Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: jazzyvee on October 31, 2022, 01:21:11 AM
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I just had a friend request from a guy on facebook and as usual I had a look through his page whilst deciding to accept or not.
In doing so i noticed this photo of a double necked instrument which does seem to me that it could be an alembic or made buy someone who had previously worked there.
Any thoughts?
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It does appear to have a Series set up, two PUs and a hum canceler in the middle. And that’s an Alembic on the stand behind the guy, so more likely it’s the real McCoy. I suspect someone from the Mothership will quickly recognize it if it’s an Alembic creation.
Bill, tgo
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Jazzy, Bill,
that in fact is the Eagle Double Neck Bass.
Custom made by Steve Helgeson of Moonstone
Guitars for Leland Sklar.
And in fact the „guy“ in the photo is Leland Sklar.
Greetz from Germany
Oliver (Spyderman)
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😎
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I didn’t recognize him without all the white hair!
Bill, tgo
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Hopefully Leland has recovered from his recent fall. I remember this bass and other Moonstone instruments from that era, mainly because I found them to be extremely weird and bordering on ugly. Definitely a beauty being in the eye of the beholder thing. Pretty sure that Danny Kortchmar had one of the Moonstone guitars. The picture Jazzyvee posted is kind of small but I think that is Danny next to Leland with his Moonstone guitar.
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I wouldn't agree that Moonstone basses are weird or ugly. Here is one I have with original Alembic electronics.
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Brian, your Moonstone bass is quite pretty and I remember seeing it, or another similar one that I also liked fairly recently. The first ones I saw years ago were the ones with the weird sculptured carving which I just thought looked awful. At the time I thought that was all they made and never gave the brand another thought. Didn’t you get yours recently? Seem to remember seeing it listed for sale, I like the sound of hollow body basses and love Alembic electronics since I play only five-strings it definitely caught my eye.
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Yes Brian it is a beauty. I did see one similar on reverb about a year or so ago which was the same but a different top and 35" scale length. I have to say it was one of the few non alembic basses I have been tempted by since I joined the fold. In fact it is similar to one on there at the moment with a different finish.
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Stephen, are you sure you are thinking of Moonstone? All the Moonstones I've seen (and I used to own an Eclipse guitar) were fairly regularly shaped double cutaways with exotic tops and were quite heavy. Your description almost sounds more like Minarak guitars that had all the weird shapes.
Bill, tgo
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Stephen, are you sure you are thinking of Moonstone? All the Moonstones I've seen (and I used to own an Eclipse guitar) were fairly regularly shaped double cutaways with exotic tops and were quite heavy. Your description almost sounds more like Minarak guitars that had all the weird shapes.
Bill, tgo
I will confess, I have spent a certain amount of time admiring the offerings on Minarik's website (and no, not just because of how most of them are, um, presented). I think a pimped-out triple-neck Trinity (http://www.minarikguitars.com/trinity.html (http://www.minarikguitars.com/trinity.html)) would look really good on my wall.
On my back.....yeah, maybe not so much.
Peter
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Stephen, are you sure you are thinking of Moonstone? All the Moonstones I've seen (and I used to own an Eclipse guitar) were fairly regularly shaped double cutaways with exotic tops and were quite heavy. Your description almost sounds more like Minarak guitars that had all the weird shapes.
Bill, tgo
Bill... the first ones I saw back in the 70s were the ones that Leland and Danny Kortchmar had, the ones carved like Eagles. As I already mentioned, after seeing those I had no interest in the brand so basically know nothing about other models. When I saw a Moonstone with Alembic electronics that looked like Brian's recently I was surprised that they actually made an instrument I could relate to and my interest was piqued. I have never been a gear head, when I saw and heard my first Alembic it impressed me and I wanted to know more about the brand, when I saw the Moonstone eagle carved bodies and headstock I just thought they looked like something I would never want to own or play. Brian's bass looks quite nice and I bet it sounds great. If that had been the first Moonstone I encountered I would have wanted to know more about them. I have never heard of, or seen a Minarak guitar, based on your description I don't need to.
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Here are two Minaraks. Tell me whoever designed the first, a Minarak Goddess, didn’t look at Jerry’s Irwin guitars. The second is a Minarak Inferno.
Bill, tgo
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I'm not going to say Steve Helgesen didn't make some duds but check out the Moonstone website (moonstoneguitars.com) which is still up even though Mr. Helgeson died about two years ago. He made some beautiful acoustics, some pre PRS looking electric guitars, some solid body basses with Bart PUs, and these hollow bodies. I've seen this one and the 35 referred to with Alembic Electronics and hardware and a few others with Bart's. I don't know how many of this style he made. I exchanged emails with Mica before purchasing and she had praise for Steve Helgesens work. I watched this one for a long while and finally made what I thought was a low ball offer expecting a counter proposal. My first offer was accepted. While I needed to replace the input jack and can't use my favorite TI flats on it because the tension on the extra longs needed for this bass are so low...I'm very happy with the purchase.
