Alembic Guitars Club

Connecting => Swap Shop and Wish Lists => Seen on craigslist, eBay, and elsewhere => Topic started by: hg30904 on July 01, 2009, 03:31:15 PM

Title: What is this?
Post by: hg30904 on July 01, 2009, 03:31:15 PM

Seen on ebay
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/Alembic-4-string-Bass-Fretless-custom-made-Beautiful-NR_W0QQitemZ130315526881QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item1e576922e1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1205%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50 (http://cgi.ebay.com/Alembic-4-string-Bass-Fretless-custom-made-Beautiful-NR_W0QQitemZ130315526881QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item1e576922e1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1205%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50)

Title: What is this?
Post by: David Houck on July 01, 2009, 04:12:55 PM

It's an Elan.  The pickups and electronics have been compromised.  The electronics may have originally been Elan Plus, which is essentially Europa electronics.  The top might be Coco-bolo.  I don't know what it would cost to get Alembic pickups and Elan Plus electronics put in it, but at the current $1349 price, it might be worth it.

Title: What is this?
Post by: tmoney61092 on July 01, 2009, 04:20:11 PM

according to the price list, it would be about $1300 for the pickups and electronics, so i think it could definetly be worth it
 
~Taylor Watterson

Title: What is this?
Post by: jedisan on July 01, 2009, 05:46:58 PM

Makes me wonder why someone would swap the oem pups for some Barts. I really like Barts, have them in a handful of my basses. But, what gets me, is they don't fit the cutout. Well, maybe the original pups died, and this is what they came up with. Just thinking out loud, if you will.

Title: What is this?
Post by: bsee on July 01, 2009, 08:58:28 PM

Too bad they did a hack-job on the routing to make the Barts fit.  Is it a good value?  Hard to say.  I'm sure it's a great playing bass, but you can probably find an equal or better value of a bass that hasn't been hacked up if you're patient.  
 
Elan basses aren't all that common on the used market, though, so you might have to be really patient if you want the maple.  Otherwise, you should be able to get your hands on a Distillate in good shape for $2K or so.

Title: What is this?
Post by: David Houck on July 01, 2009, 09:39:17 PM

I didn't notice the routing issue before.

Title: What is this?
Post by: sonicus on July 01, 2009, 10:06:10 PM

Now that you point out the routing issue , I wonder what the professional fret removal looks and feels like  close up ?  What is the line material ?

Title: What is this?
Post by: 2400wattman on July 01, 2009, 10:46:10 PM

I don't think the p/up holes were routed out to acommadate the Barts., as it looks like the barts are smaller than the original p'up's.

Title: What is this?
Post by: bsee on July 01, 2009, 11:46:14 PM

I think the Barts have a smaller aperture, but may be a bit wider.  Who knows what the area under the pickups looks like.  I assume at least one hole per side was added to mount them, maybe more.  Could look like Swiss cheese under there.

Title: What is this?
Post by: David Houck on July 02, 2009, 06:39:13 AM

It may be worth it to someone to do some correspondence with the seller, and some better pictures would probably be helpful.

Title: What is this?
Post by: tmoney61092 on July 02, 2009, 08:19:16 AM

Didn't really think about that stuff, and didn't see the routing issue. Maybe someone will buy it and send it to the mothership to be fixed( very pricey bass) could be worth to someone
 
~Taylor Watterson