juliusmonk

I bought one bass guitar from Oli. Excellent seller. He was honest, helpful and flexible, offered to record sound samples, take pictures, etc. and everything went smoothly. Bass arrived mint, everything as advertised. Top bloke to deal with, buy with confidence! Thanks Oli!

I am using now the not-so-small Yamaha THR. If you have a fairly good bass guitar and want to preserve your tone, you can switch it to Flat. http://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/musical-instruments/guitars-basses/amps/thr_home/ In my experience, if you want to be minimally heard, then you need some speaker size.

Once more, thanks all for helping me out - especially Karl for the video! Great playing! I think I have enough elements to decide now... All in all, and much to my GAS discontent, I will not buy the Darling - unless I can try it or an equivalent (read signature electrs and up, short scale) Alembic. Unless GAS strikes back, that is... Did I miss one decissive variable...? Many thanks for your assistance fellow basists!

Thanks rednose200, very useful! It looks like I'll have to go to London soonish... I realise I forgot to show you all the bass I was looking at: http://www.station-music.de/bass/popup_bass.html?*MPImage%3D%5E%5E/images/bass/instrumente/ale_darl44126cobo%5Ejpg*MPImageX%3D0*MPImageY%3D0*MPTitle%3DAlembic*

I do have a Kingbass and it's great. Until I found it though, I had only tried an old series 2 and was a bit disappointed, I must confess - a bit too plasticky for my taste. But the Kingbass is excellent. Both the Zon and the Kingbass are graphite necks, though, and I was wondering whether the Alembic would be more "organic".

[quote name='lozbass' timestamp='1333448516' post='1601721'] Carlos - useful to listen to any and all opinions, then treat them as just that (taking into account the context in which they were formed). I can't offer a privileged or superior set of insights...still just personal opinions. Only you can decide. It's not worth me getting into another detailed/tired discussion of tones/feel etc. - none of this can be explained in text - you have to be there and all Alembic basses are different. I'll PM with some further information re: availability of basses in the UK. [/quote] Looking forward to it - many thanks! And any insight from experienced users always welcome!

I've done what you want with a Pocket Pod with headphones, now I am using a Yamaha thr-10, which is bedroom volume (and can be used with headphones as well). Both can be used as guitar amp simulators too, and both have line ins to play along mp3s

You guys are awesome - best advice I've ever had, and best therapy for GAS! Agree on MK... The tone is remarkably similar despite huge differences in instruments... Then again, that Alembic always had that something? I think that, in general, I've been disappointed with higher end brands - in my last trip to the States I tried everything I could put my hands on... Foderas and the like. They are all nice, but not 4k+ nice. The only real standout was a Zon Legacy with Koa top, but sadly I had to leave it due to logistics... I guess that, probably like all of us, I am after something that immediately feels right, plays effortlessly and sounds great. That bass would be invaluable, so definitely worth (almost) any price tag? But I concur that chances that the Alembic (or any bass that I cannot try before) turns out to be all that are slim... if it is 800 Eur, that's ok. 7000k on the wrong instrument would carry a lot of bitterness. I also have to try a Kubicki and a Pedulla MVP someday... Hard to come by though. I guess the quest continues...

Yep, Darling bass it is. I also don't have any short scale, and would like to try - although the punch and clarity of the E string worries me. This is interesting... Rigidity is one thing that puts me off most of the time. For instance, I find Elixir strings to stiff for my taste. I also don't want a bass that I have to "fight" to get things done - much rather have one in which I can do new things. I am also more inclined to lighter touch. Normally, within 5 minutes I decide whether a bass is for me or not - with just the feel. If I spend more time, I normally can get it to sound properly - with notable exceptions, but I'll walk away anyways. I'm not too elitistic. I can enjoy a Washburn T24 and a Jerzy Drozd all the same. Btw I should drop by Jerzy's and see what he's got in stock :-) Reflecting a bit, I think it was of course this (and not SC, although I love his music, except when he does fast runs on double bass) that made me look into Alembic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93VqyeUz8Z8&feature=youtube_gdata_player (when was that? 20 years ago?) is this the exclusive Alembic tone? Or is it only with Series I / II? And I know it's the fingers, etc., but one has to refer to something... I don't gig at present, so just playing for pleasure - and using a 'bedroom' Yamaha THR10 (in Flat, not Bass mode) which works fine for what I want now. So I pretty much rely on the bass preamp and tone, with no outboard eq... Just some compression maybe. String spacing may also be important - I'd rather have it on the narrow side, but I can live with up to 'standard' 19 mm.

