaco's bass, kept him alive longer than he would had lived with out it. Personally, Stanley is Academic. Down to earth, with more commercial appeal. Stanley is the guy next door, who BBQ's in the back yard and play with his children like most successful family guys with Alembics. [I THINK...???] -- Benefit of the doubt... | ||
| hendixclarke
Advanced Member Username: hendixclarke Post Number: 316 Registered: 6-2007 |
I use to think Stanley Clarke and Dr. J (Julius Erving) were the same person in the 70's. "Hey, I was only in the 6th grade..." Both had beautiful Afro's and cool as ice...  | ||
| hendixclarke
Advanced Member Username: hendixclarke Post Number: 317 Registered: 6-2007 |
Like Dr. J, Stanley is a tall guy too. I am sure Stanley can SLAM the rim just as hard as he SLAMS his bass! "Now I'm a player from the streets of Philadelphia. And now my sound is round and deep and brown and blue sometimes." SHOOOOSH!!!!!! TWO POINT! | ||
| bigbadbill
Senior Member Username: bigbadbill Post Number: 441 Registered: 10-2003 |
I have to add that the day I bought those 2 albums was about the "heaviest" day bass-wise that you can imagine! | ||
| white_cloud
Senior Member Username: white_cloud Post Number: 420 Registered: 11-2007 |
Sorry again for deviating wwwwwwwwwwwwwway off the subject but for Jaco fans I would love to recommend the debut release of Hadrien Feraud! IMHO he plays the way Jaco would if he had survived and had been practicing hard for the last 20 years - he is a SENSATIONAL fretless player/composer! A fantastic jazz cd all round from a 22 year old kid John. | ||
| georgie_boy
Senior Member Username: georgie_boy Post Number: 501 Registered: 8-2005 |
Post some links John G | ||
| white_cloud
Senior Member Username: white_cloud Post Number: 421 Registered: 11-2007 |
George - its me your talking to here! Takes me all my time to figure out how to get onto this forum and make posts Hadrien is also John Mclaughlin's preffered bassist of choice at the moment - if you cant find him anywhere maybe try Johns latest material?? John. | ||
| hendixclarke
Advanced Member Username: hendixclarke Post Number: 318 Registered: 6-2007 |
The small body design with S1 predates Stanley Clarke. The Alembic small body was not created nor designed for anyone, including Stanley. | ||
| hieronymous
Advanced Member Username: hieronymous Post Number: 350 Registered: 1-2005 |
"The Alembic small body was not created nor designed for anyone, including Stanley." Do you have any evidence to back this up? It strikes me as a very strong statement. | ||
| hendixclarke
Advanced Member Username: hendixclarke Post Number: 319 Registered: 6-2007 |
Oh, that's an easy answer... I would hope Alembic owns both Design and Utility Patents on their guitars and electronics devices. For... He who holds the patents, makes the rules... [I am speaking from this perspective my friend.] Also, in references to my statements, Alembic was strongly against endorsements at one time. Things may be different now, for they have a SC bass available, and on the market. I am not sure if Stanley was involved or not on the SC basses. I only know from what I had read here. | ||
| hieronymous
Advanced Member Username: hieronymous Post Number: 352 Registered: 1-2005 |
Endorsement is different from designing something for someone - case in point: the Exploiter shape, which was done for John Entwistle. According to the history of body shapes, "John Entwistle wanted the Exploiter body. He bought 15 of them." The Exploiter is a variation on the famous Gibson Explorer design, and it was designed and made for John Entwistle, and fortunately for many others. Elsewhere it states, "our customer David Fung designed the Stinger Omega." Or how about this: "The first Elan was made for a customer in Japan that wanted a very Jazz looking bass." So body shapes have been designed and made for customers, even designed by customers. This is different, in my opinion, from the issue of endorsements. The thing that struck me was that the Stanley Clarke shape isn't mentioned at all on the body shape history page, which is why I asked. Well, the fact that I recently took guardianship of one is another reason. I don't mean to pick on you hendixclarke, but your statement sounded like speculation stated as fact. If you spoke to someone at Alembic about it, or read something in a published interview, etc., then that's another story. | ||
| hendixclarke
Advanced Member Username: hendixclarke Post Number: 320 Registered: 6-2007 |
