| Author |
Message |
marcm
Intermediate Member
Username: marcm
Post Number: 106
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 5:14 pm: |  |
That's great news, Mica! Thanks!
Marc |
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck
Post Number: 5544
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, September 29, 2007 - 9:18 pm: | |
Cool! Looking forward to seeing pictures of the completed bass! |
palembic
Senior Member
Username: palembic
Post Number: 2557
Registered: 9-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, September 30, 2007 - 8:26 am: | |
Go Marc ..go-go-go!
Wonder how simple this is going to look!
Paul TBO |
bassman10096
Senior Member
Username: bassman10096
Post Number: 977
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 02, 2007 - 8:29 am: | |
This bass has been worth the wait. It has more uniqueness than almost any. |
marcm
Intermediate Member
Username: marcm
Post Number: 107
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, October 06, 2007 - 12:42 pm: | |
Hi Mica
Has my bridge arrived from the plater yet? |
crgaston
Senior Member
Username: crgaston
Post Number: 445
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, October 06, 2007 - 7:56 pm: | |
Dang.... Mica made a Star Wars reference and nobody else was geek enough to call her on it.
Busted! |
mele_aloha
Advanced Member
Username: mele_aloha
Post Number: 276
Registered: 1-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2007 - 1:47 am: | |
Word has it marcm that the whole shop got wiped out the last couple of weeks with the flu bug and no one was spared.
So all who are waiting have their La Maz' books out and practicing what we learned for those of us who have been through it!(come on Bradley, check my spelling please)haha!hehe! With Love of course!
I hope that will give you some insight as to delays. They are doing their best considering the circumstances.
Aloha, Paul |
byoung
Senior Member
Username: byoung
Post Number: 785
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, October 07, 2007 - 5:21 pm: | |
Paul,
Since you asked, I think you meant Lamaze.
Okay, now everyone, breathe. Hee-hee-hoo.
Bradley |
cozmik_cowboy
Advanced Member
Username: cozmik_cowboy
Post Number: 208
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 8:29 am: | |
Well, Bradley, based on my experience, that should be "Hee-hee-(large amounts amounts of profanity directed at me for my role placing in her in such pain)-hoo 
Peter |
mica
Moderator
Username: mica
Post Number: 4877
Registered: 6-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 5:52 pm: | |
It looks like this bass will be shipping tomorrow, arriving on Friday. Here's it's just hanging out:
and here, getting lovingly polished:
You might notice that the knobs are different from the ones you sent in for the bass. With the bass all done, the Maple lines were really jarring. We're sending you the original knobs in case you like the look better or want to use them on another bass. Hope you like it! |
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck
Post Number: 5589
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 6:04 pm: | |
What a cool bass!! |
tbrannon
Senior Member
Username: tbrannon
Post Number: 563
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 6:37 pm: | |
Oh my gosh- worth the wait.... |
the_8_string_king
Senior Member
Username: the_8_string_king
Post Number: 886
Registered: 9-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 7:21 pm: | |
Let me get this straight... this is the SIMPLE bass?
Uhm... what would be the non-simple bass?
Looks incredibly awesome. Love the custom electronics/control configuration!
So... what are the electronics? |
artswork99
Intermediate Member
Username: artswork99
Post Number: 179
Registered: 7-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 7:36 pm: | |
How cool, is that a customer design? I haven't seen anything like this before. I browsed through the build pictures... what a project and real nice set of specifications!
Enjoy that bass Marc!
Play it healthy,
Art |
mica
Moderator
Username: mica
Post Number: 4882
Registered: 6-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 7:41 pm: | |
Jason keeps calling this bass, "Monty" as in Monty Python... and now for something completely different! |
artswork99
Intermediate Member
Username: artswork99
Post Number: 180
Registered: 7-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 7:51 pm: | |
That's pretty funny since the Monty Python Flying Circus collection was loaned to me on Sunday and I've been watching them for several days. |
82daion
Intermediate Member
Username: 82daion
Post Number: 109
Registered: 5-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 7:54 pm: | |
That was worth the wait!
Congratulations, Marc.
That bass is amazing. |
marcm
Intermediate Member
Username: marcm
Post Number: 108
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 8:11 pm: | |
Hi Folks
Thank you all very much for your very kind comments.
It's hard to express how delighted I am with how it came out; I hadn't seen any pictures except those that were posted to this thread. It has been a long time coming, and there were many detours and changes along the way. Mica and Susan solved every issue, steered me right when I had bogus ideas, and wouldn't let the bass go to completion until it met their standards.
I really meant 'simple' in an aesthetic sense, rather than in the sense of 'not many features': just two woods, mahogany and ebony; no body accent laminates; no back laminate; no fret inlays; and no script. Eventually I weakened and went for the OM and the little tai-ji in back.
The electronics are 20th Anniversary, with 3-position Q switches and master volume. The control configuration, from butt to horn, is (alternating knobs and toggles): master volume, LED on/off, bridge filter, bridge Q, bridge volume, stereo/mono, neck filter, neck Q, and neck volume. The pickup selector is the teardrop on the lower horn, a gesture to the old-style Series control layout; it's also the only place there is for it below the mahogany pinstripe. I love the old EvH basses - especially the 'baby bass' Edwin had made for his daughter - and also the softer points from back in the day, so those elements were worked into the design as well.
Mica told me that the basic sound is like a super-clean, super-precise P-bass with massive sustain and a massive bottom end. That's exactly what we aimed for, four years ago. I've been playing for 40 years but I've only ever owned one bass: a 1970 Fender Precision that my parents bought for me, new, when I was 15; it has been everywhere with me, and it's sitting ten feet from me as I type this. So I have a lot to learn.
Marc |
rraymond
Advanced Member
Username: rraymond
Post Number: 314
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 8:28 pm: | |
I am dumbstruck seeing this bass finally completed. Congrats Marc and Alembic! What an amazing piece, "Wink, wink, nudge, nudge!" |
dannobasso
Senior Member
Username: dannobasso
Post Number: 657
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 8:29 pm: | |
As a devotee of black Alembics, I salute you most heartily sir! May you play it with joy for many years to come. |
bassman10096
Senior Member
Username: bassman10096
Post Number: 1009
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 9:18 pm: | |
Wow. Congratulations. Definitely one of the most elegant Alembics ever. A long time coming to be sure, but an amazing conclusion... |
jacko
Senior Member
Username: jacko
Post Number: 1427
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 4:32 am: | |
Fantastic. Just needs a set of DR Black beauties to set it off nicely.
graeme |
room037
Intermediate Member
Username: room037
Post Number: 188
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 7:21 am: | |
Hi Marc,
Congratulation !
What a nice bass !
It's worth 4 years waiting.
I love the black color just like ecliptic night.
And I am very interested mandolin frets that you said.
Please report the feeling.
Eiji |
811952
Senior Member
Username: 811952
Post Number: 1190
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 7:32 am: | |
That's really cool! |
jtussing
Intermediate Member
Username: jtussing
Post Number: 132
Registered: 12-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 9:51 am: | |
Congrats - WONDERFUL looking bass! |
chuck
Advanced Member
Username: chuck
Post Number: 211
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 11:10 am: | |
In the words of mister Zulu,,, OOOO MY.
Chuck |
precarius
Advanced Member
Username: precarius
Post Number: 241
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 11:53 am: | |
A beautiful and unique bass!
Mike |
senmen
Senior Member
Username: senmen
Post Number: 695
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 12:02 pm: | |
Marc,
what shall I say. WOW !!!
This is a simple bass? It is stunning, stealthy and technically looking. Well it makes me think of a DW or a Spyder in this design....
Oliver (Spyderman) |
bassjigga
Advanced Member
Username: bassjigga
Post Number: 261
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 1:11 pm: | |
Not often you see a gabon ebony top. Maybe this was in there somewhere but I didn't read through the pages of the thread... was the reason for the two strips in the top because you couldn't get gabon ebony wide enough? |
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq
Post Number: 2675
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 1:11 pm: | |
Marc:
Gorgeous! Do I detect a COTM?
Bill, tgo |
marcm
Intermediate Member
Username: marcm
Post Number: 109
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 2:36 pm: | |
Thank you all for your kind words. I have admired your beautiful Alembics on the Club for four years now, as my own took shape. Many many times I have thought, “Damn, that is such a cool instrument! I wish I had thought of that first!” When I have learned the ins and outs of my new bass reasonably well, maybe I will be able to justify thinking about another. That seems to happen a lot.
