Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Alembic price list: HOLY $#%*!!!!!
- Thread starter Chatdawg
- Start date
Probably
Not necessarily. People, and their individual tastes, vary wildly. Besides, given Alembic's current backlogs with the customer base they do have they would NOT be capable of keeping up with demand using their current artisan process.kiat said:
kiat said:
And artists tend to use palettes, brushes, tones and textures that best allow them to express that which is in them. Often times with little regard to price
The two bold parts are contradictory. Since performance is subjective, how could you possibly state that instruments played by Jaco and Marcus are low performance by my metric? You have no way of knowing what my metric is. That's because it IS SUBJECTIVE. For what it's worth, I consider most Fenders to be high quality, high performance. I have owned a lot of Fenders over the years, including 3 spins on the MM Sig wheel. I'd pick up a Precision Deluxe V in a heartbeat if the price was right. Only one Fender has ever disappointd me. A Franken-P that I assembled and hated. My 14-yr old plays the snot out of it though and sounds great doing it. Again....subjective.
To those posting pics of the price quote generator ...
Bear in mind that this is a quote, not the end price. Dealers (such as Bass Central, whom I've bought two Alembics through, to include my Series II Entwistle) will discount that quote. Also, if you have custom options, you order those directly from Alembic. In other words, you buy the bass from the dealer, and then work with Alembic on options prices. In my case, I got a discount from Alembic on certain things after talking with them directly. Posting a pic of their price generator is not an accurate view of their pricing in my experience.
This being said, there is no doubt they are expensive. But then again, nice things cost money, be it a car, house, motorcycle, etc. It's only worth the expense to the person buying it. For me, Alembics are.
Alan
Bear in mind that this is a quote, not the end price. Dealers (such as Bass Central, whom I've bought two Alembics through, to include my Series II Entwistle) will discount that quote. Also, if you have custom options, you order those directly from Alembic. In other words, you buy the bass from the dealer, and then work with Alembic on options prices. In my case, I got a discount from Alembic on certain things after talking with them directly. Posting a pic of their price generator is not an accurate view of their pricing in my experience.
This being said, there is no doubt they are expensive. But then again, nice things cost money, be it a car, house, motorcycle, etc. It's only worth the expense to the person buying it. For me, Alembics are.
Alan
For those who haven't seen it, here's a pic of my Series II Custom, from the Alembic site:
Link Removed
Link Removed
Alan,
When it comes to custom basses, yours is one of the coolest on the planet. I really enjoyed watching the FTC thread on the Alembic Club.
Enjoy your bass in great health.
Bones
When it comes to custom basses, yours is one of the coolest on the planet. I really enjoyed watching the FTC thread on the Alembic Club.
Enjoy your bass in great health.
Bones
Put an great Bass in the hands of an average player and it will sound average. Put an average Bass in the hands of a great player and it will sound great.
Put a great bass in the hands of a great player and the earth moves.
That's one of my basses, btw, with it's prior owner
I apologize if this is a derail, but I have thought that an Alembic Europa would be sweet! However, I rarely (if ever) see these for sale. I can't think of why this would be. Is there something I am missing here?
To stay more on topic, while I agree they are expensive I played one last month for the first time and found it to be an excellent bass. I have questions about the sound (maybe for another thread), but if I had the scratch for a custom built Europa I would not hesitate to take the plunge.
To stay more on topic, while I agree they are expensive I played one last month for the first time and found it to be an excellent bass. I have questions about the sound (maybe for another thread), but if I had the scratch for a custom built Europa I would not hesitate to take the plunge.
My custom Alembic is based off the Europa body style. Here's a link to it:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
I guess the reason why they don't come up for sale often is because once you get one, you realize it is so awesome and you never think of selling it. Actually, Europas come up pretty regularly on eBay.
They are very stylish basses and definitely my favorite body style.
Bones
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
I guess the reason why they don't come up for sale often is because once you get one, you realize it is so awesome and you never think of selling it. Actually, Europas come up pretty regularly on eBay.
They are very stylish basses and definitely my favorite body style.
Bones
Beautiful bass man! I would be scared to death of scratching, dropping of otherwise damaging it. They are like works of art. Very nice!
Alan,
Just curious.... in your opinion, what would the $40,000+ Alembic 6er build shown in the above quote generator actually sell for? $20k? Teens? $30's?
