Alembic price list: HOLY $#%*!!!!!

[richntiff]

I've always thought Alembics are the ugliest basses - followed closely by Fodera. Just can't stand the look - very cheesy IMHO. Now Warwick - oooh, pretty!

[SturmUndDrang]

Originally Posted by jbybj

This sounds very much like someone who has never dealt with the people who are Alembic, never experienced their customer service, never associated with the brotherhood of Alembic owners. From all I've seen and experienced, they simply strive for excellence. And in doing so, they spread nothing but joy, love, wonder, and music.

This thread was about the high price of Alembic instruments, yep, that's true. Don't start rudely attacking folks you don't know. That's just mean and uncalled for. I think you should apologize.

I got a little carried away. It's easy to succumb to mindless name calling on the Internet. I apolagize. I'm glad you enjoy your Alembics.

[coyote1]

Actually, quite untrue. There is very little glue in those instruments. They use a lot in the process of making them, but most of it is squeezed out as the layers are pressed and held together. Look closely an any decently made "hippie sandwich" instrument. Look at the seams between the layers of wood.... you'll be hard-pressed to find any semblance of a layer of glue between them.

Originally Posted by slombovia

These neck through body mega multi laminate hippie sandwiches ironically don't even sound like wood - more like glue and plastic and metal. There is nothing organic about them. If they are your thing fine. But better find your sound if you are going to pay that kind of money.
IMO
Tom Halversen

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by Mr_Music90

Yes, thé Carl Thompson. Thanks to him, we have the 6 string bass today as we know it

Not really. He didn't even want to do it when Anthony Jackson asked him, and tried to price him out of wanting it.

[Five String]

I confess the attraction escapes me. Sure, I liked Phil Lesh's sound when he played them, and John Paul Jones and Stanley Clarke. But I don't think the sound in the sound bits people have posted on this thread are that much different or better than lots of other people playing lots of other instruments. Then again, the attraction of, for example, short scale hollow bodies and Hofners escapes me too.

I tend to think of people like Jaco, or Billy Sheehan, or Jamerson who played instruments that were pretty much mass produced factory spec, nothing more.

Jerry Garcia once said Deadheads were like people like buttermilk. Not everybody likes buttermilk, but people who like buttermilk really like it a lot. Maybe that's what it is.

[bassman10096]

Having read the collective tone of the anti-Alembic posters together I just realized this thread is no more interesting than a "there's nothing better than a Fender" or "nothing worse than a Fender" thread - a whole lot of subjectivity about a subject where judgements should be subjective, and will never align around any universal consensus.

With apologies to the OP, why is it we feel so quick to throw stones every time we see things about instruments we don't understand and/or don't like. What the h*ll does it matter?

[AltGrendel]

Originally Posted by SDMFJay

...On a side note, it always kills me when I see butchered Almebics that players tried to modify but ultimately went horribly wrong.

Unless it's done at the factory, that is the only way to describe a mod to an Alembic.

[makaspar]

Ha! I was just talking to a friend about this very subject..

As his gift to himself for getting his contractor's license, he had Alembic custom make him a 6-string.. Awesome wood, LEDs - the works.

$13,000

It now sits in a corner because its too heavy to gig (23 lbs). No joke. Beautiful bass.

[JimmyM]

23 lbs???? Who in their right mind designs a 23 lb bass????

[SactoBass]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

23 lbs???? Who in their right mind designs a 23 lb bass????

Someone who wants a $13,000 door stop perhaps?

(Haven't ya heard? Designer door stops are the "in" thing!)

And as for me, I never found Alembics attractive.

[AltGrendel]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Here's how it works unless you're rich...some stuff you will be able to afford, some stuff you won't. Whining about it like these companies owe it to you to make something in your price range only leads to general dissatisfaction, anger, and depression.

Truer words were never written.

Welcome to Capitalism.

[slombovia]

Originally Posted by Mr_Music90

Yes, thé Carl Thompson. Thanks to him, we have the 6 string bass today as we know it

With all due respect, others developed their own on a parallel, independent course.

David Segal of New York Bass Works, for example, developed 5s and 6s that sounded like the best 60's Fender Jazz basses. Nothing like a hippie sandwich 6 we often think of.

[slombovia]

Originally Posted by coyote1

Actually, quite untrue. There is very little glue in those instruments. They use a lot in the process of making them, but most of it is squeezed out as the layers are pressed and held together. Look closely an any decently made "hippie sandwich" instrument. Look at the seams between the layers of wood.... you'll be hard-pressed to find any semblance of a layer of glue between them.

Good point about the glue. When well done you can't even see any glue. And Alembics are very well put together. Of course, 11 laminates versus 3 laminates - which will sound woodier? My real point is simply that hippie sandwich basses don't sound organic. They are also less dynamic. In fact, I remember playing the set neck, lower laminate Epic model when it first came out and I thought it sounded better then the more expensive, older multi-lam neck-thrus in the same store. Again, IME.

[bassbenj]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

23 lbs???? Who in their right mind designs a 23 lb bass????

