The January 2000 Alembic Featured Custom is up for sale. It was damaged in shipping (now that is a damn shame!), the headstock poked through?? the case. The seller claims the damage is superficial, but that Alembic will tell you it is major and needs $3k worth of repairs. He says don't believe them. http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1493873669 So I'm wondering, why didn't he just have it sent back to Alembic so they could check it out in the flesh? No doubt the lame shipping company (did I mention that's a damn shame? A $12,000 bass, runover by a forklift or something) would pay for the return shipping, and should be responsible for the fix price if he insured it (which he'd better have). I'm not calling this a fraud or anything like that. Just tweaked my interest. If he's right about the damage being superficial, I'd be interested to know what the reserve is on that sucker!
My guess is the guy filed a claim with the shipping company, and pocketed the cash. Did anyone else notice that he wants to charge $100 for shipping the bass? Is he going to include a 20 lb block of lead, too?
I would be wary of that bass. Alembic claims it is major damage and he says it is superficial. Another thing is that you can't see the damage in the photos. I would definitely want to see the damage if I were to bid on that bass. Then again, I don't think I could bid on a $12000 bass that is damaged, especially at the price he likely wants. But someone will buy it I am sure, I just hope the damage is as he claims, for the buyers sake. His 100% satisfaction guarantee may be some reassurance, but then again, what does that really mean? Geoff
My accounting of this is based on posts by the original owner at the Alembic Bass Club and on phone conversations with Alembic's General Manager First, the seller is NOT the original owner. In fact, the original owner is bidding on it to try to get it back. The original owner sent the bass back to Alembic to get it defretted. During shipment back to the owner the bass was damaged. Alembic's opinion is that the package and the case were both opened at some point in time, based on the condition of the case when they saw it. The original owner did get to see the damage firsthand. The following is his account of the condition of the bass..... Well The Dark and The Light bass has gone up on eBay. I'm going to bid on it to try to recover my baby. If any of y'all want to bid, I'm not trying to discourage you (well, not much). But, PLEASE NOTE: I've had that bass in my hands in the condition it's in now (I actually put the CX3s on it and saved my brand new $80 Jazz flats). In my opinion (and that of 3 other professionals, including the luthier at the dealer), the crack DOES go to the wood. In addition, the nut no longer sits square and the fingerboard has visibly moved on the neck - it is no longer flush with the neck near the damaged area. In the opinion of the dealer, the bass is not stable enough to be tuned to pitch safely. I'm not trying to point any fingers here, I'm just passing along what we felt the condition of the bass was after careful inspection. C-Ya..........wayne The insurance company is paying for Alembic to build Wayne a replacement and in settling, they got to keep the first bass. The eBAy seller apparently acquired it from the insurance company. Peace, James
Man it's too sad to see this sort of thing happen. Well I asked the seller for some pictures of the neck/headstock joint, from the top and side, which were conspicously absent from the listing.
Actually, this is pretty reasonable. Shipping cost is based on weight and insured value. Thankfully Wayne insured his correctly. I mentioned in my earlier message that some of my info came from Alembic's GM. The reason I was talking to her about this is that one of my basses was out there for repair at the time that this happened and I needed some assurance that this was not a packaging problem. It cost me more than $100 shipping each way because of weight and insured value. Peace, James
And an even vaguer description of the damage this time. He calls it a finish crack, then casually mentions that the case was damaged when the headstock broke through it. http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1401609898
Actually, if I didn't have more Alembics than the average bear, I'd consider bidding on this and having it rehabbed. It would still cost less than having the identical bass built... (glances over shoulder) Oh, hi hon. Just posting to my favorite news group... No I didn't say I was BUYING another bass...Now, hon, put that down....no wait....think of the kids..... AAAAAGGGGHHHHH Pea..ooof Ja m e s
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