Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Alembic Basses & Guitars => Topic started by: mica on November 10, 2023, 04:22:18 PM
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We just finished the prototype of our first dedicated single cutaway model bass, the Crest. Named after the wave formed by the curve of the upper bout crossing the fingerboard to the lower cutaway.
These are just a couple of cell phone snapshots. I'll be taking fancy pictures next week and showing it off elsewhere, but the Alembic Club gets to see things like this first.
Enjoy!
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Short scale with better balance! This one has a Walnut top, Mahogany body, Birch and Walnut neck, Ebony fingerboard.
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My goodness.
Sorry for being predictable… but that picture of the back really shows how beautiful the profile is.
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I like it!
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Nice, exciting to see a new model! Thanks for giving us a first look Mica.
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Very nice, looks great, and I like the birch and walnut neck combo! :)
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Tempting. Thank you for sharing.
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It's an instant classic.
Not that I'm a guitarist, but - I think this would be nice as a guitar too.
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Will you be considering a 5 string version?
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Gonna try as a medium scale and 5-string as well. Probably not long scale.
Yes! I am planning a guitar for myself so someday you'll see at least one.
Going to change the heel on production model to a very deep carved negative heel. Not sure if keeping as an oil finish or not. just starting to have fun with this one, I've redrawn it so many times and it's fun to see it as a real thing!
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Well done!
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Looks wonderful! A short or medium scale with perfect balance sounds great.
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Mica,
simply gorgeous!
Well designed, new, but still looking familiar to us
Alembic fans.
Keep us informed plse!
Greetz
Oliver (Spyderman)
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Rob beat me to the birch/walnut neck observation... nice vintage touch to a modern design. I vote keep the oil finish too.
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That's a real beauty. I'm with the others on the oil finish it really makes it stand out.
When you take the formal pictures it would be nice to see a shot with a small body and a Balance K to get a better idea of the size.
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Another vote for oil finish.
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Beautiful job!
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I love this bass. The lighter mahogany is a real eye catcher. The contrast between the strong birch grain and the mahogany in the neck laminates is beautiful. It gives some contrast in texture where there might not be as much in shade (not entirely sure folks with normal color vision see it that way though!).
Ken
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Meant to say between the birch neck laminates and the mahogany back!
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Very nice!
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I agree, it would make a very nice guitar as well :)
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A nice guitar, indeed. Do I detect maybe a touch of Tele DNA?
Bill, tgo
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Uh-huh. I was thinking this morning Bill, that single-cut Crest design with the six-on-a-side Orion headstock, and TC/AE-1 electronics could be a very slick Tele-tease.
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My vote is for a hard finish.
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Gorgeous! Another oil finish vote here.
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The shape reminds me of some of the 70's Gretsch solid bodies (Super Axe & BST's), which I always thought were cool guitars. This just takes it to a whole other level.
I love it!
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Hi Crispy, and welcome to the club. You nailed it. It does resemble the two lower models of the Gretsch “beast” series, the BST 1000 and the BST 1500. I have a BST 5000 which is a double cutaway that resembles Wolf and the Further guitars.
Bill, tgo
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Reminds me a little of Dave Torbert's Alembic. His had a Les Paul inspired shape. This looks to be more the love child of a Les Paul, and a Tele! Looks amazing!
Regards,
Pete
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Tolberts single cut/ Les Paul version 1973
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Thanks for this pic. I bet that was a unique sounding bass. One of the rarest early Alembics.
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That one hasn't been seen in a long time either. Anyone happen to know the serial number of the Torbert bass? If he was playing it here in '73, gotta' be pretty early. Control layout looks Hyak-ish.
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That picture gives a nice perspective… getting GAS.
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Love it! And with a Crown(ing) headstock too!
Like the idea of 32" scale.
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Greg, I see that Hyak vibe in the control layout.
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WOW !! The design is similar to the Gretsch Atkins Super Ax ! :)
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Mui Bueno. Brass ovals?
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It's almost exactly a Small Standard Stanley Clarke body with the altered upper quadrant. That will show up more when I take side by sides like Keith asked. Ovals are mother of pearl in this one, Joey. I guess they lean a little golden.