No problem Boomie! Eye bolt screwed into the top of the bass, rope over pulley in ceiling to counterweight. Light as a feather!

My Alembic Epic 6er is 11 lbs. But my SX 6ers are 10 lbs 9 Oz., while my Conklin 7 string is 12 lbs. My heaviest bass is my ESP LTD 6er at 12 lbs. 4 Oz. I don't notice a lot of difference between them.

My lightest bass is my Carvin AC50. it is 6 lbs 7 Oz. And you DO notice that right away! I'm sure you'd notice 23 lbs too. (also a factor of 2)

[Funkinthetrunk]

Originally Posted by bassman10096

Having read the collective tone of the anti-Alembic posters together I just realized this thread is no more interesting than a "there's nothing better than a Fender" or "nothing worse than a Fender" thread - a whole lot of subjectivity about a subject where judgements should be subjective, and will never align around any universal consensus.

With apologies to the OP, why is it we feel so quick to throw stones every time we see things about instruments we don't understand and/or don't like. What the h*ll does it matter?

Cuz on the internet, we can say anything without any repercussion. Things people normally would never say another human being in their face, due to the fear of an a$$ whuppin'...is now a thing of the past. It's the internet...and it spawned the new age of digital courage.

[Max Blasto]

Originally Posted by sturmvogel

Yeah, you could buy a new car for the price.

Yeah, but then you'd just have a car.

I always thought it was funny that people found everyday cars more valuable than craft made musical instruments.

[malthumb]

Originally Posted by mjac28

The high prices help keep the low life's like me away.

Apparently they were asleep at the switch when this lowlife slipped in.....

Originally Posted by esa372

Solid as a rock.

I bought my custom Alembic in 1990 for $3,500. If I bought it today with the same specs, it would cost ~$12,000.

The Alembic in the above picture is my 6th, and the only one I bought new. Custom ordered it in '99-2000. Ordered it as a Mark King Signature 5-string with Series II electronics and other upgrades. Last time I ran the specs through the quote generator, it came in something over $19K. Just checked again.....$23,350 When I bought it in 2000 I paid just over a quarter of that. My first one (a 1993 Spoiler) cost me $1,300 in the late '90s. I traded that and a few hundred bucks for a Stanley Clarke short scale, then found a Series I short scale when I was looking for strings for the Stanley Clarke. Paid $475 for serial number 84. Then I picked up a medium scale Series II for $1,900. Finally, I ordered the one in the picture above. Just before it came in , I bought a Series I 4-string from one of my favorite recording artists for $5,000. It and my Mark King /Series II arrived a day or two apart. It was a very good week.

Originally Posted by wcoffey81

i wonder what % of basses that cost over $15,000 actually get played or gigged on a regular basis? i know a few do but i think a large number are put into "collections" or as decoration in the office of the wealthy/rich. each one is a work of art and basically a one of a kind instrument.
i just picked $15,000 out of the air as a kind of baseline. there are a great number of custom built basses that come in far less than that and some are far more expensive. each are just as much a work of art. some are probably far better to look at than to play.

Mine gets played. Even in some very small and sometimes questionable locations.

Originally Posted by jmverdugo

Nothing against Alembic in particular but sometimes I wonder if these boutique shop increase the delivery time and reduce availability just to be able to increase prices, not saying the do it, just wondering... There also that thing called high price policy where companies mark up their products just to make them more appealing to their targeted market, again, just wondering ...

Alembic has been providing customers with in-process pictures for years. Unfortunately they weren't doing it in 2000 when mine was being built, but since then, Alembic Club members have experienced the luthier's version of a peep show, watching posted shots of other members' basses all the way through the build process.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by bassbenj

No problem Boomie! Eye bolt screwed into the top of the bass, rope over pulley in ceiling to counterweight. Light as a feather!

My Alembic Epic 6er is 11 lbs. But my SX 6ers are 10 lbs 9 Oz., while my Conklin 7 string is 12 lbs. My heaviest bass is my ESP LTD 6er at 12 lbs. 4 Oz. I don't notice a lot of difference between them.

My lightest bass is my Carvin AC50. it is 6 lbs 7 Oz. And you DO notice that right away! I'm sure you'd notice 23 lbs too. (also a factor of 2)

Holy cow! Anything over 8 1/2 lbs. and my left shoulder just plain checks out.

[Joe Louvar]

Originally Posted by Jean Baudin

No, Chip Norton. But, Michael Gutsch helped out... know him?

I know a few people who use to work there years ago, and my good friend Tony works there - but no, and I was thinking of a different Mike. Anyway, thank you. PS: You really lucked out.

[malthumb]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Holy cow! Anything over 8 1/2 lbs. and my left shoulder just plain checks out.

The fiver in my previous posts weighs 13-1/2 pounds. With the wide strap, I'm able to do either a 4-hour, 3-set gig or a two hour church service. Must admit that after one recent gig, I was feelin' it by the end of the night. But then, I've been doing it for pretty much the past 12 years, so maybe age is starting to catch up with me. I do notice the difference between that and my 9 pound Music Man basses.