jazzyvee

If you wanted to drop the cash on it and try it out. Im pretty sure that if it wasn't to your liking you could sell it again for the same as you got it for. Like Molan says it is a good starter for the brand. I will add that if it's a standard one it will have the low pass filter which is really a big part of the alembic sound. Before you buy it though make sure you get some pictures from the seller of inside the control cavity, join the alembic forum at [url="http://www.alembic.com"]www.alembic.com[/url] and post the pics up there for clarification that they are genuine. Some alembics that have appeared on the used market have had electronics and/or pickups changed and if you are new to the brand you may get stung! [url="http://alembic.com/prod/essence.html"]http://alembic.com/prod/essence.html[/url]

I did think of buying it regardless because I don't have any of their music at all and it would be good to hear more of it and get a better grasp of what they are about. May still do that after Christmas.

I heard a few tracks from it playing in HMV on Friday and whilst I haven't heard any rolling stones albums, I was expecting to hear something incredible but the tracks I heard didn't sound anything special.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1469920690' post='3102076'] I just don't buy this " it's all in there fingers thing". If thats the case all the brilliant bassists in the world would be playing the same bass.Of course they have there own style.but Individual tone is down to electronics. I think there is alot of confusion between how a certain artist plays, and/or the tone they get. Marcus Miller might sound like Marcus on a Hofner or a Ricky because of his style,and the way he plays. but he's not going to have that sound [/quote] Phew I am not alone Thank You!! :-)

I think these are pretty rare instruments still in this country and if I think hard I can only recall ever seeing about 4 alembics being played by UK musicians in this country. Two Epics, an Orion and a Mark King. The only other times are Stanley Clarke, Jimmy Johnson and me. I'd love to see more live but unless there are any players in the midlands area it's pretty unlikely.

Here is a method Yolanda Charles uses . [url="https://youtu.be/Hgv8I0xxPOU?t=1m34s"]https://youtu.be/Hgv8I0xxPOU?t=1m34s[/url]

Well done Mike, I have seen you play around Birmingham for many years, I think the last time was in the Arcadian when you were backing Roy Forbes with Edgar Marcias on keys the Brum Jazz festival. I recall you came to one of my gigs at the Symphony hall Rush hour Blues sessions about 4 years back. :-)

It looks large in the context of that section of the bass but how does it look when seen on a full sized picture of the bass. I would imagine it's not as noticeable but the thing is you have seen it and can't un-see it. The question is would they take it back? it's not a flaw with the bass and a natural feature of the piece of wood chosen for the bass. Hard call that but you can ask the seller and see what they do. I think if it had the sound I really loved I would stick with it as a replacement may not sound the same.

[quote name='Captain Bassman' timestamp='1481361119' post='3191702'] Here's my gorgeous Series 2. She's burl maple with a 3/4 size point body shape and chrome hardware - Fire & Ice! [url="http://basschat.co.uk/uploads/monthly_07_2014/post-2303-0-38714700-1404486473.jpg"]http://basschat.co.u...-1404486473.jpg[/url] [/quote] That looks like a series II that was in Station music a couple of years or so ago. Superb bass I love the burl maple and obviously it sounds amazing!

Best 5 strings I've ever owned are alembic and my series II Alembic in particular .There is no sound I need that I can't get from that bass. I've used it for everything from jazz/funk, reggae, blues, rock, soul r&b, funk, pop, country and it has ever failed to deliver. Not cheap to buy new but if you are savvy you can find great condition used ones like I did. Never regretted it for a minute. I'd highly recommend them, even the more affordable models can be picked now on the second hand market keenly priced. Unfortunately if you prefer passive then these are unlikely to be up your street.

I don't do best but my favourites are. 1 - (Stanley Clarke & Aston Barrett) - I can't split these two as they are equally major influences to me and I have enjoyed their bass playing more than any others. The rest are the ones I like equally not ordered by rank. 2- Victor Bailey 3-Chuck Rainey 4-Marcus Miller 5-Nathan East 6-Gary Willis 7-John Pattitucci 8-Richard Cousins 9-Ron Carter

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1481308958' post='3191453'] Nothing gratuitous about these pics! Bring em on! My ultimate bass. Hopefully I'll be able to afford a second hand one by the time I'm 40... [/quote] It felt like a major achievement when I got my first one at the age of 42 but being a guitar player at the time I was like a fish out of water but had to make that dream come true.

Funny how things are I just love the Elan shape and yes the difference is subtle but something slightly more curvy that appeals to me. I just love that little curl at the end of the elan headstock on the 4 and 5 string versions. For my sins, I do also have a black Alembic 5 with the best of both worlds an Europa shaped all maple body like you would get in the Elan, a Europa neck recipe having maple and three purpleheart neck lams but it is the slightly narrower style Elan neck profile with the Elan headstock. talk about punch and clarity.....!

This is my contribution to the thread and is the bass I bought from a collector in the USA in 2012 and was in brand new condition when I picked it up and in bass terms it's my soul mate. An Europa bodied Series II 5 stringer. Fully specified mahogany body. 5A quilted maple top and back with purpleheart highlights., 2x vol, 2x low pass filters, 2x CVQ ( constantly variable Q), pickup selector, master volume, side LED's with brightness control, 3 ebony neck laminates and ebony fretboard. Weighs about 13lbs.

Excellent looking Alembic. I'm a big big big fan of their basses and pre-amps. Yours looks like it has anniversary electronics with two volumes, two filters and two q-switches and stereo/mono output?

My smallest rig I've used live is a PJB Briefcase. It's been perfect for some small restaurant gigs I did about 4 years ago. The rest of the band was, keyboards, sax and drums.

I don't have any problems changing scale lengths between 30.75 and 34 on a gig. As for string tension I use the same gauge on the short scale as on 34" scale strings, 45 - 105 and there isn't anything to worry about. My most recent short scale bass came with 40 -100 strings and I changed them to my regular 45 - 105 on which felt really good but I will go back to the lighter set when the next string change comes around. I like the flexibility on the short scale and thinner strings feel much better to me when playing up the dusty end of the neck too.

I've done that a few times and on one gig this summer soundcheck was fine then after we started playing my monitor feed disappeared as did the keyboard players next to me so I couldn't hardly hear any bass on stage at all.

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1480961924' post='3188468'] I usually try to talk to the bass player after a gig, just to say 'well done, wherr are you playing next' etc. I don't tend to ask if they're on BC and I never talk gear unless they do. I've always tried to go up to at least one band member and thank them if I've enjoyed the gig, from long before I ever picked up a bass myself. I was almost put off continuing to do this after a thread on here where several individuals professed to feeling awkward when punters talked to them, or finding it tiresome in one way or another. But eventually I thought 'sod it, life's too short, if I want to compliment someone I will' And hope that deep down inside they actually appreciate it in some way. [/quote] I'm very much like that too if I can I like to commumicate my appreciation for their performance and if they ask what I thought about the sound I do think it's best to be honest to what you hear because I know myself that I would want to know how my bass sounded in the venue.

I went to watch Nearly Dan a few years back at the Hare & Hounds in Birmingham and watched the bass player Pete Bacain intently as he was masterfully weaving the bass through those Steely Dan tracks and he looked more serious than I do on stage and I wondered if he would be approachable. But as they came off stage for the interval I said hello and complimented him on his bass playing and that I we had communicated on here and his face opened up witha huge grin and he took me back on the stage to show me his bass and his bass rig. A really nice cool guy even handed me his bass to feel.

You have a point there NickA, I often wondered why so many drivers pull out of side roads in front of me at the last minute or cut me up after overtaking me, I thought these were just bad drivers but from what you say there is some hatred for us. :-( So If I get a double bass in the car they will ease up on me.... :-)

Thanks for posting. I have short scale basses and it was a good read.

NOW THAT IS MY KIND OF MUSIC!!!

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1480684001' post='3186377'] Your a bit buggered if your neck develops a warp or any other problem on a neck through. [/quote] Yeah absolutely. The oldest basses I have are well played 1980 and 1989 neck through alembics and thankfully neither have any neck problems. They both have dual truss rods and are laminate construction. I have though seen on the alembic forum a bass that had the through neck replaced by Alembic. Costly no doubt but not the end of the world. As for the sound I don't think it would make much difference to me if a bass was bolt on or neck through as long as i liked the sound and the neck/body area didn't compromise my playing of it.

No problem at all. I do that often when I have my mesa boogie rig with 2x10 powerhouse set up when preparing for gigs. Other than that I tend to use my PJB Briefcase. The sound is obviously different from a guitar rig but for practice it's fine.