Alembic price list: HOLY $#%*!!!!!

[Davo-London]

I like the look of the Stanley Clarke bass. I'm not going to bash Alembics.

But the website is from the dark ages and hasn't changed in look for a decade. Now that's worth moaning about.

Davo

 

[coyote1]

Good point about the glue. When well done you can't even see any glue. And Alembics are very well put together. Of course, 11 laminates versus 3 laminates - which will sound woodier? My real point is simply that hippie sandwich basses don't sound organic. They are also less dynamic. In fact, I remember playing the set neck, lower laminate Epic model when it first came out and I thought it sounded better then the more expensive, older multi-lam neck-thrus in the same store. Again, IME.

That's a good question, the answer to which has lots of possibilities and ramifications.

The first thing many players want in an un-bowed, electric stringed instrument is a pure tone from the string itself. Resonances in the wood tend to rob the string of its energy, and without a bow to sustain it that can be undesirable. Compare it to a pianoforte, where the strings vibrate on a rigid metal frame - thus preserving their energy. Then compare your solidbody bass to a 'Beatle' hollow viol bass. which is all resonating wood.... and not coincidentally, has far less sustain than any solidbody.

So if the multi-laminate neck thru basses sound less 'woody', that for many players is desirable.

 

[jbybj]

I got a little carried away. It's easy to succumb to mindless name calling on the Internet. I apolagize. I'm glad you enjoy your Alembics.

Sure, I love my Alembics, but they are just instruments, I love lots of different instruments. But the people of Alembic, even though I have never met them in person, over the years they have come to feel like family. I think they are awesome. So I took your post personally. No worries, I'll get over it.

I appreciate your apology.

JBY

 

[alembicbones]

Just as any bass manufacturer's instruments aren't for everybody, so is the case with Alembic. However, Alembics have been an invaluable tool in my musical journey through life. Whether it be at home, in the studio, or at a live gig, not one of the Alembics I've owned has ever let me down.

Going back to the OP's post, I will admit the cost of a new Alembic is pretty staggering these days. No way I could afford to have the bass I had built for me 10 years ago built today. I'm very happy I made the plunge when I did.

Bones

 

[esa372]

...I will admit the cost of a new Alembic is pretty staggering these days. No way I could afford to have the bass I had built for me 10 years ago built today. I'm very happy I made the plunge when I did.

+1

 

[96tbird]

Alembic should get Ibanez to build $1500 basses for them. Then they could buy more weed.

 

[Jean Baudin]

I know a few people who use to work there years ago, and my good friend Tony works there - but no, and I was thinking of a different Mike. Anyway, thank you. PS: You really lucked out.

Tony Garcia?

 

[slombovia]

...So if the multi-laminate neck thru basses sound less 'woody', that for many players is desirable.

Interesting thought: More sound of string and less of wood. Not for me but why not for somebody else?

Plus it's more complicated. I've enjoyed some Jimmy Johnson on Alembic 5s both with Flim and the BBs and James Taylor and yet while I like Stanley Clarke's music I never liked the tone of the 'brown bass'. It's kind of like that with graphite necks too. We've all heard about them being sterile but I have heard some nicely rich work by Steve Rodby and Oteil Burbridge.

But again, I can see somebody wanting a more stringy sound for certain situations.

 

[Vince Klortho]

If you're looking for one there is a good deal [Invalid or Expired Link Removed].

 

[SR Addict]

If you're looking for one there is a good deal [Invalid or Expired Link Removed].

That is one killer looking body. Though I gotta say that headstock leaves something to be desired.

 

[bucephylus]

Alembic prices their instruments according to supply and demand in a global market, where their business model is to provide a sine qua non product. That business model has not changed in 30 years. The US economy has changed. Think about it.

BTW they will build instruments in the 8 to 9 1/2 pound range if you specify it.

They are talented and good people not deserving the hate I read in this thread. Ignorance and hate go hand in hand; and are somewhat on the rise these days. Sadly.

