Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: neyman on October 01, 2014, 10:08:23 AM
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No one has posted this yet???
For shame!!! ;-)
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/alembic-guitars-wickersham-grateful-dead-20141001 (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/alembic-guitars-wickersham-grateful-dead-20141001)
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Dan,
That was great! Thanks for posting!
Pete
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That was a great read ! Thank you for posting it!
Alembic Inc. must prevail !
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WOW!! Very cool, indeed!!
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Awesome! Is this the current issue? Thanks for posting!
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We've been wondering when that was going to be live! Thanks for posting.
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Hmm. The article states: its basses used by the Who's John Entwistle, jazz virtuoso Stanley Clarke and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones on Stairway to Heaven.
That's impossible. Stairway to Heaven was released in 1971. No doubt courtesy of Rolling Stone journalistic wire-crossing...
Cool article all the same. A bit melancholy, but cool.
And -- Count me in the small, ravenous cult following !
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Well glory be.A fellow Hoosier.I had no idea that Ron was originally from Richmond IN.
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Congrats on the article. It is nice to officially know that you are still in business.
Keith
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Really great to see that. Congratulations!
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I just saw the article this morning.
I do not like the fear based negative title of the piece but I guess it does draw you in to read it.
BTW I've always wanted to be a part of a small, ravenous cult
Maybe this cult that he writes about has the the same sonic ambitions as Alembic.
Not as high priced as the writer would have you believe though. I have two Alembics and I am definitely not a rich man.
It was good to get an insight into the contents of Rons' fanny pack. I've always wondered what was in there.
The number of this post is scary! Glad to get that one out of the way.
slawie
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At least if Alembic closes up shop tomorrow we will know on whom to place the blame.
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Ironic, a friend of mine just posted this on a different website.
http://imgur.com/gallery/Pgbat (http://imgur.com/gallery/Pgbat)
Which we all know about . . . so it was the perfect opportunity to tell him that I was apart of a small, ravenous cult following and post the link to the RS article.
Kismet
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Good point Slawie, that is the current vibe over at TalkBass message board, negative or to bad.
I must be just a Cult guy.
Pete
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Phew, good job. If Alembic had closed down, then it's pretty scary to realise that for 10 years plus I've been communicating with the Dead.
:-)
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This was an interesting quote...
More a doctor than a magician, Ron works with Mica and Susan to isolate and correct issues that musicians (like Fleetwood Mac's John McVie, just recently) bring to them.
Suggest to me that John, like Phil, is planning to return to the fold :-)
Graeme
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This was an interesting quote...
More a doctor than a magician, Ron works with Mica and Susan to isolate and correct issues that musicians (like Fleetwood Mac's John McVie, just recently) bring to them.
Suggest to me that John, like Phil, is planning to return to the fold :-)
Graeme
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Jacko, I believe it was referring to John's Continuously Fretted Alembic that was recently at the factory for repairs. I had the pleasure of playing it while I was there!
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/198840.jpg)
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I played it, too (quite poorly) when I visited Santa Rosa and San Rafael in late May. In short, it was a humbling experience.
Action was so high you could drive a truck under the strings - virtually impossible for me to play. I have no idea how he does it, he must have a grip of iron.
It sounded great, tho.
Re: RS article - also part of that same visit (the BEST vacation EVER) was my encounter with the concertgoer at the Phil & Friends show (too bad they went out of business) that resulted in the guitar sale (a Tribute) referred to in the paragraph under the workshop photo.
I was the guy wearing the Alembic T-shirt - just like the one Rusty's wearing in the pic above!
You have exquisite taste, my friend!
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The more I see that 'continuously fretted' bass the more GAS i get.
I sinfully lust after that creature!
Rusty did you play it plugged in?
How did she 'mwah'?
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That is such a cool story David! I also try to sell everyone I meet on Alembic! They make the best instruments on the planet & the shirts are pretty awesome too!
