Hi I'm just wondering, do you know if Alembic ever did a 5 string Darling bass?
Would that be even possible since its a short scale, to put low B on it?
Thanks
Goran
Hi Goran, one of our members here has a Stanley Clarke Signature 5 string so Alembic certainly have made 5 string short scale basses with a low B, so i would expect they could do it with a Darling bass. Are you looking for a new bass?
Phil Lesh's last two 6-string Series II Alembics also were short scale.
To Stephen's point, the scale is less of an issue than the body... a Balance-K like Phil's might work batter than Darling would for... well, balance. :)
Both of my 5-strings are medium-scale. Neither balance great, but they are manageable. One is a Persuader/Spoiler shape, the other one is much like your Anniversary 5-string, but with a couple small differences.
Jazzy, yea I'm thinking of it. :)
The thing is that I really like Darling shape, I had Balance K, but didn't like it (weird enough)
When you say short scale on Alembic, what does that mean 30" or 32", or both?
This shape is just so beautiful
(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.station-musicshop.de%2FWebRoot%2FStore8%2FShops%2F64398533%2F5D2C%2F4918%2F7297%2FEC22%2F2A50%2F0A0C%2F6D07%2FDE3F%2Falembic_darling-black-4706-viol9.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=274daa20b2b8950cd53538c6730e9f89df87a698ee6b8399438c1835ae15f587)
According to the website, a Stanley Clarke short scale bass has a 30.75 inch scale
32'' would be medium scale. Mica did once say that they can do a medium scale Darling bass. Such an incredible shape!
Some years ago I had a conversation with a club member who owns a 5-string short scale. The impression I got out of the conversation was while it works the B string was not as tight as they would have preferred. As a result if I were going for a 5-string I would look at a medium if not long scale instrument.
I'm sorry I'm late to this - I am one of the few with a 5-string Stanley Clarke bass with the short scale. I will say that, by itself, the low B doesn't sound great. One problem is strings - finding a low B that fits the Alembic-style short scale isn't easy. I say "Alembic-style" because of the separate bridge & tailpiece - It's not like a standard Fender style, right? Regular long scale DR strings fit for the EADG due to that extra distance, but the long scale low B in a DR set did not. I had converted my bass to EADGC and that worked fine, but when I put it back to BEADG, I can't remember which set I used first. Now I have settled on the Alembic short scale 5-string set, which fits perfectly!
Sound-wise, I have to say that the low B is far from perfect. By itself, the low B (thru my effects rig into headphones) doesn't sound great - not nearly as bright as the other strings, and slight inharmonicity, I believe due to the thickness of the string in relation to the length. But I have never really been a stickler for intonation (up to a point - I'm partly kidding, of course I'm concerned and try and be aware, but also find that in a band with two guitarists and my style where I don't go up the neck that much, it's not a deal breaker for me) (and I also always think of a Chris Squire line where he plays way up high and it sounds out of intonation to me - but they kept it, because the energy and the performance was more important than the intonation - wish I knew which song it was! Time to relisten to the Yes catalog?)
But playing with the band? I think the recordings I have made sound pretty good. Whether going through my Custom Audio Electronics/Japan V-Comp tube compressor & Tech21 Geddy Lee MP40 SansAmp or the JHS Punchline (compressor & amp sim), I've been pretty happy with the sound. I'll post some if you want - the best one might be something I haven't put out yet, but I'm working on it.
Is your idea for the short scale Darling still in the works? Or maybe medium scale would be a "safer" choice? Actually, not even sure if Alembic is open to low B on a 5 string at this point - though of course the late great Phil Lesh got his, but Mica told me he used really light strings and plucked very lightly - the opposite of my style!