I knew Ron Wickersham from an amateur astronomy group in Glen Ellen, CA. He had a long white beard and wore tie-die T-shirts. He was a real techno-wizard. He once invited me and a friend to tour the Alembic factory. We met Ron's wife, who runs the business end of the shop (Ron handles the electronics side). My favorite bassist is John Entwistle, and Ron told us that they had made a few guitars for him (which I knew). He said they put LEDs on the side of the neck on each fret so that Entwistle could more easily play on a dark stage. Entwistle is seen playing an Alembic bass on the cover of his biography "The Ox." Ron also mentioned that Stanley Clarke played their basses (which I also knew).
I believe they come from the Bay Area and a lot of folks in the San Francisco bands played them. Phil Lesh from the Grateful Dead played one that had a million switches and dials. They were very expensive but also supposedly very high quality,
John Paul Jones played a few Alembics in the late '70 era of Zeppelin. That galloping rhythm in Achilles Last Stand is an 8-string Alembic played with a pick.
Alembic is an instrument you don't see every day! It really has the big sound, very punchy! Love when Greg makes the demos. Plays with much taste. 👍❤️From 🇫🇷
Always a pleasure to see and hear Greg play...and with that Alembic Bass...it made Thumpin' Thursday extra special! Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving to everybody!
Had to dial down my computer speakers, as it is 6:25 in the wee small hours, and I don't want to force this superb force of ox-sounds on my dear neighbours. WHAT A BASS
Good Day. Excellent demonstration of a beautiful looking & playing guitar. Sweet and tasteful playing. I could listen to this for hours. Thank You Both & Best Regards.
You guys should check if you have an Orlando Violin bass. It's a mix between a Hofner and a scroll bass and it's STUNNING. Would love to hear it thumpin' if you guys have it!
Incredible bass and playing! I put an Alembic Activator pick-up in a Lado bass years ago. It sounded great, but I didn't find that Q tone very useful. More like a wah pedal than a tone control.
Whenever I catch a video of the bass players associated with Norman's, it serves to reinforce my internal confusion. I wanted to be a bass player in January '95 when I turned 15 and wanted out from behind the drums. Then, I became a guitar player, and bass became kind of "secondary", even though it was the more in-demand instrument. Nearly 30 years later, I am still debating which instrument is more of a priority for me. I dug how Greg mentioned that Entwiste's nickname was "The Ox". When I saw the footage of Roger calling John by that name on stage, I was again confused and registered it as "Lee Ox" - which is not what was said.
Wow, an Alembic at Norm's??? Back in the day, Norm told me to "Get that thing outta here" when I walked in with my '78 Alembic. I guess the passing of time makes it OK now. I still have my Alembic basses, and they are the bomb!
Oh. My. Entwistle’s had the single coil pickups with the ‘dummy’ coil in the centre, which was wired up but ‘silent’ as it had no magnet. However, this made each single coil ‘buck the hum’ - and this was adjustable via trim pots through the rear control cover.. The spider web inlays were Sterling Silver. And it had the full tonal Q range. Biggest regret of my life was not buying a Mk 1 Omega (I think) when I had the chance…
@@turdoirishman Yep you are right mate. For some reason I always get those two bands mixed up. There is one of his signature Bass on Reverb at the min 👍
I have owned this same model of Alembic (1986) since 1988. It does not disappoint! If you can put this bass down, it is not for you. You won't put it down...
7 months late, but thats not a Spoiler-at least not the Spoiler shape- Its an Exploiter. However, from what the guy described of the electronics and what you can visually see, it looks like someone just had a 32" scale Exploiter made with the stock Spoiler electronics. Very cool!
The utes of today don’t know Alembic??? Come on! Watch The Who movie “The Kids Are Alright” and you’ll see Entwistle playing his on Won’t Get Fooled Again at the end. I caught Stanley Clarke playing a club date back in the 80s. During his School Days solo, he came into the audience and stood on my table, wailing away, and I could get a good view of the inlaid LEDs along the neck.
Yeah Carlos Alomar,the guitarists and bassists of PFunk,too-but the point is to sell THIS groovy Entwhistle-ish bass. People get impatient or mad when we go off on tangents for too long… R.I.P. Jerry
WHAT'S with that 'body' style. Its not a "Spoiler" I've seen a lot of them.... never seen that body style on a Spoiler. ??? The electronic layout looks right but that body had to be a 'custom order' maybe/probably one of a kind. Contact the company with the serial # and get the back story.... it's not how Spoilers look ;th-cam.com/video/ttwewwHIZi0/w-d-xo.html
Sometimes we state all the facts a couple times in case something gets cut during editing,just trying to be thorough and give Jen some options for creating a solid video,sorry to be redundant but people generally want as much info as possible before they spend thousands of $$$.
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Wow wow wow! Greg is quite the player! And that Alembic has THE TONE 😮
I knew Ron Wickersham from an amateur astronomy group in Glen Ellen, CA. He had a long white beard and wore tie-die T-shirts. He was a real techno-wizard. He once invited me and a friend to tour the Alembic factory. We met Ron's wife, who runs the business end of the shop (Ron handles the electronics side). My favorite bassist is John Entwistle, and Ron told us that they had made a few guitars for him (which I knew). He said they put LEDs on the side of the neck on each fret so that Entwistle could more easily play on a dark stage. Entwistle is seen playing an Alembic bass on the cover of his biography "The Ox." Ron also mentioned that Stanley Clarke played their basses (which I also knew).
One of my earliest bass memories is this bass in the hands John Entwistle. It's as iconic as any other classic, to me. Thank you for this review!
GREG is knowledgeable, a great player, a cool dude. We love him. May you live long, buddy. Cheers
I believe they come from the Bay Area and a lot of folks in the San Francisco bands played them. Phil Lesh from the Grateful Dead played one that had a million switches and dials. They were very expensive but also supposedly very high quality,
Great bass! Greg’s left hand is so quick! Thumpin’ Thurs. strikes again. 🌩
John Paul Jones played a few Alembics in the late '70 era of Zeppelin. That galloping rhythm in Achilles Last Stand is an 8-string Alembic played with a pick.
That's the one with the 4 strings doubled (octaved) like on a 12 string guitar right?
@@musicman8942 Yes. You can see it it many live photos from the '79-80 shows.
The Riff King is the 8-string that Jonesy played on ALS. It was on display at the RRHOF in Cleveland 5 years ago.
(sees Greg in the thumbnail)
(doesn't even watch the video - clicks "LIKE")
Always good to see Mr. Coates doin' what he does!
Thanks bud!!!
Make that “BUZZ” 😆
It was Stanley Clark that put the Alembic bass on the map for me back in the 1970's.
yeah, definitely..... him and Phil Lesh
Great job Greg, super Alembic demo 👍
Love that GROWL..a beautiful instrument..I saw Stanley Clarke play his Almebic in RTF...Incredibly loud and that big bottom sound !
Alembic is an instrument you don't see every day! It really has the big sound, very punchy! Love when Greg makes the demos. Plays with much taste. 👍❤️From 🇫🇷
Finally an Alembic! And with Super-Greg on the thunder-stick, no less
GREG IS BACK!!❤
Prince's bass players Brownmark and Levi Seacer both played Alembic Spoilers but did not have this Explorer body.
Love Greg here! So knowledgeable and his passion coems through.
Always a pleasure to see and hear Greg play...and with that Alembic Bass...it made Thumpin' Thursday extra special! Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving to everybody!
Greg=#1 Bass Player.
Too kind my friend,really inspirational bass
What a work of art.
The bass is nice too!
9:52 wow. absolute magic.
I feel like if a child asked you what 1984 was like, you could just show them this bass and they would totally get it.
Had to dial down my computer speakers, as it is 6:25 in the wee small hours, and I don't want to force this superb force of ox-sounds on my dear neighbours.
WHAT A BASS
That was so cool
I wish one day you guys gonna feature a Lado bass or guitar, if ever some end up in a California shop...
Sweet demo.
Using big Amp helps. Nice playing
Good Day. Excellent demonstration of a beautiful looking & playing guitar.
Sweet and tasteful playing. I could listen to this for hours.
Thank You Both & Best Regards.
wow im not really a Bass player but love to mess around with them and thats a awesome bass !!!!1
You guys should check if you have an Orlando Violin bass. It's a mix between a Hofner and a scroll bass and it's STUNNING. Would love to hear it thumpin' if you guys have it!
A Bass may be a Hammer but
Greg is a Scalpel
Played one way back in the early 90's that a buddy had. Liked it :)
Superb bass and player! WAL used that kind of tone control didn't they?
Best Thumpin Thursday ever !!!!!!! Thanks !!!!
Knowledgeable guy - you should make him a regular.
Excellent playing and presentation. That is a special bass guitar.
Thumpin' Thursdays are really a highlight of my internet week 🤎
Such a beautiful tone man! Wow
Great Greg what a bass .
I think Mark King from Level 42 playes Alembic.
Incredible bass and playing! I put an Alembic Activator pick-up in a Lado bass years ago. It sounded great, but I didn't find that Q tone very useful. More like a wah pedal than a tone control.
Whenever I catch a video of the bass players associated with Norman's, it serves to reinforce my internal confusion. I wanted to be a bass player in January '95 when I turned 15 and wanted out from behind the drums. Then, I became a guitar player, and bass became kind of "secondary", even though it was the more in-demand instrument. Nearly 30 years later, I am still debating which instrument is more of a priority for me.
