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kenonbass
Junior
Username: kenonbass

Post Number: 18
Registered: 4-2008
Posted on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 - 5:07 pm:   Edit Post

As I played my near minty '93 JPJ triple omega last night at practice and worried that I might collide with my guitar player or forget to put it in the stand, I stared at my old J bass that I never worried about and wondered "has anybody ever played their Alembic until it was beat to s**t? What does a "relic'd" Alembic look like?" Can I treat my Alembic like a J bass? Are Alembic basses particularly fragile? Why does everyone's always look so pristine? Does anyone have any pics of one with mojo from honest wear? Any stories? How can I live this double life: careful with Alembics; careless with Fenders.

(Message edited by kenonbass on October 22, 2008)
dadabass2001
Senior Member
Username: dadabass2001

Post Number: 962
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 - 5:25 pm:   Edit Post

Hi Ken,
I remember Mica once mentioning a custom bass that was ordered "stressed" by draging it around their parking lot on a chain behind a motorcycle.

Also check out forum member Kevin's old #12. He said it's had it's head broken off a couple of times and the body is funky beyond belief, but he'll NEVER part with it.

amen
Mike
keavin
Senior Member
Username: keavin

Post Number: 1481
Registered: 12-2002
Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 6:43 am:   Edit Post

this one is been to Hell & back.head stock broken three times lots of dings & it needs a new finish but for an oldie like this it sounds like Heaven!!!!!!!!!.& i like the worn look it shows it's true age.(1972#12)
keavin
Senior Member
Username: keavin

Post Number: 1482
Registered: 12-2002
Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 6:46 am:   Edit Post

i forgot to mention my pickup rings are gone & i'm on my third power supply Cable in 30 years!

(Message edited by keavin on October 27, 2008)
keavin
Senior Member
Username: keavin

Post Number: 1483
Registered: 12-2002
Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 - 7:01 am:   Edit Post

new2alembic
Member
Username: new2alembic

Post Number: 80
Registered: 9-2008
Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 - 8:15 am:   Edit Post

So Keavin, how about that Chicago gathering?

Carl
new2alembic
Member
Username: new2alembic

Post Number: 81
Registered: 9-2008
Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 - 8:17 am:   Edit Post

Keavin how recent is the broken headstock picture?
Is old #12 healthy today? I hope so!

Carl
new2alembic
Member
Username: new2alembic

Post Number: 82
Registered: 9-2008
Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 - 8:27 am:   Edit Post

Sorry Ken. I wasn't ignoring you. Play your bass like you're trying to kill it. Make it scream! But when the night is over, give it some TLC. Read the posts on caring for your instrument. The lemon oil really does wonders for the fretboard. My guitar is 30 years old. But the previous owners took good care of it. I am following in their tradition. I sometimes play very hard, but I am always careful in how I handle my instruments. However; if something catastrophic does happen, the elves at Santa Rosa are able and willing to do their magic.

Carl
keavin
Senior Member
Username: keavin

Post Number: 1487
Registered: 12-2002
Posted on Thursday, October 30, 2008 - 4:34 am:   Edit Post

that chicago gathering ..anytime!,,,,,,the last time old#12 has been broken i belive was in 2003 when my strap gave way, so at that point i got a thick leather strap and screwed it into the bass at both ends,which i repaired my self with a good clamp & a tube of gorilla glue its better than carpenters wood glue.http://www.gorillaglue.com/
new2alembic
Member
Username: new2alembic

Post Number: 84
Registered: 9-2008
Posted on Thursday, October 30, 2008 - 7:50 am:   Edit Post

Thanks for the information Keavin, and I am glad to know that old #12 is still in good health. Play it healthy!

