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the_mule
Senior Member
Username: the_mule

Post Number: 614
Registered: 1-2004
Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 9:58 am:   Edit Post

My new Orion, carrying some pretty distinctive custom features.
Quite a unique instrument. A spectacular bass in every way!

- walnut, maple, purpleheart and mahogany body
- purpleheart neck laminates
- mother of pearl inlays
- crown headstock





Come sing this Tull-tale with me... ;-)

***

Orion, won't you give me your star sign
Orion, get up on the sky-line
I'm high on my hill and I feel fine
Orion, let's sip the heaven's heady wine

Orion, light your lights:
come guard the open spaces
from the black horizon to the pillow where I lie.
Your faithful dog shines brighter than its lord and master
Your jewelled sword twinkles as the world rolls by.
So come up singing above the cloudy cover
Stare through at people who toss fitful in their sleep.
I know you're watching as the old gent by the station
scuffs his toes on old fag packets lying in the street
And silver shadows flick across the closing bistro.
Sweet waiters link their arms and patter down the street,
their words lost blowing on cold winds in darkest Chelsea.
Prime years fly fading with each young heart's beat

Orion, won't you make me a star sign
Orion, get up on the sky-line
I'm high on your love and I feel fine
Orion, let's sip the heaven's heady wine

And young girls shiver as they wait by lonely bus-stops
after sad parties: no-one to take them home
to greasy bed-sitters and make a late-night play
for lost virginity a thousand miles away.

***

Incredibly happy to be a 'real' Alembician once again!

Wilfred

(Message edited by the_mule on April 28, 2007)
fc_spoiler
Senior Member
Username: fc_spoiler

Post Number: 476
Registered: 5-2006
Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 10:04 am:   Edit Post

Wow!

Congrats!
the_mule
Senior Member
Username: the_mule

Post Number: 615
Registered: 1-2004
Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 10:09 am:   Edit Post

Dankje Flip!

Wilfred
tom_z
Senior Member
Username: tom_z

Post Number: 523
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 4:35 pm:   Edit Post

Very nice, Wilfred! Love the crown headstock on an Orion.
Congratulations, and welcome back . . . so to speak. :-)

Peace
Tom
jazzyvee
Senior Member
Username: jazzyvee

Post Number: 838
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Saturday, April 28, 2007 - 12:04 am:   Edit Post

Lovely bass, I really have grown to love the Orion body shape.
Crown headstock and rare neck lams are great.

Would ebony neck lams in a set neck bass have the same effect on the sound of the bass as they apparently do on neck through basses?

Jazzyvee



Jazzyvee
the_mule
Senior Member
Username: the_mule

Post Number: 618
Registered: 1-2004
Posted on Saturday, April 28, 2007 - 10:05 am:   Edit Post

I think in a way they do, but a bit more understated. Difference is that with a SN the sustain and tone are created by the body and neck working together in sweet harmony, while NT sonically isolates the neck from the body meaning that the tone is created by the neck (almost) exclusively.

My first Alembic, also an Orion with a walnut/mahogany body, had the regular maple neck with walnut pinstripes. This new kid in town in comparison has more punch and sustain, and I really think the purpleheart laminates in the neck make the difference.

Wilfred
jazzyvee
Senior Member
Username: jazzyvee

Post Number: 841
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Saturday, April 28, 2007 - 10:50 am:   Edit Post

I'm sure that orion has my name on it ;-)
Jazzyvee
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 5010
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Saturday, April 28, 2007 - 2:13 pm:   Edit Post

Love the neck!
the_mule
Senior Member
Username: the_mule

Post Number: 626
Registered: 1-2004
Posted on Monday, April 30, 2007 - 1:01 pm:   Edit Post

You wish Jazzy! ;-)

Thanks Dave, I really love it too, haven't seen many other examples of laminated set-necks actually.

This weekend I've tried the Orion with TI Jazz flatwounds, but soundwise that didn't really work for me. Because the original Alembic strngs are a bit tarnished from 1,5 years of store life, I've ordered a regular light (.45 - .100) set of Optima Gold strings at LOTS. Expect to have them later this week...

Wilfred
the_mule
Senior Member
Username: the_mule

Post Number: 638
Registered: 1-2004
Posted on Saturday, May 05, 2007 - 4:28 am:   Edit Post



I've cleaned and polished some brass today and strung the Orion with Optima Gold strings. For the occasion I wanted to make a few pictures, but found out it's hard to make good close-up pictures in the bright sunlight. This one was the only one good enough to put in the Showcase section. It only shows a hint of the gold, but it also gives a nice view on the woods of this wonderful bass...

Wilfred
the_mule
Senior Member
Username: the_mule

Post Number: 639
Registered: 1-2004
Posted on Saturday, May 05, 2007 - 4:36 am:   Edit Post



OK, this one is nice too after some tweaking of the brightness and contrast parameters in Photoshop...

Wilfred
the_mule
Senior Member
Username: the_mule

Post Number: 658
Registered: 1-2004
Posted on Friday, May 18, 2007 - 7:14 am:   Edit Post

Oh, the joys of a new digital camera...
How 'bout some EXTREME close-ups?

;-)

Wilfred







tbrannon
Senior Member
Username: tbrannon

Post Number: 411
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Friday, May 18, 2007 - 12:37 pm:   Edit Post

Those are some incredible pictures. What kind of camera did you get? My wife and I are considering a new camera when we move back to the States in July.