I dug how Greg mentioned that Entwiste's nickname was "The Ox". When I saw the footage of Roger calling John by that name on stage, I was again confused and registered it as "Lee Ox" - which is not what was said.
7:48 What we really all came to see.
Best bass ive heard to date.
Great playing. Wow!
Greg rocks ✌️
Looks so naked without the spider web
wb, Greg
Wow, an Alembic at Norm's??? Back in the day, Norm told me to "Get that thing outta here" when I walked in with my '78 Alembic. I guess the passing of time makes it OK now. I still have my Alembic basses, and they are the bomb!
Wow!! AMAZING playing! ⚡️⚡️👍🏻And the first time I’ve ever seen a Spoiler shaped like James Hetfield’s electric guitar!!
EPIC!! 🤘🏻😎🤘🏻
Every Alembic is insane
Oh. My.
Entwistle’s had the single coil pickups with the ‘dummy’ coil in the centre, which was wired up but ‘silent’ as it had no magnet. However, this made each single coil ‘buck the hum’ - and this was adjustable via trim pots through the rear control cover.. The spider web inlays were Sterling Silver.
And it had the full tonal Q range.
Biggest regret of my life was not buying a Mk 1 Omega (I think) when I had the chance…
How did we get through a whole video about an Alembic instrument without a mention of the Grateful Dead!?
Hey guys, isn't this the Exploiter model?
(title says Spoiler)
No basses were exploited in the making of this video.
You are correct. Custom Spoiler with Exploiter body; Spoiler electronics.
@@tomm5766 Thank you sir! That is correct!
What a cool Bass. Mark King from UB40 Was a big Alembic fan if I remember right.
Yepp, he plays Alembic and got his signature series. No, he never was in UB40. Level 42 is his band
@@turdoirishman Yep you are right mate. For some reason I always get those two bands mixed up. There is one of his signature Bass on Reverb at the min 👍
Awesome.
Oh Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Reminds me of the Jetsons. I love the color , do the make it in a 6 string. ?
They’ll make anything you want!?!$$$$$$$$$
Whoa
♥♥
I have owned this same model of Alembic (1986) since 1988. It does not disappoint! If you can put this bass down, it is not for you. You won't put it down...
John Paul Jones played an Alembic during the later part of Led Zeppelin
If it has a break at the head stock it use to be mine. I want it back! How the head stock broke that's a very long story
7 months late, but thats not a Spoiler-at least not the Spoiler shape- Its an Exploiter. However, from what the guy described of the electronics and what you can visually see, it looks like someone just had a 32" scale Exploiter made with the stock Spoiler electronics. Very cool!
I always thought that bass was called the “Exploiter”?
My Spoiler didn’t look at all like this. What Explorer?
The utes of today don’t know Alembic??? Come on! Watch The Who movie “The Kids Are Alright” and you’ll see Entwistle playing his on Won’t Get Fooled Again at the end. I caught Stanley Clarke playing a club date back in the 80s. During his School Days solo, he came into the audience and stood on my table, wailing away, and I could get a good view of the inlaid LEDs along the neck.
If you pay any Alembic guitar or bass the things are so heavy and dense you can hide behind them if a shooting breaks out...
#JohnEntwistle #TheWho
👍🏻✌❤😎
Wuzzat Won't Get Fooled Again?? Nice Growwl
El bajo de ricardo iorio.
Strange that Jerry Garcia gets no mention as an early and prominent Alembic player. But I guess that’s what the comments section is for 🤷🏼♂️
Yeah Carlos Alomar,the guitarists and bassists of PFunk,too-but the point is to sell THIS groovy Entwhistle-ish bass. People get impatient or mad when we go off on tangents for too long… R.I.P. Jerry
alembic was made for the grateful dead by the bear
hot tuna, not starship
Actually that is not a tone knob. It is a low pass filter.
WHAT'S with that 'body' style. Its not a "Spoiler" I've seen a lot of them.... never seen that body style on a Spoiler. ??? The electronic layout looks right but that body had to be a 'custom order' maybe/probably one of a kind. Contact the company with the serial # and get the back story.... it's not how Spoilers look ;th-cam.com/video/ttwewwHIZi0/w-d-xo.html
That's not a spoiler or a persuader. great bass but not a persuader or a spoiler. Same electronics but diff body shape. I believe it's a spider bass.
Bro says all the same stuff again after he goes out front
Sometimes we state all the facts a couple times in case something gets cut during editing,just trying to be thorough and give Jen some options for creating a solid video,sorry to be redundant but people generally want as much info as possible before they spend thousands of $$$.
😊Sorry I'm such a meanie lol @@gregcoates4281
Mission Control. Santa Rosa, Calif. Phil Lesh during the Dead’s Wall of Sound period. That’s A lem bic not Olympic, you had to keep saying.
I said ALEMBIC… very familiar with these
exploiter bass, not spoiler.
It’s not a spoiler AFAIK, it’s an exploiter