| Author |
Message |
jalevinemd
Senior Member
Username: jalevinemd
Post Number: 982
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Friday, April 10, 2015 - 2:31 pm: |  |
I imagine that this is also quite a treat for folks at Alembic who were there when this thing was born. |
keith_h
Senior Member
Username: keith_h
Post Number: 2197
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Friday, April 10, 2015 - 2:32 pm: | |
Mark,
Don't feel like you are the only one in that situation. 
Keith |
edwardofhuncote
Senior Member
Username: edwardofhuncote
Post Number: 308
Registered: 6-2014
| | Posted on Saturday, April 11, 2015 - 6:33 am: | |
Remarkable how much the top wood has darkened with age.
My favorite line from this post - "I just asked Rick Turner to build me something cool." That statement alone speaks volumes about how far "beyond custom" Alembic already was by '76.
Can't wait to see the fretless "sister"! |
mavnet
Junior
Username: mavnet
Post Number: 41
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, April 12, 2015 - 3:58 pm: | |
Some snaps of her fretless sister. Pardon the dust, please Turner told me the ebony was from the same log as Stanley Clarke's late 70s bass. I choose to believe it. 
[edited for picture alignment]
(Message edited by adriaan on April 13, 2015) |
moongerm
Intermediate Member
Username: moongerm
Post Number: 175
Registered: 8-2013
| | Posted on Sunday, April 12, 2015 - 6:03 pm: | |
Saweeet!!! Very nice! |
sonicus
Senior Member
Username: sonicus
Post Number: 4092
Registered: 5-2009
| | Posted on Sunday, April 12, 2015 - 9:23 pm: | |
Absolutely irresistible ! |
edwardofhuncote
Senior Member
Username: edwardofhuncote
Post Number: 312
Registered: 6-2014
| | Posted on Monday, April 13, 2015 - 7:08 am: | |
Yeah, I had roughly the same reaction... WOW! =)
Did you commission them separately, or was the idea all along to have a fretless counterpart? I salute the idea... I've done roughly that with my Turner basses, and in the process of doing it with my Alembic too... it's a kinda' twisted OCD thing.
That's quite the pair of basses you have there Mark - thanks for sharing. |
mavnet
Junior
Username: mavnet
Post Number: 42
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Monday, April 13, 2015 - 7:35 am: | |
Yeah, they're pretty sweet I feel very lucky to have them. I had been playing a fretless p-bass as my main axe back then but needed something with frets also, so it seemed like a no-brainer other than the then-outrageous amount of money they each cost - basically what we'd now pay for some of the nicer burl tops. Ordered them both at the same time, with anvil flight cases that cost the similarly outrageous $100 each. |
mavnet
Junior
Username: mavnet
Post Number: 43
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, April 30, 2015 - 7:07 pm: | |
Anything new, Mica? Also, did you get the tech drawings I scanned and sent? Thanks! |
mica
Moderator
Username: mica
Post Number: 8503
Registered: 6-2000
| | Posted on Friday, May 01, 2015 - 7:08 pm: | |
I did, thanks!
We're in the tail-end of the long and boring road of finish. There's still a few more coats to go. I think we are pickier than we used to be, as the front wasn't totally flat, and we sanded it as flat as we dare, but there's a few dippy streaks that really glare out so we have to pool up the finish a touch in those areas, and it takes a little longer, but it will be so worth it. |
mavnet
Junior
Username: mavnet
Post Number: 44
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Monday, June 01, 2015 - 2:08 pm: | |
Any new news, Mica? Got a bunch of gigs coming up this summer, and I soooooo want to be playing my very-much-missed beautiful bass again! |
mica
Moderator
Username: mica
Post Number: 8538
Registered: 6-2000
| | Posted on Monday, June 01, 2015 - 4:03 pm: | |
Final cure! Just waiting for the finish to finish hardening, and in the queue for rub out and set up. meanwhile, Tony and dad are working on the electronics so they are ready to drop in your bass when James needs them. I'll try and sneak a picture in for you this week, and you should have the bass this month |
mavnet
Junior
Username: mavnet
Post Number: 45
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 02, 2015 - 10:04 am: | |
Woot! And WOO HOO! Any feedback on the notch filter idea you were going to ask your dad about for the SF channel? Also - please check email re a few other things I'm interested in... |
mica
Moderator
Username: mica
Post Number: 8560
Registered: 6-2000
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 01, 2015 - 6:44 pm: | |
Hey Mark,
Working on the electronics, and dad will need to speak with you, probably sometime next week. In other news, the finish is all cured and we have the first part of the rubout complete:
Looking great! |
mica
Moderator
Username: mica
Post Number: 8567
Registered: 6-2000
| | Posted on Thursday, July 02, 2015 - 9:20 pm: | |
Rubout is done and James started loading parts.
There's 2 upgrades in line in front of yours, plus a little extra electronics work, so it will be a little while before much besides mounting pickups and hardware and strings happen, but I'll keep you posted. It is soooooooooooooo beautiful!
