Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Swap Shop and Wish Lists => Seen on craigslist, eBay, and elsewhere => Topic started by: tbrannon on August 06, 2006, 07:24:44 PM
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The picture says it all...
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Custom-Shop-Bass-Guitar-UNIQUE-VIOLA-VIOLIN ALEMBIC_W0QQitemZ270015943223QQihZ017QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem (http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Custom-Shop-Bass-Guitar-UNIQUE-VIOLA-VIOLIN-ALEMBIC_W0QQitemZ270015943223QQihZ017QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
Alembic guts~ Strange to say the least.
(Message edited by tbrannon on August 06, 2006)
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That is pretty freaking sweet!
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i emailed them
in their opinion without modifications it cant be set up with a low b string
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How's this for vintage!
Petrified Siberian Wooley Mammoth Ivory nut (20,000 years old!)
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Reckon what the serial number is on that one?
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All I can say is-- that doesn't look like an Alembic headstock.
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been exchanging email with them and they seem very friendly and responsive- even offered to build me one with a low b- but then again i have alembic here.,...
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Jeff, what sort of mods are they talking about for a low B? In most cases it should not grossly change the overall tension on the neck, so I would think all that you'd need would be wider slots in the nut and bridge - not exactly what I would consider a mod, but maybe there's something else going on that I'm not thinking of.
Though it's not really my taste, it looks to be very nicely done from the photos - beautiful finish, very nice fingerboard, interesting style, and of course great electronics. Headstock looks a bit massive to my eye, but it does seem to balance nicely.
The electronics alone are worth well more than the current bid, and they seem to come in a pretty nice package.
And of course, you could then go around telling people you have a petrified nut (sorry, couldn't help myself).
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the steinberger tuners will only accept .090 diameter
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My father built several chlorine gas plants in Russia in the late '70's to early '80's when very few Americans were allowed to travel behind the Iron Curtain. He traveled in Russia, Bulgaria and Romania many times. The Russian Trade Embargo virtually killed his business.........but not his memory of what he learned about Russian business practices. I wouldn't bid on this bass for all the caviar in the Caspian! IMHO, and I know nobody asked, the odds of actually receiving this bass and not getting ripped off are about the same as OJ admitting that he killed Nicole. My prayers go out to any bidders!
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BTW: there's another reason I missed in my prior post about why one shouldn't bid on this bass if you live in the United States. I'm an attorney practicing criminal law for almost 26 years. We have very strict Federal laws on the importation of Ivory into the United States. Again, IMHO, any successful bidder in this country could go through absolute hell trying to get this bass into the country if the ad is correct about the ivory nut. Just a word of warning from someone who has had to deal with antique ivory issues before!
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So, Pat, is that only endangered ivory, or would something like Elk Tooth Ivory count?
Bradley
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Pat, you're my kind of guy.
I'm with Bradley . . . we all see the occasional ad with 'non-endangered' ivory or some similar gobbldygook, is ANY ivory legal?
This really is one more EBay invitation to blow a large-calibre hole in your posterior, the slug still having considerable lbs/ft after shredding your wallet on the way in.
J o e y
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Joey,
Did you use gelatin to measure the impact?
And an elk's teeth (the front two upper teeth) are ivory. Elk are a renewable resource. Not endangered.
Bradley
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My parents bought us an old piano, and it has ivory on the keys (now in my own living room). I've played a great many pianos over the years, among which a handful of grand pianos to wax lyrical about - but plastic really is no sustitute.
Not that I want to encourage elephant hunters, just that they haven't come up with a good ersatz - not counting celluloid which was allegedly developed for snooker balls, when the elephant hunters couldn't keep up with the demand of the snooker craze back in the day - except the stuff would catch fire from time to time.
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Ok, I have a question -- it states on this auction that the fingerboard is cocobolo. Isn't cocobolo not a good idea for a fingerboard, since it would be unfinished and therefore can cause some people to have an allergic reaction?
--J
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Quote + link: .Coco Bolo. Coco Bolo is not suitable for those with sensitive skin (http://www.alembic.com/info/wood_fingerboards.html target=_blank)
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if it's vintage/antique ivory, you have to prove it. you have to be able to prove the date the ivory was harvested. in the piano instance, the date of manufacture, which is easily ascertainable, and proof the keys are original or pre-date the cutoff date in the statute is all you would need. most antiques dealers have affidavits and documentation proving any ivory they sell is exempt from the law. regarding ivory obtained from a foreign country, you have to prove the ivory isn't taken from archaeological sites, isn't protected by the laws of that country, or is not a national treasure which if removed from the country of origin would constitute, essentially, theft of art or national heritage. with specific regard to mammoth ivory, you have to be able to prove when it was discovered, where it came from and you might even run into problems w/regards to russian ivory of claims that it is the property of indigenous peoples. regardless of the importability of this ivory nut, failure to declare that the nut is ivory on any customs paperwork would be a separate, serious federal offense, the prosecution of which would really not have anything to do with the provenance of the ivory itself.