1984 Alembic Spoiler in Metallica (and Prince) stylee, very battle scarred, Sims LEDS * SOLD * £2000 London

[Clarky 1,181]

Very dinged and scarred black 1984 Alembic Spoiler (32" medium scale), weighing in at under 10 pounds. From research I discovered its a very old refin over birds eye maple and with a replacement neck pickup. Up close its really evident how heavily used this bass had been, but from a couple of metres (eg onstage) looks cool AF.

I originally paid roughly £1700 including import duty from a Reverb seller in Mexico City and close to £500 at SIMS getting side LEDs and the side of the fingerboard re-lacquered (it was a bit tatty) so its super slick to play. Comes with new Mono gigbag (£180). No box at present * EDIT: BOX ARRIVING THURSDAY 21ST JAN * so its socially distanced pickup from my front drive in SW13 (Barnes, south of Hammersmith Bridge).

Pics below taken after LED installation, pics in gigbag taken today. Link to Mexico Reverb ad which shows clearly how battle scarred the bass is https://reverb.com/uk/item/33972935-alembic-spoiler-1984-black

NO TRADES as selling down my bass collection to the bare bones.

Edited January 21 by Clarky

[LukeFRC 2,092]

Lovely

[walshy 1,918]

Ain’t she pretty! 

[Cairobill 98]

Lovely!

[Clarky 1,181]

PS, if anyone wanted to get this refinished in gloss black so it looked minty, Dave Wilson (bass finisher extraordinaire) quoted about £500. Would take all-in price to £2500 which would be an utter bargain compared with new Alembic prices (cheapest model starts at $8k, without extras and before import/delivery). I decided against refinishing as I figured I would be happier gigging a road worn Alembic than one that looked fresh out of the box.

Edited January 10 by Clarky

[walshy 1,918]

1 minute ago, Clarky said:

PS, if anyone wanted to get this refinished in gloss black so it looked minty, Dave Wilson (bass finisher extraordinaire) quoted about £500. Would take all-in price to £2500 which would be an utter bargain compared with new Alembic prices (cheapest model starts at $8k, without extras and before import/delivery)

And he's bloody brilliant and not far from me! Honest guys he's a bloody genius

[bassfan 2,122]

Or purple sparkle 🤔

[three 497]

Wow, absolute bargain for a stunning bass (IMO). I’d certainly go for the re-fin and have all the brass gold plated (about £150). The tone out of these is biblical

[Reggaebass 5,166]

That’s really nice, I keep coming back for another look 🙂

[molan 348]

Fabulous!

[itsat34 1]

Lovely!

Got a Distillate with same body shape, a lovely balanced bass to play!

[sshorepunk 206]

That’s a cool bass 

[Noisyjon 92]

That's a nice one @Clarky - GLWTS Mate

Edited January 11 by Noisyjon

[arker 0]

mp sent

[Clarky 1,181]

Thanks and replied. I will investigate shipping options although I do not currently have box or bubble wrap ....

[Clarky 1,181]

I hope to have shipping materials at the start of next week so for those interested please be patient for a few more days. Cheers

[Clarky 1,181]

I now have a double walled carboard shipping box arriving next Thursday, so if anyone is interested in buying this bass and requires it being shipped, I will have the facility to do so as of Friday week

[Clarky 1,181]

[Clarky 1,181]

... and Jason Newsted (although his Spoiler had upgraded electronics and supposedly was waterproofed due to his excessive sweating)

[Clarky 1,181]

The guitar and bass line up for Prince's late 90s Sign o the times tour. Black Spoiler in the background, just to left of middle

 

Edited January 19 by Clarky

[Clarky 1,181]

PS, double-walled packing box just arrived 2 days early so I can post as of tomorrow

[Booga13 66]

Arrrgh, will you stop trying so hard to sell this until I'm ready to give it a new home!😁

[spencer.b 115]

On 10/01/2021 at 17:49, Clarky said:

PS, if anyone wanted to get this refinished in gloss black so it looked minty, Dave Wilson (bass finisher extraordinaire) quoted about £500. Would take all-in price to £2500 which would be an utter bargain compared with new Alembic prices (cheapest model starts at $8k, without extras and before import/delivery). I decided against refinishing as I figured I would be happier gigging a road worn Alembic than one that looked fresh out of the box.

Don't suppose you asked him if stripping it back to original was possible?

[Clarky 1,181]

1 minute ago, spencer.b said:

Don't suppose you asked him if stripping it back to original was possible?

Dave W said it would have to be stripped first before refinishing again in black, so I assume its eminently possible to turn it back to (what I was told on Alembic forum was the) birds eye maple original finish

[Clarky 1,181]

From his message to me (hope he doesn't mind):

"Hi , thanks for your enquiry , I think if it’s already been refinished before I’d have to take it right back to the wood to make sure we are getting a good foundation, very time consuming but better done once properly.
Also you might like what is under the black ? 
I can only give a very rough guide cost wise but I’d estimate £500 as a ball park figure"