Alembic Guitars Club

Alembic products => Alembic Basses & Guitars => Topic started by: davwir on August 12, 2009, 11:36:42 PM

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: davwir on August 12, 2009, 11:36:42 PM

I picked up this Exploiter recently, and I love it..
But i cant figure out what wood the top is made out of..
Some kind of figured mahogany? Any educated guessers out there?
 
http://www.wirthwhilemusic.com/Alembic.jpg (http://www.wirthwhilemusic.com/Alembic.jpg)

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: lbpesq on August 13, 2009, 12:49:01 AM

I can't be sure if it's the picture, but if it has those translucent qualities in the flesh, I'd guess that was Koa.
 
Bill, tgo

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: jazzyvee on August 13, 2009, 01:16:36 AM

To get the definitive answer from Mica, the best thing to do is to post the serial number in the serial number section of the forum
 
 
 
It may take a while as there are usually quite a lot of requests but that's the best way to be sure.
 
All the best with it  
Jazzyvee

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: chrisalembic on August 13, 2009, 02:36:29 AM

My guess would be Bubinga, due to the colour and figuring.

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: dadabass2001 on August 13, 2009, 06:15:44 AM

my guess = +1 for Koa
It looks alot like my '81 Distillate.
Mike

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: pas on August 13, 2009, 06:40:27 AM

Bubinga - without a doubt.

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: kungfusheriff on August 13, 2009, 06:50:45 AM

Bubinga. I have two koa Alembics, and yours looks nothing like mine.

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: hieronymous on August 13, 2009, 07:29:30 AM

Nice score!

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: terryc on August 13, 2009, 07:56:44 AM

Bubinga..look at mine in showcase(Mark King 93) or LED thread I put on here

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: honninscrave on August 13, 2009, 08:11:52 AM

+1 on Bubinga. I have a 1985 Exploiter and yours is pretty much a dead-ringer. You can check the picture included with my profile for confirmation.

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: mica on August 13, 2009, 08:16:54 AM

Bubinga is my opinion too.

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: David Houck on August 13, 2009, 08:24:53 AM

My vote is for Bubinga.
 
Very nice!  Congrats!!

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: davwir on August 14, 2009, 09:26:40 AM

Thank you ALL!
I agree, on seeing other Bubinga instruments now, it looks the same

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: davwir on August 14, 2009, 11:39:00 AM

any suggestions on what to use to clean this or other satin type finishes? The compound and wax Id normally use on a lacquer finish doesnt really work well for this..

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: elwoodblue on August 14, 2009, 05:23:02 PM

I love this stuff... Alembic supreme polish (http://alembic.stores.yahoo.net/alsuppolforg.html target=_blank)

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: David Houck on August 14, 2009, 07:07:43 PM

David; Mica's post on finish care can be found here (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=205).

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: dfung60 on August 16, 2009, 01:13:02 PM

Hey, did you know your bass had an older brother? The family resemblance is striking!  
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/393/68819.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/393/68820.jpg)
  I think mine is older than yours (serial is 83 2731), since I have the older flat top pickups.  I had assumed that this top was rosewood, but I would probably also agree that it's bubinga because of the straight grain and big open pores.  I believe Bubinga is a member of the rosewood family, so I'm not totally wrong.  Yes, I need to get a new pointy pickup selector!  And before anybody asks, that round thing in the corner of the picture is a special lens cap for my camera.  The white dome is a special diffuser that lets me set the white balance without a neutral target.  David Fung

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: David Houck on August 16, 2009, 03:42:14 PM

Very nice bass!!

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: terryc on August 16, 2009, 04:09:22 PM

david..I guess you don't like too much boom from the neck pu as you have it tilted inward away from the E & A strings???
Nice bass!!!!

Title: What wood is this bass?
Post by: dfung60 on August 16, 2009, 05:10:56 PM

I do have the neck pickup tilted unevenly and both pickups are relatively far from the strings (the bridge pickup is pretty much parallel).  This makes for just the right tonal balance on this bass with both pickup volumes turned up.  There's no knob tweaking that made for the right balance otherwise across the full frequency range.  Relatively to my other Alembics, I think the low-end output of the bridge pickup is low rather than the neck pickup being unusually bassy.
 
This works out well for playing with a pick too.  I would normally pick in between the pickups, but with the Exploiter body shape, your arm tends to scoot more toward the neck.
 
David Fung