| Author | Message | ||
| palembic
Senior Member Username: palembic Post Number: 1760 Registered: 9-2002 |
Gosh ...this is gonna be something. Love the Brazilian Rosewood. Is'nt it one of the "forbidden" woods these days?? My acoustic guitar has back and sides in BRazilian Palisander ...is that Rosewood???? It looks very similar. I have my acoustic -ib GREAT condition- for almost 30 years now. Paul the bad one | ||
| basstard
Intermediate Member Username: basstard Post Number: 125 Registered: 3-2003 |
Paul - palisander = rosewood... As far as I know ;-) | ||
| twiggyjudas
New Username: twiggyjudas Post Number: 7 Registered: 9-2004 |
Brazilian rosewood is banned from being cut down 'cause its an endangereed species -- its main source was from the Brazilian rainforests, which must be conserved. I love the look of this Alembird so far. That top wood and rosewood looks absolutely perfect!! Will work out like a real charm, I'd say. | ||
| smichaels
Junior Username: smichaels Post Number: 32 Registered: 6-2002 |
to harvest rainforest rosewood is illegal...to utilize naturally timbered rosewood is not. Sean | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 2149 Registered: 6-2000 |
Brazilian Rosewood is one of the species protected by the CITES treaty, so I'd advise anyone not to internationally travel even with an instrument made before the treaty. I've heard horror stories of customs officials confiscating 100 year old Martins.  Shame is, fine sanding dulls the figure out. This is a stunning and juicy piece, and when the finish hits, you'll know what I mean.  Mike's getting all the parts ready for assembly. See how he carved the slope by the fingerboard? The Maple will confirm to this and be the same thickness across the top. | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 2156 Registered: 6-2000 |
Bob was spraying today when I was taking pictures, so I don't have anything fresher than Monday for you:  Sometimes I am accused of being to understated, so just to make sure I am clear, the bass started getting sealer coats (before any tint) today. Next week I'll get you some nice ones! | ||
| s_wood
Member Username: s_wood Post Number: 98 Registered: 5-2002 |
Too cool! It's amazing to see this long dreamed-off project turn into reality. I love the headstock! | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 2185 Registered: 6-2000 |
Here's the bass with the sealer coats:  The Quilted Maple is totally 3D. I know you will love this bunches. | ||
| dannobasso
Intermediate Member Username: dannobasso Post Number: 184 Registered: 3-2004 |
I have seen my future. Nikki Sixx will be very full of envy! Danno | ||
| jeff
Member Username: jeff Post Number: 87 Registered: 12-2003 |
Steve, You must have gasped when you saw the "3D" photo. I know that I did. Just awesome. Jeff. | ||
| s_wood
Intermediate Member Username: s_wood Post Number: 103 Registered: 5-2002 |
Unbelievable! The quilt is absolutely killer. Once it gets the extra oomph from the amber part of the 3-tone burst finish it will be deadly... Hey, Danno -- screw Nikki Sixx. This bass in a tribute to Thunderfingers - the late and great John Entwistle. When I first realized how amazing JE was and fell in love with his playing he was using a Thunderbird, and when I first saw them live that's what he played. My all-time favorite rock bass album is Quadrophenia, and JE used a T-Bird there, too. Most Alembicians who are Entwistle fans think of JE with one of his Spyders, but for me JE and T-Birds are forever linked. So, my first dream bass was a T-Bird...and then in 1974 I fell in love with Alembics. When JE started playing Alembics in '75 it was perfect! The Alembird is my tribute to John Entwistle, and it's also an homage to the Thunderbird, which is (still) my favorite non-Alembic bass. I wanted to capture some of the unique tonal qualities of the T-Bird, along with the body shape, which is why we used a mahagony neck and the T-Bird's odd pickup placement. The quilt top is really just a veneer (for the pimp factor) that won't affect the tone. It's a five string because I don't play 4 much anymore. If you want to get an Alembird as a tribute to Nikki Sixx, that's cool. May I suggest killer quilt and a see-through black finish? | ||
| rami
Senior Member Username: rami Post Number: 430 Registered: 6-2002 |
Hey Steve, How about an all Ebony and Purpleheart one? Your Bass looks fantastic, by the way. I've always been a big fan of the Thunderbird... Gibson's only truly successful (and lasting) Bass. Rami | ||
