Alembic Series I Bass w/Series II Electronics: Is This the ULTIMATE Bass Guitar?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ต.ค. 2024
- The OG of boutique basses! Now you can recreate so many of your favorite iconic bass tones of the 70's and 80s and beyond!
Top: Bubinga
Accent: Maple
Body: Mahogany
Back: Bubinga
Neck: 5-piece Maple and Purpleheart
Scale: 34" long
Fingerboard: Ebony
Aide markers: silver dots
Body shape: Standard Point
Finish: Polyurethane satin natural (oil-look)
Hardware: Gold plated
Pickups: Alembic SC-1 and HX
Controls: Series II
Originally made for: German Village Music, OH
Birthday: June 4, 1999
Hardshell case included
Weight: 12lbs 9oz
See this and more at www.fretspot.c...
You can't talk about Alembics and not mention Jimmy Johnson! If you've heard James Taylor in the last 35 years, you've heard Jimmy Johnson's Alembic Series II. He was among the very first 5-string players with his first Alembic 5 string in 1975 or 1976. Before Ken Smith was building 5 strings, and around the same time that Anthony Jackson was working with Carl Thompson on his first 6-string.
Another cool note - Rick Turner was at Alembic in the early years, before he went to Gibson and then eventually formed Turner/Renaissance.
Thanks for sharing this info!
A couple of comments from an Alembiholic. Ive currently got three with a custom just about ready for shipping, so many years of playing these amazing instruments.
First, Ron and Susan Wickersham started by building audio recording mixers for the first multi-track recorders, working closely with the Grateful Dead. That evolved into them designing the famous “wall of sound” PA used for Dead tours. They then started creating guitars and basses, starting with Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh. Then they started the bespoke manufacturing.
The basses are works of art, almost more of a playable wood sculpture than a standard slab-bodied, bolt-on bass.
The filter system does take some getting used to, but it soon becomes the Swiss army knife of tone. Way more versatile than my Musicman Sterlings or my Rics.
They are quite expensive, but you can find great deals in the used market, especially for Elans and Distillates. I recently picked up a custom fretless Excel for around $5k. With the less expensive models, not as many bells and whistles as the Series II, but still with the active filter circuits.
Awesome basses, all around. Once you play one, you realize just how far the art of instrument creation can go.
Thanks for this info!
A very informative video, my friend. The controls lend their way to Holy Grail attainability. The Alembics can melt souls with their gorgeous build
and boutique styling.
Well said!
That bass is beautiful, I miss my alembics from the 90s
Would be worth tripple the money now too.
Ever since discovering Stanley Clarke, an Alembic (any alembic but then SC signature is ideal) is my dream bass. It is right up there with a genuine Carl Thompson
Stan the man plays on a small standard Series 1 and 2, the Signature model is not the same. The sig model is awesome to have non the less though!
When Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane got the first Alembic referred to as "Alembic 1", the band referred to it as "mission control." Setting up the intonation on an Alembic is a bit of a pain because the saddles have be be moved back and forth with the tools that come with the bass and you give your best guess and then tighten the string and check the intonation. It usually takes a few tries a few tries to get the sting intonated. The neck has two metal truss rods that are accessible after the brass cover plate is removed. There are wrenches that come with the bass for that. Making changes on the fly is more than difficult. That bass is in great condition probably because taking a $30,000 bass guitar into a smokey club to play is something that I wouldn't do. It is better to grab a Fender or Music Man or whatever to do that. When was the last time you saw someone using an Alembic in a performance?
I've seen Alembics before with Stanley Clarke, but I really take an interest in them until I saw Mark King of Level 42 with a couple of them. A Mark King signature Alembic is definitely one of my dream basses, but reality keeps getting in the way...😄
Beautiful congratulations….!I have five Alembic bases in my arsenal.Each one has its own unique sound energy. Yes indeed, they are special instruments and truly required time to figure out how to use them effectively.
To change the low pass, and Q, these are things that are done in the preamp circuit, similar to the effects of audio preamps.
I had Doug Irwin build me a bass in 74. It served me really well! Same sort of bass but had Beast pickups (some of the first) from Bartolini!
Sold it last year to a collector! Miss it as well as the 82 G&L I had as well
I bet it was a cool one!
That is my dream bass!
Sadly I would have to win the lottery to afford it.
Owned 3 Alembics, still have two, Series 1 from 1980 and Anniversary 5 from 1992, just one of the best basses ever build.... And I love filters, perfect options
My friend had 2 made for himself and they are both spectacular. Beautiful and sound amazing.
Alembic has ALWAYS Been the Standard for High End Basses!
