Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Showcase => Series I Basses and Guitars => Topic started by: StephenR on March 04, 2019, 09:40:54 AM
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Very excited about my first instrument purchase since 2003. The first time I saw the Alembic Balance K body shape I knew that if I was to get another Alembic that was the body shape I wanted.
I have only had this bass a few days but so far love it. The wider neck and 34" scale solve two comfort issues I had with my 78 medium scale Series I 5-string. This one also sounds different than my existing Series bass so it compliments it nicely tonally. As expected with the Balance K body it has zero neck dive. Despite weighing 11 pounds it feels very comfortable to play.
2016 Alembic Series I 5-string Bass
Walnut top and back
Mahogany Body
Maple, Purpleheart, and Ebony Neck Laminates
34" scale
Ebony fingerboard
Side LEDs in red
Mother of Pearl inlays
Custom Crown peghead shape
Bookmatched peghead
Continuous wood backplates and truss rod cover
Series II electronics
Gold Shaller tuners and straplocks
Serial number 14541
"Birthday" October 28, 2016
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Yup, 2016 was a good year for walnut tops and Series II electronics in Balance K bodies ... Mine's a few lbs heftier though. :) http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=21941.0
Big congrats!
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Thanks Adriaan! Your bass definitely came to mind when I saw this one, it has always been one of my favorites.
I noticed that you have the on and off switch for the LEDs. Is there also an internal trimpot to adjust the brightness? Kind of a first world problem but mine are a bit too bright. At this point I am hesitant to have another hole drilled for the switch but am headed up to Santa Rosa this week to have an internal trimpot installed so I can set the brightness. Thinking that once it is dialed in I won't have to change the intensity very often.
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No LEDs on mine, you must be looking at the mono/stereo switch. ;D The additional trimpot sounds like a fab idea! (And any excuse to drop by the Mothership will do.)
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Congratulations & Compliments Stephen - beautiful bass there! 8)
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Nice picture quality as well!
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Beautiful bass, congratulations! :)
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No LEDs on mine, you must be looking at the mono/stereo switch. ;D The additional trimpot sounds like a fab idea! (And any excuse to drop by the Mothership will do.)
That makes sense, Mica told me they rarely put the mono/stereo switch in anymore but seeing it installed on your bass gives me a sense of where a switch for the LEDs would go if installed.
Looking forward to making the trek north, always nice to visit with the folks at Alembic. I was also going to have the edges of the frets filed, the fingerboard contracted a bit from previously being in a dry environment and Mica suggested having them filed while exposed. But... over the last couple of days the neck is settling into the, currently damp, environment here in the Bay Area and by the time I go may the filing may not be necessary.
Thanks for all the well-wishes guys...
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Man I saw that bass on CME (Chicago music exchange), almost bought it.... went really fast, congrats
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Congratulations!! (Mine is very similar, but with Signature electronics.). Enjoy!
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What a beauty. Worth the wait, I'd guess. Congrats on the new bass.
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Wow! That may be the nicest Walnut top I've ever seen. Looks like one of its ancestor trees had an affair with a Cocobolo tree!
Bill, tgo
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Hey Bill, sorry we had to leave last night before you got up to play, hope you had a good jam!
I am still knocked out by the colors in this Walnut, what it lacks in overt figure it more than makes up for in depth and variation of color. The bass has a very masculine and understated look that appeals to me. Sometimes when the top wood is too over-the-top and busy I find it to detract from being able to actually see the instrument as a whole.
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Have you taken this beauty out for a gig yet? If so, what do you think (and the rest of the band as well)? It’s a nice one! :)
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I have had the bass three weeks now and it has taken time for the neck to adjust to being back home in California. The fingerboard expanded pretty quickly over the first five days and the fret edges were fine again so when I took it up to Alembic the only thing they had to do was put the trimpot in for the LEDs. The parts were plug and play, I was out of the shop in less than five minutes. The neck has taken longer to settle in, had to keep loosening the truss rods. It seems stable enough now that I was able to set the intonation today. So... no it hasn't been out for a gig yet and I am certainly looking forward to hearing it in the context of a band. My new Barefaced cabinets are light enough that I can finally move my rig, or at least part of it, up into the house and the bass is sounding great. Really huge, solid, warm lows and a nice punch with glassy highs. Each of the notes has a definition that I believe reflects having the ebony laminate.
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Very nice piece of Walnut; beautiful bass!
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Beautiful bass! But then, Alembic...right?
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Wow Barefaced and Alembic, that's a win win situation. Bass looks great! Beautiful top
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Thanks for the update, Stephen. I'm in the northeast and the change in seasons really has an effect on the necks throughout the year. In California, I would guess that once the neck settles you are good to go. I'm sure the people in the audience are going to love it when you break that out for a show! And yes, the ebony laminates really do add a nice character to the sound. Have fun! :)
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Great news Stephen, I too have been using barefaced cabs for just over a year now and they are great. Good clean power and hifi sounding
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Yeah, the weather here the past month is like our yearly weather cycle compressed into weeks: crazy monsoon rain/flooding and then lovely warm sunshine, alternate weekly.
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Yep, lots of rain this year that seemingly will not end, interspersed with a few warmer sunny days. I fully expect that once the neck re-acclimates to the California weather it will stay stable and only require the normal minor seasonal tweaking. Part of the problem is that there appears to be a new normal :) I have friends that first got snowed in and stuck in Tahoe when they went up for what became an extended ski weekend, then they came back to Guerneville and ended up trapped in their house with three feet of water in their basement when the river flooded a few weeks ago. That leaves out the last two years of issues with fires and smoke. Nature does her thing and all we can do is offer respect and play along...
Thanks again for all the nice and encouraging comments! So far the new bass has given me the incentive to do a lot of practicing as I adjust to the scale length, neck profile, string spacing etc. With the exception of my medium scale Series bass all my other five-strings are 35" scale and that is the scale length I have played almost exclusively for the last 30 years. I am finding it much easier to adjust my playing to a 34" scale than I did adjusting to the medium scale Series bass when I started playing it again a few years back, that was rough for me and never 100% successful.
Jazzy, I became aware of the Barefaced cabinets when you posted about them here and had to check them out based on your fastidious taste in music gear. Very glad I did as they have been a game changer for me in a number of ways.