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So Signature electronics? There's one extra switch, LEDs?
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Mica,
eager to see more photos of this beauty.
Any guess when you would be ready to accept
build orders for that?!?
Greetz
Oliver (Spyderman)
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Yes - Signature electronics, Songdog, but of course like anything it's customizable!
This body shape is available for any new orders, Oliver.
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Mica,
cool!!
Really love that single cut shape!!
Greetz
Oliver (Spyderman)
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Have to admit, it's my new favorite.
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It's almost exactly a Small Standard Stanley Clarke body with the altered upper quadrant. That will show up more when I take side by sides like Keith asked. Ovals are mother of pearl in this one, Joey. I guess they lean a little golden.
That was my first take on it…very cool :)
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This is such a cool shape. I'm a fan of the Les Paul shape (I've got both a Triumph and a Guild M-85 - the AleM-85 (https://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=23492.0)) and also the small body (which I believe was influenced by the SG/EB-3 shape?) - this is the best of both worlds!
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That looks wonderful! Always very nice to have choices! What does it do in terms of sonic properties ??
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In my estimation, the “Crest” is going to be a popular new sensation of an offering from Alembic, I love it !
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I hope to see more models like this. Single cut Excel maybe?
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In my estimation, the “Crest” is going to be a popular new sensation of an offering from Alembic, I love it !
Agreed. Want one badly. It looks so cool, and we know the sound will match the coolness, plus the absolute ease of playability that is built into these things…. My goodness. Might need the Moderators to lock me out of this thread. 😳
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In my estimation, the “Crest” is going to be a popular new sensation of an offering from Alembic, I love it !
Agreed. Want one badly. It looks so cool, and we know the sound will match the coolness, plus the absolute ease of playability that is built into these things…. My goodness. Might need the Moderators to lock me out of this thread. 😳
Please no, then I will have to get a T-shirt that says "Free Pauldo" :D
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I love it (and can't wait to see the guitar)! And another "yes" for the oil finish.
Do I see a toggle selector in lieu of the usual rotary one?
Peter
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I suspect the toggle is for LEDs with the electronics using a pan control.
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I suspect the toggle is for LEDs with the electronics using a pan control.
That thought, of course, crossed my mind, but I figured an LED switch would be tucked away more out of the way of regular traffic.
Peter
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Alembic singlecut... wow...
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It looks like a cross of new style and the stanley clark bass. I like it too.
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For some reason (I have no idea why) the look suggests this style Alembic would be a perfect fit visually" for a Country band. Of course we all know laready that it will be a perffect fit soundwise.
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Throw on some flats and roll back the filters to get a P Bass sound and it should work in most any country band. Unless you are talking about that pop music they try to call country these days.
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There are quite a few Alembics in-service in Nash-Vegas. My older Distillate went to live there, and is livin' the good life with a cat who has a full-time gig in pop-country. Yeah, on the radio a lot...TV too, but the cameras always miss the bass guy. Why izzat, ya' reckon?
I agree, the Crest would appeal aesthetically in a Country Band.
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With its Teleishness, and (as Quasar pointed out above, and to my eye even stronger) resemblance to the Gretsch Chet Atkins Super Axe (a sadly over-looked classic, to my way of thinking), the guitar version should work visually for a country act, as well (and who cares what works in Nashville pop?).
Peter
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This one discussed a few years ago
[link to the thread at the current Club] (https://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=6952.msg74030#msg74030)
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I wonder what ever happened to that Torbert bass? ??? *just realized, totally different bass Rob posted. Clearly inspired by the Torbert single-cut, but definitely not it.
I guess we'll see on the demography. I'd be tickled if an Alembic bass or guitar showed up in the Country music scene. I don't know if it's ever happened. I could see Vince or Brad performing with a Custom Crest guitar. And I can imagine that generating a stir beyond the fans (who largely don't know or care) and into us geargeeks. (who sometimes think that's the whole point...)
It's a nice, elegant design with potential to work beyond the aesthetic of other patterns.
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I'd be tickled if an Alembic bass or guitar showed up in the Country music scene. I don't know if it's ever happened.