| s_wood
Intermediate Member Username: s_wood Post Number: 105 Registered: 5-2002 |
Rami: I assume you don't mean an ebony body, because that sucker would weight 20 lbs. easy! I wanted to use an all mahagony neck because that's what the T-Bird's neck is made from, and I was trying to create an Alembic that sounded a bit like a T-Bird. Mahagony-necked basses have a unique and distinctive sound, and an ebony and purpleheart neck would be change from the sound I was trying to get. That's why I didn't use a sustain block, and that's why I used the T-Bird's pickup placement. If you just want to copy the look of the T-Bird, you would have the freedom to play around with neck woods, pickup placement, etc. My concept was different, though. | ||
| rami
Senior Member Username: rami Post Number: 431 Registered: 6-2002 |
Hey Steve, I was just teasing about the wood choices - I'm a little biased. Your T-Bird's going to be awesome. | ||
| 1stbass
Junior Username: 1stbass Post Number: 46 Registered: 11-2002 |
Hey Steve, That is amazing, A ture T bird for all times. Doug | ||
| dgcarbu
Member Username: dgcarbu Post Number: 71 Registered: 6-2004 |
Steve, Can't wait to see the end result. Looks like it's going to be another one of a kind bass. Be sure to post pics upon the arrival of your baby. Darrell | ||
| serialnumber12
New Username: serialnumber12 Post Number: 5 Registered: 12-2004 |
This one gets my vote for a "featured custom" spot! | ||
| davr35
Junior Username: davr35 Post Number: 21 Registered: 12-2004 |
would love an update on this project I'm a big T-Bird fan | ||
| jeff
Intermediate Member Username: jeff Post Number: 102 Registered: 12-2003 |
It's hard to beleive that Mica started this thread two years ago! To your credit Steve, you are a very patient man and that patience has obviously paid dividends for you in the form of an awesome bass collection. Frankly, I think that many of your fellow club members, including myself, are more anxious than you are to see more pictures of progress on this project. Perhaps Mica will take a bit of her very valuable time and give us a few updated photos. | ||
| lothartu
Intermediate Member Username: lothartu Post Number: 102 Registered: 8-2003 |
I'm also one of the "foaming at the mouth for a new picture" silent masses. I think I check this thread more than my own ftc thread lol. - Jim | ||
| s_wood
Intermediate Member Username: s_wood Post Number: 119 Registered: 5-2002 |
Well, "Alembic" and "fast" don't belong in the same sentence, unless one is referring to the incredible playability of their necks. If I was in a big hurry for a new bass I would just buy some mass-produced thing made by a company with a big advertising budget that looked nice, sounded bad and played worse. (Insert name of famous high production bass maker here: ________). Alembic builds wonderful stuff precisely because they are a small family-owned business that is obessively focused on the quality of what they make. Remember what happened when Mike Tobias sold his company to Gibson? Sure, their delivery times improved and they got a spiffy voice mail system that was specifically designed to end all human contact, but the basses sucked. It's true that Susan and Mica tend to be wildly optomistic when they guess about delivery time at the beginning of an order, but that's a function of the fact that Alembic's small size means that they have no reserve capacity. If someone gets sick or has to deal with a crisis, or if Ron decides to spend a couple of weeks chasing his latest brilliant idea stuff gets delayed. I guess that there's some psychogeographic determinism at work, too - these guys do live in Northern California, after all. The Alembird has always been kind of a "back burner" project. I told Susan and Mica that I wasn't in a hurry, and they know I have other Alembics to play. When I placed the order I told Susan I wanted a quilt maple top that was so amazing it would be one of the best she had ever seen - so she spend 6 months or so looking for one and as you can see she damn sure found it! Then, after the bass was mostly through the finishing process Susan decided it wasn't what I wanted, so she decided to strip it down and start all over. Bottom line: in this project (and with all their stuff) Alembic chose getting it right over getting it done. Thank God for that! Maybe their web site ought to say "Alembic: We Will Sell No Instrument Before Its Time." (Message edited by s_wood on March 09, 2005) (Message edited by s_wood on March 11, 2005) | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 2341 Registered: 6-2000 |
