Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Swap Shop and Wish Lists => Wanted & Wishing => Topic started by: speicky on December 09, 2005, 10:18:28 AM
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Hello, Alembicians,
a few weeks ago, I saw that outstanding beauty on the internet at G-Guitars, New Haven/CT. I collected a few greenbacks, called them up to claim interest, and arranged for pickup already.
This bass was for sale for four years now as someone at G-Guitars stated to me, on a consignment basis. I placed a reasonable offer (at least I think so), but somehow the owner and the salesman could not get agreement on the net sales and the commission. After four years and several attempts to sell it, the salesman wanted the owner to take the bass back and find another way to sell it on his own. That's the story I heard from G-Guitars a few minutes ago, I do not know anything about the other side of the story...
And that's the point where I desperately hope someone in this outstanding forum may be able to help me. Does anyone know anything about the current owner or does anybody have a clue how I, being stuck here in Germany, would be able to find this person to talk over the deal directly with him ?
Your help will be highly appreciated, many thanks in advance !
Christian (the faker)
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OK, folks,
I am sorry for chiming the alarm bells, Problem has been resolved already. Those guys at G-Guitars are really pros... Now, what else do you expect from an Alembic representative ???
Have a nice weekend,
Christian (the faker)
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So what was the outcome? Did you buy the bass?
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Hi, Dave,
Chris at G-Guitars has contacted the owner once more, I have updated my offer, and everything is fine now. I already had a friend from Trumbull/CT inspect the bass onsite two weeks ago, and I already pre-arranged the pickup of the bass and the journey over the ocean. If I did not want to buy this beauty, there would have been no reason at all for chiming :-)
Anyway, the current owner of this marvellous instrument his well invited to discover his identity as I want to thank him in person to make this deal possible. When I saw the bass on the website, it struck me like lightning... the perfect match ! I will give her a good home and treat her nice... if she only was here already !
greetings, Christian (the faker)
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Congrats!!
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Yeah, thank you !
There are some occasions happening once in a lifetime, and I certainly believe that the purchase of 78C1000 belongs to these... as well as getting married to the love of your life. Well, I met my love in 1996, and we married one year later.
I will post pics (of the bass, folks, the BASS...) in the showroom when I have her here. There is a photo on the Alembic history page on the left below Casady's #1 that shows her as project in progress.
Have a nice weekend everybody,
Christian (the faker)
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It's quite a famous bass!
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Christain,
I wish you all the best.... That bass is something else...
To me that bass was famous before I had even SEEN it. About 15 years ago that bass was listed in the local (new haven) Bargain News Classified Ads for at least a year or two.... Reading that advertisment every week brainwashed me!!!!
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Hello, Mike,
thank you very much. I am really surprised that 1000 had been put up in ads and in stores for sale several times. I am not aware at all of all the circumstances that lead the original owner to let this go, I do not know anything. But I am sure it is REALLY hard to part with this piece of Alembic history.
I have and I will keep this in mind, and I know I take over some responsibility. I will not lock her away forever in some best-of-collection. I am not a collector, I am a bass player, maybe not amongst the best 100 under the sun :-) I will take care of 1000 and will play her regularly...
BTW: The Fakers (the band I am only the bass player in) are planning to release a CD with songs from Mellencamp, Who, Purple, and The Fakers. Maybe one or another tune will be recorded with 1000, I haven't got an idea yet. If you like, I'll keep you posted, folks.
Thanks once more, have a fine time
Christian (the faker)
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Back when 1000 was listed in Bargain News, the owner was asking $14,000.... Probably the most expensive piece of music gear ever listed in the publication!!!!! Im not sure if it changed hands since arriving at G-Guitars....
Im happy to hear that the dragon will be unleashed, spending time outside of the display case...
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He ...hum-hum ...can anybody show me a picture of this bass??? I KNOW it here has been a link but ...well ...you know me!
Paul TBO
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Hey Christian my friend,
I think I missed an important news.
Wow this is really great news.