Mid- to late-'70s, maybe a bit beyond, Willie had 2 bass players (sorry, their names escape me and i'm feeling too lazy to Google....); one played a P, the other an Alembic.
Peter
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Oh yeah... Bee Spears. Forgot about that one. Good catch.
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Alembics in Country music? Let us not forget about NRPS which sported both Dave Torbert’s Alembic bass and Marmaduke’s Alembic guitar.
Bill, tgo
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Waylon Jennings bass player had a nice 74 Series Bass apparently from what I’ve read online
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Waylon Jennings bass player had a nice 74 Series Bass apparently from what I’ve read online
Jerry Bridges; for a while he played this one.
Peter
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Soooo... does it happen again?
I have to admit, it's a little odd to me we don't see Alembics in action more on the Country scene. The first Alembic bass I ever held in my hands was a Distillate 5-string, right down on Music Row, not far from where Larry Cordle claims the murder was committed. (look it up) There's always a couple Alembic basses for sale in that general area. If it's just the stereotyped Nashville guitars = Telecaster, then, just knowing how hard those stereotypes are to break from the music scene I'm in, that's a tough needle to thread.
FWIW- I can get a very convincing Telecaster tone from my Little Darling through either of my Princeton amps, having A/B'd it with a pretty good Fender outfitted withsome decent pickups, and carefully figuring out what to put in or take away. (granted, the Darling is missing that annoying hummmmm...) The trickiest part is switching from neck to bridge on-the-fly with two toggles rather than the 3-position switch of the Fender. You can just slap that thing in a hurry, or a quick tug back for rhythm. It gets a little more complicated with two volumes and filters, but if you can manage the controls of a Les Paul, (which I can't) then you're good. Seriously, a more skilled player would have no trouble at all pulling it off.
I'm very interested to see if the Crest develops an acceptance and following like Balance K and its variants have. And especially interested in how a guitar in that pattern is received.
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If it's just the stereotyped Nashville guitars = Telecaster, then, just knowing how hard those stereotypes are to break from the music scene I'm in, that's a tough needle to thread.
That's on stage; I read an interview with a Nashville 1st-call studio cat (sorry, decades ago, so the name is gone) who said that pretty everything on country records that you assume is a Tele is really a 335.
Peter
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I just spotted this one on Facebook and wonder if this is another single cut custom Alembic or one made by a former alembic employee.
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Good catch.
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That's an interesting one, Jazzy. Obviously Alembic pick-ups, and looks like the hardware as well, along with a great deal of DNA. But the control layout is strange, and that's not an Alembic logo.
Peter
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Michael Dolan is the builder on that bass.
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I swear that looks like the same bass Rob linked to, back a page. Couldn't see the headstock.
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I got to play The Crest the other day when I visited the Mothership - only have a short video playing it with a wood pick:
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Does this bass have hollow cores like the series basses or is it a solid body like the others?
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It depends - if it has a top only then the body is hollowed out from the front on the upper side, something we refer to as "hybrid" usually. If the bass is ordered with a top and a back, then it would be a "hollow core" construction like a Series I/II.
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Crest.
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I wonder if there are any changes to Crest from the prototype to the production models currently for sale? I see a short-scale and medium-scale each made it to retail.
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Yeah - it's standardizing as a medium scale, though short scales peek out from time to time. The biggest change is the heel - production models have a VERY deep carved heel.
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Crest.
Nice! Amazing how it can make so many sounds, yet they all sound like an Alembic.
I wish the video showed the control adjustments - I can guess, but it would be good to confirm (or refute) my guesses.
What was the amplification for this recording?
Oh - and was that short or medium scale? Looks like short to me....
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Which strings are OEM on those?
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Crest.
Nice! Amazing how it can make so many sounds, yet they all sound like an Alembic.
I wish the video showed the control adjustments - I can guess, but it would be good to confirm (or refute) my guesses.
What was the amplification for this recording?
Oh - and was that short or medium scale? Looks like short to me....
I think it's this one; (so medium-scale)
https://reverb.com/item/89994063 (https://reverb.com/item/89994063)
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Alembic CX-3 strings. CX-3/45S on short scale. CX-3/45L on medium