| Author | Message | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1450 Registered: 2-2011 |
Here's my new Series II Europa.          | ||
| pauldo
Senior Member Username: pauldo Post Number: 1375 Registered: 6-2006 |
I know who was a good boy this year! Merry Christmas Rusty. :-D That is truly an electric blue! Beautiful. | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1452 Registered: 2-2011 |
Thanks Pauldo! Hope you had a Merry Christmas too! | ||
| bigredbass
Senior Member Username: bigredbass Post Number: 2296 Registered: 9-2002 |
I think this is just fabulous. I love the color. Interestingly, with side jacks, it somehow doesn't have that 'too busy / too many knobs' look (I know to say that is blasphemy . . . ). The smaller knobs help. The ruthenium and Cosmo Black hardware goes well with the blue. I really think this is a different look that says Alembic in a different and non-traditional way that works very well. Many, many congrats, Rusty. There's nothing like having one you spec'd yourself. Remember, you have the only one of these in the whole world. One of One. Ain't it a hoot? Joey | ||
| pace
Senior Member Username: pace Post Number: 1096 Registered: 4-2004 |
Awesome, Rusty!!!! I absolutely love how you (bob & crew) kept the neck lams natural~ quite the defining feature!... Play 'er in good health, as I'm sure you will, and don't let the distance keep you away from next northeast gathering!... | ||
| tncaveman
Advanced Member Username: tncaveman Post Number: 250 Registered: 2-2011 |
Possibly the most awesome looking Alembic ever? The blue is incredible! It looks like a narrow neck at the nut. What is the width? 34 inch scale? Weight? I would not mind one like this. :-) Stephen | ||
| tncaveman
Advanced Member Username: tncaveman Post Number: 251 Registered: 2-2011 |
I can't stop looking at this bass!!! How do they get the dye in the back wood with out getting it on the neck through section? Tape? And I just noticed matching center plate!!! Wow!!! A work of art. Stephen | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1455 Registered: 2-2011 |
J o e y, you are correct about the side jacks, & that was exactly my reason for having them side mounted. I wanted less clutter on front. That is also why I eliminated the selector switch, I can perform the same function by turning the volume knobs down, & I doubt I will ever run on one pup or the other. I will cut the volume on one or the other to taylor my sound for a particular song, but don't think I will ever have a need to completely turn one off. I have the Master Volume to kill the whole bass, but I also have a mute footswitch on my tuner to do that. I never used to could see why anyone would paint an Alembic, but now I'm a believer! The blue really brings out the quilting in the Maple. I love the Ruthenium hardware. Like the blue paint though, it is impossible to photograph & get the color right. It changes with the light, but if I had to describe it, I would call it a grey chrome. I'm glad they weren't able to exactly match Steve Wood's blue Europa because now we both still have a one of a kind! | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1456 Registered: 2-2011 |
Mike & Stephen, one of the things I love most about Alembics is the look of the neck going through the body. The neck laminates add to the beauty of the instrument, so I couldn't see painting over that, especially with these laminates. I saw this neck recipe on one of Will Gunn's basses & loved the way it looked, so I chose it more for appearance than sound, but the sound benefit is an added plus! Here are some pictures of how they taped off the neck to keep it natural.   | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1457 Registered: 2-2011 |
Here's a video of the amazing 3D effect of the Quilted Maple. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzd16GnE8G0&list=UUsWZpLXbzB1PV8eFJcTJADA | ||
| bigredbass
Senior Member Username: bigredbass Post Number: 2297 Registered: 9-2002 |
