Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Showcase => Darling and Little Darling Guitars => Topic started by: edwardofhuncote on April 09, 2022, 11:12:28 AM
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I've been keeping a close hold on this one for a couple weeks because I really didn't know how I was going to come down. I took a bit of a chance, because this was not really the guitar I would have ordered new, but it sure did have a lot I liked... days went by and it began to sing to me. The silly-season online marketplace pricing being what it is, and the fair deal I was able to negotiate privately, made it a little safer bet... at least I wouldn't be totally upside-down if it turned out I just couldn't bond with it. I needn't have worried; there was an instant connection, almost as if this guitar was made for me. It was barely 6-1/2 lbs over my shoulder. The neck felt great in my hands, like a fine acoustic carve, and string bends were so easy I didn't care about the long scale-length for another two milliseconds - this one is a keeper.
•So maybe it's a little unusual, or maybe I just haven't seen enough Little Darling guitars to know. The mix of pickups for one, a humbucker at the bridge and the single at the neck... this really appealed to me, especially this combination. I had no idea how the electronics were going to feel though... this was my first go at Skylark controls. Two Volumes, easy-peasy. Two Filters, even better. Bright switches? Hmmm... okay, I get it now. I still need to understand a little more about utilizing this with the filters down low. Plenty of time. I just can't get over how many sounds this guitar can make. It has sting-your-eardrums clarity available. It can also get very, very mellow, almost an acoustic quality strumming tone. The hard part (for me, and yes, it's the lack of experience) is dialing-in the stuff between. Again, it's all about time, and figuring out what I should be doing, and where I should be, sonically. I have located most of the basics. For what it's worth, I could get everything I need from either pickup, solo'd on this guitar. It's like a game playing with both!
•Notice there are no LED's? Yep - none for me, thanks. Everybody but me loves 'em I reckon, 'cause it seems hard to find an Alembic guitar without them. I concede my weirdness, but I like plain old sidedot markers just fine. These are silver, or aluminum I think. They show up well against the ebony.
•Gold-plated brass hardware. And the concealed hardware bridge. Nice little blingy bonus.
•No fingerboard inlay. It's a beautiful piece of ebony though. Looking ahead, I think maybe one day... a nice 1st or 12th fret custom inlay may wind up in there. Maybe just some gold MOP ovals? Maybe something that echoes my Custom fretless bass? If anything, I would always lean towards making it so it isn't something so personal that it destroys the appeal of the instrument for whoever is next. I ain't gonna' be the last. It'll be a good conversation to have with the Mothership when the time comes. They'll know what to do.
•The finish is flawless, scratchless, all over. There was the slightest bit of tarnish on the bridge, and I took care of that pretty quick. It came with black plastic backplates, but I made a set of contrasting backplates from some plastic stock and flame maple veneer to match the top laminate. Got the amber color a bit too deep, but you can't see the back and front at the same time anyway. I saved the originals of course.
•The build card was in the original hardshell case upon receiving. All in all, a well-cared-for guitar. Since she sang to me night and day, and finally lured me into the rocks...
"Aglaope" in Greek mythology, the daughter of the Muse, Siren with the lambent voice.
Here she is...
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Love the tulip! Just couldn't resist the siren call, ay?
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Congrats! Nice job with the backplates.
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Very nice, congratulations! :)
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Sassy teenager... she is seventeen today. Hope to play a little music this evening.
I was telling someone else the other day; for me, playing electric guitar is like trying to speak another language... and to pull it off fluently, I have to stop speaking my native one, which is flatpicking an acoustic flattop. It's a totally different syntax. Only a few phrases and terms carry over. I'd probably get better faster if I had a reason to.
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A fine looking instrument :)
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Uncommon instrument; a nice one.
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I worked through the Holiday weekend, taking this week off to burn up some more paid leave before the year's end. Trying to play some guitar here and there. Two of my favorites out at arms' reach here. Note how tiny the Little Darling guitar is seen next to the Martin 00-21, generally thought of as a small-body.
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Celebrated two years with the Little Darling guitar this past week... a large portion of the time I've had this guitar, playing guitar has been a mostly frustrating experience. Now that my hands are back in shape, I've tried to spend a little time each day at it, not really woodshedding, just a slower re-entry. Admittedly, acoustic guitars come much more natural to my ears. I was just telling someone the other day; it's like a language I know but don't have a use for, so even though I can speak the words/play the notes, the phrases don't sound like a fluent speaker/player. It's just not something I have an outlet for getting any better at. I like to put on a recording of something I know really well, and just play along, making the sounds that make me happy come outta' that Princeton combo...
Here she is, Aglaope, pictured with the Alembicized medium-scale guitar of Orient, Miyagi. They are totally different, yet unmistakably similar voices.
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Very nice. Rare to see one with a single neck pickup like that. I still like looking at the red Darling down in Australia. It's been on reverb for a while.
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I thought so too at first, but evidently the STR up at the neck, and HGR at the bridge was the standard of the time for Little Darling. It's a very sweet combination... shocking how versatile that one neck pickup can be. It can do really nice mellow rhythm, or you can give it a boost and cut through everything. Icicle clarity on tap. I have even dialed up a very convincing Telecaster bridge pickup tone with the HGR. What I haven't really figured out yet, is how to blend them into something useful.
Hopefully time is the key. :)
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Actually after I wrote that, I went back and looked at the red big darling on Reverb and there was a photo in there of a comparison picture. Both with the single coil neck pickup.
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I haven't played electric guitar much this year, been back on the flat-top boxes... but I got the Little Darling out for a fresh battery and strings, gave a little tweak here and there to the setup and been playin' some Christmas tunes this month. :)
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I can only imagine how strong that Darling sounds with that pickup setup.
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Very nice. Happy holidays.
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Sometimes guitars teach you things. I'm headed into year three with this one, and although for a while I wasn't really able to work at it, admittedly I haven't had time to until recently.
I've found that having to 'play the amplifier' too adds so much more to think about. I've quit playing through the Princetons for now... they sound great, just too much work. I've gone to a fairly cheap Fender Champion 40, a little 40w 1×12 with foot-switchable digital effects, amp modeling, and a clean channel. I used to keep it in my office at the Water Treatment Plant... it's plug-n-play, works great.
I've kinda' pushed the reset button on the guitar too... it's easier to single out and play with only one pickup at a time. I can't get over how different they are. When trying to blend them, my bass player sensibility says favor the neck pickup, but I find the sweet spot in the bridge pickup, with the filter rolled waaay off, volume almost full on, and cut that STR neck pickup back just a little. I think I'm using it like an eq... for a treble boost. That just doesn't work for much.
So I'm spending the next few sessions with it using only the neck pickup. Gotta' figure that thing out. I need a couple more usable settings. Sometimes I swear I'd be better off with just one big ol' AXY right in the middle!