We HAVE to meet when you get the bass....
All ok otherwise?
Oliver (Spyderman)
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Hello, Paul, Hi, Oliver,
thank you very much, folks ! Everything is fine with me. There's a lot of work to be done for a bean counter when it comes to year end, but I can cope with it, and I am healthy, most important.
The only picture that I have is one of the 14 photos that G-Guitars had on their server when advertising the bass. I copied one and put it on my computer desktop. I do not want to infringe on anyone's copyright, but it will last at least another two weeks till 1000 is in my hands in Double-Deutsch-neck-land. And believe me, the first thing I will do is definitely not making photos of this beauty :-) So, here's what I have:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/23303.jpg)
... silence ...
I hope you enjoy... I am going mad when I think about the moment I will receive her, I am crying with happiness.
all the best to all of you,
Christian (the faker)
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I am so glad to hear this is going to be loved. I don't even play bass, but the thought of this instrument not having a single devoted owner, well to quote George Harrison Isn't it a pity, isn't it a shame . . .
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What's the three knobs in the middle???.......
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I don't know, but I will investigate properly when I have her and let you all know...
I suspect, however, that the three knobs in the middle are volume and tone controls for the fretless part of the instrument while the four knows at the bottom do their job on the fretted side. The two switches may be for the LEDs that you cannot see in this pic and the switch at the lower pistol grip may be for switching the signals from fretted to fretless or the other way. But as I mentioned before, I am only guessing, between 1000 and me is the Atlantic ocean, and that holds true for the next few days... sigh !
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oops, doubled up ! way too nervous in anticipation :-)
(Message edited by Speicky on December 13, 2005)
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Wow! What an instrument!!! I'm anxious to hear the reports on it....
You have good health. A good thing as it looks like you will need it. I can't imagine how much it must weigh! I hope you won't be requiring the services of a chiropractor!!!
Congrats and good luck with it....
JP
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Hello, John,
ok, I will discover the true story of this deal...
I am 41 years old, 1.91 meters tall and increasing weight day by day. I work 70 hours a week, smoke 30 cigarettes per day and need a gallon of beer every evening to get into sleep. For eons, my wife is after me, nagging you have to eat vegetables, vitamins, not drink so much, not smoke so many cigarettes, do sports... And I says: What about starting off with sports ? She said okay, I decided to start sports, and I decided to go for weight lifting. So, the only reason to buy 1000 really is the weight... It took me months to persuade my wife, I don't know how long it will take me to make you believe, folks... but that is REALLY what it's all about, my health ! sorry, I'm off for the next minutes, have to get me a beer...
Christian (faking ???)
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Congrats on the new bass(es?). I hear amps and speaker cabs are really good for weight lifting too!
Bill, tgo
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christian, please, get your blood sugar checked. i did that too, for years, and developed type 2 diabetes. i'm 51, almost 52, and drank like a fish, ate like a horse, gained weight, never exercised. please get yourself checked out, especially if you snore and your wife complains. you will need years and years and years just to learn the controls on that bass and you won't have them to enjoy if you don't get checked for diabetes. please, do! then, enjoy the bass, figure out the controls and report back.
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Aha... I always thought playing bass guitar was a form of sports. 12 ounce curls and carrying a 12 lb. bass around, though Patrick might be onto something. Thanks for the wake up call Patrick.
JP
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Hello, y'all, thank you very much !
Bill, I am lazy like few others. Of course you are right, amps & cabs are perfect for weight lifting, too, but I have a rig on tyres that I can push around in our rehearsal room. I need something that I HAVE to grab with my hands :-)
Patrick: a wake up call once in a while isn't bad at all. But please be assured, that I am in the best hands, married to the world's prettiest nurse. My wife isn't nagging, as I posted, she just gives me wake up calls, many in these days. A major check-up is already planned for February. My mother has problems with diabetes also...
John: You are absolutely right. When I was 15, I founded a table soccer club, and that was serious sports also.
DO I SEE ANYBODY SMILING ??? That was vveerrrryyyy serious !
