Nice Alembic Spoiler for sale on Craigs (geez look what the seller did to it)

Seems an odd thing to do if you are going to the bother of buying an Alembic then ruining resale.

 

it was on sale here for a while. that would be a $1500 dollar bass at least with the original electronics. it's priced very fairly given the mods.

 

geez, this is the kind of flaming i didn't want to get for selling my Spoiler...

 

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f126/fs-ft-feeler-1985-alembic-spoiler-933985/

 

Back in 1997, a previous owner (KUNGfuSHERIFF) purchased the Spoiler from Bass Northwest in so-so condition... the pickups were shot and the preamp was toast. He swapped in a pair of Alembic AXY pickups and a modified Alembic Activator preamp to restore it somewhat to its glory. The previous owner purchased this at Alto Music in Wappinger Falls, NY in 1999 and ended up having some issues with the electronics. He pulled all the Alembic guts and swapped in the EMG 35DC pair and sold the Alembic guts on eBay sometime in 2003. I purchased this bass about 6 months ago and have been enjoying it since.

 

no worries. your price is very fair.

 

Under the circumstances (dead pickups/preamp) unless you go back to Alembic and order new circuitry this is about the best thing you can do. That's a fair price, IMO.
BTW, I bought a Boogieman Circuit card for my Series I off Ebay to deal with some RF/whistling issues on one Q filter but have not installed it yet. I contacted Alembic via forum and voicemail 2 months ago because I know they don't approve of the Boogieman Cards (Alembic clones made in NY). No response. Customer service is loose to say the least these days. Ten years ago they wanted $1200 to refurbish the electronics.

 

I believe the owner of a bass has every right to do anything they wish to their instrument. I also believe it's not my right or business to flame/berate such individual. That said...I wouldn't consider (for a NY second) purchase of the bass, either

 

While the electronics are huge part of an Alembic's appeal, this is still a very sweet bass at a reasonable price in my estimation.

 

I have two Alembics. Much is said, rightfully so, about the electronics. -- However --

Independent of the electronics, the structural build quality of most of these instruments is phenomenal. I think that the Alembic bass platform would be great for just about any pickup. (I've often wondered what my Series I would sound like with a passive pickup -- sacrilege to Alembic purists, but a guy can wonder).

It's clear to me that the fine folks at the Alembic mothership are devoted to making wonderful instruments. I also get the impression that they might be somewhat less interested in repairing their creations as a core endeavor. (As Roy Vogt alluded to above.)

If I'd have been in the same position with a nice bass with dead electronics, I'd have probably done the same thing.

That's an eminently fair price and if the bass is setup correctly and structurally sound, would give the buyer a great player (based on what I know of Alembics). If I was local and/or in the market, I'd bite.

You've offered what looks to be a great bass at a fair price. Don't worry and let the market work it out. GLWTS

 

I'd buy it if I was in the market for another bass right now

 

Not to derail, but is there a company that makes direct replacement passive pickups for Alembic instruments? I'd rather have those as a temporary replacement, if and when the time comes.

 

I am curious. How do pickups die ? The only way I can think of is somehow they get demagnetized.

I have almost the same exact bass, a Spoiler from 1984, but mine has two knobs, a selector switch, and a Q switch. I have played over 1000 gigs with it so I had it overhauled last year because all of my sweat had left the brass looking rather funky but it looks, plays, and sounds just like new now. There was no work done on the electronics work because none was needed.

BTW - it's not for sale.

 

The EMGs do a great job of capturing the 'Alembic' sound which is more than just from electronics... it's built into these things! The build quality, woods, brass nut, bridge, and tailpiece combine to give it a very characteristic tone which isn't lost to these replacement pickups. I was sourcing Alembic guts a few weeks ago and should have jumped on an AXY4 pickup pair + what looked to be Activator electronics for $550 plus shipping. The eBay seller yanked the auction before I could talk myself into it and told me he decided to keep them after finding another Spoiler that needed them... so there are other semi-cannibalized Spoilers out there!

 

I would guess that Bartolini makes a direct fit sizewise-they have a lot of different pickups they've made. It would be worth checking out their website.

 

Thanks for the info. My bass is 30 years old and still sounds super clean. It reacted pretty awesome to Pro Tools recently. I found the tone I needed in less than a minute. I'm quite proud of that recording.

 

Arnie - Great analogy! As for the bass, I kinda like it and the price is way right...