California Special

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Author Message jalevinemd Intermediate Member Username: jalevinemd Post Number: 143 Registered: 12-2003 Posted on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 8:09 pm:    Here's a very interesting guitar on ebay. For me, California Specials have always been like UFO's...I've heard of them, but I've never actually seen one. The pictures aren't the greatest, unfortunately. Imagine that, an Alembic with a Floyd Rose...never thought I'd see the day. I'm not too sure about that "stormburst finish," though. If the price were a little lower, it'd be worth refinishing. Then you could shred in style! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2384&item=3772401673&rd=1 davehouck Senior Member Username: davehouck Post Number: 1131 Registered: 5-2002 Posted on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 8:30 pm:    I was looking at that earlier today. The "ivory fingerboard" especially caught my interest <g>. But I am curious as to the purpose of the large rectangular plate on the back. bsee Senior Member Username: bsee Post Number: 630 Registered: 3-2004 Posted on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 8:33 pm:    The Cal Special isn't on the price list, though it is among the described products. Are they about equal to a Spectrum? If the seller is cooperative and anyone is interested, I'm not much more than an hour from the listed city. I might be able to check it out Thursday evening, Saturday or Sunday if anyone wants a hands-on description. jalevinemd Intermediate Member Username: jalevinemd Post Number: 144 Registered: 12-2003 Posted on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 8:34 pm:    Dave, I think the seller's wife has her ebony and ivory confused! The rectangular plate is covering the springs for the tremolo. davehouck Senior Member Username: davehouck Post Number: 1132 Registered: 5-2002 Posted on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 8:46 pm:    Thanks Jon; now that I think about it, I should have known that. Bob; the description on the Alembic site calls for "vol, pan, low-pass filter with q switch, individual on-off switches for pickups". But the accompanying picture doesn't look like it has all that. davehouck Senior Member Username: davehouck Post Number: 1133 Registered: 5-2002 Posted on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 8:52 pm:    Bob; I found a price list <g>: http://www.acoutron.ch/alembicPrices.html lbpesq Advanced Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 221 Registered: 7-2004 Posted on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 10:44 pm:    Those prices can't be U.S. Dollars. The Tribute is listed at "11,900". On our site the price is $7,500. I'd bet Mica and Susan would remember this guitar as I suspect the tremelo is fairly unusual. (It does have me thinking, though). Bill, tgo jacko Member Username: jacko Post Number: 83 Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 29, 2004 - 4:52 am:    bill tgo. Swiss Francs... graeme davehouck Senior Member Username: davehouck Post Number: 1134 Registered: 5-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 29, 2004 - 6:15 am:    Bill; according to Alembic's California Special page, the Special comes with Tremolo and you can specify either Schaller or Floyd Rose. http://www.alembic.com/prod/casp.html bsee Senior Member Username: bsee Post Number: 631 Registered: 3-2004 Posted on Wednesday, December 29, 2004 - 7:26 am:    Well, the price list at least shows that the Cal Special comes in a few hundred below the Spectrum. That would place it something in the vicinity of $5000 to $5200 at today's list price, so $2850 is a bit of a discount, but nothing like the typical savings on a used Alembic bass. In fact, it's probably not far from the original sales price in 1992.