| Author | Message | ||
| onoffon
New Username: onoffon Post Number: 1 Registered: 2-2007 |
Yes - first owner - only owner. I bought my Alembic after seeing Greg Lake perform at the Mobile Municipal Auditorium in Alabama while I was working special effects in Navarre Beach, Florida, on Jaws II. Once I heard it, I knew I had to own one. I picked it up at the Hollywood Guitar Center in early 1983 and I've played it ever since. I own six other basses but this one's my baby... It still sounds as great as the first day I plugged it in. Every recording studio I've ever worked at, the engineer says, "Don't touch a thing!" The most phenomenal instrument I've ever had the pleasure of playing. Thanks Alembic for a wonderful bass. Von Babasin http://www.onoffon.com/ http://www.jazzinhollywood.com/ | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 1044 Registered: 10-2002 |
Welcome to the club Von. let's see some pictures of your instrument, I'm intrigued to know what LSB stands for. Graeme | ||
| adriaan
Senior Member Username: adriaan Post Number: 1267 Registered: 6-2002 |
Graeme, sorry to lift the veil of mystery but LSB stands for Long Scale Bass. Doesn't mean the bass is by any means less beautiful! | ||
| onoffon
New Username: onoffon Post Number: 4 Registered: 2-2007 |
Hi Graeme - hi Adriaan - thanks for the welcome! It is a Series I - Vermillion top and back, Mahogany core, Maple and Purpleheart neck, Ebony fingerboard, and Vermillion peghead veneer - Not the greatest pic but you get the idea -  Everyone who hears it seems to like it... | ||
| adriaan
Senior Member Username: adriaan Post Number: 1269 Registered: 6-2002 |
See, I didn't even have to wait for the picture to know that it's a beauty! | ||
| onoffon
New Username: onoffon Post Number: 6 Registered: 2-2007 |
hehehe.... And she sounds as good as she looks.... Cheers! | ||
| bracheen
Senior Member Username: bracheen Post Number: 1136 Registered: 11-2003 |
It is a beauty and seems to be in excellent shape for it's age. Glad to make your aquaintence and good luck with the project honoring your father. Sam | ||
| onoffon
New Username: onoffon Post Number: 7 Registered: 2-2007 |
Nice to meet you too, Sam. Yeah - she's 25 years old and there's not a scratch on the wood. The brass plates on the back have a few scratches. I've put her through quite a lot in our quarter century together. Thanks for your support toward my father's project. Trust me when I say he innovated jazz in ways that still effect the artform today... | ||
| the_8_string_king
Senior Member Username: the_8_string_king Post Number: 410 Registered: 9-2005 |
I thought I already said this elsewhere... but I don't see it, and am not sure, so... welcome to the club! (Sorry if this is redundant!) And of course... the bass looks great! | ||
| onoffon
New Username: onoffon Post Number: 8 Registered: 2-2007 |
Hi 8StringKing - You did indeed welcome me - over on my introduction thread. Thanks for doing so.... The funniest thing about this bass, I went into Guitar Center and played it. Get this - the salesman told me it was a 'factory-second'. It made me leary so he gave me the phone number to Alembic so I could ask a few questions. I couldn't see any problem at all with it and it played and sounded like a dream. So, when I called and asked why it was a factory second they told me, "because the mahogany was too grey." Because the mahogany was too grey?!?!!?!?!??!??! Hahahahahahahaha..... I went back the next day and bought it - immediately. I actually liked the contrast of the colors in the woods - it was what originally attracted me to it in the first place. One man's ceiling is another man's floor... | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 2109 Registered: 7-2004 |
Von: I suspect there was some miscommunication or hazy memory involved here. My understanding is that a "factory second" never leaves Alembic. They will cut up a "second" rather than putting out anything with the Alembic name that doesn't meet their high standards. Perhaps your instrument was initially ordered by someone who didn't like the color, which made it available for you. Bill, the guitar one | ||
| onoffon
New Username: onoffon Post Number: 9 Registered: 2-2007 |
Hi Bill - Interestingly enough, the letters "FS" are in the serial number. But you could be right - it might have been made for someone and rejected. His loss - my gain... | ||
| onoffon
New Username: onoffon Post Number: 10 Registered: 2-2007 |
BTW - hazy memory my *ss... :D | ||
| onoffon
Junior Username: onoffon Post Number: 11 Registered: 2-2007 |
Thanks Bill for pointing this out to me. On further exploration, I discovered on the Alembic support reference page, that the letters "FS" aren't even listed in their chart. I have a VERY rare instrument indeed... | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 2114 Registered: 7-2004 |
Von: The "FS" marking is very curious. You might want to give Mica a call. I wouldn't be surprised if she can shed some light on this mystery. I know I'm curious. Bill, tgo | ||
| onoffon
Junior Username: onoffon Post Number: 14 Registered: 2-2007 |
Bill - I just discovered the Serial Number thread, asking about the history of an instrument. I have just left a post in regard to my serial number. I'm excited to know - I wonder who this bass may have been originally built for?!?!?!??!??!!? That's the only explanation that makes sense to me... | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 4160 Registered: 6-2000 |
Initials of the owner aren't part of the serial number. There are very few so-called factory seconds out there. They have been marked various ways, "FS", "B", "2ND" but we stopped considering things like the shade of the wood as a second, and simply wait for the right person to come along that it appeals to. There's probably about a dozen or so instruments marked this way (and probably other ways as the mood determined that day). For at least 20 years we have not released a so-called second. If the instrument has a failure, it is simply either not completed, or it is kept for doing experiments and training, but they aren't serialized. Sometimes, personal project instrumens will have the initials of the builder as part of the serial number. We don't have records of most of these instruments. It will probably be sometime next week when I do another round of serial number research. I'll post to your history request then. | ||
| onoffon
Junior Username: onoffon Post Number: 15 Registered: 2-2007 |
Thanks Mica - I never thought that the "FS" might be someone's initials. I always thought it meant "factory second". And, as I called the company back then to ask, they confirmed it was a factory second specifically because of the color of the mahogany. I still have all my paperwork and a letter from Beverly Lee, dated May 16, 1983. I also have the list of fifteen craftsmen that participated in the building of my bass. None have the initials "FS". Don't get me wrong - I LOVE everything about this bass. I own six other basses and really only play my Alembic... Thanks for your time, Von | ||
| onoffon
Junior Username: onoffon Post Number: 19 Registered: 2-2007 |
Well... it would seem that if there were only "a dozen or so instruments marked this way", I would indeed have one of the rarest Alembics out there. Kind of like having an "Inverted Jenny".... | ||
| onoffon
Junior Username: onoffon Post Number: 21 Registered: 2-2007 |
Well... just for a little closure... Mica confirmed that my bass may very well be a "one-of-a-kind" - the "FS" designation could be the only one ever marked in this way. Let's see... what would that make it worth... |
