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sjhoffma
Member
Username: sjhoffma

Post Number: 53
Registered: 5-2008
Posted on Tuesday, November 04, 2008 - 3:35 pm:   Edit Post

http://www.dhgate.com/Alembic-5-String-Bass/p_ff8080811c9224a3011c94d75f126506.html

I was looking online for 5 string basses, and this came up. Do you think it is a scam? Or a company trying to make basses similar in style to alembics? Less than 300 American dollars, I wouldnt trust the buyer, or the security of the site.
keith_h
Senior Member
Username: keith_h

Post Number: 1155
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Tuesday, November 04, 2008 - 3:57 pm:   Edit Post

It's a scam either way. We all know how well China protects intellectual property rights. Looking at the pictures I would say they are ripped off as the flooring and trim look like they are in the US.

Keith
elwoodblue
Senior Member
Username: elwoodblue

Post Number: 587
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Tuesday, November 04, 2008 - 4:13 pm:   Edit Post

Do you save on shipping if you order 10?
:-)
pacificshine
Junior
Username: pacificshine

Post Number: 14
Registered: 7-2008
Posted on Tuesday, November 04, 2008 - 4:17 pm:   Edit Post

Also notice that you can put up to 10 of them in the shopping cart (for just under $3K total!)....
pauldo
Member
Username: pauldo

Post Number: 71
Registered: 6-2006
Posted on Tuesday, November 04, 2008 - 5:42 pm:   Edit Post

Ask for the serial # and see if it can be cross referenced here.
oujeebass
Intermediate Member
Username: oujeebass

Post Number: 132
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Tuesday, November 04, 2008 - 7:10 pm:   Edit Post

I wouldn't mind trying one of the Les Paul copies and I would like to request that Gibson in chinese be applied on the headstock.
pace
Advanced Member
Username: pace

Post Number: 387
Registered: 4-2004
Posted on Wednesday, November 05, 2008 - 1:59 pm:   Edit Post

On a related note, my friend works for NBC/Olympics and just got back from Beijing.... He said the Gibson & PRS knock-offs were unbelievable over there. Some tell-tale signs, but otherwise dead-on.... Careful out there.....
0vid
Intermediate Member
Username: 0vid

Post Number: 153
Registered: 4-2003
Posted on Saturday, November 08, 2008 - 1:07 pm:   Edit Post

This company has been there for while ... they make all sorts of copies, that look like the real thing and of course don't play like the real thing. The stratocaster and les paul shoppers can tell you all about them, but FWIW, they are copies but not unplayable copies. Not that unbeleiveable in this day and age of copy carvers and CNC machines. Even the bulk polishing could be done by a machine buffer, and if you want to you could get a PLEK machine in a factory.

Still the components are cheap, not that they don't work, and the botom line is that it is still counterfeit.
cozmik_cowboy
Advanced Member
Username: cozmik_cowboy

Post Number: 373
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Tuesday, November 11, 2008 - 4:39 am:   Edit Post

I have a friend who has 3 Chinese LPs - says they're very good, but not great (what he actually said was he'd pay more for a real Gibson, but not the 10 times more they want). He just got a Tele Thinline copy - the bridge rattled, so he replaced it with a vintage-style 3-saddle & drilled it for string-through, and he dressed the frets. He says of the 4 Teles he's had, it's the only one he's been glad to own (which probably says more about the current state of Fender than about Chinese guitars). I would point out, however, that being able to make a credible knock-off of a current Gibson or Fender is not the same thing as being able to mke a credible Alembic! I'm seriously considering an LP and/or a Tele, but I'll pass on this one, thanks.

Peter
altgrendel
Junior
Username: altgrendel

Post Number: 12
Registered: 5-2008
Posted on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 5:51 am:   Edit Post

Interesting that they never show the front of the headstock.
white_cloud
Senior Member
Username: white_cloud

Post Number: 559
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 8:05 am:   Edit Post

Undoubted scam - avoid!
hendixclarke
Advanced Member
Username: hendixclarke

Post Number: 352
Registered: 6-2007
Posted on Friday, January 02, 2009 - 10:30 am:   Edit Post

Why avoid if the electronics are pure 100% Alembic?

Buy one of these guys or 10 -- slam Alembic guts and cut.

Hey, it all about the sound in the end. However, in the end, whoever buys them, knows it ain't an original.

Hey, people copied Jimi Hendrix so well, they'd even copied his mistakes too. LOL!

In the end, it will never be another original nor a Legend... The rest is just pure flattery of a copy.
cozmik_cowboy
Advanced Member
Username: cozmik_cowboy

Post Number: 384
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Friday, January 02, 2009 - 10:39 am:   Edit Post

Avoid because, Hal, the electronics (and everything else) are 0% Alembic - these things are made in China.

Peter
hendixclarke
Advanced Member
Username: hendixclarke

Post Number: 353
Registered: 6-2007
Posted on Friday, January 02, 2009 - 10:41 am:   Edit Post

How many Chinese Bruce Lee copies were produced after the original legend died?

LOL!!!
white_cloud
Senior Member
Username: white_cloud

Post Number: 567
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Monday, January 05, 2009 - 5:57 am:   Edit Post

If these basses existed I would agree with Hal to a point - but they dont. That is a pic of an 100% Alembic bass, not a chinese copy. An undoubted scammer at work imho.
jacko
Senior Member
Username: jacko

Post Number: 2049
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Monday, January 05, 2009 - 8:17 am:   Edit Post

They've sold out. Not surprising given the price ;-)

Graeme

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