Thanks for the info adje. Having played this for 25 years I'm sort of gassing for a new bass but its hard to find anything as high quality but still somewhat affordable. Alembics are way out of my budget now. Roscoes seem really nice and under $3K but I've never had the chance to actually play one.
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Alembic Club at Talk Bass
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Thanks for the info adje. Having played this for 25 years I'm sort of gassing for a new bass but its hard to find anything as high quality but still somewhat affordable. Alembics are way out of my budget now. Roscoes seem really nice and under $3K but I've never had the chance to actually play one.
I had a fender strat and the necked warped beyond repair. After that experience I'm not willing to take the chance on mass produced instruments especially when some are over $2K now. I've had zero issues with my Alembic so far. I would look at second hand Alembics but would like to find something different just to have some tonal variety. I think the growly sound of a roscoe might be a nice complement to my alembic.
That's really just like the European Spector series too. If you go multiscale you're getting a Korean bass for like 2k. Used US Spectors generally are well above 3k even for barebones forte basses.
Makes all those 2-3k epics on reverb look like a steal imo.
I'd be interested in the serial number - what letter is it? My understanding is that Alembics are generally identified by electronics package, but of course it's more complex than that. Is it OW or W or? Here's a page where they are listed:
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Question for the Alembic series owners. How ergonomic is a series 2 model, or the Stanley Clarke brown bass, when playing seated (without strap)? Does the bass slip away because of the bog body with the small horns? Do they have much neckdive?
Like this one for example: SOLD - Alembic Series II: rare and beautiful burl rosewood top!
Like this one for example: SOLD - Alembic Series II: rare and beautiful burl rosewood top!
The electronics package has nothing to do with the ergonomics of any Alembic model. Generally speaking any of the body styles with a longer upper horn balance best. Some of the bodies without a longer upper horn either tend to feel neck heavy or they lean forward a bit. It is one of those things that some people just adjust to, for others it is a deal breaker. When I play the bass in my avatar I have to kind of lock the body of the bass to myself with my forearm to hold it in place. My Balance K Series II... balances... as designed. The Europa, Rogue, and Orion all have good ergonomics. If you want a bass with Series electronics, though, they don't fit in all of the body styles.
Yes I meant the big body styles with the short horns like in the link and also the Stanley Clarke. I never played them but I have the feeling they don't balance well when seated. Just like Pedulla MVP basses for example.
Do you mean the shape that is seen in the Stanley Clarke Signature & Brown Bass? That used to be called the "small body" so calling it a big body style is confusing...
I have a 5-string Stanley Clarke Signature, and I don't like playing it sitting down - I find that the upper part of the body digs into my chest. But I generally never play sitting down, always standing up. My case may be different though, since SCs/small bodies are 4 string 98% of the time. Definitely listen for more advice - Stephen's is good. Ultimately it's a personal choice.
It seems like I'm always discovering new parts of the Alembic home site that I haven't seen before. It's fun. I was looking at this and didn't know the Distillate was only made from 1978-1990. Ever since seeing Edward's ( @EdwardofHuncote ) Distillate I'm more drawn to it. It is just gorgeous.
I was looking at the list of names and I've never even heard of the Electrum before. So, I looked for one and saw it's the "Bob Weir" Ibanez looking one, which I've always thought of as a pinnacle of guitars, so it stands to make sense where it started.
Yes I was not very clear. I meant especially the model (not sure what the name is) like the one in the link. And I also was curious how that is with the SC model. I know it's much smaller than the one in the link but it also has the short horns.
Really love the one in the link. That's like my dream Alembic. What's that model called exactly? I like it more than the ones with the pointy 'thing' at the end.
The Mothership would call it a Series II Large Body Long Scale Bass, with Omega variation (the pointy version is the Point variation). And even for the models that have names, we often get to play a little game of "Name that Alembic!" because you can custom order pretty much anything - with a few exceptions. IIRC (knowing who ordered it) this one has a master volume and a blend, instead of the usual master + 2 volumes, and the most glorious top wood.
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Yeah, that was the end of the run as a standard issue model, but there have been quite a few Distillate patterned basses made since then too. Essentially, Rogue and Europa work the same, though as I understand it, the preamps and circuits are an updated version. Distillate was the first Activator circuit they offered, (non-Series) self-humcanceling, and somewhat primative by modern standards. Not to take a thing away from them. That bass was scary close to my old Series I. The output was a bit low, but it was very responsive. I recorded quite a bit with it.
I'll have to look what you mean by Activator circuit. I thought that was only for their Strat guitar upgrades.
The description under this link suggests that all Alembic pickups and electronics are Activator pickups starting back in 1969 when they created the first version of them.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Although the online price list only lists non-Series pickups and electronics under Activators, but maybe that just indicates that Series pickups and electronics are not sold separately (other than maybe as replacement parts).
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I have a short scale small body SC shape four string bass and it balances well sitting down. Contrary to Hieronymous I play mostly sitting down.
