Alembic Guitars Club

Connecting => Swap Shop and Wish Lists => Seen on craigslist, eBay, and elsewhere => Topic started by: s_wood on November 12, 2005, 07:02:08 PM

Title: 3 Nice Alembics in NJ (USA)
Post by: s_wood on November 12, 2005, 07:02:08 PM

I saw 3 nice Alembics for sale at the Philadelphia Guitar Show today.  They are located in NJ (in the US) at a dealer called Good Guys Guitars.
 
1) 1974 Series 1 - 9.5LBS! $5,995   Unusually light for a Series I.  Weird woods: mahagony neck with maple lams...the top was walnut (I think) and the core was oak or sycamore (according to my buddy, a professional woodworker).  The dealer thought that the core was pear...who knows? THe basses sounded great...darker than you usually find in a Series bass.
        
2) 1994 Elan $1,749  Beautiful blue finish over nice quilted maple.    
        
3) 1991 Essence $1,399   Red over lightly flamed maple.
 
See the basses here:  www.goodguysguitars.com (http://www.goodguysguitars.com)

Title: 3 Nice Alembics in NJ (USA)
Post by: kmh364 on November 13, 2005, 05:51:07 AM

Pretty nice site...that blue Elan is very nice...you don't see a lot like that one!
 
FWIW, They've got some decent pieces there...lot's of vintage Fenders.  
 
One Strat caught my eye...an '82 with a custom semi-translucent (sea blue?) blue finish over ash or alder. They referred to it as a coveted Smith Strat model. Anybody here know what in the h*ll they're talking about?

Title: 3 Nice Alembics in NJ (USA)
Post by: s_wood on November 13, 2005, 10:45:29 AM

Yeah, the Elan is really nice..even cooler in person.  If I still played four strings much it would be MINE!

Title: 3 Nice Alembics in NJ (USA)
Post by: kmh364 on November 16, 2005, 04:30:42 AM

Well, I did find out what a Smith Strat is, and I have two of 'em, LOL! Smith came to CBS in '81 from Yamaha USA and tried to refocus the company. A departure from (IMHO) the crappy big headstock, three-bolt/micro-tilt necked Strats to something more closely resembling pre-CBS specifications. '81 - '83 are the Smith years, purportedly, and Strats of that vintage seem to be somewhat in demand and are worth a fair amount. Personally, I think they're kinda crap-tastic, but considering what came recently before and after the Smith years, I guess they're OK.

Title: 3 Nice Alembics in NJ (USA)
Post by: David Houck on November 16, 2005, 06:32:31 AM

Hey, learn something new everyday!  I now know what a Smith Strat is, at least for the next few hours before this information slips from my memory like the morning dew under a rising sun.

Title: 3 Nice Alembics in NJ (USA)
Post by: kmh364 on November 16, 2005, 07:55:17 AM

Smith's HORRIBLE X-1 Strat bridge p/u was his attempt at 'rectifying' the weak, thin, brittle bridge p/u's Fender is notorious for. Unfortunately, the thing is so shrill and overbright, it could shatter glass, especially thru a Fender amp like my Silverface Twin, LOL!
 
Here's where the Lindy Fralins come in: stock pickguard assembly gets replaced in toto and intact and gets put aside while a new pickguard with a custom wiring harness and custom Lindy's get's bolted right in! Hopefully, that oughta fix the craptastic sound, and it can be reversed with no ill effects to the guitar.