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I'm not going to say Steve Helgesen didn't make some duds but check out the Moonstone website (moonstoneguitars.com) which is still up even though Mr. Helgeson died about two years ago. He made some beautiful acoustics, some pre PRS looking electric guitars, some solid body basses with Bart PUs, and these hollow bodies. I've seen this one and the 35 referred to with Alembic Electronics and hardware and a few others with Bart's. I don't know how many of this style he made. I exchanged emails with Mica before purchasing and she had praise for Steve Helgesens work. I watched this one for a long while and finally made what I thought was a low ball offer expecting a counter proposal. My first offer was accepted. While I needed to replace the input jack and can't use my favorite TI flats on it because the tension on the extra longs needed for this bass are so low...I'm very happy with the purchase.
I briefly checked the Moonstone website yesterday and was surprised to see acoustic guitars. One man's dud is another's nirvana but your five-string hollowbody is beautiful and definitely fits with my aesthetic. Despite not needing any more instruments than I already own if I found a similar Moonstone with Alembic electronics listed for a reasonable price it would be very tempting.
I know the tension is way different with Pyramid Gold flats than TI but have you considered trying a set? I have had them make two sets of custom length strings for me which both fit perfectly. Previously I have never found a B string that fit properly on my 1978 medium scale Series bass since the peg for the B-string on the fan headstock sits so close to the nut. Their standard long scale set was too short for my 35" scale G Gould five-string and they made a set that corrected the issue of the silks of some strings sitting on the nut and bridge saddle. You can also specify whatever custom set gauges you want, they made me a .118 B-string for the G Gould despite not showing that size among the available gauges. There didn't seem to be any additonal charge for custom sets which was way cool. Some of the tension difference between the TI and Pyramids may be alleviated by combo of the extra long strings and picking custom gauges.
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I remember seeing a few Moonstones back in the day and I was always impressed with them.
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I have a 1979 Moonstone Vulcan Deluxe guitar, and I love it. Solid burl maple.
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Here’s a vintage ad and my Vulcan
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Sweet!
Bet it looks spiffy under teh coloured lights ;-)
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Very nice! I’d love to get my hands on one of their acoustic basses though I hear they are quite rare.
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I have a set the manufacturer of which I cant remember at this point that I’m going to try out. But I’ll definitely connect with the pyramid flats guys to see if they can provide what I need.
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A few more cool Moonstone facts and pics:
Steve came to Humboldt County in 1970 to attend the College of the Redwoods for a wildlife management degree, taking up residence in a cabin among the redwoods, to find a staging area for his falconry hobby. He was a licensed falconer for for 12 years.
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It was at the College of the Redwoods that Steve started building his first guitar in the college wood shop. "I wanted an acoustic bass because I’d go to Yosemite and there would be 50 guitar players out in a meadow, and no bass players, so I figured I’ve have a crowd around me," he said.
Steve was a self taught luthier who had no one to apprentice under, and had only Irving Sloan’s book Classical Guitar Construction to teach him the basics.
Note: Here is an early pic of Steve (far right) playing a large acoustic bass in a band. Steve was an imposing 6-foot-6 Swede. I don’t know if this is the bass he was referring to above or not.
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Steve shelved school in 1972, and moved to Moonstone Heights, a vista point that overlooks the Pacific Ocean at Moonstone Beach, 12 miles up the coast from Arcata, California. Here he started building his first dreadnaught sized guitars, hence the name Moonstone.
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On Moonstone, continued:
By 1974, the first Moonstone solid bodied electric guitar prototype, the Earth Axe, was completed.
Because of its high density and sustaining quality, Steve chose solid burl maple for the Earth Axe and later when he started making the Vulcan.
Here’s a pic of the Earth Axe:
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Finally, on one of his trips to Los Angeles (selling the Earth Axe to stores from the trunk of his car up and down the west coast), Moonstone got its first big break. While Steve was showing his instruments at SIR (studio instrument rentals), Leland Sklar, bassist for Jackson Brown, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and his own recording band, dubbed The Section, walked in and started checking out the instruments. During their discussion, Sklar commissioned Steve to do something outrageous for him, along the lines of dragons or gargoyles. Since Steve was a falconer, they settled on the Eagle bass; in early 1978, Leland took possession of a double necked Eagle carved body bass. On top was a short scale 30" piccolo neck, and on the bottom was a long scale 33 1/2" neck, with hand carved, removable peg head caps in the form of an eagles head with red fire opal eyes lit by leds. Steve made guitarist Danny Kortchmar a matching (single necked) eagle guitar, and the instruments were featured in the 6-page color insert that accompanied Jackson Browne’s album Running on Empty.
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Despite the notoriety of the eagle designs, an official Eagle model guitar wasn’t introduced until 1980, and even though it appeared in the catalog, it was really a custom shop guitar, carved by Steve by hand, and only 11 were ever made. The boom years of Moonstone were 1978-1984, with the most successful models including the Vulcan and Vulcan Deluxe guitars, Eclipse bass, and hollow bodied M-80 guitar. There were 162 Vulcans made in this era, making it the flagship of the Moonstone line.
Steve Helgeson, circa 1979-80, with the Eagle and two Vulcan guitars:
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From December 1976 to the end of 1978, Morley distributed Moonstone, from the tail end of the Earth Axe to the early Vulcan guitars. During those years, Morley and Moonstone shared a Namm booth. In 1981, after that partnership ended amicably, Moonstone finally had their own Namm booth.
The Vulcan used Bartolini pick-ups, the Bartolini Beast II for rhythm and the Bartolini ES1 for the bridge.
Morley Vulcan ad and Vulcan electronics layout: