EMG456

I will state that my first hand experience of these only goes to 1993 - Wal, 1998 - Alembic but I don't think that much has changed with the philosophies of either company in the meantime. Both are top quality instruments built to the highest standards and use mostly unique, purpose built hardware and electronics. to my mind, Alembic set the ball rolling with filter based preamps but Wal developed the concept to its optimum regarding variety of tones versus simplicity of use. ACG/ John East has since developed the Wal concept even further albeit the complexity is increasing again. A couple of things not mentioned in the original thread you referred to in my mind influence the sounds of these instruments as much as the pre amps - Construction and pickups. The Alembic sound is without doubt partially due to its complex, multi-laminate, through-neck construction, just as the Wal is similarly shaped by its bolt-on construction. That is partly I think, why the Epic basses seem to slightly fall short - they are set-neck construction, not through-neck. Apologies to all Epic owners - they are fine basses but that basic construction setup in a way changes the character of the sound. And again- pickups. The Alembic pickups are voiced to enhance the Alembic sound and as such are probably integral to the sound of those basses. Likewise, the Wal Multi Coil pickups are a huge part of the Wal sound. Do Alembic and Wal ( and Fodera, Sadowski etc. etc. ad infinitum) justify their high price tag? Well, factually they do - they're still in business after all these years and customers are still ordering new instruments from them so the price is justified in that respect certainly. But in relationship to general cost of living price indices, some of these makers have been able to push their prices far beyond inflation levels. According to an inflation calculator I looked at, the Alembic Essence 6 bass I ordered in 1998 at a cost of £2k should now cost about £3.5k But if I look at the Alembic price list, it starts at $8000. Only the individual can decide if anything is worth that sort of premium to them. I love my Wal. I love my Alembic. I love my ACG. I love my Antoria fretless Precision Copy! I just like basses and I like the little differences between different ones. Whilst the prices of the boutique builders can sometimes be hard to swallow, there is no doubt that at the mass market end of the bass spectrum, it has never been easier to afford a quality instrument.

That’s a beauty with the old style paddle headstock too. Colour me jealous.

Lovely!

I've been here before on this forum and on this topic. The article linked to is interesting but in my opinion the author has the science the wrong way round so read it to get an idea of some of the concepts that need to be considered but don't take its conclusions as gospel.

Ah... We Close Our Eyes. Played that song at the time- fantastic line. Only minor issue was that I was singing it too- brain explosion! Anyone who was playing at that time really had to come to terms with the accuracy of machine timing quickly or get left behind. It was a drummer’s nightmare though and some of the old guard I knew couldn’t cope. Don't make the assumption that the timings involved were always strict eights, sixteens etc. As soon as drum machines evolved past the TR 808, micro timings and groove templates became available and on all the main sequencers too. Guys at the high end of the production chain were definitely using these tools to refine things to give a less machine like feel but of course still with complete acuaracy and repeatability. The second bass guy (with the Yammy) nailed it better for me.

I’m trying to keep up but when did we do this? I just reckoned everybody was ignoring this as being to controversial for this site what with the rickenfaker rules.

It's a long time ago now... When I joined Jimmy, most of the Odysseys had been sold - there were two basses - one with the binding and one without and I think, one guitar. this would have been about 1982/3 ish?? Can't honestly remember. Jimmy would visit the Musical Instrument trade fairs- NAMM, Frankfurt etc.- and buy directly from the manufacturers. This was mainly to sell in the shops but he also had a network of contacts in the MI business who would often trade so yes, there was a bit of distribution going too. I would guess that most of the stock of Odysseys were sold in Edinburgh but there may have been a couple of stragglers traded on to other dealers in the UK. It's unlikely that Jimmy would have bought more than one batch of instruments from Atilla- he liked to have high quality stuff in the shops but it's always more difficult to sell than the mass market so once the original buzz had gone and the interest had waned, it becomes all about the profit, as in most businesses. I remember the two Odyssey basses and two graphite necked Alembic Series basses hung about for ages with no interest from the buying public.