Fact: Stanley Clarke acquired his first Alembic in 1973 and it was later stolen... Fact: Alembic never called this first bass "The Stanley Clarke Bass in 1973." STANLY'S Words: "I met Rick Turner when we were playing at the Boarding House in SF, and in a nice way he told me, "Look, you really play well, but your sound is atrocious" He told me to try the bass he had with him; I think it was one of the first alembic basses. So I tried it out and it was great. And I haven't changed since. . . . it was about $1,200, but by that time I was making a bit of money, so the burden wasn't too bad. It ws more culture shock, I think, because I was used to paying $400 for a bass. It had gold-plated hardware, a curly maple neck, great design, fancy pickups and a fancy cord. I didn't know what any of that meant, but it sounded the end! And that night on the gig, it was like a new bass player had been born. I could suddenly play anything I heard in my head. The problem with the Gibson bass was that I'd hear things and try to play them and my fingers would go along but the right sound wouldn't come out . . ." Fact: Stanley Clarke Signature bass wasn't introduced until 1986. Therefore, the shape was already available before the Signature small body. I hope this helps... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alembic_Inc http://www.alembic.com/club/messages/393/42224.html?1190660259 | ||
| jazzyvee
Senior Member Username: jazzyvee Post Number: 1220 Registered: 6-2002 |
Well whatever the true history of that small body shape is, it seems to be firmly engrained in the psyche with Stanley Clarke so that's cool enough for me and will always be seen, by me anyway, as the Stanley Clarke bass. Jazzyvee | ||
| bigbadbill
Senior Member Username: bigbadbill Post Number: 442 Registered: 10-2003 |
I always (rightly or wrongly) assumed that the original body shapes, standard and small standard, were very loosely based on the Guild Starfire and Gibson EB. Of course I may have been inhaling too many fumes at this point! | ||
| malthumb
Senior Member Username: malthumb Post Number: 437 Registered: 5-2002 |
Keavin, Still got it. Don't see that changing anytime soon. Hendrixclarke, XLNT synopsis of the Small Standard / Stanley Clarke connection. Remember, there are other signature basses in the Alembic portfolio. Other than the EVH, I believe all the designs existed before the model was declared a signature. Peace, James | ||
| hendixclarke
Advanced Member Username: hendixclarke Post Number: 321 Registered: 6-2007 |
James, I couldn't agree with you more. The "body" (the guitar) was always here... they just needed the right "soul" (talent-person) for us to identify the shape Companies and business can sometime help us recognize with creating a signature model. The real question is: are the signature models more valuable than the predated models. I don't want somebody else's name on my ax. I don't see Stanley playing a signature series, and why should I? This is a person pref, and it is not to say something, you probably already heard before. | ||
| hendixclarke
Advanced Member Username: hendixclarke Post Number: 322 Registered: 6-2007 |
At my age, I am too old to lie. The choice between a Small body s1, and a SC signature series -- hands down, the s1 small would be my choice. To provide a perspective... A choice between SC signature between any other guitar brand on the market -- Give me the SC signature! | ||
| white_cloud
Senior Member Username: white_cloud Post Number: 423 Registered: 11-2007 |
Hal - its a wonderful thing in life to know what you want, so many people never really do. It comes down to personal choice at the end of the day - and thank god for that! It is what makes the world go round Im not a short scale guy( Stans fingers look gigantic on his tiny fretboard ) but other than that the small body shapes on both the SC and the series look amazing to me. I always preferred the look of the Gibson EB basses, with the "two tuners either side" headstock, as opposed to the Fender basses - but obviously the Fender basses were far superior IMHO. The Alembic SC was for me the bass that had "the look" and also "delivered!" Basically the ultimate bass! John. | ||
| hendixclarke
Advanced Member Username: hendixclarke Post Number: 323 Registered: 6-2007 |
John, you are right. I think what makes people interesting, are on moments when we can be trusted to be ourselves and still be accepting. The EB3 controls also looks like an s1. It amazing how Alembics evolved from ideas also predefined... http://www.gibsonbass.com/EB3.php |