Paul, I didn't plug it in, but acoustically it sounded pretty much like any other fretless. It may have had a slightly brighter edge to it with the stainless fretboard, but it played like any other fretless I have played. I'm not a fretless player so I fumbled around on it, but I did play the bass break from The Chain! It's not every day you get a chance to play an iconic bass line on the bass it was written & recorded on!
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Pauldo - she sounded great plugged in, just like a Series instrument should. Mica also took it for a spin and played the riff - yup - sounded just like that.
If my fretless technique would've been better (and the action lower), it would've been a near religious experience...
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An excellent write-up of our favorite family business!! Congrats to Susan, Mica and Ron!
Jimmy J
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Great read!
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Also happy to be a part of that small, ravenous cult following. Many congrats to the Wickershams!!
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I think more to the point for me, I didn't know ROLLING STONE was still in business; it's a far cry from the old quarter-fold days where I used to read Ralph Gleason and H S Thompson, I guess I don't give a rat's ass about Kanye and Kim, and it's hard to fathom Jann Wenner has gone from the firebrand of those days to a gate-keeper at a so-called 'Rock and Roll Hall of Fame' . . . .
I totally understand just how truly humble and self-effacing the Wickershams are, but to me Ron and Susan are pioneers AT LEAST on a level with Leo Fender and Les Paul, and I'm glad they can get SOME ink once in a while. Ron's electronic 'outside the box' wizardry and Susan's unique artistic vision (never under-estimate how hard it is to build a design language) set the stage for virtually every custom solid-body builder to follow, and the Series electronic system has never been matched.
Bravo !
J o e y
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Cult's really don't need affirmation from 'the ouside world' for them to understand their value.
Sure being acknowledged in print is great for one's ego - but at the end of the day I am willing to bet the Wickershams are fufilled everytime they hear a recording (or live performance) with their hand crafted delicacies.
Each instrument and electronic device leaving their hallowed halls contains a small piece of all the Alembic employees that were involved with the build! What a truly satisfying feeling that must come from such a career . . . .
Mica - you guys hiring?
:-D
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Did this make it to print, or online only?
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As far as we know on-line only
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As far as we know on-line only
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I'm happy to spread the word of our 'cult'; everyone I've let play my bass goes something like 'oh, wow, I think I just found my new favorite bass...uh, where can I get one? and how much...' and of course, no, it's not for sale...Tony.
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(http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/198868.jpg) Alembic E320
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Jeez..... You guys gotta get with the times!... When's Ron gonna design some modular synth components and step sequencers?!? ;)
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I read this article last week and have discussed it with several others since. It seems to have generated quite a bit of interest - which is never a bad thing (there?s no such thing as bad publicity!). In addition, it offered a good basic overview of Alembic today, a fairly concise company history, some nice photos of Ron AND a great photo of Susan wearing a hat!
The overwhelming opinion (mine included) is that the basic attempt of the piece is to present the hand-crafting of sophisticated high-end instruments as a process associated with a soon-to-be bygone era (ie: horse & buggy) - with Alembic being chosen as the poster child for this theory because they are the pinnacle of the craft and are also associated with older musicians who appeal to an older generation.
On the surface, this theory would appear to have some validity. In today's world, the creation and appreciation of music along with the tools traditionally used to create it are not revered in the same way that they once were when Alembic began. Music has become a background soundtrack to daily life and computer technology has allowed virtually anyone to cut, paste and manipulate various sonic snippets into original compositions - no technical proficiency on any instrument required. Couple this with an economic downturn (instruments being a discretionary purchase), a slight dip in the birthrate a few years ago and the current lack of a youthful guitar hero, or popular guitar-based band and the result is inevitable.
I have seen the impact of this trend first hand at the small guitar store where I work - electric guitar sales (especially high-end instruments) to younger people are down and it's mainly the wealthier aging baby boomers who are able to fund their dream music gear purchases. Given all of that, it would be easy to agree with the basic premise of the article.
