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Alembic Club » Factory to Customer » Pierre-Yves' African Blackwood Custom Series II » Build Record » Archive through January 11, 2011 « Previous Next »

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pierreyves
Senior Member
Username: pierreyves

Post Number: 714
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Thursday, November 25, 2010 - 1:16 pm:   Edit Post

pierreyves
Senior Member
Username: pierreyves

Post Number: 715
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Monday, November 29, 2010 - 11:02 pm:   Edit Post

Hi Mica, the turkey was good ?



:-)
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 7078
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - 6:36 pm:   Edit Post

Thanks! We had a great feast with family and friends.

Not much of an update on your bass. The hardware was all installed, except the Schallers which we were waiting for. They arrived yesterday so we can proceed!

Here's your black beauty hanging out on the 24th as she waits for the machine heads:
preset

It's very likely the bass will return to spray this week and the hardware will get sent to the plater so that the plating and the finish will be done around the same time.
pierreyves
Senior Member
Username: pierreyves

Post Number: 717
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Monday, December 06, 2010 - 11:46 am:   Edit Post

I could appreciate some other pictures like other thread...
The peghead for example.. no ? The back (another example) no ?
Thanks in advance
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 7085
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Monday, December 06, 2010 - 8:18 pm:   Edit Post

Here's your bass this evening:
spray
I can't get any closer because it's wet, and the row of instruments I'm standing near is wet too.

Pictures all depend on timing and what I think looks interesting at the time. There is no formula - I just walk through and see what I see. I caught a lot of very interesting shots o fyour bass in the early construction. I would love it if I could draw and take pictures all day, but I have other duties to perform here as well.

Note that this bass is now in the long wait. When the bass is in spray, there's not much to see until it's in the final cure area, which could be 2-3 weeks away.
2400wattman
Senior Member
Username: 2400wattman

Post Number: 853
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Monday, December 06, 2010 - 9:51 pm:   Edit Post

This bass represents to me a gentlemen in a tuxedo. The blackwood is the jacket, the maple the shirt, the ebony stringers a bow tie and the vermillion the flesh.
This has to be one of the sharpest and classiest instruments I've seen in a long time.
pierreyves
Senior Member
Username: pierreyves

Post Number: 718
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Monday, December 06, 2010 - 11:06 pm:   Edit Post

Nice, so nice, I' will be happy when I could look at the beveled peghead and the inlay ! Thankx Mica, thanks 2400wattman for your positive comment.
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 7086
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Tuesday, December 07, 2010 - 12:09 am:   Edit Post

There is a picture of the beveled peghead on the first page of your build record.
cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member
Username: cozmik_cowboy

Post Number: 848
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Tuesday, December 07, 2010 - 5:19 am:   Edit Post

Pierre-Yves, when you first started talking about this bass, I thought it sounded like something that, visually, would either really work well, or really not work at all. Now we know; it really works well!

Peter
pierreyves
Senior Member
Username: pierreyves

Post Number: 719
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Tuesday, December 07, 2010 - 6:50 am:   Edit Post

Mica, I know all my pictures but I would say "finished beveled head with logo inlay" :-)
alembixxx
Member
Username: alembixxx

Post Number: 60
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Tuesday, December 14, 2010 - 10:38 pm:   Edit Post

Wow Pierres-Yves!!! Magnifique cette nouvelle basse! Sure it would be a thunder sound weapon!!! Congrats! Do you still own all your other Alembics??? I would be happy to have a little bit of help in french regarding the specs of Series II electronics!
Cheers and hope to hear from you soon!
jacko
Senior Member
Username: jacko

Post Number: 2819
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 - 6:58 am:   Edit Post

pierreyves. So far you have 24 pictures of your build on this thread. Some poor folk get less than a quarter of that number on theirs. Don't forget that these FTC threads are a bonus that Mica creates as a favour and not something we're paying extra for (and presumably not somethng that's in Mica's job description either). At the stage your bass is in now, if it was mine, I'd prefer to wait to see the finished product unveiled in all it's glory.

Graeme
briant
Senior Member
Username: briant

Post Number: 504
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 - 2:46 pm:   Edit Post

To compare:

My last FTC thread had four pictures total. That includes the picture of it finished hanging on the wall at the Mothership. Five if you want to count the picture used for doing the electronics layout.

My current FTC thread has ten pictures.

I'm extremely grateful for every single picture that Mica is able to capture and share during the build process. I also *completely* understand that this is a lot of work for her that is above and beyond her "real" work. This is extra bonus stuff.

Would it be cool to have daily pictures during the entire build? Sure, I guess. But it also is never going to happen. I'd encourage being thankful for the pictures/updates you do get. In the end you're going to have a fabulous instrument that will last a lifetime (or two).
pierreyves
Senior Member
Username: pierreyves

Post Number: 721
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 - 2:57 pm:   Edit Post

Briant, your first bass was done in three month. I take all this (mine include) with fun and a lot of patience.
rjmsteel
Intermediate Member
Username: rjmsteel

Post Number: 133
Registered: 7-2008
Posted on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 - 3:18 pm:   Edit Post

Take a good look. The first picture in the first thread is probably three to four months into the project... if not more. My current build was two months just in discussion and thats far from some of the posts we have seen.

