| Author | Message | ||
| hammer
Intermediate Member Username: hammer Post Number: 125 Registered: 9-2009 |
Just got back from a visit to the mothership with my son so that he could get to see, touch, and play his college graduation present – a chocolate quilted maple Further. The look on his face when Mary walked out of the office, introduced herself to us, and then stated, “So I hear you come to see your guitar,” was priceless. While the original plan of having Mica give us a full tour and then end up in the finishing room with a guitar to hand to him didn’t quite play out, the folks at Alembic did an incredible job in getting his guitar ready so that it coincided with his graduation. As for Mica, what can I say…other than...the greatest. An in-depth 3-hour plus, personal tour of the process of building a guitar really opened my eyes to the art that goes in to this process at Alembic. All I can say is that I could never even fathom purchasing a bass other than from the folks in Santa Rosa. We ended our visit with my son getting about an hour to play his instrument while Mica and I discussed everything from the qualities of mid- and short-scale basses and the evolution of alembic body shapes, to the differences I might hear between a Koa and a Buckeye Burl Standard (hey, a father can’t have his son outdoing him in both talent and equipment, and though I can’t reduce the difference between us in the former, the latter is possible). At one point during our discussion, the music ceased, and when Mica and I looked at my son, he was caressing his guitar with a look in his eyes that I last saw when he introduced me to his girlfriend. | ||
| slawie
Senior Member Username: slawie Post Number: 401 Registered: 8-2002 |
Brian You are one heck of a father. I am an orphan are you looking to adopt? Kudos to you and many happy years of music to you both. Congrats to your son on graduating slawie | ||
| jazzyvee
Senior Member Username: jazzyvee Post Number: 2918 Registered: 6-2002 |
Cool story Hammer. Let's hope he keeps his guitar and his girlfriend. I had a recent trip to Alembic and it really was an eyeopener to see how things are crafted with care from innocent pieces of wood into musical instruments. Makes you appreciate them more. I hope you can persuade him to post some photo's here. I wonder if it is this second from the left in this picture I took on my visit.  jazzyvee | ||
| artswork99
Moderator Username: artswork99 Post Number: 1733 Registered: 7-2007 |
Excellent! What a great day! | ||
| hammer
Intermediate Member Username: hammer Post Number: 126 Registered: 9-2009 |
Thanks. That certainly could be his further hanging there depending on when you visited. When we arrived for our visit, James (I think that was his name as we were introduced to quite a few people) was working furiously on the guitar in order to get it in playing shape prior to our leaving. It was also great that they held off installing the brass pick/PU guard that I had originally ordered for the guitar after Mica decided that it covered up too much nice wood. Since the guitar was a surprise and I did the ordering, it was really my son's only choice with respect to the build and I think he really appreciated that opportunity. It's supposed to arrive next Friday so I'll get some pics up as soon as I can pry it out of his hands long enough to take some shots (the one thing I failed to do during our visit, but a good excuse to have a custom build for me undertaken in the not too distant future. |
