Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Swap Shop and Wish Lists => Seen on craigslist, eBay, and elsewhere => Topic started by: gtrguy on October 30, 2019, 11:25:13 AM
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Here's an odd one!
https://reverb.com/item/29257242-1980-jhs-alembic-style-sg1000-neck-thru-pro-setup-new-strings-new-gigbag
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I have one of these, it’s actually a Fresher FX-509, made in Japan, probably late 70’s. These weren’t exported to the US, but were to the U.K. Very interesting guitar that seems well-made. For example the brass battery cover on the rear (two 9v) uses inserts like Alembic instead of the usual wood screws. The controls are a master volume, treble, mid, and bass. It also has a preamp. The rotary switch on the upper horn has three levels of boost. The one on the lower horn is a six position vari-tone type switch.
Bill, tgo
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Bill, Seems like you have one of everything. With all of your various and unique guitars have you ever thought of opening a museum of guitar history?
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Dang, now your description makes me want it... What kind of pickups does it have?
I am also looking at a Westone Thunder II bass, with 18v active electronics, 3 single coils, and the tone boost or cut knob, plus 2 other knobs, plus 3 small selector switches (like the Thunder III).
Does anyone know anything about that one? It is influenced by Alembic. Weighs a ton.
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Sorta like this one, but with more switches.
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The pickups appear to be multi-pole humbuckers. Not like any others I can recall seeing. The ones on the guitar in the current listing do appear to be originals, at least they look just like mine Here's a link to a Vintage Guitar Magazine article about Fresher Guitars. The FX-509 is described in depth about 2/3s of the way down.
https://www.vintageguitar.com/1756/fresher-guitars/ (https://www.vintageguitar.com/1756/fresher-guitars/)
I would consider entertaining offers for the guitar, but it would have to be a bit more than the currently listed one in view of the fact that mine has the original electronics in working condition.
As for a museum, I've thought about doing an on-line museum as I've had a lot of guitars come and go. Just need to find the time....
Bill, tgo
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The only Freshers I've seen were Strat copies - I figured the Fresher name was a visual take on the Fender logo, especially the Fresher Straighter - Makoto Kawabata of Acid Mothers Temple played them. This is the first I've seen of the Alembic-style ones!
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Some of the Fresher Straighters were neck-thru Strats. There is one of these on reverb currently that looks really sweet, though the asking price may be a bit optimistic.
https://reverb.com/item/15679158-incredibly-rare-fresher-straighter-neck-thru-stratocaster (https://reverb.com/item/15679158-incredibly-rare-fresher-straighter-neck-thru-stratocaster)
There's also a Fresher bolt-on Straighter on reverb with a built-in drum machine! (how weird can you get?)
https://reverb.com/item/25578429-rare-vintage-70s-fresher-straighter-protean-series-fs-686-boite-a-rythmes-etui-made-in-japan (https://reverb.com/item/25578429-rare-vintage-70s-fresher-straighter-protean-series-fs-686-boite-a-rythmes-etui-made-in-japan)
Bill, tgo
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Wow, I like that neck-thru Strat!
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Conn also made a couple of sweet neck-thru Strats. The CSE-1 had a one-piece neck, while the CSE-2 had a multi-lam neck. They don't come up for sale very often, but when they do they are usually quite inexpensive (a Conn guitar?). Great deals for the money. I have a CSE-2 that I'll be loading with Alembic pickups one of these days. Another nice neck-thru Strat was made by Suntech. Very rare.
Bill, tgo
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Fresher makes great stuff. I'm not a guitar player, but the price seems very reasonable. Oh, I just saw it's SOLD. Doesn't surprise me.