We managed to climb the ladder up to the second highest league in Germany. But when musical interest grew more and more, table soccer slightly disappeared...
Christian (the faker)
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Hello Folks,
I used to own this beauty as owner #2, bought from John Judge through Brian Guitars, New haven, CT. The 3 knobs in the middle: 1st closest to neck selects the active neck for the electronics. 2nd knob works only on the 8 string neck. Puts the p/u's in normal or out-of-phase condition. Really cool! Third knob - Master Volume.
Any other questions I would be happy to answer.
Just post here or email me.
Kris
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Hi, Kris,
thank you for your offer. Once I have her here you sure will not leaving your PC for a very long time, I will have a lot of questions... :-)
Thank you indeed, I'll drop you an email later today.
cheers, Christian
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You lucky damn dog! I had been watching that bass for months! I would gladly trade you the five basses I bought this year although they would barely cover half of the cost you probably paid. Enjoy it to it's fullest extent, that is one of the most beautiful works of bass craftmanship I have seen. Let us know how she sounds. You are definitely the envy of a lot of us in this club. Take care and Happy Holidays.
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Hi, Adam,
full frontal assault, eh ? No, just kidding, like you, I know... Yeah, it's strange, I heard that this beauty was up for sale at G-Guitars for four years, there were many interested persons, there were few seriously stuck to her, but in the end... nobody took her.
I promise to give her a good home and have a night-out once in a while with her.
I recently got rid of some basses that lead me through the rough waters of the '80s/'90s, so there is no need nor wish to trade five for one, sorry...
What I would think about, though, is trading the RC for #1000, but only mit Thermometer (the RC, of course !) LOL !
Happy holidays to all of you,
Christian (the faker) (faking has been so precious this evening, it's unbelievable what music can do...)
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Christian,
You will love the dragon! I made a custom leather strap with a bronze dragon attached to go with the guitar, but I don't know if it still is with the guitar. I seem to remember another function to the middle knob for the 8 string: 2 lower string pairs to bass pickup, and 2 upper string pairs to treble pickup. In stereo this is way too cool! You can add delay or flange or whatever to the upper strings, and clean signal to the lower strings for stereo separation that is out of this world! It records real well too!
I'll keep in touch.
Kris
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OOHHH that is so f*****G cool Kris! I really wish this was mine but best of luck to Christian, he got the grand prize of the decade IMHO. This is my favorite thread to visit and I look forward to hearing all the things this bass can do!
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Dear friends,
I just got home with her a few minutes ago, just wanted to let you know everything is okay with both of us ! It's five minutes after midnight here in Germany, I was 540 miles on the road today to pick her up in Zurich, driving in complete darkness for seven hours on unknown highways. May have had to switch the lights ON, perhaps.. :-)
I write down the whole story in a few days or so, now I've got to reset my beer level back to normal and then go to bed quickly, cause my boss surely loves to see me tomorrow (he didn't have many chances today) LOL !
So, everything is fine, except my backbone (don't ask why !), she is in breath-takingly mint condition. While I have to drink a beer and a sleep thereafter, you may want to puzzle around why I will call her Peggy.
Have a good night, my friends, I'll keep you posted.
Christian (the faker)
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Speicky you lucky Basstard !! ( joking ;o)
what an awesome instrument !!
I've seen that around for quite sometime, long before it was at G guitars.
I like the function Kris mentioned about the 8 string being able to be split.
enjoy and good luck with it !!
best wishes,
Bruce
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Hi Christian,and Congratulations!!
What a bass!.I first saw her in a Rotosound/Superwound ad in 'International Musician' magazine in 1978 or 79.The ad featured the very same John Judge mentioned by Kris.
My brothers were both big Genesis fans so I knew what a doubleneck looked like but I saw her and thought What the hell is that?.The more I looked,the more I liked her.
How wonderful to see her again,only this time in colour and looking way more beautiful than I remember.I feel 12 years old all over again.As is often said here,play her in good health,and feel free to post an insane amount of pictures.
