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Alembic Club at Talk Bass

#202
1991 Essence added to my stable this week :hyper: - very different than my Epic! I honestly don't know which one I like better - each certainly has it's own vibe, but both are completely adaptable to any gig I'll ever come across.
Alembic.png

PS - for anyone looking to "join" the club, I've got a walnut Epic for sale! (see sig)
 
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#208
This is my 1995 Alembic Series I bass that I bought last year from a collector in Germany. It was owned by two collectors since new and has not been a bass used for playing. It still had the original strings on it when I bought the bass and still sounded fantastic. Eventually one gave up and broke after about 4 months , thankfully that was before I played any gigs with it.
The rack is all alembic exempt for the QSC Plx 2402 amp. Sounds clean thick and full.

Musical Youth Artrix Bromsgrove 2013 - 099.JPG
 
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#209
^^ Very nice! Love that stack of MB's behind it too.

This lurker is still looking/saving gig $ for my Alembic 5'r. That body pattern reminds me of Rick Turner's "Electroline"... knowing their shared history, probably not coincidental.
 
#213
^Very interesting... I bet there's a million tonal possibilities with that!

Realistically, it may take a while, but I hope to find a 5-string fretless Persuader with a P/J setup. For comparison, (while dreaming!) I'd like to a-b one against a soap-barred Distillate.

Anyone here have any insight on Orion models? Bolt-on necks?
 
#215
And I closed the deal for my first Alembic, a Persuader 5-string... pictures (and probably a handful of questions) to follow later this week on NBD -Alembic edition!
 
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#217
This bass was in a music shop for 7 years and was sold to the chap I bought it from in 2007. It was played less than a handful of times since then and has lived in its case for almost it's entire "life". The bass is pristine in its condition and there is not one mark at all. The previous owner said he knocked it on the wall some years ago and that was the only ding, well it was not a ding but a little wall paint that was left/stuck on the headstock. That flaw came off with a little rub of my fingernail. It is 100% like brand new!
Looking to maybe get a Fatboy for the bridge position and swap out the 2 way Q switch for a 3 way Q switch.

slawie
 
#218
That's an extremely nice Essence indeed :-)

EdwardofHuncote said:
^Very interesting... I bet there's a million tonal possibilities with that!

Realistically, it may take a while, but I hope to find a 5-string fretless Persuader with a P/J setup. For comparison, (while dreaming!) I'd like to a-b one against a soap-barred Distillate.

Anyone here have any insight on Orion models? Bolt-on necks?
Click to expand...
Betcha! :-) I recently got some recording stuff and will sit down with my SWR combo soon to explore those possibilities in a vid.

No experience with set neck Alembics here and they never did bolt on necks, my understanding is that the set neck instruments have more punch (sound closer to bolt on)
There were some "Alembics" in the early eighties with bolt on necks, they were made in Japan (iirc) and Alembic supplied the electronics + logo's.

All Alembic pickups (Series I/II not included) are basically the same, only the shape is different.
The MXY and AXY are exactly the same inside, with the P/J pickups there is a slight difference due to the size of the pickups.
Fatboy pickups (available in MXY and AXY size iirc) have larger magnets if I'm not mistaken.

I think the wood combo and size of the instrument (short, medium, long scale etc) have most impact on the tone.
My basses have AXY, MXY and P/J pickups, the "Alembic tone" is very apparent on all but they all have their own "voice"
 
#219
I'll be watching out for your video Flip. I did some recording with my series basses recently for Musical Youth's latest album and was asked to record with the controls full open rather than record with any specific ton. Once I'd recorded the tracks at home I did a rough mix and stuck a low pass filter on the bass track just so I could hear what it could sound like and got a great beefy bass sound that I like for the tracks. However it's my first experience of recording bass for a commercial album, although I have done a few sessions on guitar, so I will be interested to see what tonality the producer puts on the bass when the track is mixed. All being well the next single should be out before the end of next month.
Do you have any recordings of your band with you playing alembic bass?
 
#220
Can't wait to hear those new songs!

We did two studio recordings and some live recordings, I backed down the filter a bit (about 3/4 open, my preferred setting)
All recordings are through the Mesa rig (miked)

Sad but true, '88 Spoiler:



Ride the lightning, '83 Spoiler with heavy (SansAmp) overdrive:



Welcome home (Sanitarium) live, '83 Spoiler:

 
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