 

[Bobby Bass]

All I got is a Fender. Poor Old Guy here.

 

[Roscoe East]

About 2:00 to the end is some lush, full bass sound coming from Jimmy Johnson's Alembic.

Wow... There is so much goodness going on in that clip, even irrespective of the context of this thread. (Steve Gadd's drumming, holy cow, is there anything he can't do while making it sound absolutely perfect?) But yeah, Jimmy Johnson's tone is fantastic, it's like everything you would ever want from a bass sound, but then just a little something extra...there's an articulateness (?) that allows you to hear every single note with equal clarity, and that's really hard to get from a bass that doesn't also sound too bright or too twangy.

And his lines, omigod, Jimmy Johnson is rapidly becoming one of my favorite bassists. So tasteful and musically informed, never inappropriate or showboating...until the music calls for it, and then he's all over that!

Okay, sorry, swoon over.

 

[esa372]

Wow... There is so much goodness going on in that clip, even irrespective of the context of this thread.

Jimmy Johnson's tone is fantastic, it's like everything you would ever want from a bass sound, but then just a little something extra...there's an articulateness (?) that allows you to hear every single note with equal clarity, and that's really hard to get from a bass that doesn't also sound too bright or too twangy.

+1

 

[Roy Vogt]

Nothing wrong with Alembics, and it's sobering to see how much my Series I would cost in 2013 dollars! Of course, in 1976 when I bought it $1200 was a pretty massive amount. (Actually, according to my inflation calculator it would be worth about 5 K so I must have got a really good deal!)
When you consider the prices of Foderas and Warrior basses, they balance out pretty well as far as cost.
When I first got to Nashville people talked me out of using it and into Fenders, Music Man Stingrays, etc. to the point that I more or less hid the bass. I started taking it out for a few gigs here and there recently and everyone loves the sound. I think back in my youth I just didn't work with the tone controls enough-you can certainly get a great P-Bass tone out of the front pup and judicious adjustment of the Q switch. It was the pilot, not the plane....

 

[AltGrendel]

That is one killer looking body. Though I gotta say that headstock leaves something to be desired.

Well yea. But with Alembic, you can get something different. Just ask Fender for a different headstock and see what happens.

Yes, I know about the copyright stuff.

 

[qervo]

Wow... There is so much goodness going on in that clip, even irrespective of the context of this thread. (Steve Gadd's drumming, holy cow, is there anything he can't do while making it sound absolutely perfect?) But yeah, Jimmy Johnson's tone is fantastic, it's like everything you would ever want from a bass sound, but then just a little something extra...there's an articulateness (?) that allows you to hear every single note with equal clarity, and that's really hard to get from a bass that doesn't also sound too bright or too twangy.

And his lines, omigod, Jimmy Johnson is rapidly becoming one of my favorite bassists. So tasteful and musically informed, never inappropriate or showboating...until the music calls for it, and then he's all over that!

Okay, sorry, swoon over.

When JT came to Baton Rouge I was trying to get backstage . People were saying "so you wanna meet JT too huh"? I said ,"that would be nice but really i just want to talk to Jimmy Johnson" . They were like,,,"who"?

 

[troy mcclure]

Alembics lose their resale very quickly...buy used....you will thank me.

 

[GBassNorth]

.....

Going back to the OP's post, I will admit the cost of a new Alembic is pretty staggering these days. No way I could afford to have the bass I had built for me 10 years ago built today. I'm very happy I made the plunge when I did.

Bones

+1
Funny thing is, I have lots of things that I bought 10 years ago that I can't afford today. Probably says more about our economy and the job market than it does about Alembic.
BTW - that's a heck of a deal on the Rogue bass.

 

[preside]

Yes, thé Carl Thompson. Thanks to him, we have the 6 string bass today as we know it

Bull... Anthony Jackson had to bully him into making that bass and Carl didn't wanna hear about it if anything went wrong. He does make AWSOME basses thou.