Unless only very few super high end Alembics sell on TB/eBay, it seems even the higher end models rarely sell for over $5k used. Is resale that bad or do we just not see the $20k+ list models sell used very often?
I am very interested in adding an Alembic to my collection, but just starting to try to understand the various models and pricing ranges.
Cheers!
If I recall correctly, my custom, at the time was listing for about $22K or so. I got it for more than for about 33% less than that, so off at 40K instrument, my guess is it would go in the high 20K range. It does depend on options, custom work, etc., all which can add to the price of an instrument.
As for the $20K plus instruments selling used, you don't see them very often because many of them are customs - they were custom made for individuals, and therefore a very personal thing. Many of us who are lucky enough to have an Alembic custom have gone through a lot of other Alembic models prior to ordering one (before I ordered mine, I'd owned at least three), and know what we want and don't want. What works for us, however, might not work for others and as a result they don't come up for sale very often.
As for what I've seen in terms of resale, Alembics tend to take a hit initially, go to a certain level and stay there. Most used Alembics I've bought have been very well taken care of - as a result, they maintain a certain price point, and stay there.
Alan
A bit tired of the analogies of the fact that it is expensive.
Look you can drive a Rolls Royce to the corner shop to get some milk, or you can drive a beat up banger to do the same. Ultimately, it's your choice what you want to do, if you have the means to support it. Whether either is a good idea, morally good, technologically better, looks good, is a pointless question - it depends on what you want it for and everyone's motivation is different.
I love my Alembics and my Alembic gutted basses, and as former session player, I have one of each type of bass (mostly, still) for various kinds of sounds, looks, etc. There are times when a Stingray works better, my Rick works better, my Ibanez with EMGs work better, my Fender Js work better....most of the time my Alembics or basses with Alembic pickups will smack any other basses in a pure sonic performance contest, but in a recording situation it depends on the production, and in a gigging situation, it depends on the music, stagecraft and look, compatibility with the situation. I played in a Motown 'show band and revue' and the first few shows I took out lots of basses, and decided I was going to do the show finally with a Fender type bass - did the Alembic sound better to me? Yes, and the neck LEDS were great too... but....
Playability? Nothing on this planet beats an Ibanez SR neck for playability and I have played and still own a wide range of basses. Do I wish to play the Ibanez all the time? No.
Pricing is always what the market will bear. If it is expensive, and people are willing to pay for it, the business carries on and Alembic has been in business since the late 60s/early 70s. If you sell snake oil, at some stage the detractors will pull out and the knives will be out, and eventually, the business is not sustainable and will close, cf. "Accugroove". Alembic is still thriving.
Look you can drive a Rolls Royce to the corner shop to get some milk, or you can drive a beat up banger to do the same. Ultimately, it's your choice what you want to do, if you have the means to support it. Whether either is a good idea, morally good, technologically better, looks good, is a pointless question - it depends on what you want it for and everyone's motivation is different.
I love my Alembics and my Alembic gutted basses, and as former session player, I have one of each type of bass (mostly, still) for various kinds of sounds, looks, etc. There are times when a Stingray works better, my Rick works better, my Ibanez with EMGs work better, my Fender Js work better....most of the time my Alembics or basses with Alembic pickups will smack any other basses in a pure sonic performance contest, but in a recording situation it depends on the production, and in a gigging situation, it depends on the music, stagecraft and look, compatibility with the situation. I played in a Motown 'show band and revue' and the first few shows I took out lots of basses, and decided I was going to do the show finally with a Fender type bass - did the Alembic sound better to me? Yes, and the neck LEDS were great too... but....
Playability? Nothing on this planet beats an Ibanez SR neck for playability and I have played and still own a wide range of basses. Do I wish to play the Ibanez all the time? No.
Pricing is always what the market will bear. If it is expensive, and people are willing to pay for it, the business carries on and Alembic has been in business since the late 60s/early 70s. If you sell snake oil, at some stage the detractors will pull out and the knives will be out, and eventually, the business is not sustainable and will close, cf. "Accugroove". Alembic is still thriving.
Good point. I, personally, would never shell out that kind of money for a bass - but that's me.
Hell, I remember walking into a music store in like 1987 or so and seeing Alembics going for $1,500. That was high back then, but still.............
