Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Swap Shop and Wish Lists => Seen on craigslist, eBay, and elsewhere => Topic started by: lbpesq on December 11, 2018, 11:38:16 PM
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Here's something you don't see every day. Check out the backplate on this one!
https://reverb.com/item/17600522-kramer-450-b-standard-natural-1976-or-77-with-custom-alembic-backplate-450b (https://reverb.com/item/17600522-kramer-450-b-standard-natural-1976-or-77-with-custom-alembic-backplate-450b)
Bill, tgo
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Stanley Clarke used a Kramer at some point in his career so I wonder if that one was one of his old basses on which alembic did some customisation.
Here is a similar bass but the position markers are different. Who knows it may be one of many that he owned.
(http://www.vintagekramer.com/Ads/stanleyclarke/pic1.jpeg)
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Hmmm. Hard to say without a peek underneath that backplate. I'm more curious about what patent was pending. ???
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hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
OK, now that I've picked myself up off the floor, I can report this is not even an Alembic backplate! Nice try. We always countersink mounting screws and use machine screws on backplates (also, 2 screws on a huge plate? Nope). We don't have any patents at Alembic (my dad's are in his name).
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Kind of looks like a Travis Beam neck and headstock. I think this is a frankenbass
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It's definitely a Kramer. Kramer worked with Travis Bean before branching off with his own designs.
The Travis Bean head-stock is enclosed with a hollow "T" shape in the middle. The Kramer head-stock is two prongs, not connected on top.
The most significant difference is in the neck design. Travis Bean used an all aluminum neck. Kramer, instead, employed a "T" shape with the flat fret-board area and a perpendicular extension running down the middle of the back of the neck. The sides were then completed with wood inserts, so from the back it looked like a wood neck with an aluminum spine running down the middle, like a Fender skunk stripe. This created a nicer feeling neck. The Travis necks were cold to the touch, especially for outdoor gigs, and never warmed up. The Kramer neck felt more like wood and was more comfortable in cooler weather.
Additionally, the Travis Bean neck ran 2/3 through the body. The pickups and bridge were mounted in the same piece of aluminum, not unlike Alembic's neck-thru design. Kramer necks didn't extend into the body.
Bill, tgo
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hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
OK, now that I've picked myself up off the floor, ...
:)