edwinhurwitz
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Alembic Club at Talk Bass
- Thread starter victorlion
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Hieronymous, I'm not sure if he is still with the band, but, there is a Dead band out of
Saint Louis called Jake's Leg that had a bass player who played a fretless . It brought
a unique dimension to the material. I'm really surprised the sound didn't catch on more.
I tried a fretless P Bass back in the mid '70s in a band that did quite a lot of Dead tunes,
but, the fretless was never really my thing. I moved on to Alembic in late '78 and never
looked back.
Saint Louis called Jake's Leg that had a bass player who played a fretless . It brought
a unique dimension to the material. I'm really surprised the sound didn't catch on more.
I tried a fretless P Bass back in the mid '70s in a band that did quite a lot of Dead tunes,
but, the fretless was never really my thing. I moved on to Alembic in late '78 and never
looked back.
Having an Alembicized fretless definitely helps me get motivated to play fretless - I wouldn't want to have it as my only option, but sometimes it calls out to me. I would love to play either a fretless P or a fretless Rickenbacker!
I had my former '84 Exploiter converted to fretless. Don't know who has it these days but if anyone comes across a flame koa one that's fretless, has a VPF+Q switch harness, and a second 1/4" output jack, that's my old one.
Quick question for you all. Is it possible to have Alembic upgrade the preamp on my Epic? I like the bass as is, but curious to see if anyone has had it done before.
Cheers,
Eddie
Cheers,
Eddie
What kind of upgrade did you have in mind? The activator electronics they use in all models except the Series and Distillate basses can be "upgraded" to reject some of the modern forms of electrical interference if you have an older bass. Q-switches can easily be added to basses with a filter but no Q-switch. I had a custom set of activator based pickups and a simple electronic chassis with only a volume and filter made for my five-string Quantum bass back in 1988. A few years ago I had them add a Q-switch, beef up the output a bit, do whatever they do for a noise rejection upgrade and add variable bass and treble controls to the bass. I was amazed they were able to fit everything but was also told they could expand the cavity a bit internally if they had to, it wasn't necessary.
The update and upgrade for older Series instruments is a totally different animal and can be quite expensive. But, the short answer is that if you are willing to pay, and in some cases ship them the instrument, they will upgrade or modify it.
Aha! This is probably what's going on with my 1999 Epic? Plenty of weird noise and pings if a phone's nearby (and let's be real, a phone's always nearby). I was going to take it to "the local bass person who knows what they're doing" (tm) to add some shielding or check the grounding. Do folks think I'd need a whole electronics upgrade from Alembic instead? Is there anything a local person can do on their own, without shipping the bass across the country?
One thing I thought of - there needs to be room for a battery, and even then it would live under the pickguard, so changing can be a chore. I had a battery box build into the back of one of mine, but it was just an MIJ. Actually, when I tried to change the battery I couldn't get the pickguard back on by myself lol - that's what finally motivated me to get it modded.
My Precision is a MIJ Traditional 60's. Black with black pick guard and gold hardware. I think the Alembic Activators would look and sound great.
Ah, now I know what that hole is for; it's for a stack of watch batteries to power a preamp!
Put up another take of Franklin's Tower with my AleM-85 - this is from later in the song, and all the way to the end! There are some nice dynamics in this one, so you can hear the subtleties of the bass more, but I gotta work on my intonation...
I'm so sick of playing the same thing over and over, but I finally put together a video showing some settings from the Alembic F-1X.
Not the best playing, and some of these tones are...not ones I'd use. At any rate, thought this might be useful to folks at some point.
Not the best playing, and some of these tones are...not ones I'd use. At any rate, thought this might be useful to folks at some point.
I bet it will look and sound amazing! Just be aware it might need to get carved up a bit - probably not 100% necessary - I just couldn't deal with having to take off the pickguard in order to change the battery!
Good job on the F-1X video too!
Thanks. Need to put the finishing touches on a P-Bass version, and then I'm going to experiment with some guitars as well.
Someone on another forum suggested Viola Lee Blues as a good possibility for an AleM-85 Dead cover:
I am really enjoying playing this bass. I am glad that there is a comforting amount of muscle memory - just gotta keep listening - every time I jump to the wrong spot I'm like, dammit! Inspires me to try harder - whatever happens, KEEP PLAYING! Oh, and keep listening. I'm liking the MP40 for this stuff too.
Oh, and my Pyramid flats came in! Not going to change them right away, but I feel motivated - the E on the old LaBella set has so little treble information compared to the others, plus they have probably been on here for over 5 years?!!
Anyone want a set of grungy old flats that haven't been played on frets, cut for a Guild short-scale?
I am really enjoying playing this bass. I am glad that there is a comforting amount of muscle memory - just gotta keep listening - every time I jump to the wrong spot I'm like, dammit! Inspires me to try harder - whatever happens, KEEP PLAYING! Oh, and keep listening. I'm liking the MP40 for this stuff too.
Oh, and my Pyramid flats came in! Not going to change them right away, but I feel motivated - the E on the old LaBella set has so little treble information compared to the others, plus they have probably been on here for over 5 years?!!
Anyone want a set of grungy old flats that haven't been played on frets, cut for a Guild short-scale?
edwinhurwitz
Supporting Member
Viola Lee Blues is a really fun song! We used to play it in Shakedown Street. No idea why we stopped.
Viola Lee Blues has always been kind of a mystery to me - I remember hearing a tape of a live performance for the first time in the early '90s and being blown away! Never knew much about the song otherwise, but now I know everything there is to know lol
the "fallout from the phil zone" version from Chicago '69 was very 'ear opening' for me. it is such a powerful vehicle for improvisation while also maintaining a soulful/bluesy feel. love it!!
Two question about Alembic Spoilers 4 string 32":
1) I know they are pretty heavy. But how well do they balance seated (no strap)? Is it neck heavy (as some Alembics are) or does it balance well?
2) I see some Spoilers with very little room between fretboard and neck pickup and some with a little bit more room. Which models/years exactly have that little bit more room? I need that because I do a lot of slapping.
I have GAS for one, but never played one.
1) I know they are pretty heavy. But how well do they balance seated (no strap)? Is it neck heavy (as some Alembics are) or does it balance well?
2) I see some Spoilers with very little room between fretboard and neck pickup and some with a little bit more room. Which models/years exactly have that little bit more room? I need that because I do a lot of slapping.
I have GAS for one, but never played one.
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Without a strap and without touching the bass the neck drops on mine
