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NBD: Alembic EvH Signature Bass!

Cool. Not at all familiar with Edwin van Huilk.

What songs would you recommend I listen to, to start diving into his work?

(And since I was born in The Netherlands and spent 8 or 9 years of my childhood there before moving to the US permanently, cool to have another Dutch musician I should check out).

If you'd like some interesting Dutch music, check out Arjen Lucassen. His main project, Ayreon, is very good if you're into prog music at all.
 
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Cool. Not at all familiar with Edwin van Huilk.

What songs would you recommend I listen to, to start diving into his work?

(And since I was born in The Netherlands and spent 8 or 9 years of my childhood there before moving to the US permanently, cool to have another Dutch musician I should check out).

Cool that you spend your childhood in the Netherlands. I am Dutch myself (still live there).

Edwin van Huik owns a bass shop in the Netherlands, Bass Connection. They have a website and Facebook. They have some nice things in the shop from time to time. There is not much music to be found from Edwin. There are a few separate tracks on YouTube, but not a whole album or so. He was one of the first in the Netherlands who played Alembic and also sold them in his shop. That's how he became good friends with the Alembic staff. He designed the EvH model because he didn't like the neck dive of the small body basses and also found the point model too big and not balanced. So they made the upper horn from the small body a bit bigger and changed some other small things for better balance and also changed the electronics because Edwin didn't want to bring the power adapter all the same. So that became signature electronics. Most EvH basses are 32" and were only made end 80s early 90s, so they are pretty rare. That's as far as I know.
 
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Thanks for the EvH history lesson @Les Fret

Interesting stuff for sure, especially how Alembic took the time to listen and create a line of basses to accommodate EvH (and his customer base's) needs/wants/desires.

(Funny thing... Though I was born in The Netherlands, my family's from India so I'm ethnically Indian. But I've lived in the US for about 40 years so I like to consider myself an American of the world).

I'm perusing the site now... digging this 1998 EvH Webshop page and really loving this red Warwick Dolphin: Webshop page
 
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I'm perusing the site now... digging this 1998 EvH Webshop page and really loving this red Warwick Dolphin: Webshop page

Yes, that's some really nice Macassar top on that EvH, but 12.000 euro is too much. I prefer the first model EvH like the one I have anyway. I don't like that long upper horn on the the second model EvH. Reminds me of the Alembic Rogue model. But that top wood is so nice.

If you really have some spare cash or have won the lottery you can always go for this one (26.500 euro) :oops::oops::
 
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LOL, I can't handle that many knobs on a bass. Even a 5-knob bass gives me option paralysis!

Heh, if I won the lottery, I'd be more likely to get that Warwick from the shop. Or, if a vintage Alembic, I'd want an Epic!
 
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Reactions: Les Fret
I finally got to watch - I saw it being recommended to me on YouTube, then when I saw your post here, I finally got it. It seems to me that you and Alembic are a great match! Speaking as a long-time Alembic fan and user - or maybe I should say care-taker, Alembics are really special, not just "objects" to be "owned." Anyway, I had some thoughts:

You really show off the range of the instrument - I especially appreciated that you used distortion, I think that Alembics work with effects really well, maybe true analog fuzz being the only iffy one. And not many people would write an entire composition to showcase the instrument! The fact that it is an EVH is especially cool - to me, Alembic has organic relationships with people. I was fortunate to enter the orbit around 2002 and also fortunate to live nearby. Anyway, the music and production is great!

I also like your visuals - the thing that really struck me was the reflections in the bass - the first shot when you start playing solo lines is really cool with the lines and spots - later figured out it's blinds and a music stand, but that realization doesn't detract from anything. Am also kind of blown away with the large clean room behind you - my videos are really tight because I have so much crap piled up here and there!

Finally - can you talk about the Urge a little bit? Why did you decide on it for that part - couldn't another filter setting have played the role?
 
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Thanks for the nice words hieronymous! That's always nice to hear. You are right about the reflection of the bass, hard not to capture that. I have my camera with a magnet on my iron music stand, so I can move it around freely and shoot several angles, smart of you to notice. The room is my living room.

I used the Urge 1 bass for that because I have that one in tenor tuning. Needed the high register for the guitar like tapping part. I have this Urge bass for a long time and it has inspired my very much, made a lot of recordings and videos with it. But now I want to use the new EvH for tenor tuning and sell the Urge bass. Can't keep everything, especially not since Alembic is my new (expensive) fetish! 🤣
 
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Thanks for the story behind the Urge - I bet the EVH will be great in tenor tuning! I think the Alembic filter lends itself to bass in that range, with Stanley Clarke being the obvious example. My first Alembic was a Spoiler Exploiter - at one point I experimented with some kind of "piccolo" tuning, tuned in 4ths. Fortunately I recorded with it, hope it's ok to share:



I think it's the Q being boosted that gives the high notes the snap - I forget what electronics are in your EVH bass, but the options seem almost limitless! I think you have Signature?

What I really wanted to ask is, have you posted at the Alembic Club forum? I think a lot of people would like to see/hear about your bass and hear it in action!
 
Sorry for the late reply and thank for your audio file. Sounds good! Since this week i also converted a bass to piccolo bass. It's cool, but I prefer tenor tuning. Piccolo is much more guitar-like than bass-like. Since I play guitar a lot too I don't really need it, but it's still fun.

My EvH is a signature but it has two 3-way Q switches instead of the usual 2-way that signatures have. Also a switch for muting the preamp to save batteries.

Just posted it at the Alembic club. Here is the link: New Alembic EvH bass (with video)