Salvageable Essence?

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Author Message tbrannon Advanced Member Username: tbrannon Post Number: 266 Registered: 11-2004 Posted on Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 5:11 pm:    This poor thing has seen a rough life- body looks to be in decent shape and the seller says all the guts are intact. Somebody went Franken-idiot on this. Ouch kungfusheriff Senior Member Username: kungfusheriff Post Number: 574 Registered: 8-2003 Posted on Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 9:15 pm:    Not as rough as my ex-'84 Spoiler but close. Who buys an Alembic and bypasses the electronics, let alone puts clown-nose knobs on the poor bass? lbpesq Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 1917 Registered: 7-2004 Posted on Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 9:35 pm:    I would imagine that the low impedance pickups, without a preamp, would put out a rather weak signal. Bill, tgo 88persuader Advanced Member Username: 88persuader Post Number: 243 Registered: 5-2004 Posted on Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 9:57 pm:    It's a sin!!!! I'd buy it if it were a 5 string and send it back to Alembic for a re-build. bassjigga Member Username: bassjigga Post Number: 81 Registered: 8-2005 Posted on Thursday, December 21, 2006 - 9:35 am:    The knobs are no big deal. That's an easy change. But why would anyone want to bypass the alembic pre? Especially when all you have to do is leave the filter wide open if you don't want the sound changed at all... olieoliver Senior Member Username: olieoliver Post Number: 1020 Registered: 2-2006 Posted on Thursday, December 21, 2006 - 9:41 am:    I thought the same thing David. Unless he was having problems with the pre-amp or something. The only other thing I could think of is "what a PUTZ." inthelows Advanced Member Username: inthelows Post Number: 217 Registered: 11-2006 Posted on Thursday, December 21, 2006 - 10:46 am:    I emailed the seller to find out more info. We'll see what happens. NLP tbrannon Advanced Member Username: tbrannon Post Number: 270 Registered: 11-2004 Posted on Thursday, December 21, 2006 - 11:06 am:    I emailed asking for pictures of the control cavity. If they get emailed to me and not posted to the auction, I'll add them here. BTW: If anybody else is thinking of bidding, I'm not interested in the bass- just curious. inthelows Advanced Member Username: inthelows Post Number: 220 Registered: 11-2006 Posted on Thursday, December 21, 2006 - 7:06 pm:    Here's what I got.. "electronics are intact but have been disconnected.controls are orig.vol a little low because it is wired to output jack." That was the email answer I received. No other pictures yet. NLP kungfusheriff Senior Member Username: kungfusheriff Post Number: 576 Registered: 8-2003 Posted on Thursday, December 21, 2006 - 10:34 pm:    We call that "spin" in my line of work. inthelows Advanced Member Username: inthelows Post Number: 231 Registered: 11-2006 Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 7:42 am:    "SPIN".. is that like willie go round in circles? NLP edwin Advanced Member Username: edwin Post Number: 203 Registered: 5-2002 Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 10:20 pm:    I have to say that I love Alembic electronics, but the real magic is in the wood. Electronics are fixable and if the wood is good, the bass is good. I am tempted here..... Edwin edwin Advanced Member Username: edwin Post Number: 204 Registered: 5-2002 Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 10:22 pm:    I have to say that I love Alembic electronics, but the real magic is in the wood. Electronics are fixable and if the wood is good, the bass is good. I am tempted here..... Don't like the negative feedbacks, though. Edwin inthelows Advanced Member Username: inthelows Post Number: 236 Registered: 11-2006 Posted on Saturday, December 23, 2006 - 8:18 pm:    A lot of the neg's are for defective equipment not described as such in the eyes of the buyer. I agree, if the wood is ok the electronics can be repaired/ replaced. At this time the price isn't too bad @ $700. I would still love to know why anyone would gut the electronics. NLP hifiguy Member Username: hifiguy Post Number: 59 Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Sunday, December 24, 2006 - 4:11 pm:    Probably because the person in question is about as smart as a sack of hammers and has no taste. You can't improve on an Alembic unless you send it back to the Mothership for an upgrade. In the words of the great philosopher B. Bunny, "What a maroon, what an im-bess-ile!" eflat New Username: eflat Post Number: 1 Registered: 11-2006 Posted on Friday, December 29, 2006 - 8:23 am:    It looks like it sold for just over 1k, what would it cost to have it gone over by the folks at Alembic? I didn't buy it, I am just curious. It is a beautiful bass and I was tempted... davehouck Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 4666 Registered: 5-2002 Posted on Sunday, December 31, 2006 - 9:02 pm:    Hi Gary; welcome to the board! There really wasn't enough information to get a good idea about this bass. We don't know what condition the electronics were in; nor do we know what condition the finish was in. At a grand, this may have turned out to be a good deal; or it may have needed a refinish and new guts; or it may be somewhere in between. But I kinda see what you're getting at. This is the type bass where you might win the auction and ship it straight to Santa Rosa; have them look it over and call you up with the verdict. The nice thing about that is you can get some upgrades while you're there and end up with a really nice and personalized bass.