| Author | Message | ||
| quinntheeskimo
New Username: quinntheeskimo Post Number: 1 Registered: 7-2005 |
Here are some pics of my very early 'peanut' guitar. The kind folks at Alembic were very generous with their time when they examined it a couple of weeks ago, and confirmed that it is probably serial number 10,11,13, or 15, but the number is not found on the instrument. They said only 7 or 8 were made with this shape. Unfortunately, someone replaced the original electronics long before I got it. Still, I think its pretty cool!        (Message edited by davehouck on July 22, 2005) | ||
| dela217
Senior Member Username: dela217 Post Number: 526 Registered: 6-2002 |
I'm speechless. | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 2085 Registered: 5-2002 |
Wow!! | ||
| dela217
Senior Member Username: dela217 Post Number: 527 Registered: 6-2002 |
It is nice to see some real detailed pics of this beast. This is not the first time seeing this guitar. I know the previous owner of this instrument and am familiar with his collection. I suspect that when the instrument was first built that it did not have filters installed. I think that is was a passive setup with 2 onboard pre amps and 2 hum cancelling coils. Aside from that a pickup selector switch and that's it. I have only seen one other Alembic with that logo. It's serial number is 72-17. I would suspect this one is close to it. I have some early Alembic litterature with a picture of what looks like this guitar hanging in the Alembic showroom back in the day. I will try to find the pic and look for more detail to verify if that is it or not. Michael | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 540 Registered: 7-2004 |
Matthew: Welcome to the club and HOLY S**T!!!!! What an incredible, historical, beautiful guitar. Wanna trade? Wanna sell? Wanna adopt me and put me in your will? You are very lucky indeed to have crossed paths with such a unique axe. Have you considered having it restored to original electronics? It looks like it had other controls that have been plugged up. What a shame. Enjoy and play it in good health. ...... and should you ever consider letting this out of your mitts ......?????? Bill, the guitar one | ||
| dela217
Senior Member Username: dela217 Post Number: 528 Registered: 6-2002 |
I just went looking through my stack of old Alembic litterature. I found the picture of this guitar I was talking about. It is very small, but that's the one. Aside from the pickups it looks like on the upper horn(?!?) is where the original pickup selector was. It looks like it was the same type knob as the volume and tone controls. The 2 plugged up holes by the volume and tone controls were probably the trim pots for the pre amps. The other 2 holes that are plugged up were for the stereo/mono switch and the 5 pin connector. Wow. | ||
| jalevinemd
Advanced Member Username: jalevinemd Post Number: 203 Registered: 12-2003 |
Absolutely stunning instrument, Matt! Any chance of some close-ups of that incredible inlay work on the neck? Jonathan | ||
| george_wright
New Username: george_wright Post Number: 8 Registered: 3-2005 |
Hey, Matt, welcome! I run into you everywhere! Check this thread to see an old friend. If Matt does decide to sell this guitar, you can deal with him in complete confidence. He has a sterling rep on eBay, Sax on the Web, and who knows where else. | ||
| quinntheeskimo
New Username: quinntheeskimo Post Number: 2 Registered: 7-2005 |
Hi again everyone! Thanks for the nice comments. Here are some pics of the inlay. Hey George-good to see you! Glad to see that sarrusophone found a good home-let me know when you want another one  Michael-could you possibly post that picture with this guitar in it? Also, if you have any knowledge of the history of this guitar I'd love to hear it, either publicly or email me privately. I've thought about having the electronics restored, but the folks at Alembic said that they didn't have the electronics that would ahve originally been in there any more. I'm thinking about having new Alembic electronics put in, but I haven't decided.    (Message edited by davehouck on July 25, 2005) | ||
| 811952
Senior Member Username: 811952 Post Number: 444 Registered: 10-2003 |
Wow. Very neato indeed. | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 2098 Registered: 5-2002 |
Personally, I think it would be nice to put Alembic electronics in it just to make it "all Alembic". | ||
| jalevinemd
Advanced Member Username: jalevinemd Post Number: 205 Registered: 12-2003 |
Matt, Thanks for taking the time to post pics of those incredible fretboard inlays! | ||
| eastcoastepic
Intermediate Member Username: eastcoastepic Post Number: 141 Registered: 10-2003 |
Wow, another Smithsonian candidate...thanks for sharing such a special instrument. Fretboard inlays like that were hard to find back in '72... (come to think of it, they're not so easy to find in '05) Good luck with her, and keep her under lock & key... | ||
| 1stbass
Intermediate Member Username: 1stbass Post Number: 113 Registered: 11-2002 |
Matt, Welcome to the club. That is by far the coolest Alembic guitar i have ever seen. If you ever wount to part with it there are a bunch of club members with check books i hand. Best of luck. Doug | ||
| dadabass2001
Senior Member Username: dadabass2001 Post Number: 415 Registered: 6-2002 |
Didn't we have a discussion of the peanut guitars, with a pic of Jerry G playing one, or was I hallucinating (again). I hate it when my memory does that (it's been happening since the early 70s)  Mike found it... http://alembic.com/club/messages/395/11103.html (Message edited by dadabass2001 on July 26, 2005) | ||
| smichaels
Junior Username: smichaels Post Number: 40 Registered: 6-2002 |
I remember reading somewhere that Johnny Winter had one of these peanut guitars setup for slide and gutted the electronics. Story goes he lost the guitar to a roadie during a card game...wonder what the history of this guitar is?!? Sean | ||
| evt
Junior Username: evt Post Number: 32 Registered: 9-2003 |
Wow! I love it. Where did you find it? It's amazing. It would be cool to get some Alembic electronics back into it. Very cool!! evt | ||
