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tom_z
Junior
Username: tom_z

Post Number: 29
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Friday, September 24, 2004 - 11:18 am:   Edit Post

I am proud to present my new Skylark. - "Ghost Crow" This beautiful guitar looks and plays like a dream.


Full Photo

Full Back

Body Front

Body Back

Side Contour

Body Front
susan
Moderator
Username: susan

Post Number: 65
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Friday, September 24, 2004 - 1:05 pm:   Edit Post

Tom,

What a treat to see your pictures, as you know we all really enjoyed making this guitar. It just glows.

Susan
palembic
Senior Member
Username: palembic

Post Number: 1620
Registered: 9-2002
Posted on Friday, September 24, 2004 - 1:28 pm:   Edit Post

Really nice!
I hope there will come a day I can actually HEAR an Alembic guitar like this one.


Paul The bad one

PS: she goes really nice with the top carpet. Maybe you better leave it there?? HA!!!
hydrargyrum
Junior
Username: hydrargyrum

Post Number: 22
Registered: 3-2004
Posted on Friday, September 24, 2004 - 1:42 pm:   Edit Post

Spectacular. Simply stunning. I particularly love the neck and the woods on the back of the guitar, it makes for a really striking contrast. I usually don't care much for the appearance of Coco Bolo, but that top is just gorgeous. This is making the wait for my recently purchased skylark all the harder.
davehouck
Senior Member
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 879
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Friday, September 24, 2004 - 2:06 pm:   Edit Post

An all around really nice guitar! Love the top wood, love the crow inlay. And I agree, the combination of woods in the rear view is really nice.
davehouck
Senior Member
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 880
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Friday, September 24, 2004 - 2:32 pm:   Edit Post

Until I was looking at this guitar I had not focused on the fact that the ends of Skylark pickups are rounded. I also had not focused on the ornate truss rod covers that some of the guitars have.
dnburgess
Advanced Member
Username: dnburgess

Post Number: 319
Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Friday, September 24, 2004 - 3:17 pm:   Edit Post

One word - "absolutely beautiful"!
lbpesq
Junior
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 21
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Friday, September 24, 2004 - 4:01 pm:   Edit Post

Tom:

WOW! I think I have just seen my all time favorite cocobolo top. The lighter color and red overtones along with the grain patterns are nothing short of stunning! Play it in good health.

"It's the same story, the crow told me..."

Bill, the guitar one
dadabass2001
Advanced Member
Username: dadabass2001

Post Number: 246
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Friday, September 24, 2004 - 6:09 pm:   Edit Post

Tom,
Your guitar is lovely, just beautiful! Enjoy it in fabulous spirit and good health.
Mike
jalevinemd
Member
Username: jalevinemd

Post Number: 100
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Friday, September 24, 2004 - 8:59 pm:   Edit Post

Tom,

Beautiful instrument. Love the variation in the coco bolo tones. Enjoy!

Jonathan
bob
Advanced Member
Username: bob

Post Number: 329
Registered: 11-2002
Posted on Friday, September 24, 2004 - 10:22 pm:   Edit Post

Stunning. Fabulous wood. Makes me (almost) want to play guitar again.

I was about to say something rude about the gold knobs... then I looked at the first picture, where they appear black, and one in the middle where they're gold - and then finally, I see they're gold with black tops.

Maybe... so why in the third picture to they appear to be entirely gold? And why does the carpet keep changing color?
palembic
Senior Member
Username: palembic

Post Number: 1623
Registered: 9-2002
Posted on Saturday, September 25, 2004 - 12:12 am:   Edit Post

Brother Bob,

if I were you I didn't drink of that wine anymore! And stay away of that funny tasting herb!

Paul the bad one
tom_z
Junior
Username: tom_z

Post Number: 30
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Saturday, September 25, 2004 - 5:33 pm:   Edit Post

Thanks for the good wishes and compliments on the guitar. The Alembic team did an amazing job and Susan deserves a very special thank you for her inspiration. It was a pleasure to collaborate with her on the custom features of the Skylark.

This is my first Alembic and I must comment on the craftsmanship. I'm sure all of you are already aware of the precision and beauty with which these instruments are built. I was unprepared for the remarkable level of artistry in my guitar. Every inch of the guitar has clearly received a high degree of attention - the workmanship is impeccable. There are precious few things being produced today that achieve such extraordinary quality. This Skylark with it's modest custom features fairly drips with beauty.

An amusing side note: Upon showing my guitar to a few friends, unfamiliar with Alembic, I got this comment - "I can't play guitar or bass, but I'd get one just to hang on my wall." Another friend, a musician (horn player and big Marcus Miller fan), was quickly searching web sites for bass instruction, and music stores for their Alembic inventory. He made the comment that the best advertisement for Alembic is seeing one of their instruments close up.

I'd like to add a few more photos to this thread. I didn't get a good shot of the inlay the first time around, and there are a few details of the Skylark of which I was unaware prior to the arrival of this guitar.

P.S. Bob: I believe the knobs are all brass (no black) - I don't think I would have liked plastic knobs on this baby. Also, my digital Nikon is a few years old and I did a little color correction on that shot with the bluish carpet - it was really overexposed and I was too lazy to mask the carpet when I corrected the guitar color - or perhaps my camera has been getting into some of Paul's funny tasting herb. =)

Well - I've gushed on enough - time to shut up and play my guitar.

