jazzyvee

On 26/05/2020 at 01:38, Kev said:

Does the same apply if I send my own topwoods? 

That has been done. 

Yes, Stanley Clarke was the impetus for saving up for an alembic. Up till that time, (2002), i didn't fully appreciate the difference between the signature model and his series I bass, i just went with the body styling and how it sounded in the shop. I eventually got a series I short scale bass. Nowadays, a bass used by another bass player wouldn't influence me to buy into it as i get all the sounds i want from my alembics.

8 hours ago, three said:

What 

 

What a thing to happen to a gorgeous Alembic though it seems to be a common situation

I'd still like to see an old picture if possible. 👍🏾

Not a chance. I have a beater bass that I take to jam sessions and have on occasions let others use there but would not let someone take it away on a gig.

11 hours ago, three said:

Beautiful - if you're looking to re-fin the pickups and add new gold logos, drop me a PM - I had some logos made by a very high-end model shop (horrendously expensive but an unbelievably good job).  I've also been through the process of applying them to several pickups and refinishing the surface of the latter.  A painstaking process but the results are very good (IMO).  I was going to offer the transfers on the Alembic site (with Mica's permission, of course) but she didn't get back.

Thanks for your offer, though i am not sure that I want to keep the logo's at all since the neck ones are virtually worn off and also gold which doesn't seem to fit the aesthetic of maple and chrome. But I will have a think about it.

I posted this on the alembic site and mica indicated she might have some old vintage look cream pickups that may go with this bass so i just need to get an email fired off to find out what may be available and at what price. No idea if they have the alembic name moulded, transfers or plain. I do recall they had some cream pickups with splashed paint on called "Clown's Vomit' which might be a nice contrast. :-)

If i am looking for a bass, the tone wood claims or counter claims would not influence my choice. if i liked the sound and it felt good to play and i liked the look of it. that's it. The reality for me is that i only have two basses that i tried before purchase and the others i bought on line and they sound great. The reasons they sound different is a combination of far too many things for me to be able to isolate and properties of the construction woods. YMMV

I have wanted to give my alembic a facelift for ages and when i saw Cosmo Valdemar's bass at Jaydee being prepped for respray, it gave me the confidence to get mine refinished from see through purple to clear finish, had a refret and new knobs. And it now looks brand new except the pickups. I will be looking for some way to make them look new.

I tried one of these out a few years back in a trip to Brighton and to me it was the best sounding fender i've ever played. If I was to go down the fender/FSO bass route that would be the first one i would seek out to try again.

All the best with the sale.

On 04/05/2022 at 07:05, JJTee said:

Phil Jones Bighead (HA-1) Mobile Bass Amp. Absolutely brilliant. There’s a mk 2 which is a bit fancier but I couldn’t be happier with the cheaper version.  Plug my iPhone in, headphones and bass. Couldn’t be happier. Fantastic sound quality.

https://philjonesbass.net/cms/index.php/product-ha-1/

i seem to have problems with all the headphone practice amps over the years. I have the Big Head but firstly the battery stopped holding it's charge so then i used the usb socket to play direct from a usb power pack and now the micro usb connector socket has come loose inside so that only works intermittently but the quality of the sound is impressive. So recently I have started using my Stanley Clarke Acoustic preamp as  headphone amp and again the sound quality is superb.

I have a couple of options. My main one is a Rack with alembic preamps and a crown xls1502 or Synq 1K0 power amp that I use with the BTII or when using multiple cabs. I also have a Mesa boogie walkabout head that I tend to use with my BBII for a small rig.

On 21/11/2021 at 20:41, NickA said:

Ooph. Cheap.  These are so accurate and powerful, I use one in a test lab.

 

Mono bridge both channels into 4ohm and get 3.1kW ( yes KILO watts ) of power.  It will even drive 1 Ohm with care.

 

Tempted to buy a spare.

 

3102 tho, surely.

3KW should keep my coffee warm for the interval. 🙂

I sold my PLX 2402 due to the weight in a full 6U rack, but I do miss the sound.

On 28/04/2022 at 07:23, Bunion said:

The SWR has an amazing Overdrive and can also be used as a 5w practice amp on its own.I managed to get that beauty from flea bay for £200 

The Trace apparently was a close proximity to the Alembic FX1 but I’ve not played one of those yet.

I just know it’s a beautiful sound and with the “deep” switch engaged it’s bowel moving. 

Remember to take note of the input sensitivity of any preamps you purchase the SWR is low at .775v
That’s why I bought the Crown you can adjust the Sensitivity from .775v - 1.4v 

It won’t damage anything running a .775 at 1.4 on the amp but you won’t get the full power out it and will need to crank the gain and volume up which can cause distortion. 

 

 

 

Since you mention input sensitivity, it is something i would like to understand. I have a crown XLS 1502 which has .775v and 1.4v on the input sensitivity and a small rack with a Synq 1K0 1u power amp with input sensitivity of 26 dB / 32 dB / 1,4 V. i use alembic F-1X preamps but no idea how to determine what setting i should use for the power amps to get the best output and S/N ratio.. Any suggestions are welcome.

Looks great. I'm planning a small 5x4m practice room in my garden though after hearing of the sound spill from a friend's wooden build studio I have decided to go with a more solid construction. I'm going for Durisol bricks https://www.durisoluk.com/why-durisol/the-range/ which are woodcrete construction, insulated and you fill the cavity with concrete. Once the plans are drawn up I can see what the cost will be. If too expensive i will go with a traditional brick and block construction.  My garden isn't as long as this one so I am more concerned with getting maximum sound attenuation at an affordable price.

On 16/04/2021 at 20:43, CookPassBabtridge said:

Nice! They look great. Although (and I may have not looked properly) I can’t see anything regarding weight on the product pages - which is a bit surprising.

I have  couple of their guitar cases and one of their bass cases and though I have not weighed any of them they are pretty light.

I have been trying to sell my last PH cab, 1x15 on and off for about 4 years  with little interest so it's still at home looking unloved. At the moment i plan to donate it to my local council's music service who give music lessons to youngsters, but they are moving location at the moment so will talk to them again soon. If it's not suitable i may try to part ex it at a local shop for some other gear.

i am going down to see them too. Should be a good gig

Wow great project, i'll be watching for progress updates.

Is it going to be made from bricks and block or wood?

Not cheap but Harvest make good quality bass bags.

I remember trying out a used one of those Genz Benz heads through a couple of 12" Aguillar cabs a few years ago when I was looking for a lightweight bass rig and loved the sound. 🙂

I've been to a couple of George's gigs and he is a superb bass player. Hope to get to a gig where he is playing his classico.

👍

A bit late posting but my Friday might gig went well. It was a fusion of jazz/funk/reggae. Went down really well. I hate untidy stages but we had PA issues which ate into our allocated time so we had to start on time without chance to move out bags and cases
 

Only if you want to.

10 hours ago, funkypenguin said:

A bit long in the tooth perhaps, but there is still nothing that sounds like those Alembic series basses  

 

They have a formula that works, and I suppose they only change things when there is an actual need to or if some of the "long in the tooth" parts are no longer available. 🙂🤣

I've been my SC Acoustic pre-amp  using this at rehearsals with a couple of bands and feeding it into the return socket on the bass amps and it sounds superb. Nice clear and hi-fi sounding. I have a gig Friday where i'm playing both bass guitar and my EUB so I plan to use it for my EUB through to the PA.