Best wishes
Simon.
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Speicky:
Its great to see such a beautiful bass get such a great home!!
I think a lot of people were scared off by the price asked by G Guitars for that instrument. Hats off to you! You were not afraid to chase it up and are now able to reap the rewards of doing so.
Best of luck with that beauty!!!
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Hey Christian,
I can't believe I found this after all these years!.It gives me great pleasure to be able to show you this.
Peggy in her former life.
I tried to resize the pic but I've obviously done something wrong.Also the pic quality is bad but I thought you might like to see it anyway.
Best Wishes and Frohe Weihnachten,
Simon.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/23553.jpg)
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A $6,000 double neck Alembic??! Wow! Those were the days! But then, I was probably making $5.00/hr. back then. What do you think Alembic would charge for something like that now? $30-40K ?
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Simon !
This is great ! Thank you very much for digging your archieves, very impressive. Perhaps I should ask Rotosound to refresh the ads, that would keep me from selling Oliver's Who tribute gig on ebay to make tons of solid gold :-)
Also interesting that Peggy was sold originally to John Judge for $6,000. I did a google investigation on John Judge, but I did not manage to find anything about him yet. Can anyone bring light into the darkness of my personal HD drive (brain) who JJ is. Interesting also that I managed to get Peggy for $5,000...
Christian (the faker)
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...of course, I had to bear a few additional costs: $50 for the strap, $450 for the power supply, and $4,500 for the flight case, LOL ! Luckily, the strap did not cost $4,500 ;-)
Christian (the faker)
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Hoi Christian,
I remember someone did a searche already some years ago somewhere here in this playground of the lower frequencies oriented kind.
I guess when you do a search???
Remember you can always call our moder!
Paul the bad one
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Christian, I almost bit the edge of my coffee cup off when I saw you paid $5000.... I think lots of other Forum folks had the same reacion!
But now I see you did pay what GG was asking. Gosh...what an instrument. If the four string neck was fretted I would have been much more tempted. But as it was, I pointed out the link at GG to many folks I know who think they have beautiful (non-Alembic) guitars and basses and the reaction was unanimous. WOW
I hope Peggy serves you quite well! It is a one of a kind, as most Alembics are.
EffClef
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As Paul said, previous web searches did not turn up much. In our forum, I'm assuming you've read this recent thread (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=9607). And then there's this older thread (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=2351). And one from earlier this year (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=2141). And there are a few more threads that mention his name; just run a club search on his name. As far as I can tell, he never played on any albums. I guess his notoriety came from owning this bass and appearing in the string ads.
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Hi, Andy, hello, Dave,
I don't want to be held responsible for heart attacks of you fine club members, and I'm sure nobody really thought that Peggy would have left for just $5,000... I will post the whole travel report in a few days, it was really hard to get her.
Thank you for the links, Dave, I saw two out of the three earlier this year.
cheers to all of you,
Christian
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Could this be him...THE John Judge???
http://www.landscreek.com/studio/staff.htm (http://www.landscreek.com/studio/staff.htm)
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Christian:
As referred to here:
http://club.alembic.com/Images/397/21993.html (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=9607)
What is keurosix referring to as inscribed inside the control cavity of the John Judge doubleneck? He doesn't explain and inquiring minds wanna know! LOL!
At any rate, that bass is spectacular! Good luck with it and congratulations on your acquisition.
Cheers,
Kevin
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Just for sh*ts and giggles, I emailed the John Judge in the link above to see for myself if it really was the mysterious double-neck bassist from Guitar Player Magazines of yore.
Let's see if he responds...
To be Continued!
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My email got bounced due to no service available! The plot thickens, LOL!