However the article doesn?t treat it as a trend - and like all trends, this one will be cyclical. Recently, sales of acoustic guitars have been increasing slightly as budding singer/songwriters are beginning to rediscover more traditional methods of expression as a backlash to the use of technology. Soon these musicians will want to collaborate with others, which will eventually mean they will need amplification and electric guitars (especially if percussion is involved) and a ?new? trend will emerge. What comes around goes around...
And, although it wasn?t mentioned directly in the article, I think it's interesting to note that while many larger instrument makers have chosen to alter either the quality of their products or their business model (or both) in response to the current trend, Alembic has not. They remain committed to their original vision and business model - build the highest quality instruments without compromise and sell them through a limited network of carefully chosen dealers who understand, appreciate and support that vision.
This vision and business model will never appeal to the masses. But fortunately, there will always be a small group of discerning individuals (?a small ravenous cult following?) for whom only the best will do. This is what keeps companies like Alembic, Ferrari, etc. in business. If you are consistently recognized as being the best at what you do, you will always have customers. If you compromise your standards in response to a trend in order to attract a broader group of customers, you risk alienating your current customers. If you compromise too much, you will lose them.
And, as the article unintentionally points out, Alembic has chosen to weather the current trend in music and musical instrument manufacturing by doing exactly what they?ve always done for over 40 years - be the best at what they do, without compromise.
As such, they will not only survive, but they will be more than ready to respond to the new challenges offered by the next generation of ravenous cult members for whom only the best will do.
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David,
Brilliant and eloquently stated.
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Thanks, sir.
FWIW: I've been trying - without success - to post a slightly edited version to the RS Comment page associated with the original article.
Maybe a size limit or software glitch...?
Don't know, but will try again today.
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One thought I've had is that the market for certain vintage electrics will decrease as more time passes. For those of us growing up in the 60's and 70's, most of our guitar heroes played one of what I call the Big Five: Strat, Tele, Les Paul, SG, and ES-335. (Ricky 360 would be #6). (This, of course, doesn't apply to bass players who, for the most part, had their choices limited to a Fender Precision or a Jazz). As we aged and earned more money, our generation naturally gravitated to the instruments our rock heroes played. People who grew up in the 80's, 90's, and this century, saw pros playing a wider variety of guitars, and a lot of instruments other than guitar, or no instrument at all (can you say Rap - an art form mischaracterized as music, IMHO, and more accurately defined as rhythmic poetry). As us old farts die off, the demand for the instruments of our youth will decline. We've already seen prices come down quite a bit on old Strats and Les Pauls from 6-8 years ago. Sure, some of it has to do with the general economy, but I also think the decline is the result of our aging which, I am reliability informed, will continue. lol
Bill, tgo
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David; I saw your comment there yesterday. At the time, it was right above mine. Strange that it disappeared. But I see you've reposted it.
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Dave -
Yeah - I tried to post it twice yesterday. Both times it lasted for about 10-15 minutes and then poof it vanished.
I began to wonder what was going on...but I'm happy to report that it's still there after 3 hours today.
IMO, today's edit is a little better than yesterday's attempts, so it all worked out for the best.
I also liked the positive comments that you, Trevor and Mark and several others have posted.
Based on these sentiments, our little ravenous cult following is alive & well and quite happy with their leadership - thank you very much!
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I hope you're right, Bill. But on the other hand, the generational cycle driving demand for pre-war Martins and L5's should have come and gone.... I was born too late, but still have the same reverence for the guitars you mentioned, and then some!.....
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I've worked in music stores with guys 10-15 years younger and we all still want the same good stuff; they can't afford it now but one day they will, so the demand will stay for some time but will sag; there will always be a market for 'the best' of anything so Alembic will always be there but the question will be how big that market is...crap they're selling tons of guitars with Floyd Rose whammy's on them these days; I figured his head would've been paraded out on a pike long before now in anger but trends obviously come around, and a new generation haven't been properly enraged by dealing with these horrible things...Tony