Your bass looks really nice.
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 7099
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 - 7:21 pm:   Edit Post

Well, pictures do make everything better!

spray

spray

spray

spray

These last few weeks are always the hardest part of the wait. Your bass looks done, but there are many hands and hours left to complete the project.
sonicus
Senior Member
Username: sonicus

Post Number: 1472
Registered: 5-2009
Posted on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 - 8:15 pm:   Edit Post

Pierreyves,
Such a lucky man you are , the attention to detail on your Bass will make you so happy ______ And the Bass that you will own will be what your heart desires .
ajdover
Senior Member
Username: ajdover

Post Number: 913
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 - 8:42 pm:   Edit Post

Very nice bass indeed, Pierre-Yves.

as for the pictures, looking at the number of pictures for Pierre-Yves' bass and my custom, I had thirty total Photos over a nearly four year build period. This includes the date I ordered it (December 5, 2005) to the date I received it (December 9, 2009). I don't know when Pierre-Yves ordered his bass, but he has almost as many pictures in six months (27) as I saw in four years or so.

This being said ... My take is who cares? I'm sure Pierre-Yves is as anxious as anyone here who orders a custom to see pictures of the work in progress. As Mica noted, she gets pics when she can, where she can, based on where the instrument is in the build process, and if the photos will be good. Obviously she's had opportunities to take pictures of Pierre-Yves' bass that she perhaps didn't have with mine or someone else's. So be it - all I know is that I got the bass of my dreams, as I'm sure Pierre-Yves will too. I think we should all, as Alembic owners be happy about that.

Alan
pierreyves
Senior Member
Username: pierreyves

Post Number: 722
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 12:00 am:   Edit Post

MY GOD......WAAAAWWWW..... THANKX
ajdover
Senior Member
Username: ajdover

Post Number: 914
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 12:06 am:   Edit Post

We may disagree about Iraq, Pierre-Yves, but we can agree on Alembics!! ;-)

Congrats on your custom.

Alan
pierreyves
Senior Member
Username: pierreyves

Post Number: 723
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 12:38 am:   Edit Post

of course Alan, and thanks to write my name correctly :-)
briant
Senior Member
Username: briant

Post Number: 506
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 8:51 am:   Edit Post

"Take a good look. The first picture in the first thread is probably three to four months into the project... if not more. My current build was two months just in discussion and thats far from some of the posts we have seen."

This is very extremely correct.

Pierre-Yves, your bass is beautiful.
andbassforall
Member
Username: andbassforall

Post Number: 95
Registered: 9-2008
Posted on Thursday, December 16, 2010 - 3:25 pm:   Edit Post

I was so fortunate for my bass to come through in a very short time. I ordered it at the most down time of the economy etc. and the build went very smoothly. If I thought it was going to take a few years, I'd still totally would have ordered it. Mica had some very good luck catching my bass at good points to take photos. The FTC thread is an amazing part of the Alembic site and service in addition to phone calls and emails that makes the experience so personal and worth it. In fact, looking forward to a session later with my Rogue 6-string fretless.

Pierre-Yves, enjoying keeping track of the progress of your new bass!
funkyjazzjunky
Senior Member
Username: funkyjazzjunky

Post Number: 654
Registered: 5-2007
Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 6:33 am:   Edit Post

Beautiful bass

Mpingo is such wonderful wood.
pierreyves
Senior Member
Username: pierreyves

Post Number: 724
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 12:56 pm:   Edit Post

mpingo: http://www.africanblackwood.com/english/index.asp
enjoy :-)
mike1762
Senior Member
Username: mike1762

Post Number: 705
Registered: 1-2008
Posted on Friday, December 17, 2010 - 2:10 pm:   Edit Post

Elegant... if it sounds half as good as it looks, this will be a special instrument.
pierreyves
Senior Member
Username: pierreyves

Post Number: 729
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Monday, January 10, 2011 - 1:31 am:   Edit Post

Happy New Year new basses for 2011!
Something news for the new year ?
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 7149
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Monday, January 10, 2011 - 8:43 pm:   Edit Post

Hoping to get the rubout scheduled in the next week or two. The finish looks nice and hard now with a good cure.
pierreyves
Senior Member
Username: pierreyves

Post Number: 730
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 - 12:15 am:   Edit Post

sorry but what mean "rubout scheduled" and looks "hard with a good cure" ? My english does'nt perform that :-(
adriaan
Moderator
Username: adriaan

Post Number: 2741
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 - 12:28 am:   Edit Post

The finish is already nice and hard, but they're letting it rest ("cure") for at least two weeks, before doing a rub-out.

Here's a quick overview of how they do finishes, from the Factory Tour on the main site.

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