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Yup, that's him alright. Older, wiser, same guy. I would recognize him. I don't know if he used the dragon on any albums, but I recorded a 45 with Legend - Kevin Nugent's heavy rock band back in West Haven, CT.(Audio West?) Cutler's Record Rack of New Haven carried the record. Single was called She's Evil with Plastic Eyes on the flip. Lots of 8 string on both with really cool fretless on Plastic Eyes. Guitar went straight into the board with no complaints. Best sound they ever heard. We played live in New Haven a few times too. Crash, burn, goodbye! Just like many other great bands!
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Hi, Kevin and Kris,
that landscreek link is cool, thank you very much. Really interesting to compare the JJ of the ad to the little more recent picture on landscreek.
I took Peggy out last night, rehearsing amplified for the first time. I got her on Tuesday, and I played her at home on Wednesday and Thursday. It was not too much fun, bass was heavy, I did not get along with the 8string-neck, and I put her away just after a few minutes.
Yesterday, I took her to the Faker's rehearsal. After an hour of celebrating her arrival, lots of funny jokes and some cans of beer, we started our program, and I was just into it ! We played
The Seeker
I'm One
Thank You
Hotel Room
Start
Wild Nights
plus two Faker's numbers. Suddenly 45 minutes were gone, we had done eight numbers, I was playing fretless (last four) as well as 8string (first four), and I felt totally comfortable to continue... The side LEDs are great, they help so much. Playing the 8string is phenomenal. No hurting neck at all...
or was that due to my blood level in the alcohol ??? Anyway, this was the first of hopefully many mindblowing experiences with Peggy. I will upload some pics, as soon as I can. Just today, my wife reminds me, there may be other priorities to take care of :-)
Have a very Merry Christmas, many presents to all of you, and stay healthy.
Christian
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Kris und Christian:
Holy Sh*t!
You mean I single-handedly solved the great John Judge mystery? I'd say someone owes me a beer or two! LOL! J/K.
I was hoping that was him...ultimately I was gonna try to get him just to write me back or ideally to participate in the thread here.
Neither one of you has spilled the beans over what is inscribed in the control cavity of Peggy. C'mon now, what gives?
Cheers,
Kevin
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Kevin,
Looks like you DID solve it! Congrats!
BTW, scroll down on the thread YOU provided above. The inscription is revealed!
Kris
Happy Holidays!
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Thanks. Same to you and yours.
Larry Robinson? Who in the Wide World of Sports is that?
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IIRC Larry Robinson used to work for Alembic doing inlays. I believe he currently lives along California's north coast. He recently did some killer inlays on one of my guitars that has been living at my luthier's for the last 1 1/2 years. I'm hoping for completion in early '06 (fingers crossed). As I'm also hoping for completion of my custom Further around the same time, 2006 could shape up as a great year!
Bill, tgo
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Great, Bill,
another mystery discovered ! Both Kevin and you should submit your full address by email, I sure owe you a beer or two :-)
If Larry was the one who did the inlays of Peggy, he surely did a marvellous composition, a true artwork. The whole scene is just breathtaking.
I promise to upload some pics in the showcase in the very next days.
Christian
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Bill,
Please post your guitar with the inlays so we can see the beautiful work Larry is doing now. The Dragon inlay on the 8 string is beyond words, and is truly a timeless work of art. I know John Judge had some ideas in the composition of the layout, including the skeletons, etc. Christian, I always played the 8 string with a pick and the fretless by finger. This took some getting used to. I actually dropped the octave strings and played the 8 as a 4 for a while too, but this requires a truss rod adjustment. Only worth doing for a serious recording project in my opinion - the 8 string sounds so powerfull! Keep an eye on the straplocks. The weight of the bass will wear them out, and they loosen up too. Did you get the dragon strap with the guitar? It really complemented it. Good luck with it, it's a fantastic guitar with real history too. Ed Roman still has it posted on his website for examples of Alembics. He's an Alembic dealer in Las Vegas, Nevada USA that previously was in Danbury Connecticut. I got my first Series 1 from him.
Later.