Tom

Crow Inlay

Peghead Front

Peghead Back
zappahead
Member
Username: zappahead

Post Number: 94
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Saturday, September 25, 2004 - 5:44 pm:   Edit Post

That is a really great looking guitar. I really like the newer Skylarks and the way they break up the tops with the extra laminate. The first one I saw was the zebrawood one in the store and now this one as well. I think the coco bolo looks great on the Skylark. Very nice choice and a fine looking guitar for sure.
the_mule
Advanced Member
Username: the_mule

Post Number: 265
Registered: 1-2004
Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 12:51 am:   Edit Post

That wood looks as stunning as anything I've ever seen. Whenever I'm able to custom order my dream Orion, it will be in this flaming combination of woods. I already had this in mind before I saw these pictures, but I certainly wasn't wrong...

Tom, you've got a great guitar there!

Wilfred
evt
New
Username: evt

Post Number: 9
Registered: 9-2003
Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 11:16 am:   Edit Post

WOW!!!!
I love it.!!!! It looks amazing. The top is beautiful, nice wood combination. Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy!!!!
EVT
lbpesq
Junior
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 28
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 2:18 pm:   Edit Post

Tom:

I read your post in the thread about how to order an Alembic where you picked your cocobolo top out of the wood bank. Can you direct me the the approriate thread in the woodbank section? I'd love to see the "before" that morphed into your incredible "after"

Thanks,

Bill, the guitar one

"hi ho the carrion crow" (there's always an appropriate dead lyric)
tom_z
Junior
Username: tom_z

Post Number: 32
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 4:07 pm:   Edit Post

Bill - here it is:
http://alembic.com/club/messages/2344/5636.html?1060301509

I was looking for something in the orange/red part of the spectrum. That piece of coco bolo truly lives up to it's Wood Bank title. I had no idea how much contrast would appear, but I could feel the glow even in the Wood Bank photo. The variety of color in this top is amazing! There are variations of orange, reds, browns, and black. The whole thing is framed and tied together with a lovely lam of vermilion which coaxes even more orange out of the top. It's incredibly difficult to visually articulate the appearance with photographs, especially digital snapshots taken in my home without controlled lighting, and then optimized for internet viewing (i.e. lossy jpg format).

By the way - love the quotes from Uncle John's Band and Mountains of the Moon. =D

Tom

(Message edited by tom_z on September 26, 2004)
kmh364
Senior Member
Username: kmh364

Post Number: 518
Registered: 9-2003
Posted on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 10:28 am:   Edit Post

Tom:

How in the hell did they do the continuous wood backplates? I thought they had to do a back laminate in order to do that? This is a solid mahogany back/body isn't it? They only time I've seen them do it without a back lam is that Special O' Month that was from one piece of Zebrawood, but they sliced it and made lams out of that one. What gives? Inquiring minds wanna know!

(Message edited by kmh364 on September 27, 2004)
tom_z
Junior
Username: tom_z

Post Number: 34
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 11:10 am:   Edit Post

Kevin - Yes, my guitar has a mahogany body - no back lam. I wanted wood backplates that matched the body so I paid for that as an upgrade. My invoice says: "Mahogany nearest neighbor backplate." . . . Looks like they found a really near neighbor.

Tom
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 1947
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 12:31 pm:   Edit Post

If the body wood is thick enough, we can make a plate out of the next slice, and it's a fairly convincing continuous wood look, it's only different by the kerf of the bandsaw and the sanding.
hollis
Advanced Member
Username: hollis

Post Number: 378
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 4:13 pm:   Edit Post

It's absolutely stunning! I love this guitar. Great pictures!

Alembics quality is always soooo amazing...
davehouck
Senior Member
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 884
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 4:25 pm:   Edit Post

Thanks for the explanation Mica; that's a neat trick.
1stbass
Junior
Username: 1stbass

Post Number: 30
Registered: 11-2002
Posted on Monday, October 18, 2004 - 5:34 am:   Edit Post

That is one sweet Skylark. The top lams just jump. LOL
smiley
New
Username: smiley

Post Number: 1
Registered: 10-2004
Posted on Wednesday, October 20, 2004 - 5:32 pm:   Edit Post

Wow!!! Its so nice that when I told Susan what I wanted she had me take a look at yours Tom. I will be placing my order later this month. This will be my first Alembic guitar. Tom how does she sound?
tom_z
Junior
Username: tom_z

Post Number: 49
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Wednesday, October 20, 2004 - 7:53 pm:   Edit Post

Hi Joseph - and welcome.

This Skylark sounds amazing. The sound is incredibly clean, and a tremendous variety of tone can be achieved from it. It is by far the most versatile guitar I've ever played. I've had the guitar for just about a month and I'm still discovering subtle tonal variations it's capable of. Even small adjustments of the filters can have noticeably audible effects. As you are probably aware, Skylarks can sound very bright, and mine is no exception, but it also can sound very warm, fuzzy, punchy, smooth, moe, curly, doc, sneezy, and dopey (sorry - I got carried away). My point is that, although I've never played a maple top Skylark, the coco bolo and vermilion top is capable of shimmering highs, full warm lows, and a very complex variation of tone in between. Alembic electronics have a reputation for clean versatile tone and the Skylark package lives up to it.

Beyond that the guitar is most responsive - the neck is very comfortable, the action is great and it sustains for ever. I’ve already commented on the craftsmanship of this guitar above but it’s worth repeating that very few things made today are designed and built with such excellence in quality and attention to detail as an Alembic.

If you browse around through the topics here you will find comments from Hollis, another guitar-playing member, regarding the way his Skylark has informed his playing, how he has actually “learned” from his guitar. I am surprised and delighted to say that I have the same experience. I only wish I had an Alembic earlier.

Congrats on your forthcoming order. You won’t regret it.

Tom

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