Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: keavin on January 24, 2006, 07:08:25 AM
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http://photobucket.com/albums/f55/keavin123/?action=view&slideshow=true
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WARNING....NEVER LEAVE YOUR AXE PLUGGED IN SITTING ON A STAND!..this shit happend last weekend in the freakin studio but Don't worry it's fixed already.
(Message edited by keavin on January 24, 2006)
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Keavin:
OMIGOD!!!!! Please tell us these are old photos and Old #12 has long since been appropriately attended to, put back in her original shape, and all is right with the world! I hope this isn't a recent disaster. If it is, you have my condolences.
Bill, tgo
P.S. I wrote this as you were posting the above. Glad to hear it's repaired aleady. I guess we all show a few more scars here and there as we get older!
(Message edited by lbpesq on January 24, 2006)
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it was a clean break so it fit right in & i glued it clamped it, and its been drying for the past two days,,,this is the fourth time in 25yrs it has been broken, my neck is soo thin at the nut so thats its most vulnerable spot onthis bass but it's a real trooper!its ok now.
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All these pictures of decapitated Alembics are scary! I think from now on, I will just play my bass in a plastic bubble. BubbleBass Boy.
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Jeez Kevin. Isn't it time you treated her to a visit back to her birthplace for a proper makeover?
Graeme
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Wow Keavin, glad to hear Old number 12 has recovered. I have to agree with Mike all these headless Alembics are making me a little nervous.
Rory
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Alembic basses are very VULNERABLE at the nut/headstock (most dont survive their first fall),iv'e dropped my fender a million times ,and even used it in a bar fight!..im pretty sure we all have,,,,dont leave it plugged in & make sure your stand is good and tight.
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Damn, man, your bass has lost its head more times than Henry VIII's wives! Glad she's fixed though.
ONCE AGAIN--I firmly believe we should all forego stands and lay our instruments in their cases when we're not playing them.
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Keavin-
Thanks for sharing to raise awareness. It seems these things happen periodically to someone out there. I still recall Mike's Spyder headstock explosion from last year as well. Glad you got it back together quickly. I will be looking at the stands I use and what is available at the local music stores to see which looks safest to me. I will also be thinking about how to anchor the stand during shows. Maybe velcro straps to carpets and tape on hard floors?
I'll add a preventative warning here. I've been fortunate to have had only two bass damage incidents (not counting the sweet-and-sour sauce incident, but that left no lasting physical damage). Both times, the bass was sitting in an unlatched case and the case was lifted to move. The worse of the two left a couple very large gouges in the fretboard of a Kramer Pioneer and resulted in a replacement neck installation. It would have been much more painful if it had happened to an Alembic.
Please take care of your instruments out there. Pay attention to your stands, cases and straps. Pay attention to your space when you're playing so you don't bang into things. Pay attention to how you pack your instrument with your heavy amps and speaker cabinets so a weight shift while driving doesn't do them in. And, hey, let's be careful out there!
(We're all old, so I suspect many will recognize that last quote...)
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I was just wondering. Are through-neck Alembics more vulnerable at the headstock joint than set-necks like Epics?
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Keavin, that makes me sick to see #12 hurt!!!!!
thats why My Series 1 is in the case or being played!!!! no stands for my Series 1, but the Epic get some stand time, but that may change now
I hope #12 heals up good !!!!!
David T
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If the set-neck has a volute and glued-on headstock wings like my Orion, then I'd venture to say that thru-necks, which tend to forego the volute in favor of more expensive laminated headstock construction and use a scarf joint for headstock attachment, are slightly more vulnerable in a fall.
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As mentioned in the Must Reads section, there is a lot about scarf joints vrs. volutes in this thread (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=3267), including a post by Mica on the subject. In her post Mica says among other things that only a few of the volute-style pegheads have come back for repair. These tend to break along one of the outer joints, and .. it's pretty easy to repair.
(Message edited by davehouck on January 25, 2006)
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Yeah thats sick man but what freaks me out the most is that he said this is the forth time it has happened!!! whats up with that.I'm glad it's ok but 4 times , get a flight case and keep it in it when your not playin it thats a rare peice of history you have. I don't mean to rant it's just all these headless Alembics lately is makin me wonder if I got on the Steinberger site by mistake! LONG LIVE OLD NO.12
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{RUNS downstairs to move Mark King / SII back to music room and safety of the Bass Tree}
Wow!! This is getting scary. Two neck snaps in less than a month. Since they say bad luck travels in threes, I'm gonna be EXTRA careful from now on.