Sorry for the quote alone, still getting used to how the forum works... Thanks - a very balanced opinion, much appreciated! Unfortunately I'm nowhere near Northern England, but I'd be very interested to know more about those two short scale basses... :-) Can I have more info? Re the want/need thing... It's gas, so yes I guess 'want' is more appropriate. Then again, when dies one really *need* another bass? :-) Still, most higher end basses (with beautiful woods, etc) don't come close to 10-12k. Alembic charges a lot just for the electronics apparently. I need to justify this to myself, and that as you all correctly say is probably impossible without trying out. But it seems clear that they position their basses as luxury goods and the extremely high price is part of the strategy, as happens so often with higher end Fenders, Gibsons, etc. But all and any advice highly appreciated!

[quote name='lozbass' timestamp='1333365123' post='1600516'] [indent=1]Having owned four 'higher-end' Alembics (I still have two, a Series II custom standard small body, and a custom SCD) and having played many more, I'd concur with much of the commentary above. Try to listen to those that have some experience with Alembics though - you'll read strong opinions from some that haven't touched an Alembic or that have spent little time with one - they do seem to divide opinion. [/indent] [indent=1]An important issue is set-up - most Alembics that you'll find in shops (admittedly, not many) are not at all well set-up. The set-up for an Alembic is slightly more tricky than for most basses (and two of my favourite bass builders don't really like to touch them). For me, a well set-up Alembic will play beautifully - super-fast and with ludicrously low action (if you want that). Another important issue is the electronics - from Signature up, you're getting a reasonably sophisticated filter system that takes a little getting used-to. Though again, opinions are divided, I'd say that a good Alembic can sound like a lot of other basses (with a bit of effort and accommodation to the filter EQ), but it can have a very distinctive (characteristic?) Alembic tone that can't be easily emulated by other basses.[/indent] [indent=1]I now really only play short-scale Alembics (after trying a lot of other basses from Fodera through Celinder, Sadowsky, Wal, Sei etc. to just about every custom and high-end luthier that you could wish to name). They just fit right for me - I'm certainly too old to speak of 'best' basses in the world, however, don't discount the brand on the negative opinions of others. Just go and try some yourself. If you're in the North of England, you're welcome to try mine. I doubt you'll be disappointed by either the tone, ergonomics, playability or finish. Alembics are expensive, though there is the occassional bargain to be found (I think I know of two in the UK now if you're looking for a used short-scale in excellent condition).[/indent] [/quote]

Many thanks! I'm a newbie here and wish I'd joined earlier - excellent advice! For the record: I wish I was a millionaire.. I'm just in my 40s already! :-) So I just managed to get a new instrument every two or three years... So I guess I am now in the 'now or never' state of mind. Buying online scares me indeed - a used one would scare me even more I guess. And you are absolutely right: I've tried out hundreds of basses before, enough to learn the try before you buy lesson. Although I am always disappointed that most basses in shops have dead strings, poor (or no) setup... How can one buy anything? Cumbersome is exactly the word I'd use to describe the Alembics I tried. I was expecting something that would play itself! Alembic must have the best marketing in the world... Although if you fork out 10k, you better convince yourself that it is the ultimate bass. I can also understand that. They're definitely beautiful though (the expensive ones)...

So I'm looking at this short scale Alembic bass that looks absolutely gorgeous - but it's 7000 Euro! I promised myself long ago to never spend that kinda cash on an instrument... Well I underestimated the powers of GAS. My problem is: I have tried two Alembics in my life: an Epic (which sounded and felt just like any other average, consistent bass, honestly), and a MK signature, which was a big letdown, especially when compared side by side with a Kingbass standard. However, I keep on seeing widespread Alembic praise (best bass money can buy, etc). I already have a Zon legacy elite and a Kingbass Artist, but maybe Alembic has something special in the hi fi department? Versatility is not a big selling point for me - if I want a Jazz bass sound I'll look for a JB (and the GAS is also open to that). Please enlighten me and help me make up my mind. It's too expensive for risking a letdown! Plus it seems Alembics lose half of their value the moment the 'used' tag is put on them. Other basses I have include my first bass Westone Spectrum II, Yamaha BBG4SII, Ibanez Musician MC924 (1981) and a Tune Bassmaniac. Many thanks, Carlos

I actually still have a BBG4SII that I bought as a backup, lake placid blue. Very solid, tight, looks very good, but certainly not hi-fi and a bit big for my small hands... So I don't use it much. I tend to slap a lot and the sound doesn't have too much personality. But it should make a great rock bass. For the price, quite stunning...