Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: jazzyvee on June 13, 2019, 09:04:08 AM
-
I've been sorting out a number of hard drives at home with old old old pictures and found one of my first guitar and it kind of made me think how far I've come on my musical journey so I wondered if you guys would like to share your first guitar or bass and your most recently acquired Alembic guitar or bass. Interestingly at both times of my life when getting them I couldn't play either of them so i'm effectively back to being an eager beginner again.
My first was in about 1975 a Kapok Spanish guitar made in China. (I still have it but it's not really playable but sentimental).
My most recent is 2018 this Alembic Classico made in USA.
I'm not sure what the top wood is of the guitar but would like to think the connection is that they are both maple. :-)
-
My first guitar was a new Lyle 335 copy back in 1968/69. I traded it back in to the store where I bought it, plus cash, for a new 1971 Telecaster.
-
First bass was a Yamaha BB P bass when I was 13. I got it for my birthday. I think my Mom payed about $150 for it.
My most recent Alembic is a 2014 Spyder with front and side LED's. First Alembic with front LED's.
Trying to dig up an old picture of my Yamaha. I tried to remove the frets at some point when I was about 15 and ruined the bass.
Next, I got bought Ibanez SR05 off my brother who had just upgraded to a Modulus Q6. That Ibanez was worlds better than my Yamaha and my playing improved a lot because the bass was so much nicer and easier to play.
I still have a sweetspot for higher end Ibanez basses and guitars. They play play so easily.
Here is a picture of the Spyder.
(https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--wPrLkpLT--/t_card-square/v1559770246/j4dtomic9lwk4nsoz7tk.jpg)
-
C.F. Martin & Co. D-16 H #518842, from 1992. The guy that owns/runs Fret Mill Music here in Roanoke let me pay all $1108.32 in installments, even take it for weekends at fiddlers conventions while still in hock. I loved that guitar. Alas, I had to sell it 20 years ago when hard times came a-callin'. Been looking for it ever since... I'd buy it back in pieces if I could find her.
https://umgf.com/looking-for-d-16h-92-518842-t184845.html (https://umgf.com/looking-for-d-16h-92-518842-t184845.html)
Your thread is quite timely though Jazzy... I got my first Alembic bass 5 years ago tomorrow. A lotta' stuff has happened since then, but that's another thread. We're quite happy together. :)
*I found a couple old pictures of my long-lost D-16 herringbone. The Road Warrior look must have meant something, but I can't remember what! Hard to say... ::)
**Bonus points for whoever can figure out who it is playing it in the link to the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum post. Not me, but we were in a band together back then.
-
My first guitar was a Stella student model in the late 60's. I think my mom still has it at her house. My first bass which I still own was a Vox Mk IV. My most recent bass the Series 1 shorty I received in 2012 (can't believe its been that long).
-
I think it was a Kingston guitar, first bass, who knows. Then I got a P-bass in 78. Now, a Spoiler owns me.
-
First bass was a Yamaha BB P bass when I was 13. I got it for my birthday. I think my Mom payed about $150 for it. I tried to remove the frets at some point when I was about 15 and ruined the bass.
(https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--wPrLkpLT--/t_card-square/v1559770246/j4dtomic9lwk4nsoz7tk.jpg)
My first bass was a decent brazilian Jazz copy that I've ruined defretting it just like you did... what regret!
-
My first bass was a Fender P-bass copy that came with an 8” speaker/ amp that might have had 10 watts.
I was also afflicted with the PMFO disease... just woke up one day and said; “I’m gonna Pull My Frets Out and have a fretless bass”. Then I got creative on the body with a coping saw and ‘cut away’ the lower bout so I could get waaaay up high on the neck. ::)
Most recent Alembic was an Exploiter that was regretfully sold. The Distillate isn’t going anywhere!
-
Early 60s Gibson EB-2D that I modified (of course!). This is ca. 1978 in high school.
-
78 Gibson Ripper, last Alembic - used Vector 5 White with Signature electronics and side leds.
-
I'm new here and new to owning an Alembic, but would like to play!
My first bass ever was a 1990 Ibanez Ex series
(https://i.imgur.com/64v8hgA.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/lSHQcmN.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/3md0jn2.jpg)
...and my first and "newly acquired Alembic
2014 Mark King Standard
(https://i.imgur.com/LFnhXiu.jpg)
-
I am not going to count the acoustic guitar that I removed the B & E on so I could start playing "bass".