In which case yours is the one I have played! I think I maybe also re-strung it as well. I used to work with Jimmy in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

I used to work for Jimmy in the mid 80s and he imported a lot of stuff directly from the manufacturers, both high end - Oddysey, Alembic, Martin, Gurian - and lower end like the Grant branded guitars. Before then, back in the mid 70's I recall a guitar review in International Musician magazine of a Grant Telecaster copy which the reviewer (a noted London based luthier, Stephen Delft) proclaimed that it was in every respect as good as the equivalent Fender offering. They flew out the door after that. So not all Grants were pants!

Join the end of the queue! 😁

Yes, it can process a normal input and apply effects, amp and cab sims etc. but it also takes the output from a GK3 hex pickup. This enables per string processing so that you could have different effects on different strings, do alternate tunings and opens up the V-Bass cosm bass models, where you can choose pickup types and positions, body types (solid, acoustic, semi acoustic etc in order to emulate the sounds of different basses. The Gk3/V-bass setup works for 4,5 or 6 string basses.

Is that the white Jazz in the Build Diaries? I can see how that could be a bit Abba in the right circumstances! 😁 Rutger Gunnerson and Dee Murray always strike me as being struck from the same mould- always fluid, organic basslines which sound as though they just pressed record and let rip. Completely natural and with no trace of sterility or over adherence to the written part. (If there was one)

+1

I have one of these- don’t use it much but it’s still relevant. Nice sounds and built like a tank.

I don’t get this either. Way back when I was just starting, I found it impossible to play a different bass to what I was used to (Rick) but I wanted to use a Precision because I liked the sound for some types of songs. So I persevered and then fell into the “I can only play these songs on that bass” trap. That was pretty much shot when I had to sell most of my basses to be able to afford my first Steinberger. That was virtually my only fretted bass for the next 8 years so everything was played on it! Now I have again lots of different basses and I enjoy them all- 34,33, 32 inch scales, 4/5/6/8 strings, fretted/ fretless, headed/ headless, different neck widths, tapers and depths/ profiles, active/ passive. I just take whichever ones I fancy to the gig and use them. I suspect the thing is, if you’re used to playing a wide variety of different instruments, it’s easy to adapt within seconds. If you exclusively play one type of instrument, it’s more difficult to adjust quickly.

Ha- guilty as charged- I was too lazy to look it up! Didn’t mean to take it off course- I just gave it a listen and heard a guy doing a passable approximation of the original part. I can’t imagine that if you’ve been playing the song, you’re so far away from that version that you need to completely start afresh but you’re the one who knows. I think I’d only be likely to go back to scratch if I was taking the song into another genre for the cover or sometimes for key changes if the original involves a lot of open strings? Also remember that we are often our own harshest critics.

Not being a naysayer here- the guy can certainly play- but that’s not note for note what the great Dion Estuss played on the record. IMO if you’re looking for accuracy, you’d be better listening to the source and then putting your *own* twist on it for any of the parts which don’t easily fall under your fingers.

Thanks for posting this - had me laughing out loud several times. Very, very clever and impeccably executed.

@FlatEric, I remember we spoke about these a while ago but I can't remember if you said whether your other one has the chequered body binding or not - I would love to find one of those!

The album is indeed a classic. As well as Clapton, Chaka Kahn provided a couple of surprise stand out moments on it. Still do On and On with one of my bands- audiences love it!

Dee Murray - one of my all time bass heroes and influences - the music just seemed to flow out of his fingers automatically. Many great parts with non standard note choices but never gave the impression that it was anything other than spontaneous.

Feel free to be irritated then- I do it most gigs and occasionally it’s really useful- how else might you change a broken string out mid-song??!

Never heard Arthur before so thanks - truly excellent. Keep well and take it easy.

Anyone know where the mashers get the raw material for these - isolated vocal tracks etc?