DR Heartfield neck-thru custom $450 (Fender's answer to Alembic!)

This is Fender's early-90's answer to Alembic, Modulus, Wal, etc. These were made in Fender's Japan facility, and listed for around $1700 at that time.

This is probably the cleanest and fanciest one you will find used anywhere, ever.

Features:

-2 active oversized J pickups with Alembic/Wal
style notch filter electronics. A switch turns
the active filter off so that the tone control is
just a regular passive treble roll-off. This is just
like the Alembic Spoiler system. In passive-tone
mode, the bass goes from super-bright to super-
fat. Then with the filter on, you've got an
insane array of '70's-style notched-wah sounds.

-5-piece maple/purpleheart neck-thru, with graphite
reinforcement in the neck and peghead.

-flamey maple top.

-OHSC.

This is a great-sounding, astoundingly Alembic-like bass with an amazing skinny J-style neck for dirt cheap! No trades. . .

 

I'd throw in a J-retro stompbox preamp. . .

 

Neck-thru construction, figured top wood, and Q-filter electronics are the "Alembic" influences I see in the Heartfield.

It also sounds very, very similar to the 1984 Spoiler I used to own.