Stephen, Rusty may have gone with a custom width (so, didja?). If not, I'd guess it's Alembic's Classic Taper, which on fives (both of mine are this style) it's 2" at the nut by 2.5" at the 24th fret. I'm not much for those wide-flaring necks (think Yamaha), and this slight taper makes the strings feel virtually parallel all the way up the neck, which is my preference (and maybe Rusty's as well). IF you are VERY experienced, you can mask off and shoot a guitar this way, but the experience and expertise displayed in that paint job speaks volumes. NOT for the faint of heart. If I'm seeing this correctly, the REAL killer? See the little red purpleheart pinstripe lam that's NOT blue? The 'donor wood' covers I think are one more cue that this ain't no 'off the rack' axe. Obviously Alembic uses lots of woods that would not look right tinted. But with the light woods, you can certainly see what's possible with Rusty's new axe. And in those cases, I always say 'Alembics Look Better in Color'. Joey | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1458 Registered: 2-2011 |
Stephen, sorry, I forgot to reply to your question on the neck width. It is a custom width built with dimensions I gave Susan, & they got it perfect! It is 1.77" at the nut, 2.5" at the 24th fret & .9" thick at the 7th fret. I love thin narrow necks & like J o e y, do not care for the wide flaring necks. The nut width is the same as my Schector 5 string so I knew I liked that, & the 2.5" is as J o e y pointed out, the Classic Taper offered by Alembic. I played a Rougue at Guitar Rez that had the thin neck I liked so I measured it with my calipers & that is where I got the .9" thickness. So my neck is a combination of 3 different necks & it is perfect! As for the sandwich recipe, no Purpleheart trees were killed during the building of this bass! LOL! It is 5A Quilted Maple on front & back, next is Vermillion, then Maple pinstripe, then Walnut core. The neck is Maple, Vermillion, Maple pinstripe, extra wide 3/8" Ebony, Maple pinstripe, Vermillion, Maple. | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1502 Registered: 2-2011 |
The sun finally came out for the first time since I got my Europa, so I took some outdoor pics.          | ||
| pauldo
Senior Member Username: pauldo Post Number: 1402 Registered: 6-2006 |
Matches the bike! :-D I should move to Texas . . . . | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1503 Registered: 2-2011 |
You probably don't get many T shirt days in January in your neck of the woods, do you Paul?!! | ||
| flpete1uw
Senior Member Username: flpete1uw Post Number: 437 Registered: 11-2011 |
Now that's living!!!! Nice Rusty! How's that neck recipe sounding? I'm intrigued Pete | ||
| pauldo
Senior Member Username: pauldo Post Number: 1403 Registered: 6-2006 |
Rusty, we still have t-shirt days here . . . just a little different. T-shirt underneath a long sleeve pullover wrapped in a sturdy flannel button up shirt. And that's when I'm inside the house! :-D | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1507 Registered: 2-2011 |
Pete, the neck sounds & plays amazing! The extra wide Ebony gives it a much more full sound than I get with my SCSD, & the sustain is incredible! (Except for the B string, but I'm working on that) | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1508 Registered: 2-2011 |
That's funny Paul! I used to have a friend in Alaska & I would call him up in the middle of February & ask him what he was doing, knowing full well that he was shoveling snow or stuck inside trying to stay warm, then when he answered I would proceed to tell him I was riding my Harley in a T shirt! God Bless Texas!! | ||
| slawie
Senior Member Username: slawie Post Number: 716 Registered: 8-2002 |
Warning - Dad Joke Nice picture of Rusty "rocking out" slawie | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1509 Registered: 2-2011 |
Good one Slawie! Of course, the "rock" is made of concrete, but it still made a nice backdrop. | ||
| rustyg61
Senior Member Username: rustyg61 Post Number: 1517 Registered: 2-2011 |
It's been really hard to capture the exact color of this bass in pictures, but the ones my wife took at my gig Friday night are the "True Blue" of the bass. I also bought an Ampeg BA112 to run in stereo & I now have the sound I have been looking for! I run my neck & bridge pickup through the Fender Rumble 350 in mono & my bridge pickup through the Ampeg to enhance the mids & highs. The Ampeg is only 50 watts so it is not adequate to run full stereo & compete with the 350 watt Rumble, but thankfully Ron, in his infinite wisdom built the DS-5R where the treble jack is still hot even in mono mode. On another note, I have worn red hi top Converse "Chuck Taylor" shoes at every gig since 1985, but to honor my new Europa I switched to blue ones! |