AWESOME!!!! Detailed video and yes this would be my dream bass as well!!!!
Not my cup of tea visually, but you can't deny that's a special instrument!
Baixo absurdamente lindo, alembic é um outro nível na questão de criação de baixos, uma pena serem tão pouco acessíveis, se no exterior já são bem caros imagina então aqui no Brasil. Mas felizmente temco youtube pra eu poder apreciar essa beleza de instrumento.
Yo comprende
Didn't John Entwistle of the Who have a similar bass guitar in the 70s?
Yes. And then he had them build him one with an Explorer body. 4 and 8 string versions.
Oh My Gosh, this is THE Alembic bass. I live in Sonoma County, have been to the Mothership countless times, and Rich Lasner who designed the Peavey Cirrus, Flea bass, Steve Vai, and more who also owns VOX guitars in Novato, CA and is a friend I can tell you that Peavey Cirrus USA walnut / bubinga, and Alembic basses are two of my favorites because they are local, and the best. I know a lot of local Alembic players and 95% of them also own a Peavey Cirrus. The Alembic series 2 with a bubinga top is THE best of the best of all wood choices. You have the classic Mohangony body that holds the lows nice and tight, and add the bubinga top for a blossoming tone of each and every note. It's PERFECTION. Whomever bought this bass for $10k got the best bass ever made.
I have an Alembic Essence made in the mid 1990s. It has the low pass filter but not a Q control. It played it a lot back in the day but now have gravitated back to basses with the boost and cut tone circuitry. The Alembic is super clean in tone but requires a high quality amplifier to really shine. The basses that I have now are less picky.
Well...I'm not into boutique basses, and I am happy enough with my current instruments, but if I get to play one of these, chances are I'll fall in love, so if I could afford an Alembic I'd probably go for one of these. This one sounds phenomenal and is as versatile as a single bass can get, so...who knows? In the future I might get one.
I was just waiting for the moment his smacks the headstock on that counter or knocks a bottle off 😂
That would be heartbreaking! 💔
Q Switch and Filter on Alembics are a useable live and recording feature love it! Always love your reviews Don
Thank you!
Just WOW.
It better be for a starting price of $25,000. If I had that kind of money, I would totally get one.
OMG!😮😮😮😮
I've got a Moog MF Drive that's got a similar peak boost for its low-pass filter, but I'd totally trade
Phil Lesh used Alembic.
Still does.
This bass can sound super hifi (reference: Mark King), but I guess it depends on your whole setup.
Where's the low end?
Is that optional?
A Dream Bass to own!! Sooo nice craftsmanship,..quality & most of all SOUND!!! The tone once heard,..you’ll want one!! They “Feel” good too!,..although quite heavy…its why they sound sooo good‼️👏🏾🤣Play one through an Amp then on to PA @a concert arena ,…and you will know that you are vibrating the Earth!!🌏⚡️
Right on!
You must have moved the bass pretty quick…no longer seeing it on your website or Reverb
Yeah, it's been sold already. It was a cool one!
Perfect for that Fleetwood Mac cover band lol
Hell yeah! 🤣
Thanks for showcasing these glorious instruments, but I don't know a single bass player that chicken picks his bass ;) haha! I think the tone of this bass would better come to light if you let it ring out rather than play stacatto like this.
I do try and mix in normal fingerstyle as well...
...Aaand the audience will never be able to tell the difference between this and an affordable bass.
I bet you're tons of fun at parties. 🤣
Imagine being the type of person who only gets something in order to impress others.
The customer won't taste the difference between foods cut with a $10 knife and a $500 knife. More often than not, a chef will go for the more expensive option.
It's important to use instruments that are fun and inspiring. Every once in a while you find cheap stuff that feels and performs great and that's awesome, but often higher quality necessitates a higher price.
Well, the average person doesn't know the difference between Fydor Dostevesky and Stephen King, so who cares what the average audience hears. Stanley Clarke doesn't, and I am glad.
Sounds kinda noisy the way you have it set up.
Yeah, that's fair. It went in for a setup right after this video was made. Sounds even better now!
It was good enough for Stanley Clarke, so….
Beautiful, but the controls look like someone spilled a box of chocolates onto a coffee table haha.
Pretty much! 🤣
How did all those P-bass players ever get by?😂😂😂
Musta been a struggle! 🤣
Maybe but i think take a oringinal Spector
I have tried a few Alembics but MTD and Foderas play and sound better.
I wouldn't disagree with that statement.
I couldn't disagree more.
Without any Q, flat with both pickups, it sounds exactly like a Rickenbacker 4001/3 bass. It's that single coil sound.