Peace,
James
btw - Keavin, sometimes you post as Keavin, sometimes you post as Serialnumber12. Just curious as to why, unless it's just none of my business.
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Good question james,I post as serialnumber12 so that all of the new & future alembic-club members can see that the VERY OLD alembics are still in action & are still musically active after all these years.(most are retired),also it's a history lesson for those who have never seen one of the first 'REAL ELECTRIC BASSES' ever created by this god named Ron wickersham.
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James,
Thanks for asking that.I'd wondered about it many times before.
Keavin,
Thanks for solving that particular mystery,I've often thought of asking but didn't want to be nosey.By the way,I'm still enjoying the Alembic-ness of your Midnight Madness demo.I hope old #12 serves you well for another 25 years and beyond.
Best Wishes all,
Simon.
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hey im glad you liked it, thanks for for that power cable!!!, now im back in the studio with my five string cause my E string (tuning peg) is busted on the alembic,anyone with a spare one let me know. (http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/24488.gif)
(Message edited by keavin on January 26, 2006)
(Message edited by keavin on January 26, 2006)
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also too what iv'e done is screwed my strap into the bass both-ends (stanley clarke does this also) so if you want to take your bass off it has to come off over your head,no more strap locks (http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/24491.jpg)
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Cool!,Stanley also seems to have some sort of giant rubber washer holding it on at the bridge end.You can just make it out here:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/24494.jpg)
Anyway Keavin,c'mon,step away from the socket buddy,I'm getting worried.LOL.
Cheers Mate,
Simon.
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The washer looks more like the cord curling around the strap button to me and/or the tail of the strap sticking out with an extra hole (he's got the second hole in on the strap going over the strap button or, I guess in this case, the screw).
Keavin: how'd you do the cool VU meter?
Bill, tgo
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right click on the vu meter or any pic, then scroll down click on 'save as' then click on 'save' and it will be saved in your pics or your documents then you can post it with messages etc,,, also you can also click on any pic you come across anywhere and save it this way thats how i got it,,, heres a link to more www.avatars.com (http://www.avatars.com)
(http://alembic.com/club/messages/449/24529.jpg)
(http://alembic.com/club/messages/449/24530.gif)
(http://alembic.com/club/messages/449/24531.jpg)
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True, Keavin, but there's always the issue of copyright. I would be careful to ensure that I had the right to reproduce an image before posting it anywhere.
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I've read before that Stanley just screws the straps to his basses using wood screws and a washer. No accidents that way.
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That was what Valentino told me as well when I had the honor to play Stanley's Dragon's Breath bass at the factory. They delivered it to him with no strap pegs or holes at all.
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From the picture it seems to be that he used Heartwood Straps.
http://www.heartwoodes.com/ (http://www.heartwoodes.com/)
Anybody out there with experiences with that kind of straps?
Harald
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No offense, but the Heartwood straps seem like a really dumb idea to me! What's next, granite straps? aluminum polish clothes? carbon fibre cable?
Bill, tgo
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I have a Heartwood strap and oddly enough it is very comfortable. Can't realy tell you why though. I've also seen a photo of Carlos Santana wearing one.
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http://www.heartwoodes.com/famous.htm
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yum!
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/24602.jpg)
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The Vibrations from that LOW B can bring smiles perhaps?????(http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/24606.jpg)
(Message edited by keavin on January 28, 2006)
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Is she still with Boston?
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Hey Jacko, What is a factory make-over you referenced whilst chatting about old #12? my #399 might like a month at the spa. And maybee returned with a new case.
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Hi Micheal.
I'm pretty sure if your instrument was really beat up or needed am electronics upgrade you could send her back to the mothership to be stripped / refinished - whatever. My reply to Keavin was pretty much tongue in cheek although he says he's had to reglue the headstock 4 times so maybe it's time to send no 12 back for a proper repair (not that I'm implying in anyway that Keavin isn't a dab hand with the wood glue before I get flamed).
If #399 is just growing old gracefully, I'd leave her be. I much prefer vintage instruments to look that way.
Graeme
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the break on mine was a Clean break so it fit like a glove ,where'as i did'nt have $250.00 for a squirt of carpenters glue. but i am a very handy man around my crib,plus too the last time i sent my bass out with out me it came back broke,so it pays to know how to fix (Some) things your self.