Carl
mike1762
Intermediate Member
Username: mike1762

Post Number: 144
Registered: 1-2008
Posted on Thursday, October 30, 2008 - 4:30 pm:   Edit Post

So what was going through your mind at the time of the first decapitation??? I would have LOST MY MIND!!! I guess by the 3rd time you're just like... "oh, did THAT happen again... ho hum".
keavin
Senior Member
Username: keavin

Post Number: 1488
Registered: 12-2002
Posted on Friday, October 31, 2008 - 5:41 am:   Edit Post

couldnt believe it!....my mutha f#ckin alembic on the floor broke?????...what would U do?.
mike1762
Intermediate Member
Username: mike1762

Post Number: 148
Registered: 1-2008
Posted on Saturday, November 01, 2008 - 4:11 pm:   Edit Post

I'm assuming this occurred after the body hit the floor followed by the back of the head stock??? I would imagine a multi-laminate neck would be more susceptible to "decapitation" than a one piece neck. While a multi-laminate neck is more stable, it is relatively inflexible; therefore,... SNAP!!!
keith_h
Senior Member
Username: keith_h

Post Number: 1150
Registered: 2-2005
Posted on Sunday, November 02, 2008 - 3:59 am:   Edit Post

As I recall Alembic actually went with the multi part neck on purpose. In their early years Alembic did quite a bit of instrument repair including decapitations. They found that a solid piece of wood will shatter and be much harder to repair. By adding the headstock as a separate piece most breaks are cleaner and therefore easier to repair. The laminates serve two purposes. The first is to strengthen the joint and the second is to hide the kerf joint where the headstock is attached.

Keith
keavin
Senior Member
Username: keavin

Post Number: 1489
Registered: 12-2002
Posted on Sunday, November 02, 2008 - 4:03 am:   Edit Post

yeah i dont understand that concept (multi-laminate/weaker joint) especially concidering the money paid for an alemnic,........But my 2nd decapitation occured while flying from chicago to Vegas in 2000,baggege handlers toss everything my bass case was damaged & when i opened the case there it was!!!!! the first thing kept thinking was calling a bomb threat to delay & disrupt the whole airport, i called to complain about guitar but got nothing but the runaround from some white lady on the phone!!! my case after 30 yrs of being with me!
mike1762
Intermediate Member
Username: mike1762

Post Number: 151
Registered: 1-2008
Posted on Sunday, November 02, 2008 - 12:30 pm:   Edit Post

I didn't realize the headstock was a seperate piece!!! I've never noticed the joint... I'll have to take a closer look when I get home. Keavin, did your breaks occur at the joint?
keavin
Senior Member
Username: keavin

Post Number: 1490
Registered: 12-2002
Posted on Monday, November 03, 2008 - 3:22 am:   Edit Post

they occured right at the or under the brass nut,however they were clean breaks which made it fit right into place (no splinters)...plus also most of the very early alembics had super skinny necks i mean you can wrap your hand around my neck twice almost,my neck is a little over 2 inches wide from the first to the last fret, a guy with big hands would be uncomfortable with my bass ,i have small hands so its just rite.
mario_farufyno
Junior
Username: mario_farufyno

Post Number: 23
Registered: 9-2008
Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 6:04 am:   Edit Post

I try to always take proper care with my basses, even the cheap one. But you know... $#!t happens.

The drummer I play with droped my Rogue on floor one time he stumbled on his cord and this caused a minor hurt at its back. But nothing like breaking the Headstock.

I confess that I droped a single tear when I realized what happend and I just can't imagine my reaction if I see my Alembic broken in pieces.
adriaan
Senior Member
Username: adriaan

Post Number: 2016
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 6:09 am:   Edit Post

Always unplug your Alembic when not playing it - saves on battery life too!
mario_farufyno
Junior
Username: mario_farufyno

Post Number: 25
Registered: 9-2008
Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 6:19 am:   Edit Post

A single tear because I was among my band mates (if I was alone I would probably cry like a child!).

I forgot to mention that my Rogue is "wounded" by the "tail" (I carry it in a Gig Bag, whose zipper hurted the bass before I protect it with a rag of a blanket).
adriaan
Senior Member
Username: adriaan

Post Number: 2019
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 6:34 am:   Edit Post

I know the feeling ... my Epic once slipped through my fingers, from not more than a foot above the ground, in a gigbag. This left a mark on the side of the bass, about half an inch in diameter - but luckily not through the polyurethane finish, which is pretty thin. That was the last time I carried it in a gigbag.
benson_murrensun
Member
Username: benson_murrensun

Post Number: 71
Registered: 5-2007
Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2008 - 11:47 am:   Edit Post

I bought my Alembic very much "used": Buckle rash, a few dents and dings, some little scratches, etc. The sound and electronics are fine, however. Because of it's condition, the price was lower, and I can let friends try it out without fear of ruining that mint condition of an instrument. It lives in a gig bag that seems to be fine for the use I give it. I'll take it on any gig.
I do have some other instruments that are in mint condition, and they have to be babied to keep them they way they came from their makers, but the Alembic ain't one of them. I kinda like that.
chalie_holmes
Junior
Username: chalie_holmes

