| Author | Message | ||
| flpete1uw
Senior Member Username: flpete1uw Post Number: 569 Registered: 11-2011 |
This might be something someone might want to restore. Looks like a bunch of mods have been done on it. I almost jumped out of my skin on this! I just have to much on my plate right now to be dealing with it. Nice looker. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1980-Alembic-Series-1-Bass-Guitar-/262146371592?hash=item3d09243008:g:c7UAAOSwhcJWNpL2 | ||
| jcdlc72
Senior Member Username: jcdlc72 Post Number: 447 Registered: 11-2009 |
Nice, interesting looker indeed, although I'm afraid it might be a little bit of a neck diver... | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 4588 Registered: 5-2009 |
Very interesting . Perhaps a restoration to 100% Alembic electronics would be loving gesture to this instrument for someone . Pete , I can see why you wrote ; "I almost jumped out of my skin on this! It might be too late for body "un-mods" but the electronics would seem to be seem a nice thing to restore ! Series II might be swell . Wolf (Message edited by sonicus on November 16, 2015) | ||
| enzo
Senior Member Username: enzo Post Number: 539 Registered: 4-2009 |
I wonder what the scale length is, there's no mention in the description. That would be crucial to understand if it can be a serious neck diver, considering the horns are even shorter than the already short standard. | ||
| rv_bass
Junior Username: rv_bass Post Number: 13 Registered: 8-2014 |
Moving the strap button to the base of the neck/body might help with dive issues. The cost of redoing the electronics could increase the overall cost of the bass substantially, but perhaps still within a reasonable value for an unmodified Series I? | ||
| hammer
Senior Member Username: hammer Post Number: 790 Registered: 9-2009 |
Very interested in this one as a possible refurbish & restore at the mothership. I have e-mailed the seller to find out more about the scale and what the "black box" does. Based on the two photos of the lectronics cavity does it appear to those in the know and as suggested in the write-up that all the Series electronics are still present and just being "over-ridden" or has their been more damage done. | ||
| rockerdebassman
Junior Username: rockerdebassman Post Number: 37 Registered: 8-2015 |
Sad to see such mods to a fine instrument. Perhaps mental illness was to blame? I don't know, Hammer... doesn't look like it would fit with your pristine collection. | ||
| rockerdebassman
Junior Username: rockerdebassman Post Number: 38 Registered: 8-2015 |
Dupe post here... DOH! (Message edited by rockerdebassman on November 16, 2015) | ||
| enzo
Senior Member Username: enzo Post Number: 540 Registered: 4-2009 |
Certainly not before a refurbishment, but after...this would be a nice one! | ||
| fc_spoiler
Senior Member Username: fc_spoiler Post Number: 1834 Registered: 5-2006 |
Looks like all electronics are there, could be salvageable I guess... Maybe convert to Series II with quick tone change switches, either bass or treble. (or add two switches to have both for each pickup.) :-) I also fantasized about a Series I/II setup in the past: Two 4-way switches: 1: CVQ 2,3 and 4: Series I settings (off, mid, high) (use the Series I settings when your lazy, the Series II setting when you need precision) The body mod would be a big no-no for me though, poor puppy... :-( For the electronics experts:   | ||
| flpete1uw
Senior Member Username: flpete1uw Post Number: 570 Registered: 11-2011 |
Wolf, early this morning rubbing my eyes and taking in my first sip of coffee, I looked down and thought I saw a Series 2 for $3K! So I rubbed my eyes again and to make sure I didn't necessarily stub my toe running for my credit card, with a couple of more sips of coffee and clearing eyes I started to dig deeper. Just a bit to much trouble for now. However some of Flip's ideas are intriguing. Pete | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 4590 Registered: 5-2009 |
Pete , I can most certainly see where you are coming from , I think I had the same experience with rubbing my eyes and the first sip of coffee brother . I think this will be a nice bass for somebody ! I agree with Flip as well . Wolf | ||
| cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member Username: cozmik_cowboy Post Number: 1974 Registered: 10-2006 |
Looks like most of the threaded inserts have gone bye-bye. Peter | ||
| jazzyvee
Senior Member Username: jazzyvee Post Number: 4777 Registered: 6-2002 |
That black box with wires coming out looks like something from the Aguilar OP series electronics | ||
| edwardofhuncote
Senior Member Username: edwardofhuncote Post Number: 676 Registered: 6-2014 |
Regarding the body modification... I wonder if anyone has ever invented a telescoping strap button. What I'm imagining would work kinda' like the endpin on my upright, except mounted on the upper horn of a bass that was neck heavy, or otherwise poorly balanced. Sorry... it's early here. Once the caff kicks in, the abstract thoughts go away. =) That's a very pretty bass. I hope someone restores it. Looks like a prime candidate for Series II conversion if it hasn't already. (CVQ's & Master Vol.?) | ||
