Essence Bass

Pictured in Coco Bolo with optional mother of pearl inlays

Essence Bass

Many have asked how they could get the Alembic sound without the size and weight (and price) of the classic Alembic instruments. Our answer is the Essence.

We took the lead for the right half of the shape from our Small Standard body. We slimmed this down until it was barely big enough to hold the electronics. For the left half, we extended the horn so the bass would balance as a long scale. For 5-string and 6-string versions, the upper horn is longer to retain the excellent balance.

The heart of the Essence's tone is the Alembic low-pass filter, the same tone control we pioneered in 1970 when we first introduced active electronics to the musical world. With this tone control, a range of sounds from deep to bright are available with a simple twist of the knob.

The Essence bass gives you all the essentials of Alembic: neck through body construction, Alembic pickups and active electronics, solid brass hardware, all crafted in our one and only shop in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

EXAMPLES

Flame Maple Bird's-eye Maple Quilted Maple AAA Mutant Maple Lacewood Light Buckeye Flatsawn Zebrawood Bocate Bubinga Amboyna Burl Burl Redwood Vermilion Vermilion with Oil Purpleheart Flame Purpleheart Ruby Red Coco Bolo Quartersawn Coco Bolo Flame Walnut Superb Walnut Dark Buckeye Burl Macassar Ebony Black
SPECS 4-string 5-string 6-string
Scale length 34 in 34 in 34 in
Through body neck 3-piece Maple with 2 Walnut pinstripes 5-piece Maple with 4 Walnut pinstripes 5-piece Maple with 4 Walnut pinstripes
Fingerboard Ebony, no inlays Ebony, no inlays Ebony, no inlays
Nut width 1.625 in 1.875 in 2.200 in
24th fret width 2.360 in 2.960 in 3.560 in
Peghead Alembic Orion 4 Alembic Orion 5 Alembic Cone 6
Truss rods dual, body adjust dual, body adjust dual, body adjust
Top Flame Maple or any standard wood Flame Maple or any standard wood Flame Maple or any standard wood
Body material Mahogany Mahogany Mahogany
Sandwich Flame Maple, Purpleheart, Mahogany Flame Maple, Purpleheart, Mahogany Flame Maple, Purpleheart, Mahogany
Body depth 1.55 in 1.55 in 1.55 in
Finish Polyester gloss with satin neck Polyester gloss with satin neck Polyester gloss with satin neck
Pickups Alembic MXY 4 Alembic MXY 56 Alembic MXY 56
Controls volume, pan, filter volume, pan, filter volume, pan, filter
Tailpiece Solid brass, bar shape Solid brass, bar shape Solid brass, bar shape
Nut height adjustable solid brass height adjustable solid brass height adjustable solid brass
Machine heads Gold Alembic-Gotoh Gold Alembic-Gotoh Gold Alembic-Gotoh
Average weight 10 pounds 11 pounds 12 pounds
Overall dimensions 12" x 45.25" 12.5" x 45.00" 13.125" x 46.50"
Origin 100% Made in Santa Rosa, CA USA 100% Made in Santa Rosa, CA USA 100% Made in Santa Rosa, CA USA