As usual, Alan you are right on point. Especially the red part. Here's my Alembic "journey"
- Somewhere in the late '90s I bought a 1983 Spoiler for $1,300
- Traded the Spoiler and $500 for a 1987 Stanley Clarke Deluxe.
- Looking for short scale strings for the Stanley Clarke, found a small body Series I in pitiful shape. Store wanted $950. I gave them $475 cash and took a 1974 Series I, serial number 84 home.
- Found a 1979 medium scale small body Series II on the Internet for $1,700. Decided that Series II electronics were the shiznet, and started plotting on how to get a 5-string Series II
- Late in 1999 I ordered a 5-string Mark King Deluxe with Series II electronics and a bunch of other custom options. Quote Generator pegged out at around $11,300. Today the QG would price it well over $20k. I paid about $6,500. Sold the 4-string Series II and the Stanley Clarke. That covered more than half the price. It was also a very good bonus year, so I had no trouble making the difference. I've turned down offers of about $7,000 in value (gear + cash)
- While waiting for my custom to be completed I found out Stanley Clarke was auctioning off a lot of his gear. Made him an offer for his 1987 Omega bodied Series I. That bass and my custom 5-string were delivered the same week in June 2000.
Notice that my custom purchase was funded largely by buying used Alembics, playing them, then selling them for as much as I paid for them( sometimes more). I also sold a Ken Smith Burner a Fender or three, and even a Music Man Sabre I'd owned for 20 years to support Alembic purchases.
After playing the first 3 or 4 Alembics, I knew pretty much what I wanted when I ordered my 5-string. Here's a picture taken right after I got both of the Alembics I still have (June 2000). Somewhere along the line I sold the 1974 (idiot) but I intend to pass the other two Alembics down to my kids.
I started with an '83 Spoiler Exploiter. Used that to finance my '03 Spyder Tribute. That went when I ordered my Series II. In the interim, I picked up an '03 Europa (decided the electronics package wasn't my thing) which I sold, a 92 Essence (I already had a '91, so I sold that to a friend who wanted it), a '95 Epic (nice bass, but didn't really care for the electronics compared to the other Alembics I own), an '04 Dragon's Wing (loved the electronics, but it was ergonomically challenging to me standing up) which I sold as I wasn't playing it, leaving me with my '06 Stanley Clarke Sig Standard (purchased in Korea), my trusty '91 Essence which I had in Baghdad, and my Series II. When I ordered the Series II, it featured the things I wanted ... e.g., thin neck, custom control placement, distance between neck pickup and end of fingerboard, set up for .40-.100 DR Hi Beams, wood backplates and truss rod cover, etc. based on my experience with other Alembics.
I'm much like James - I bought some new, some used, and arrived at what I like. I recommend do the same if they can if they truly want to try an Alembic. The first one should be used - if you don't like it, you can flip it for about the same amount of cash and not lose much on it. If you do like it, it can fund your next one, depending on your preferences. A lot of Alembic owners have done this, and James an I are no exception.
I'm much like James - I bought some new, some used, and arrived at what I like. I recommend do the same if they can if they truly want to try an Alembic. The first one should be used - if you don't like it, you can flip it for about the same amount of cash and not lose much on it. If you do like it, it can fund your next one, depending on your preferences. A lot of Alembic owners have done this, and James an I are no exception.
I bought a brand new Alembic Series I "Point" model 4 string for $1600 w/case, power supply and 5 pin stereo cable back in the early 80's (which was actually quite a bit of money for me at the time as I was just barely eeking out a living as a full time musician back then). It was a remarkable instrument to be sure from a sound and playability perspective, but was nothing short of an ergonomic nightmare. At close to 13 pounds, the giant body "wings" were made up of a heavy mahogany core with walnut veneers on the front and back which cut into my ribcage along with some fairly serious neck dive issues. However, I was young, dumb and full of you know what and could easily play six nights a week with that bad boy slung over my shoulder. One night with that beast now and I'd probably be in traction!
That was my experience as well when I tried a Mark King model (which is pretty much the same body shape as a Series I): The most absolutely awesome bass sound that ever came from my fingers, but one of the most uncomfortable, bulky, awkward basses I've ever played. When I pick up a Jazz Bass, it (pardon the cliche) feels like an extension of my body. The Mark King felt like a new leg that made it difficult to walk, even though I was more efficient with my walking.
An Essence or Epic would probably be more up my alley in terms of styling and ergonomics.