My first bass was a 1991 MIJ Squire P Bass. I got it and a Peavey Basic 60 plus some lessons for Christmas. It got me started off right. When I was 18 I traded that Squire for an 80s Kramer bass that had humbuckers and lots of knobs/switches. The Kramer well and sounded pretty good, I gigged quite a bit with it. I have absolutely no idea what became of that bass and I kind of would like to see one of those again (I checked on Reverb last night but no dice).
My latest and only Alembic (so far) is the lovely 2001 Series 1 point with the burled maple top. Loving it1
-
First guitar was an Epiphone Caballaro in the early 70s (still have it, albeit unplayed);
first bass was a G&L El Toro (used) in mid 90s (still have it);
most recent Alembic is last fall's Standard Point Series 1 with blistered Koa top (thanks again, John John);
most recent acquisition... traded my Essence 5 for a Fodera NYC 5 (pleased with the trade).
Thanks for the thread, Jazzy. Hearing about others' background is interesting.
-
First bass was a Gibson EB-3 which I purchased junior year of high school after finding out it was a lot cooler to play bass in a rock band than trombone in the school band. After that a Fender Jazz. I sold the Fender while in college to help finance an upright but hung on the Gibson and some day might attempt to Alembicize it. My latest Alembic is a 1981 defretted standard point Series 1 that if I can bring myself to part with it for 9-12 months needs to go back to the good folks in Santa Rosa for a complete reburbishing.
-
It was around 1980 when I purchased a Hondo Rickenbacker copy made in Korea. Absolutely horrible fret work and craftsmanship at that time. I don't even have any pictures to share. Barely playable, but what did we teenagers know back then. It was inexpensive and looked like a Ric.
My Alembic 91 Essence is my first and only. Love that bass. But more than likely, not my last. I dream of one day owning a short scale SC or Series 1. A bit out of my range at this time...
-
First Bass: Gibson EB-0 through a Sunn Sorado amp into a 1x15"JBL. Purchased the whole setup for $90 back in the late 70's!
Most recent Alembic: The XXL-scale Series in my profile picture!
-
My very first bass was a Gibson SB-350. Then I got a Ripper, (again, a Gibson) but I broke down and bought a Music Man 4-string in all-natural. It had a terrible dead spot as I recall, right at the 5th fret of the G string. (Quickly sold it.). All this time I remembered the first Alembic I'd ever seen at 8th St. Music in Philly. It cost over $1,000!!! (This was 1966-ish) Now, fast forward to 2011. I walked into The Atlanta Bass Gallery, (now closed...) and saw the most magnificent bass EVER MADE!! It was my Alembic 5-er, a Signature Deluxe in Superb Walnut. I snapped it right up!
-
The first bass I actually bought was a 1979 BC Rich koa Mockingbird. It was a fantastic bass and balanced perfectly. I have played others that don't balance as well for some reason. I did some recording with that bass and it was killer! I used it to record the bass part on the original Molokai Slide song that my friend Tad Suckling wrote, for him at his studio back in the late 80's. Through an odd set of circumstances involving song ripoff by local Hawaiian artists, plane crash and death, etc, that song went on to become a big hit in Hawaii and spawned a new genre of music.
-
that is a great story, thanks for share
-
First guitar, around 1968 - goya classical, quickly replaced with a guild d-20. No idea what happened to the goya. Or the d-20, for that matter.
Most recent guitars - alembic darling and alembic baritone
First bass, around 1970 - guild starfire single pickup, replaced after the neck snapped with a guild starfire 2 pickup
First alembic basses - custom fretted and fretless 1977
-
My first bass:
-
Hagstroms are cool! My best friend (who got me started playing guitar) had a 1968 black Hagstrom III he bought new. The action on that neck was unbelievable. Lowest I have ever seen. Their 8 string bass is very collectable and a groundbreaker design.
-
Unfortunately before it became collectable I’d traded up to a Hofner Verithin archtop which was then stolen from my car. Eventually replaced that with a ‘69 Les Paul shorty. And so on to my current Stanley. Still miss the Hagstrom.
-
First guitar, mid-70s large body Guild acoustic, bought new, no idea what happened to it over the years; first electric guitar, 1978 Gibson ES 335TD, bought it new, sold it about two years ago; first bass, 73 Fender Jazz, it was stolen after a gig in NY in 1981; most recent Alembic, Standard Point Series I.
-
My first bass? A red Yamaha BB-300, purchased in the mid-80s. Like many in this thread, I have no idea what happened to it. It’s as if it just beamed out of my possession without my noticing.
My most recent Alembic? An exceptionally tasty cocobolo-topped Essence, acquired just two weeks ago. This makes three Essences in my collection. I’ll post a full report soon.