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mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 2277
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Saturday, February 26, 2005 - 12:27 pm:   Edit Post

Mom got the sketches completed yesterday, and we spent our morning coffee time over the mock-up:

peter's lightling strike

The logo is to be goldplated, and is just there in outline. The cloud is black mother of pearl with a tiny silver "lining" and a mother of pearl lightning bolt. The key is sterling silver attached to the abalone kite with a copper string. The ribs in the kite are silver with a little golden mother of pearl bow. Hope you like!
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 2444
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2005 - 12:35 pm:   Edit Post

Here's the back of the body in pieces:

pieces

and a preview of how the back will look:

in assembly
kilowatt
New
Username: kilowatt

Post Number: 10
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2005 - 1:54 pm:   Edit Post

Mica, thanks for the shots of the start of the build. What a great way to start a weekend! I hope your dental work has healed and your back to normal. Pete
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 2456
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2005 - 8:05 pm:   Edit Post

Body assembly completed:

body

Lookin' tasty!
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 2501
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Wednesday, June 08, 2005 - 6:44 pm:   Edit Post

Here's that neck of yours:

neck

and the peghead:

peghead
Interior veneers are Maple and Vermilion, to coordinate with the accent laminates. It's very cool looking!
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 2563
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Monday, June 27, 2005 - 4:09 pm:   Edit Post

Here's the body halves shaped:

halvesm with shaping
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 2570
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Monday, June 27, 2005 - 11:11 pm:   Edit Post

And the body gettign glued to the neck:

neck to bod

Hey, this thing is looking more like a bass every day.
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 2579
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Monday, July 04, 2005 - 3:56 pm:   Edit Post

Here's Tony sanding the bass after Bob routed it:

drum sanding
tbrannon
Junior
Username: tbrannon

Post Number: 13
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Monday, July 04, 2005 - 4:39 pm:   Edit Post

I love those vermillion/maple/ebony necks.

Happy 4th to all those in the States!
kilowatt
Junior
Username: kilowatt

Post Number: 13
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Wednesday, July 06, 2005 - 2:19 pm:   Edit Post

Susan, Mica, Valentino and all of the staff, Thanks for the tour last week. We had a great time and everyone was very helpful. Even my wife had fun, (more fun after Susan gave her some web sites to check out for jewlery). My 11 year old son couldn't believe that Mica let him play one of the guitars out front. He also liked the idea Susan had that if he makes the honor roll at school for the year, I would help him get an Alembic guitar. Once again, thanks for all your help and kindness. Pete. P.S. The bass is looking great!
jalevinemd
Intermediate Member
Username: jalevinemd

Post Number: 189
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Wednesday, July 06, 2005 - 2:31 pm:   Edit Post

Pete,

What wood is the bulk of your neck made of? Is it mahogany? I have maple and I've got to be honest...sometimes on a neck-thru without a book matched to center top I think that it stands in too stark a contrast to the coco bolo top. Whatever your wood you chose blends so beautifully. The whole thing has a very rich, almost chocolatey feel to it. Nice combination!

Regards,

Jonathan
kilowatt
Junior
Username: kilowatt

Post Number: 14
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Wednesday, July 06, 2005 - 4:47 pm:   Edit Post

Jonathan,
The bulk of the neck is made from mahogany. I am really happy with the way things are turning out. Susan made the suggestion to go with the mahogany. It was done mostly for sound along with the ebony to emulate the sound of Phil Lesh's modified Guild. Believe me when I tell you, that the pictures, as good as they are, don't do any of the instruments justice. When I was in Santa Rosa last week, I was amazed at the attention to detail in every aspect of the building and finishing of everything I saw.
Thanks for the compliment, Pete
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 2631
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - 2:54 pm:   Edit Post

The logo is inlaid, and james is ready to inlay the lightning bolt:

mockup2b

James wanted to reduce the size from what you faxed us because the upper part of the bolt comes too close to the logo. In the rough above, the bushings in the template are actually larger diameter than the washers for the tuning keys. Also note the two small grey lines to represent the joints where two pieces of mother of pearl will butt up next to eachother.

Let me know if we're good to go and James will proceed with the cutting.
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 2642
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - 5:02 pm:   Edit Post

Hey, here's that picture in RGB mode:

mockup2

Now you should be able to view it.
kilowatt
Junior
Username: kilowatt

Post Number: 19
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - 5:59 pm:   Edit Post

Mica,
Thanks for the extra help on the mockup photo. I couldn't open it at first, but my 12 year old son did it in no time. I think the mockup looks perfect and you can keep on rollin. Again, thanks for the help. Regards.

Pete
edwin
Member
Username: edwin

Post Number: 82
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - 6:26 pm:   Edit Post

What am I missing? I can't view the mock ups at all and it seems like there is no file linked to the words.

This looks like it's gonna be a great one!

Edwin
Who always wanted a 5 string version of his '67 Starfire.....
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 2643
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - 7:56 pm:   Edit Post

Cool Pete. I'll let James know first thing in the morning.

I don't know, Edwin. At first I realized I saved the file in CMYK mode, which doesn't like to open in browsers. This is only the second file I made in Illustrator, so I'll work out the kinks eventually. For now, I think you can right click and select "open image" at least that worked for me (though I have no trouble seeing the picture inline on my Sun workstation in an Opera browser).
bob
Senior Member
Username: bob

Post Number: 503
Registered: 11-2002
Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - 9:57 pm:   Edit Post

(I see both images fine in Safari, no extra steps)
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 2663
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Tuesday, October 04, 2005 - 5:23 pm:   Edit Post

James did a great job on the lighting bolt inlay:
lighting bolt
The seams are very subtle and the pieces of shell he selected match very well.

Body looking good too:
body rubout
This is literally moments before it was to be rubbed out.
mica
Moderator
Username: mica

Post Number: 2795
Registered: 6-2000
Posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 11:15 pm:   Edit Post

As I told you on the phone, in my brain I thought I'd already posted a picture of your bass loaded (when I needed to do was look at the thread to see I was mistaken) . Anyway, as promised, here's a couple of pics I took on my way out the door tonight:

insetup

in setup back

The preamp backplate was not up to our standards, and we made another one for the plater to redo.
palembic
Senior Member
Username: palembic

Post Number: 2126
Registered: 9-2002
Posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 11:36 pm:   Edit Post

Astonishing good looking.
In a way "humble" and rich at the same time.
Also "new" and "old style" are together.
Really tasteful!

Paul TBO
kilowatt
Junior
Username: kilowatt

Post Number: 27
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Thursday, November 17, 2005 - 3:18 am:   Edit Post

Mica,
Thanks again for the update. I love it. Now that we are in the home stretch, I feel like a little kid wating for Santa to arrive. Please let me know when she is ready for departure so I can clear the house and warn the neighbors of the impending thunder storm. You guys (and gals) are the best!!

Pete
jacko
Senior Member
Username: jacko

Post Number: 416
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Thursday, November 17, 2005 - 4:33 am:   Edit Post

Another fantastic bass. congratulations Pete. I really like the mahogany neck - it seems to almost glow.

graeme
811952
Senior Member
Username: 811952

Post Number: 565
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Thursday, November 17, 2005 - 7:53 am:   Edit Post

Beautiful.
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck

Post Number: 2595
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Thursday, November 17, 2005 - 9:22 am:   Edit Post

Beautiful indeed! Looks like there is a modification to the electronics; bass and treble boost/cut switches??
kilowatt
Junior
Username: kilowatt

Post Number: 28
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Thursday, November 17, 2005 - 4:46 pm:   Edit Post

Thanks all,
I'm really happy with the way that the bass is turning out. As usual, the people at Alembic have outdone themselves. My thanks to all involved.
Dave, the electronics are standard series II. The extra switches are for the LED's. One is a three position switch (all on, side on alone and all off). The other switch is a dimmer for the LED's.
kmh364
Senior Member
Username: kmh364

Post Number: 1268
Registered: 9-2003
Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 5:41 am:   Edit Post

Very nice, Pete! Kudos and Congrats.

Cheers,

Kevin
5stringho
Advanced Member
Username: 5stringho

Post Number: 214
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - 6:49 am:   Edit Post

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, this DOES look vaguely familiar!! My little beast has a bit different BTC placement, probably a more interior cut of the same board, but I'd say it's definately the same piece of Cocobolo. Close enough to say it didn't fall far from the same tree!!
She IS a beauty, Pete, well worthy of her place in COTM history!!
Enjoy! Mike, tho =]
georgie_boy
Advanced Member
Username: georgie_boy

Post Number: 334
Registered: 8-2005
Posted on Friday, February 01, 2008 - 12:46 pm:   Edit Post

Have to agree 100% with Mike on that one!

G

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