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Larry Robinson is widely regarded as one or the best inlay artists around, even being commisioned by C.F. Martin to do the inlay on #1,000,000! In his book, The Art of Inlay, while he was a novice builder at Alembic, he credits Rick Turner for getting him interested in inlay as a way of repairing a mistake made during the contruction of a bass. He has since blossomed into a wonderful artist! If you're interested in inlay his book gives a detailed explaination of his technique. I met him many years ago when he had left Alembic for Turner guitars,(we won't go into why)and he was doing some amazing work. Having some of his work on Peggy just makes your bass that much more fantastic. Here's a link to Larrys site; http://robinsoninlays.com/ (http://robinsoninlays.com/) Congradulations and take good care of her!
(http://alembic.com/club/messages/395/23631.jpg)
(http://alembic.com/club/messages/395/23632.jpg)
(http://alembic.com/club/messages/395/23633.jpg)
(Message edited by davehouck on December 26, 2005)
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Cool!
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Michael,
thank you very much for the link to this spectacular website. I have no words to describe my feelings looking at all these gorgeous works of art... I was at the Light & Sound in Frankfurt two years ago, there were some guitars and basses on display with breathtaking inlay works. I took a look on the price tags, and thought... oh, gosh, maybe in your next life !
OK, Michael, I owe you a beer or two, too :-)
Christian (the faker)
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Very nice link...thanks!
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Christian,
Bitte Schoene.
You owe me nothing...it was a pleasure helping to find out info on that great one-of-a-kind masterpiece of Alembic history. The fact that a luthier/inlay artist of the caliber of Larry did your inlays makes it even more priceless, IMHO. Enjoy it in good health.
Cheers,
Kevin
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Kris:
The guitar Larry inlaid for me is still living at the luthiers (LOL - so I don't cry!) I did find a few pics I took after the inlay was done. I'll post them tonight when I get home (the pics are on my home computer).
Michael:
Thanks for the info and link to Larry's site. When he did my guitar I had no idea who he was or the quality of his work. At the time as far as I knew he was just some guy my luthier sent the guitar to for the inlays.
Bill, tgo
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Here goes:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/23676.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/23677.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/395/23678.jpg)
Bill, tgo
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Bill P:
That is so F'n cool! What guitar is that?
Cheers,
Kevin
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Bill,
Extremely cool! There's nothing like drawing attention to fretboard position at the 12th. I assume you smoke in the upper range?
Mike
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Bill,
That is unbelievable inlay work! Those gentle whisps of smoke...priceless. And yes, what guitar is that?
Jonathan
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The guitar is a Fernandes Masterhand. It was made around 1980 or so. At the time Fernandes was making Alembic copies - a fact that has been discussed around here on many occasions. The Masterhand was not a direct copy as far as the body shape. It is more Strat-like. The build method, however, was hippie sandwich all the way. The electronics were Fernandes' rip off of Alembic Series 1, complete with hum canceller, 5 pin jack, and external power supply. From what I've read, while the woodworking was pretty cool on these, the electronics came up short. Either way, nothing worked when I found this guitar, and the store had lost the power supply. Currently I am having Alembic electronics installed (3 pus, filter and 3 position Q - not series). It will also have an RMC bridge saddle pick up system which can provide both an acoustic sound and hook up to a Roland guitar synth. The guitar, as I originally found it, can be seen here. It's the one in the middle:
http://www.fatdawg.com/334.jpg (http://www.fatdawg.com/334.jpg)
By the way, Jonathan, the wisps of smoke are my favorite too. They are made of silver. The fatty is also quite nice. It didn't come out too well in the photos, but it really looks like rolling paper that's been twisted up. This should be a big hit at our medical cannabis benefit gigs! (Pardon the pun, I couldn't resist).
Bill, tgo
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That's so cool!!!
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Yeah,
it's really cool also which directions some threads take (as mentioned in some others)...
But, (and it's only a small but), I do not think Bill's inlays are really cool. These maple leaf inlays are just not good, they do not look like maple leaf in nature...
But perhaps it's just I missed something down the road, or I need to have a smoke or two :-)
Speicky (the faker) (those inlays are gorgeous, of course)