You've got a beautiful bass-
the_mule
Senior Member
Username: the_mule

Post Number: 659
Registered: 1-2004
Posted on Friday, May 18, 2007 - 11:45 pm:   Edit Post

Hi Toby, it's a Canon PowerShot A710 IS (7.1 megapixel, 6x optical zoom). Not expensive at all, but it shows that technology has improved a lot in the last five years since I bought my previous digicam. It can make pictures up to VERY close range (Alembic logo & pickup script with high E string) and it has a built in stabiliser that compensates shaking hands when zooming in.

These pictures were very quickly made inside my house with no flash and only normal (not sunny) daylight from a window. With my previous camera this surely would have been mission impossible.

Wilfred
tbrannon
Senior Member
Username: tbrannon

Post Number: 418
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Saturday, May 19, 2007 - 12:16 am:   Edit Post

Wilfred,

Thanks for that. We currently have a 4 year old Canon Powershot A95. 5 megapixel, but trying to get up close pictures like you have, even on the macro setting, is a mission.

I'll check it out for sure.
bassjigga
Advanced Member
Username: bassjigga

Post Number: 208
Registered: 8-2005
Posted on Saturday, May 19, 2007 - 12:06 pm:   Edit Post

Hey wilfred, I have the same camera! It has worked well.
the_mule
Senior Member
Username: the_mule

Post Number: 673
Registered: 1-2004
Posted on Thursday, June 14, 2007 - 8:23 am:   Edit Post

Just came back from a holiday to England a week ago, and the little camera has performed very well.

Glad to be back with my Orion also, I really missed playing it for 2,5 weeks. But considering the luggage lunacy and security morons on Heathrow airport especially, I wouldn't dream of taking my bass with me...

Wilfred
white_cloud
Member
Username: white_cloud

Post Number: 64
Registered: 11-2007
Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2007 - 7:05 am:   Edit Post

Wow, that is the nicest Orion I have seen yet..love the headstock!!

You lucky lucky man :-)
jazzyvee
Senior Member
Username: jazzyvee

Post Number: 1008
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2007 - 10:33 am:   Edit Post

That bass is just delicious. A slight digression. Those strings look really cool. Is the gold colour just for aesthetics or are there tonal benefits?

Is it a long lasting coating as I imagine it would look quite shabby if it started to peel?
Just curious.
foth
Intermediate Member
Username: foth

Post Number: 166
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2007 - 12:07 pm:   Edit Post

Wilfred
I just noticed your extreme closeups of your Orion. They are beautiful! You are a really excellent photographer.
Paul
the_mule
Senior Member
Username: the_mule

Post Number: 699
Registered: 1-2004
Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2007 - 12:59 pm:   Edit Post

Thanks for the kind words. I love(d) that bass but I've traded it for a 1983 shortscale Series I.

A bass I once rescued from a pawnshop and let go way too soon (bittersweet regrets). After a few years I was given the opportunity to get her back. Luckily this unique Orion found a very happy new owner in forummember Manfred.

Those strings are Maxima golds. Not a 'plastic' coating like DR Black Beauties and such, but anodised. I'm not sure about the tonal benefits, but the clarity should last longer as the gold is less likely to corrode. And yes, they also look cool!

Paul, thanks, but the camera deserves more praise than me, it's got a very cool macro setting indeed.

Wilfred
jazzyvee
Senior Member
Username: jazzyvee

Post Number: 2861
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2012 - 12:30 pm:   Edit Post

Bump
This is now up for sale on the UK Bass Chat page
http://basschat.co.uk/topic/174166-fs-ft-alembic-orion-custom-4/page__p__1630170__hl__alembic__fromsearch__1#entry1630170

jazzyvee
juggz
New
Username: juggz

Post Number: 1
Registered: 4-2013
Posted on Friday, June 28, 2013 - 3:22 pm:   Edit Post

This bass is now living in Ireland where I think it will stay for a long, long time.
pauldo
Senior Member
Username: pauldo

Post Number: 1011
Registered: 6-2006
Posted on Friday, June 28, 2013 - 8:01 pm:   Edit Post

Congratulations Justin!
:-D
juggz
New
Username: juggz

Post Number: 2
Registered: 4-2013
Posted on Monday, July 08, 2013 - 2:07 pm:   Edit Post

Thanks. This how it looks today, great bass. One of the tuners is missing the back plate but I'll be getting that off Mica soon enough, restore it to full glory.



growlypants
Member
Username: growlypants

Post Number: 53
Registered: 3-2011
Posted on Monday, July 08, 2013 - 4:16 pm:   Edit Post

It could be just the lighting... but I swear that bass has darkened with age. Magnifique!!!
juggz
New
Username: juggz

Post Number: 3
Registered: 4-2013
Posted on Tuesday, July 09, 2013 - 1:58 am:   Edit Post

I think it has, compared to some of the earlier pictures. Certainly the purpleheart is a lot less, ehhh, purple in the flesh than the early pics. I'll take some more pics in direct light too.
mario_farufyno
Senior Member
Username: mario_farufyno

Post Number: 988
Registered: 9-2008
Posted on Tuesday, July 09, 2013 - 8:41 am:   Edit Post

Crown peghead fits nicely on Orion body, doesn't it?
the_mule
Senior Member
Username: the_mule

Post Number: 793
Registered: 1-2004
Posted on Saturday, February 27, 2016 - 5:02 am:   Edit Post

Glad to see her in good hands, and in Ireland. That's cool!
moongerm
Advanced Member
Username: moongerm

Post Number: 355
Registered: 8-2013
Posted on Saturday, February 27, 2016 - 5:14 am:   Edit Post

Very nice

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