Alembic Guitars Club

Alembic products => Alembic Basses & Guitars => Topic started by: sjhoffma on November 04, 2008, 03:35:10 PM

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: sjhoffma on November 04, 2008, 03:35:10 PM

http://www.dhgate.com/Alembic-5-String-Bass/p_ff8080811c9224a3011c94d75f126506.html
 
I was looking online for 5 string basses, and this came up. Do you think it is a scam? Or a company trying to make basses similar in style to alembics? Less than 300 American dollars, I wouldnt trust the buyer, or the security of the site.

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: keith_h on November 04, 2008, 03:57:56 PM

It's a scam either way. We all know how well China protects intellectual property rights. Looking at the pictures I would say they are ripped off as the flooring and trim look like they are in the US.  
 
Keith

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: elwoodblue on November 04, 2008, 04:13:38 PM

Do you save on shipping if you order 10?

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: pacificshine on November 04, 2008, 04:17:05 PM

Also notice that you can put up to 10 of them in the shopping cart (for just under $3K total!)....

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: pauldo on November 04, 2008, 05:42:38 PM

Ask for the serial # and see if it can be cross referenced here.

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: oujeebass on November 04, 2008, 07:10:44 PM

I wouldn't mind trying one of the Les Paul copies and I would like to request that Gibson in chinese be applied on the headstock.

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: pace on November 05, 2008, 01:59:34 PM

On a related note, my friend works for NBC/Olympics and just got back from Beijing.... He said the Gibson & PRS knock-offs were unbelievable over there. Some tell-tale signs, but otherwise dead-on.... Careful out there.....

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: 0vid on November 08, 2008, 01:07:39 PM

This company has been there for  while ... they make all sorts of copies, that look like the real thing and of course don't play like the real thing. The stratocaster and les paul shoppers can tell you all about them, but FWIW, they are copies but not unplayable copies. Not that unbeleiveable in this day and age of copy carvers and CNC machines. Even the bulk polishing could be done by a machine buffer, and if you want to you could get a PLEK machine in a factory.
 
Still the components are cheap, not that they don't work, and the botom line is that it is still counterfeit.

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: cozmik_cowboy on November 11, 2008, 04:39:51 AM

I have a friend who has 3 Chinese LPs - says they're very good, but not great (what he actually said was he'd pay more for a real Gibson, but not the 10 times more they want).  He just got a Tele Thinline copy - the bridge rattled, so he replaced it with a vintage-style 3-saddle & drilled it for string-through, and he dressed the frets.  He says of the 4 Teles he's had, it's the only one he's been glad to own (which probably says more about the current state of Fender than about Chinese guitars).  I would point out, however, that being able to make a credible knock-off of a current Gibson or Fender is not the same thing as being able to mke a credible Alembic!  I'm seriously considering an LP and/or a Tele, but I'll pass on this one, thanks.
 
Peter

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: altgrendel on December 30, 2008, 05:51:23 AM

Interesting that they never show the front of the headstock.

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: white_cloud on December 30, 2008, 08:05:52 AM

Undoubted scam - avoid!

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: hendixclarke on January 02, 2009, 10:30:01 AM

Why avoid if the electronics are pure 100% Alembic?
 
Buy one of these guys or 10 -- slam Alembic guts and cut.
 
Hey, it all about the sound in the end. However, in the end, whoever buys them, knows it ain't an original.  
 
Hey, people copied Jimi Hendrix so well, they'd even copied his mistakes too. LOL!
 
In the end, it will never be another original nor a Legend... The rest is just pure flattery of a copy.

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: cozmik_cowboy on January 02, 2009, 10:39:06 AM

Avoid because, Hal, the electronics (and everything else) are 0% Alembic - these things are made in China.
 
Peter

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: hendixclarke on January 02, 2009, 10:41:52 AM

How many Chinese Bruce Lee copies were produced after the original legend died?
 
LOL!!!

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: white_cloud on January 05, 2009, 05:57:25 AM

If these basses existed I would agree with Hal to a point - but they dont. That is a pic of an 100% Alembic bass, not a chinese copy. An undoubted scammer at work imho.

Title: Scam on Alembic Bass?
Post by: jacko on January 05, 2009, 08:17:13 AM

They've sold out. Not surprising given the price ;-)
 
Graeme