Alembic Guitars Club

Connecting => Swap Shop and Wish Lists => Seen on craigslist, eBay, and elsewhere => Topic started by: gtrguy on June 09, 2021, 04:20:09 PM

Title: More info on 72-17
Post by: gtrguy on June 09, 2021, 04:20:09 PM

I played 72-17 today and thought I'd share my impressions. I also took a few photos.
The bass looks in very good condition. It has a short scale type body with a long neck. String spacing is narrow, as expected. Slapping would be difficult, but normal finger-style was ok for me. Of course, I also play a lot of guitar. I sat with it and it was quite comfortable. I did not try it on a strap. The action was a little high at the body, but there was no string buzz, making think it could be lowered without any problems. The bass was articulate and good sounding, despite the strings appearing to be old. I could only play using one pickup, as there was no power supply with it. There was some hum present, but I was able to find a control setting which eliminated it. I also don't know the age of the batteries and I was playing through a very old bass amp they had. It comes with an old Guild case. Under the back plate were two large hum canceling pickups. I did not find a PF5 card but rather smaller circuit boards. Maybe Mica will give us more information on this unique and historical bass.

All in all, I really liked it

Title: Re: More info on 72-17
Post by: edwardofhuncote on June 09, 2021, 05:04:01 PM

Now that's what I call firsthand recon.  8) 


Thanks for the inside look and report, David.

Title: Re: More info on 72-17
Post by: David Houck on June 09, 2021, 05:21:16 PM

The shot of the peghead end with the serial number is a nice picture.  And yes, thanks for the report!

Title: Re: More info on 72-17
Post by: dela217 on June 09, 2021, 05:39:10 PM

The Guild case it comes with is a Guild M-85 case.   72-16 came with the same one too.

That is what mine looks like inside too.   Except my dummy pickups are trapezoidal.   

Title: Re: More info on 72-17
Post by: gearhed289 on June 10, 2021, 07:40:47 AM

I've seen a couple of comments on the string spacing and I think it should be noted that this is a bass VI, not a "modern" 6 string bass. Likely intended to be tuned EADGBE like a guitar, but an octave lower. Does anyone know the scale length?

Title: Re: More info on 72-17
Post by: adriaan on June 10, 2021, 07:56:29 AM

The ad says 32".

Title: Re: More info on 72-17
Post by: edwardofhuncote on June 10, 2021, 08:51:13 AM

Not a technical detail to add here... but I just have to say it; I love that handmade logo. So cool.  8)

Title: Re: More info on 72-17
Post by: KR on June 10, 2021, 09:27:18 AM

Very interesting instrument. Thanks for posting the detailed pics.

Title: Re: More info on 72-17
Post by: gtrguy on June 10, 2021, 10:06:30 AM

I was watching this youtube video last night about an alembic/guild starfire and noticed it had the same logo

Title: Re: More info on 72-17
Post by: David Houck on June 10, 2021, 11:54:01 AM

Cool video; thanks!