Erik was checking it out tonight:
You'll have to wait until it's all done for the picture in front of the barn |
mavnet
Member
Username: mavnet
Post Number: 55
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 4:38 am: | |
Looking really great! Mica - i sent you an email about connecting with your dad. Please advise. Thanks! |
ed_zeppelin
Junior
Username: ed_zeppelin
Post Number: 37
Registered: 2-2010
| | Posted on Friday, August 14, 2015 - 10:38 am: | |
What are the four mini-switches located closest to the bridge for?
I'm absolutely enthralled by this bass. It's just breathtaking. (I just stopped breathing, to prove it.) |
mavnet
Member
Username: mavnet
Post Number: 60
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Friday, August 14, 2015 - 3:13 pm: | |
It's a pretty cool bass! I can't tell you how much i miss it!. The switch closest to the neck changes the state of the super filter channel between hi/band/low pass. the second puts the two filters in series or parallel (you can use the normal SII lowpass on top of whatever you do with the SF). The third one takes the SII filter in or out of the circuit (can get "pure" pickup, no EQ), and the fourth is a stereo/mono switch. I like knobs and switches |
terryc
Senior Member
Username: terryc
Post Number: 2420
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, August 27, 2015 - 3:32 am: | |
Mica, from a amateur french polisher/restorer, how did you repair that bad shrinkage crack on the bottom of the bass ? Did you fill it with a thin maple laminate ?
It is a great restoration job, the new finish really does the all the repair work justice, a classic 70's west coast design from Alembic brought into the 21st century!
I guess glues are much better these days and hopefully new basses will not suffer this in the future |
mica
Moderator
Username: mica
Post Number: 8614
Registered: 6-2000
| | Posted on Monday, August 31, 2015 - 4:30 pm: | |
We use Titebond glue now just like we did back then. There were some issues with the original build itself - on the one side the joint was pretty messy - the wood had furred up a bit, and it simply wasn't square. We used a combination of what we call "moon dust" and glue. The moon dust is the fine dust from all Alembics that settles on the highest rafters here. We collect it and use it for purposes just like this one. The color was a pretty good match. I'll post pictures where I try to highlight the repaired area.
The top plates had lifted on the outside edges. This was an experimental build, and by looking at how we made it and how it aged, we can learn how to make something similar now that will hold up better over time - you have got to learn from your mistakes, right? The Bird's-eye Maple and the black binding and fill extend over the roundover, and that put extra stress on that joint. We managed to reglue it and it should be good for another few decades at least. I think now we would have the inlaid top stop before the roundover started.
Since we stripped the bass down to the wood, the overall finish wasn't difficult to get looking great. What surprised me was the Purpleheart. Even in the original images, I never remember it being very purple, but it sure is now! I always thought the top of this bass was Cherry from the images (the core is). But then again, they are old pictures and have aged plenty themselves. |
sonicus
Senior Member
Username: sonicus
Post Number: 4447
Registered: 5-2009
| | Posted on Monday, August 31, 2015 - 5:22 pm: | |
Mica ,
it is truly amazing to me that as the decades blaze past us , You , your Mother & Father and the dedication OF " The Sound " the method with excellence " and the result and Essence of Alembic remain in 100% in constitution . Alembic is now and will remain to be sound that is the Sandard of Perfection .
Wolf |
mavnet
Member
Username: mavnet
Post Number: 63
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 01, 2015 - 4:44 am: | |
gimme gimme gimme gimme! Didn't know about the moon dust, but I do remember you reminding me that I'd sent a letter to your mom and dad 35 years ago asking for a bag of Alembic dust to put in the studio i was building then... and i'll finally get some! |
terryc
Senior Member
Username: terryc
Post Number: 2425
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 01, 2015 - 6:26 am: | |
Thanks for info Mica, I have used the same technique myself with wood dust and glue and using a syringe to squeeze it into any cracks.
Restoration can sometimes be more satisfying than a new project as you are;-
a) Extending it's time value
b) Saving it from the scrap bin
c) Thinking of innovative methods of repair
Great repair work indeed!! |
edwardofhuncote
New
Username: edwardofhuncote
Post Number: 10
Registered: 6-2014
| | Posted on Thursday, September 03, 2015 - 6:18 am: | |
Regarding the Alembic dust... that's so funny and ingenious at the same time! Wondering whose job it is to climb up there to collect it? =)
If I ever get out there for a visit, right at the top of my list is to see the shop and meet some of those folks too.
Both of these basses are just so cool... Congratulations & Compliments! |
mavnet
Member
Username: mavnet
Post Number: 70
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 - 6:34 pm: | |
Mica - I've sent emails, left voice mail... any news? |
mica
Moderator
Username: mica
Post Number: 8649
Registered: 6-2000
| | Posted on Friday, October 16, 2015 - 7:40 pm: | |
Your electronics are on dad's bench now. He works on 2 instruments at the same time, so when one gets frustrating he shifts over to the other. We had a hard time scheduling time for you and him to chat during his eye stuff, but that's all over now, and next week is good for him on Wednesday or Thursday if you are available. You can email me to coordinate. |
mavnet
Member
Username: mavnet
Post Number: 71
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Monday, October 19, 2015 - 3:47 pm: | |
Mica - I sent you a note with times for Thursday. Please let me know asap what works. Thanks! Mark. |
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