I've kinda been looking for a "beater" Alembic for a while. Last night, I saw this pop up on Reverb. I made an offer, and this morning I received a nice counter offer that I accepted. Drove out to the southwest suburbs and picked it up. It's a REALLY nice bass for the money. The ad states the case is not in very good shape, but it's perfectly fine. The finish is slightly matte. I'm hoping I can buff it out. Even as-is, the maple top is so nice and "deep" it still looks sort of shiny. I did discover a hopefully minor electronics issue that I've posted in Troubleshooting. I'll take some glamor shots when I get done cleaning her up. Here are some from Reverb for now.
Well I finally bit the bullet and bought myself a FatBoy for this bass. If you didn't see my other thread, it turned out the bridge pickup was dead when I bought it in June. I'd been enjoying it with just the neck pickup working, and played a few gigs with the Who tribute band I'm with. Really good bass for that band! But I had to get it fully functional, and Mica and Mary got me a FatBoy. I first tried it in the bridge position and recorded a few things. Then, I swapped the pickups around with the AXY at the bridge and the FB at the neck. I like this setup much better. I think that pickup sounds better by the neck. I mean it is a genuinely good neck pickup. And the original neck AXY sounds GREAT in the bridge position (as it did at the neck). All in all, I'm very happy with this purchase! I never thought I'd be able to swing owning 2 Alembics at once, but I made it work.
Side note - there is a very prominent "848" in the neck pickup cavity. Wonder what that's all about?
I have a three pickup bass concept in mind that will utilize A FAT BOY and two Alembic JAZZ pickups. :)
Work order numbers, I think... here's one of mine.
*and yeah, Fat is where it's at. 😎
Congrats on a nice Spoiler!
Where does the time go? I finally got to take some nice outdoor shots of the Spoiler. I traded the FatBoy for a regular AXY and I am completely happy with this bass now. It's got a nice, aggressive tone to it. Must be all that maple.
Looking good in the sun!
Very nice Spoiler! Love that maple top. What is the exact difference in sound (or output) between the normal Spoiler pickups and the Fatboy?
Very nice! 😊
Quote from: Barend on June 29, 2026, 12:11:33 PMVery nice Spoiler! Love that maple top. What is the exact difference in sound (or output) between the normal Spoiler pickups and the Fatboy?
Output-wise, they are pretty comparable. Tone-wise, the FatBoy has more of a double coil vibe. In very simple terms, I would call AXY vs FatBoy similar to Jazz Bass vs Thunderbird. Both great tones, it just depends on what you're looking for.
Quote from: Barend on June 29, 2026, 12:11:33 PMVery nice Spoiler! Love that maple top. What is the exact difference in sound (or output) between the normal Spoiler pickups and the Fatboy?
I think Joey made a pretty good analogy of the difference between them by comparing AXY's to a very good set of neutral studio monitors. FatBoys are a meaner version, with some baked-in oomph. Joey allows they ought to stomp a Musicman into submission. I've never had one, but I did have a Tobias Growler with a Bartolini quadcoil once. The Alembic FatBoy outperforms it in overall frequency range for sure. I think the output has less to do with that and more with the preamp it's being processed by. I had a pair of them in a Series bass as surrogates for a while, and if I'm being completely honest, I'd have left them in there and still be playing that bass today
for sound quality alone. That being said, those pickups were running through a Series preamp and set of filters, but with the humcanceler turned off. I would defy anyone to discern that bass from any other Series bass by sound. Ron, Mica, maybe some really old school folks... but the difference is miniscule. I think the difference is more about the electronics than the coils.
My Custom fretless 5-string has the same FatBoy pickup at the bridge and as awesome as it is, it doesn't sound like that Series bass did with them. Of course it has totally different electronics! If I ever get healthy enough to go play that bass again, I have every intention of installing a second FatBoy in the neck position too... that's how strongly I feel about them. But again, Tom here... just as strongly the other way. He's five times the player as me on his worst day. I trust he knows how to get what his ears need. That's why there's different ones.
Quote from: gearhed289 on June 30, 2026, 08:55:37 AMQuote from: Barend on June 29, 2026, 12:11:33 PMVery nice Spoiler! Love that maple top. What is the exact difference in sound (or output) between the normal Spoiler pickups and the Fatboy?
Output-wise, they are pretty comparable. Tone-wise, the FatBoy has more of a double coil vibe. In very simple terms, I would call AXY vs FatBoy similar to Jazz Bass vs Thunderbird. Both great tones, it just depends on what you're looking for.
Thank you both for exlaining the Fatboy. For me it would make more sense to put that in the bridge position, cause the neck pickup usually had more low already from itself. Can you buy a Fatboy directly from Alembic? What are the costs?
Bridge position seems to be the popular choice, yes. You can buy direct from Alembic. I would recommend trying to get Mica or Mary on the phone to discuss.
Quote from: gearhed289 on July 01, 2026, 06:36:31 AMBridge position seems to be the popular choice, yes. You can buy direct from Alembic. I would recommend trying to get Mica or Mary on the phone to discuss.
Thanks!
BTW, I checked out your Odd Time Concepts album. Great stuff! Sorry to draw an immediate comparison, but a lot of it really reminded me of later day Brand X. Cool that you're on the 7D label.
Quote from: gearhed289 on July 02, 2026, 07:07:30 AMBTW, I checked out your Odd Time Concepts album. Great stuff! Sorry to draw an immediate comparison, but a lot of it really reminded me of later day Brand X. Cool that you're on the 7D label.
Thanks for the nice words! I have two other solo albums out. Six Against Four and Juvenile Fish Tales. Both are on Bandcamp and all streamings.