| tbrannon
Senior Member Username: tbrannon Post Number: 1704 Registered: 11-2004 |
Regarding the telescoping strap button.... There was a spoiler that I remember that had a long brass rod placed in the strap button hole that extended out to about where it aligned with the 12th fret. Somebody here on the forum had it and sold it to another member, IIRC. I wouldn't know where to search for a picture, but it did exist. | ||
| elwoodblue
Senior Member Username: elwoodblue Post Number: 1760 Registered: 6-2002 |
Found this image-  ...maybe in graphite , like this Classico endpin-  | ||
| jcdlc72
Senior Member Username: jcdlc72 Post Number: 448 Registered: 11-2009 |
I imagine something can be fitted in, the extension rod with a strap lock (Schaller style as a better option for this?) on the tip, maybe interchangeable with a flush-to-the-wood one just in case? | ||
| hammer
Senior Member Username: hammer Post Number: 791 Registered: 9-2009 |
I had a Walnut Distillate that had a brass rod placed in the strap button hole that I sold to a forum member 1.5-2 years ago. The rod, however, was not telescoping as Gregory was suggesting. I never really understood why the previous owner had this done because from what I recall the bass was not what I would consider neck heavy and hung quite well. I ended up removing it and installing regular strap buttons just before I parted with it.  | ||
| ed_zeppelin
Intermediate Member Username: ed_zeppelin Post Number: 190 Registered: 2-2010 |
Perhaps he meant to saw the horns off someday, so it would be neck-heavy? Here's Rick Turner's solution:  Ask any repair guy, and they'll tell you that horrendous "modifications" are way more common than most people would believe. I've thought about it a lot (especially because I spent years doing setups on trade-ins as a matter of course, and every time you'd open a case some monstrosity would be revealed, it seemed), and my theory is that guys do weird stuff to guitars simply because they think; "it's MINE!" Honest, I think that's all there is to it. As a reformed mangler myself, I think that' s what motivated me to do stupid stuff to guitars, before I realized that it's way more fun fixing them than butchering them. But this Series 1 is special in a couple of different ways. For one thing, he did an excellent job. Really. The seller posted more close up pictures than I've ever seen for any eBay ad, and I can barely tell what was done. The difficulty of reshaping the horns is only matched by the bewilderment at why anybody would want to in the first place. Aside from the aesthetic appearance, I've wracked my well-wracked brain to come up with any reason why somebody would want to. It accomplishes nothing, and threw the balance off. Shrug. (Why the brass inserts were removed is another mystery altogether. Perhaps his parents pelted him with tiny brass inserts when he was a child. We'll never know.) The electronics mod is pure hubris. "These Alembic electronics just won't do, and since there's nothing better, I'll just rig up some kinda Frankenstein workaround and pack it in the cavity." Luckily, it looks like he left everything there - which is pretty unique in itself, because most of the time that's where stray Alembic parts on eBay come from. To my mind, that bass stands as the benchmark for idiocy simply because it's one of the finest instruments ever made. He could have bought and mangled many Fenders or Gibson basses and a chainsaw for the value of the Alembic. It's like buying a Ferrari and putting fins on it, and replacing the engine with a Chevy V-8. The weird part is that aside from a slightly odd profile, it wouldn't be difficult to correct everything and still have a decent bass. Dodged a bullet there, I'd say. (Quite a bit of "orange peel" in the finish as well, if you look at the reflections in those pics.) P.S.: did anybody else notice he re-filed the string slots in the 1st and 2nd string saddles? That's pretty weird. (Message edited by Ed_zeppelin on November 17, 2015) | ||
| tbrannon
Senior Member Username: tbrannon Post Number: 1705 Registered: 11-2004 |
Thanks, Brian. That's the bass I remember. I thought it was a Spoiler- I was close.  | ||
| enzo
Senior Member Username: enzo Post Number: 541 Registered: 4-2009 |
Hey Brian, were you able to find that extension between your spare parts? If you did please send it to me, I might need it | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 2137 Registered: 5-2002 |
If I bought this, I would send it back to the mothership, have the body sawn off and start over. Why, why, why, why? | ||
| hammer
Senior Member Username: hammer Post Number: 793 Registered: 9-2009 |
Enzo I've looked but have yet to come across it. I'll let you know if I do. |