This is an oldie, but I found it while organizing the last few month's photos:  James is just starting to fret the Alembird. I think this may be the first view of the old Rosewood fingerboard. | ||
| gare
Intermediate Member Username: gare Post Number: 165 Registered: 11-2003 |
Wow..this one is truely one of a kind. I too have been following this build. The peghead looks great with that body shape. I seemed to have missed what electronics package will be in her. (or maybe it's just that I'm not fully awake) It is sort of a cross between the T-Bird and Johns Fenderbirds isn't it. | ||
| s_wood
Intermediate Member Username: s_wood Post Number: 128 Registered: 5-2002 |
Gare: Actually, the body was copied exactly using my '64 Thunderbird as a template. There are pictures of the Thunderbird at the beginning of this thread in the archives. The peghead was based on Alembic's Elan peghead, turned upside down. We wanted to use a smaller peghead and lightweight tuners to reduce the weight at the end of the neck because Thunderbirds are notoriously neck-heavy and therefore don't balance well. The electronics will be 2 Fat Boy pickups with 2 filters, 2 3 position Q switches, one volume and one pan control. The pickups will be placed in the same positions that are used by the original T-Bird, and the neck and body is made completely out of mahagony (just like the original) except for the quilt maple veneer top. | ||
| kevin_k
Intermediate Member Username: kevin_k Post Number: 108 Registered: 4-2003 |
Steve, That's a beatiful bass. I am also an admirer of THE VOODOO BASS...(I think it's yours.) The neck looks alittle different to me. If you don't mind my asking, is the neck a copy of your '64 Thunderbird too? (I imagine it is not, since the Thunderbird is a 4 stringer??) Is it something different. I have been asking all sorts of people here on the club about neck widths. I hope I am not imposing. Thanks for any input. Take care, Kevin K | ||
| s_wood
Intermediate Member Username: s_wood Post Number: 129 Registered: 5-2002 |
Kevin: The Voodoo bass is mine, but I bought it used so the neck dimension was not to my specs... I don't recall the exact measurements of that neck, but I do recall that it has much less taper between the nut and the 24th fret than is common today. The neck dimensions of the Alembird are the same as on my other 5 strings. When I ordered my first Alembic 5 I had my dealer (Chuck Levin's Washington Music) ship a Tobias 5 with a neck I loved to Alembic. They copied those dimensions perfectly - and then we made the neck thinner (the dimension between the surface of the fretboard and the back of the neck) as is my preference. I'm kind of picky about neck dimensions, too, but I've come to realize that for me the thickness of the neck matters at least as much (and maybe more) as the width. | ||
| kevin_k
Intermediate Member Username: kevin_k Post Number: 109 Registered: 4-2003 |
Thank you Steve. That confirms my hunch that The Voodoo bass has less taper. That's one of the great things about Alembic. You can send them a bass and they'll match the specs. Thanks again for your input. | ||
| gare
Intermediate Member Username: gare Post Number: 166 Registered: 11-2003 |
Thanks Steve..that is going to be a very cool instrument when done. The whole combo should sound great. 'Thunderbirds are notoriously neck-heavy and therefore don't balance well.' I remember trying one out in a shop, thought I was going to have to buy that baby when the neck got suicidal and headed for the floor. Best of luck with the 'bird' G | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 2405 Registered: 6-2000 |
Here's some updates for the color:  Upper "horn" - Bob wanted to preserve the quilted figure as much as possible, and elected to not quite go opaque on the edge.  From even a small distance, the edge starts to look darker.  The whole thing, so you can see the overall color and the how much smaller the reverse Elan peghead is. Let us know if you like it. Top coats are waiting on your word. | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 438 Registered: 7-2004 |
Steve: I was up at Alembic last week and saw your Alembird. The pictures don't convey how truly and absolutely gorgeous it is (and this coming from a guy who generally dislikes sunburst finishes). Your going to get a lot of compliments on this one. Bill, tgo |