| olieoliver
Senior Member Username: olieoliver Post Number: 714 Registered: 2-2006 |
Very Very COOL indeed. I really like the inlays. | ||
| 57basstra
Advanced Member Username: 57basstra Post Number: 346 Registered: 4-2005 |
Wow!....and thanks! | ||
| elwoodblue
Intermediate Member Username: elwoodblue Post Number: 119 Registered: 6-2002 |
my blood pressure just increased eleven-fold... my girlfriend made that pillow while I had the guitar for a couple years...I swore I would never let it go ...(well ,it came down to family or belongings)... if you ever need money like I did I'll buy her back from ya( now I have to go back and read the posts, calmed down a little). peace and guitars | ||
| elwoodblue
Intermediate Member Username: elwoodblue Post Number: 167 Registered: 6-2002 |
Sean, I believe this is that guitar as it is the one I had a few years ago. My lament for letting her go is fading ;as the world has filled my hands with one of jerry's old martins ...much better than a kitchen sink. all my best,hope all is swell | ||
| llobsterbass
Junior Username: llobsterbass Post Number: 27 Registered: 5-2004 |
OK, I'll bite. How did you end up with Jerry's old Martin? | ||
| elwoodblue
Advanced Member Username: elwoodblue Post Number: 221 Registered: 6-2002 |
no provinence ... I hope I didn't sound cocky. (maybe I'm just making my self feel better for sacrificing ownership of the above 'boat oar'/'peanut'-masterpiece. So to be humble and without presumptions;its an old martin with many mods and unmods with some jerry-like writing and came from the san fran area. It could just be nothing but a hippies old guitar that has some writing in,pickup put in and taken out,maybe the neck was swapped at some point...maybe not...tuners changed ...and hung on a wall with a nail thru a starburst hole in the headstock. I feel more comfortable describing her this way. The craquelature has craquelature so I am fairly confident that she has seen a century or more and the sound reinforces that feeling....and a date that from an owner in the late 1800's.(c.w. cross from utah) The sound sure blooms wonderfully. I bet that any one of Jerry's main guitars are well documented and this obviouly isn't. I am choosing to believe this might have just been around him at some point in the 60's. thanks for helping me keep my ego in check... I might have made an ass out of me,myself and I. | ||
| coffeegod
Junior Username: coffeegod Post Number: 14 Registered: 5-2004 |
About the Johnny Winter story. Back around 1990 I had a guy offer to sell me that very guitar..a peanut shape without the Alembic electronics. I passed as I didnt think the ripping out of the innards was all that desirable. I will have to see if I can dig up his name it's in an old address book. | ||
| elwoodblue
Senior Member Username: elwoodblue Post Number: 641 Registered: 6-2002 |
Yup, I had it in the early 2000's for a few years...I swore I would never let it go...I sure hope it's being played once in a while. ahh memories ...I purchased it off ebay probably from the guy you are talking about. cheers | ||
| peoplechipper
Member Username: peoplechipper Post Number: 56 Registered: 2-2009 |
I'm kinda sorry to say that the first thing that came to mind seeing this guitar was a Thalidomide baby; the proportions of the upper bouts is so small that they look stunted; of course, being electric it doesn't need bouts...amazing workmanship though and the inlays are beautiful...likely it doesn't look so stunted hanging off a person, but sitting in a case it does to me...Tony | ||
| altgrendel
Member Username: altgrendel Post Number: 55 Registered: 5-2008 |
This thing looks like a candidate for the Les Paul activator rig. That way it would be pure Alembic again. | ||
| johnboy
New Username: johnboy Post Number: 1 Registered: 9-2011 |
Hi, I'm John. I have an Alembic guitar with a small peanut-shaped body and a body-thru neck. The bridge, tail piece, and nut are made of brass. The large peghead has the metal Alembic logo embedded into it. It looks like oval ivory inlays on the fretboard. With 27 frets, this guitar seems to be shrouded in mystery. I sent detailed photos to the Alembic factory several years ago with no response, so I'm sure the areas of expertise would be very limited on this type of guitar. Help!!  (Message edited by johnboy on September 03, 2011) | ||
| room037
Senior Member Username: room037 Post Number: 418 Registered: 9-2003 |
Hi John, Welcome to the club. It's better to start your thread with other pictures. Please show us the rare piece ! Eiji | ||
| pace
Senior Member Username: pace Post Number: 768 Registered: 4-2004 |
Hi John, welcome to the forum! As you could probably guess, your guitar is a very special piece. I won't dare to speculate on it's history or provenance, but I'd guess it to be in low or single digits as far as serial#s go, and at that time there were maybe one or two players looking for a small-bodied, light-weight model to get them through a long night of jamming. Your photo is worth a thousand words~ I've seen other peanut guitars before, yet the simplicity of the electronics on yours deduce the whole "peanut" concept to it's lowest common denominator!!!! | ||
| johnboy
New Username: johnboy Post Number: 2 Registered: 9-2011 |
Thanks a lot for the input. I will be posting more detailed pictures on my daughter's next trip home from college. She borrowed my camera for her photography class. On her last visit home, I took one picture of the guitar when the battery died, then only to realize the charger was left back at the campus. | ||
| tbrannon
Senior Member Username: tbrannon Post Number: 1430 Registered: 11-2004 |
Hi John, pretty sure Mica will weigh in here when she sees the photo. I'm guessing that the spam filter must have snapped up your email to the folks at Alembic. I know that's happened in the past. More pictures are always welcome! | ||
| elwoodblue
Senior Member Username: elwoodblue Post Number: 1299 Registered: 6-2002 |
Yes ...more pics please... even just the one you posted makes me smile ear to ear. ...and Welcome John ! elwood |
