The single most important wood decision you make about your custom built Alembic is the neck, for the neck is
the foundation of the sound. The choice must be made for the desired sonic outcome. Neck woods are more
limited in variety than woods for other tasks because the neck must be strong and stable, and certain
woods are just not suited for the purpose.
On our neck through guitars and basses, the neck woods are largely responsible for the tone, though every part
of the instrument will contribute. For set neck models, the neck is still the most important wood in determining
the sound, but the body comes into play more than on the neck throughs. The observations we present relate only to Alembics, other makers will surely find
differing results with their own techniques.
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Pictured on a Signature Deluxe bass. A Maple neck with Purpleheart laminates is the quintessential Alembic neck, classic in every
way. Two Purpleheart laminates for a 4-string bass, three for a 5-string bass and five for a 6-string bass. On guitars,
we generally use the 5-piece arrangement show on the left. This combination offers even response across the entire range of the fingerboard.
If you just can't decide on the neck woods, we would suggest Maple and Purpleheart - a grand success on thousands of Alembics.
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Pictured on a Spyder bass. 7-piece version of the classic Alembic neck. This arrangement with smaller
Purpleheart laminates is for 4-string basses and 6-string guitars. This is the standard neck for Series II basses and
guitars, an optional upgrade for other models.
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Pictured on a custom bass. Big, bad Ebony. We rave about it! For the deepest low end response, look no
further than Ebony neck laminates. Also prepare yourself for unheard of fundamental sustain. Ebony is expensive, and it is heavy,
but it is worth it.
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Pictured on a Signature Deluxe bass. Since Ebony is so "bossy" you are free to mix it with other woods and still
hear its useful contributions. A single Ebony neck laminate does about 75% of the work that 2 or more do, so you can mix it up
with some Purpleheart and Maple, and you'll still hear some of the other woods.
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Pictured on a Brown Bass. For the ultimate in warmth, start with the outside neck pair in Mahogany. Very smooth
bass response, great for jazz settings and more. The Walnut laminate brings up some additional attack, but it's
not overpowering in the slightest. Birch laminates support the highs without going over the top.
This combination is the standard
neck lamination pattern for the Brown Bass, and can be custom ordered on any Alembic instrument.
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Pictured on a Series II Bass. For warmth with some added big bass response, add some Ebony and
Maple to the Mahogany foundation. The Mahogany rounds out the sound, but the Ebony adds its signature bit of low-end "umpf" and
fundamental sustain to the mix, with just enough Maple to keep the highs intact.
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Pictured on a Further guitar. First seen regularly on our Tribute
and Further guitars, the combination of Flame Maple, Purpleheart, and Cherry gives
great even tone. The Flame Maple is from the western United States, and is not as dense as eastern Maple. This means the familiar
brightness of Maple is a little less overpowering with these necks. Purpleheart add some strength, beauty and supports the highs well.
The addition of a single Cherry laminate down the center of the neck rounds out the bottom end for great low end response.
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Pictured on a Stage Further guitar. For the Stage version of the Furthers and Tributes, we use the combination of Maple, Purpleheart and Cherry.
Just a tad brighter than the version with Flame Maple for the main neck wood, this neck offers even response with defined lows and highs.
What you play on this neck, you will hear.
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Pictured on a Darling guitar. Maple and Purpleheart are old standards for neck woods here at Alembic, but adding
a Vermilion laminate to the mix really beefs up the lows. There is nothing thin or twangy sounding about any Alembic neck, but
with the Vermilion, you not only hear, but you feel those deep dark tones. Standard confirguration for
Little Darling and Darling guitars, we add some thin veneers of Maple just for decoration.
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Pictured on a Darling guitar. Changing out the Maple that's standard on a Darling for Mahogany yields a tone
of unrivaled warmth. Nice round sound, that just makes you ears feel good!
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Pictured on a Signature Standard bass. All Maple, all the way. We regard three as the magic minimum number of laminates for
one of our necks. This allows our structured beam to have opposing grain on either side. We add the little
veneer "pinstripes" in Walnut just for their good looks - they are too tiny to contribute to the sound. Maple necks
will lean toward the brighter sounds, but of course if you have too much of the highs, you can always turn down
your low-pass filter.
Maple necks are standard on
all set neck basses, Skylark guitars, Essence and Rogue basses. Historically, Spoilers, Persuaders and Elans all
came standard with Maple necks. Earliest examples did not have the pinstripes. For 5- and 6-string models, we use
five laminates of Maple with four Walnut pinstripes.
© 2010 Alembic, Inc.
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