Post Number: 35
Registered: 3-2009
Posted on Monday, April 13, 2009 - 1:19 pm:   Edit Post

Hey Keavin,
That picture of your severed bass head was absolutely gastly! I can imagine your emotions when you 1st saw it like that. I remember about 3 yrs ago right before my show I took my Double Bass out of it's case and the neck just fell right off of it's body! Fortunately the drummer had another Stand-up bass at his house we quickly drove to his house and I used that bass (ugh). Anyway, I can take losing my girlfriend but not my axe!
dadabass2001
Senior Member
Username: dadabass2001

Post Number: 1080
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Monday, April 13, 2009 - 5:14 pm:   Edit Post

Chalie, if your girlfriends neck comes off, the cops will be looking for ya.
(paraphrasing Love & Death) "but, could I be happy with a decapitated partner and a borrowed upright?"

:-)
Mike
jazzyvee
Senior Member
Username: jazzyvee

Post Number: 1422
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Monday, April 13, 2009 - 11:49 pm:   Edit Post

Hi Keavin, in your post ( 4th on in the thread), it looks like you have two cables plugged into your bass, PSU and jack. Is that the case and why?
I thought you got one or the other outputting, and not both.
Jazzyvee
keavin
Senior Member
Username: keavin

Post Number: 1607
Registered: 12-2002
Posted on Thursday, April 16, 2009 - 8:53 am:   Edit Post

that was because my power supply cable was providing juice (electricity only) & the 1/4 jack provided pickups.......in other words the power supply cable had some broken wires inside so i enquired about another one here in the club and recieved a new one in less than a week totally free from a fellow club member....but at the same time my bass would'nt take batteries do to very old & bad wires but ive since had new battery wires installed so now after 29 plus years my bass runs on batteries as well as the power cable.......so my workhorse alembic earns the "most beat alembic" award!

(Message edited by keavin on April 16, 2009)
llobsterbass
Member
Username: llobsterbass

Post Number: 52
Registered: 5-2004
Posted on Friday, April 24, 2009 - 1:17 pm:   Edit Post

I don't care how old or beatup #12 gets...I still drool every time you post a photo of it. Must be a close relative of Phil Lesh's Alembicized Starfire, which was under construction ca. 1972. all those knobs are superfilters, right?

jam on!
serialnumber12
Advanced Member
Username: serialnumber12

Post Number: 393
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Monday, April 27, 2009 - 5:36 am:   Edit Post



(Message edited by serialnumber12 on April 27, 2009)
serialnumber12
Advanced Member
Username: serialnumber12

Post Number: 394
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Monday, April 27, 2009 - 5:44 am:   Edit Post

the knobs are just standard seriesII but spread out along the entire brass plate,the mini toggle is standby and my gain adjustable trim pots are also front loaded that's why you see ten controls on the front of my bass,the trim pots/Humcancellers are inside.

(Message edited by serialnumber12 on April 27, 2009)
serialnumber12
Advanced Member
Username: serialnumber12

Post Number: 395
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Monday, April 27, 2009 - 6:22 am:   Edit Post

hubertarian
Junior
Username: hubertarian

Post Number: 15
Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Thursday, May 21, 2009 - 4:33 am:   Edit Post

The laminations on the headstock strengthen that vulnerable joint significantly.

My '78 medium scale was sent on a flight off of the third tier of a stage riser from a guitar stand when my foot pulled on the cable as I walked off for a "break". It travelled all the way to the audience floor, about 20 feet down and another 10 forward, taking a jbl 12" monitor with it from atop an A7 main speaker, snagging the monitor cable on its perilous journey (the monitor landed on the back of the neck!). The bass landed /smack/ onto its face, with the monitor rolling off to the side. This was in '79, and the bass played the rest of the night, and for 6 months after that before a luthier helped out by soaking some glue into the myriad little cracks which formed on the back laminates.

Having once broken the head off of a Gibson Thunderbird by slipping on ice up some steps on the way to rehearsal, I came to deeply appreciate the thought and care in the development of the head/neck joint laminations.

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