Kiwi

The guys seems preciously talented...plays everything!

The bridge is definitely early 80s...probably home made?

BTW, if you are serious about an Alembic, get an early 80's Spoiler. It'll be heavy, and a little dark sounding but it will give you a toe in the water and you could probably sell it for what you paid for it, so long as you don't pay more than 1300 quid. Alternatively there are Persuaders (PJ pickups) and Elans but they're all pretty similar in terms of sound. Series basses seem to be a little more versatile and brighter.

...and know what you are looking for is what you expect.

Alembics aren't all that different to preCBS Fenders in being considered The Ultimate Bass of their time and something for bass players who grew up in that time to aspire to. I'd count myself in with that group. I remember first reading about Stanley Clarke and seeing his Alembic, then there was John Entwhistle, JPJ, John McVie, even Dexy's Midnight Runners bass player had an Alembic Series bass on one tv show appearance...they looked sexy with lots of controls as if they were made for demanding players.

Thanks, forgot to mention that. Serials got shifted to the bridge after the EB buy out.

The bridges are the bass as far as any credibility with the distributor goes because that's where the serial number is. So you could buy extra parts eg. tuners, scratch plates, neck and control plate etc. The bodies very seldom come up for sale, I bought the last one I saw and that was about 7 years ago. Still...he's taking a real risk.

Found a place locally that sells Tru-oil so will be bagging some of that over the weekend. Hopefully the Tru-oil will produce a good result.

BTW, probably not a good idea to cut and paste that link anywhere, it's youtu.be, not youtube.com. Others who have clicked similar links in the past get sent to a viral place.

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1332602294' post='1590562'] This is good for 2 reasons. Billy Sheehan's tone and the sound of a driven Hammond B3 through a Leslie Cab (to me it's the greatest sounding instrument ever) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6c6zWpzlQk[/media] [/quote] OMG its the James Taylor Quartet meets Dream Theater! Seriously though, fantastic to see him stretching beyond his normal metal/rock genre.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1332621133' post='1590900'] It's an interesting shape! Very hard to imagine what it's going to look like [/quote][quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1332624476' post='1590972'] I would think it will look very similar to a Klein. [/quote] Yes, absolutely. The Shuker shape kept sliding off my knee so I went for something that was a little more ergonomic. Should look something like this when complete but H/S rather than H/H and redwood rather than maple top: [attachment=103325:Canton-Klein-Custom-Guitar (1).jpg]

My luthier is going to drop this off in a couple of weeks and I'll be fitting the headless steinberger neck, R trem and sustainer kit to it after its received some finishing. NZ beech body (have no idea what that will sound like), quilted redwood top and wenge veneer. [attachment=103307:DSCF0215.jpg] I'll doing the finishing myself - probably an oil finish but have to see what is available in the stores where I live.

Is that a recent change in transformer specification or speculation? Most manufacturers will put a dual voltage transformer in not only because its more convenient (and cheaper) but also because that's what musicians who tour between continents expect. Both my mesas had a 120/240v switch on the back IIRC

Oh well, wait about 9-12 months and import used from the US. Have a tech switch the voltage. Bish bosh.

and...25 years on from when I first heard it on NZ tv in 1987... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCv-5EonBuo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCv-5EonBuo[/url] Still like the sound.

John Patitucci - for how the high end sounds so mellow [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2rs4wBl-Fs[/media] Nathan East - for warmth and growl. This is my ideal work-a-day tone. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_aIi9u34-A&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_aIi9u34-A&feature=related[/url]

Thanks for that, I was expecting around 3mm.

[quote name='matski' timestamp='1332319401' post='1586436'] the gap between the top of the last fret and the string is around 3mm. [/quote] And the gap around the 12th fret? Problem with the cutlass necks was that the phenolic resin on the fingerboard wasn't stiff enough to resist string tension. All 5 I've either owned or played so far have had the same issue. I've never found one that wasn't from 1983 or 84 either. [quote name='matski' timestamp='1332319401' post='1586436'] BTW is that 600 number you mentioned an official figure for how many Cutlasses were made? I always wondered how many there were out there... [/quote] Yes, an estimate for Cutlass 1 basses. There were 300 Cutlass II's made.

I believe either a GK3 or piezo bridge can send a signal to the hexpander (which is essentially a filter that combs out all the frequencies likely to affect tracking). MIDI is just used as a term of convenience, its not intended to suggest MIDI code is being created by the pickup. Thats the job of the Axon AX100, read it as piezo-MIDI if you prefer.

[quote name='pierreganseman' timestamp='1332187426' post='1584602'] Kiwi i have your ex cuttlass one [/quote] Awesome! Nice to know its gone to a good home Pierre. [quote name='matski' timestamp='1332236701' post='1585109'] Years ago I remember talking to a guy from Strings & Things - UK distributor for MM gear - and he told me that 12 Cutlasses were only ever imported to the UK.[/quote] New? I can believe that. But if it's out of a total of 600 made, I'm sure there must have been secondhand imports as well. [quote name='matski' timestamp='1332236701' post='1585109'] Mine's black and it's a 1983 model - so not strung through the body and with a 4-bolt neck. [/quote] Can you achieve low action on it? That is, action low enough where you can't slide a 1 quid coin between the frets and the strings without making contact?

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1332280669' post='1586181'] Be wary. They grew up in a different age. [/quote] I wondered why they were wearing matching dog collars and eye liner.

I got an offer from an elderly couple.