Graeme, thanks for suggesting DR Black Beauties. I’ve always thought they were very cool, though I’ve played Thomastik Jazz Flats for so long that I automatically asked to have the bass strung with them. I just called DR to ask about BBs for 32-inch scale. Unfortunately, the guy told me that they don’t make them for ‘short scale’ (32-inch is ‘short scale’ for DR, not surprisingly), so my only choice in DR would be stainless steels. So unless he and I misunderstood each other, I am SOL on BBs.
David, you’re right about the reason for the three-piece top. My first-choice top wood (a birdseye maple) turned out to be funky inside, and after looking at about thirty different Wood Bank candidates I came around to the idea of Gabon ebony. At that time there was none to be had wide enough for a bookmatch-to-center, so Mica proposed a three-piece top made from a six-string fingerboard blank and two five-string blanks. The joints were a potential shrinkage problem, so I proposed the mahogany pinstripes. Mike proposed the contoured top, which he called the ‘suspension bridge’.
Oliver, I think a ‘Simple Spyder’ or a ‘Simple DW’ would be awesome. I hope you decide to do one. Isn’t Dueren near Aachen? For many years I used to stay in Aachen for a few days or a week at least once a year. I love that area. The background in your photo has always reminded me of the view out the window of my favorite room in my favorite hotel in Köln, though I realize that most likely it is not that view.
Bill TGO, thanks! I would be honored for my bass to be a Featured Custom. It is not impossible that it could happen . . .
Marc |
dnburgess
Senior Member
Username: dnburgess
Post Number: 526
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 2:49 pm: | |
I want one. |
senmen
Senior Member
Username: senmen
Post Number: 696
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 12:51 pm: | |
Marc,
YES, you are right. Dueren is approx. 20min away from Aachen.
So when you are here for the next time we must meet..
Well the idea of a "Simple Spyder" or "Simple DW" is great.
Do you own the copyrights on the term "Simple" ? :-)
I relly love the knob layout on your bass.....
Oliver (Spyderman) |
basstard
Intermediate Member
Username: basstard
Post Number: 151
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 2:51 pm: | |
This is just ubercool.
Love it.
COTM all the way!
And now for something completely different:
The larch. |
marcm
Intermediate Member
Username: marcm
Post Number: 110
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, October 27, 2007 - 12:03 pm: | |
The bass arrived yesterday!
I know that it has been said many times before by others, but it's true: the photos, as good as they are, can't do justice to the incredible workmanship of an Alembic instrument. When I held the bass in my hands for the first time, I realized that it exceeds any expectations I ever had.
I haven't had a chance to do any real playing yet, but I hope to later this afternoon. Thank you all in the Club for your support and your kind comments over the past four years. I will post some photos as soon as I can, probably when I'm back home after Thanksgiving.
Lexi, Steve, Greg, Derek, James, Jason (thanks for coining the official nickname!), Cody, Charles, Mary, Robert, Tony, Bill, Ron, Susan, and Mica, who took my first call back in April 2003, and called yesterday just as I put the bass on my knee for the first time: thank all of you so much! There is nothing like an Alembic instrument, and in my experience there is no organization like Alembic. I hope to meet all of you when Amanda and I visit on November 20th. |
senmen
Senior Member
Username: senmen
Post Number: 697
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, October 28, 2007 - 10:51 am: | |
Marc,
more pics plse......
Oliver (Spyderman) |
tommy
Junior
Username: tommy
Post Number: 22
Registered: 9-2008
| | Posted on Thursday, February 05, 2009 - 3:51 pm: | |
Holy fling vampires! Looks like something batman would play! |
white_cloud
Senior Member
Username: white_cloud
Post Number: 602
Registered: 11-2007
| | Posted on Friday, February 06, 2009 - 6:39 am: | |
If im not mistaken I spy "OM" between the second and third frets - very symbolic!
Om Mani padme hum! |
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck
Post Number: 7513
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, February 08, 2009 - 3:52 pm: | |
John, there's a closeup of the inlay here. |
marcm
Intermediate Member
Username: marcm
Post Number: 112
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 05, 2014 - 9:33 am: | |
I'm putting Monty up for sale in the For Sale section. Sad but necessary. |
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