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Fernandes FAB 180 GAS

otis_thick

otis_thick

May 14, 2005
827
14
Indianapolis, IN
fandalism.com
#1
I thought my GAS pad passed but it has flared up something fierce!
Does or did anyone here own this or the the FAB 170 bass.
I found an old brochure that even shows power supply.
And one sold on Ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fernandez-Alem...QQcmdZViewItem
BR6TLmwCGkKGrHgoH-CIEjlLl26yBKdYmPR.jpg


How did/do they sound compared to the Alembics?
I LOL when I saw the name of the guitar series!

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#3
KUNGfuSHERIFF said:
I had a 170 and now have a couple of Alembics. The Fernandez is good, especially for the $650 I paid for mine but they can't touch the original.
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Can't touch...please explain? All I've been able to find was that Alembic said the wood work was good for a "poduction" non custom bass. The only thing I read that Alembic (Mica) said they didn't "quite" get right, was the electronics.. but that still does not say how they sound compared to the original. Would the Alembic outboard preamp make up the difference? I would assume Fernandes used the same preamp for both the 170 & 180 Does the Alembic Power Supply work with it? Could you post clips?



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#4
#5
With respect to TB rules regarding politics, please allow me to state that I fully and actively support diversity and equality.

With that said, naming a line up of guitars the "FAG Series" is probably not the shrewdest marketing move.

That is, unless the guitar was particularly fabulous. :)
 
#6
otis_thick said:
Can't touch...please explain? All I've been able to find was that Alembic said the wood work was good for a "poduction" non custom bass. The only thing I read that Alembic (Mica) said they didn't "quite" get right, was the electronics.. but that still does not say how they sound compared to the original. Would the Alembic outboard preamp make up the difference? I would assume Fernandes used the same preamp for both the 170 & 180 Does the Alembic Power Supply work with it? Could you post clips?
Click to expand...

By "can't touch," I meant the Alembics have a more vivid, deep, brilliant sound than I remember my Fernandez having. The FAB's woodworking was good, on par with other Japanese-copy basses I've played, but was not excellent as is the case with Alembic. I did not try the Fernandez with the Alembic preamp. It would not work with the Alembic power supply because the FAB uses a three-pin plug like a mic cable and not the five-pin Alembic design. I do not have Fernandez clips to post.
 
#8
65 P said:
Anyone that has a FAB-170 for sale please PM me. Thanks!!!
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I have one, but not for sale :)

About the FAB, I agree with the previous poster that the FAB misses the dynamics in the sound, it does not have the typical alembic series sparkle. However the sound even though does not match the alembic quality it does sound pretty exellent for it's price. In fact, I can't name a bass in that price range that sounds, feels and looks better.

I compare the FAB similar to a JayDee quality,the FAB has better wood work though and is cheaper. Not to forget that these basses (especially in good original condition) are very rare.

Personally I am suprised that these copies still are being sold so cheap. They are worth double the price. I mean you have basically a Series 1 alembic with all the versatile and hifi sound options, it feels and plays like a (dream) alembic and it even got a hum canceler.

The only bad thing I can mention is that the FAB170 has a terrible neckdive just like the real thing lol. Its good copy in every way :)


edit to add: sorry for bumping this thread, I found it in google. I notice now that its a very old thread hehe
 
#10
I was lucky to become the new owner of one of those basses since a week or two. Funny detail being the prev. owner who I recognized as being the same bassplayer who was one of the rythm section for dutch guitarist Jan Ackerman in the '80s; Dino Walcott. Dino gave that bass to his son, who did prefer to spend his talent in another direction. I was very surprised when I realised Dino being the same guy as the bassplayer in the concert which i watched many times on a VHS. The price he paid back then from the dutch importer was around 4000 guilders (roughly around 2000 euros I think).The PS-5 was included but needs a fix as 2 resistors are toasted.

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#11
Some of the wood looks similar to what the read deal had at the time, but less appealing. Maybe Fernandes bought some overstock bridges from Starz Guitars, too. Either way, they forgot the neck angle/tilt. You can't mass produce that.
 
#12
I think only the use of birch is similar? and the bridge/tail are Alembic?
Btw the neck has the tilt angle, you can see it when you lay the bass flat on the table. Mass production? there are only a few FAB-180's around I think. Mine has serial nr. 331-01
 
#13
otis_thick said:
Can't touch...please explain? All I've been able to find was that Alembic said the wood work was good for a "poduction" non custom bass. The only thing I read that Alembic (Mica) said they didn't "quite" get right, was the electronics.. but that still does not say how they sound compared to the original. Would the Alembic outboard preamp make up the difference? I would assume Fernandes used the same preamp for both the 170 & 180 Does the Alembic Power Supply work with it? Could you post clips?



:bag:
Click to expand...
Sorry for the necro ( I am reading and searching Alembic topics). Mika said that indeed, but I am still calling his bluff on that. He said that in an old Alembic forum topic, but it remains just words. With my FAB copy I can get pretty much get the same sound as the old '70s Alembics and 90% of the listeners are fooled thinking it's the real deal. The only thing that makes these FABs slighly inferior is the pure hi-fi sound, it just doesn't have the dynamics to pull the same sound off, but as for the old '70s sounds the FAB is pretty much spot on.
 
#19
crobasster said:
Wow, how Alembic let this happen ?
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Not something that Alembic let happen, per se. Back in the 70's there were many industrious Japanese builders that painstakingly and exactingly copied popular US brands. In some cases lawsuits were filed. In the case of Alembic/Fernandes, Alembic asked them to stop and they did. A direct quote from Mica is Link Removed, and the site has some additional info throughout.
 
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