Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Swap Shop and Wish Lists => Seen on craigslist, eBay, and elsewhere => Topic started by: tkotmk42 on November 10, 2024, 07:10:04 PM
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https://reverb.com/item/85580979-1978-1987-gene-matsiko-alembic-series-one-bass-oil-finish-ebony-rosewood-cocobolo-black-walnut[/
It's on Reverb now, it showed up on Facebook group and now for sale....
Looks cool, thought it was cheap but it was not done at the mothership....can you even call it an Alembic with so much modification done to it??
Takeo
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my $0.02 USD:
that ebony-cored neck has got to have sustain for days. they don't mention balance but i'd bet it's a neck-diving monster.
no truss rod. so do ya gotta keep it in a humidor? the weather changeovers in fall and spring always herald a truss-rod tweeking party at CastleBeenDown whether it's the essence or SII or any of the models inbetween here in the mile high.
love the binding (?)/borderwork around the frets and the inlays.
can't tell if it has neck LEDs, gotta wonder hwat the switch/battery/front LED do.
12 Lbs. given all the ebony in it, that sounds conservative. imho
it's almost as ornate as my mothership-modified series II. almost.
beautiful instrument. almost priced realistically. good luck to all!
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I bet it's HEAVY. I see extra batteries mounted in the control cavity. Hmmmmm.
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Wow, that Ax is like a Royal Scepter :o 8)
Whomever is fortunate enough to acquire this most regal lance,
I would highly recommend the Zero-Gravity Strap by Cable Free Guitars!
My fretless weighs a ton, this strap helps tremendously!
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https://reverb.com/item/85580979-1978-1987-gene-matsiko-alembic-series-one-bass-oil-finish-ebony-rosewood-cocobolo-black-walnut[/
It's on Reverb now, it showed up on Facebook group and now for sale....
Looks cool, thought it was cheap but it was not done at the mothership....can you even call it an Alembic with so much modification done to it??
Takeo
You certainly can't call it an Alembic even if it has the circuit and body core. With the change in neck geometry requiring the creation of a much taller bridge, the raising of the hum cancelling pickup, and the loss of the truss rod cover gap, the bass is radically different than a stock Series bass. Then when you consider the mods to the circuit, body construction etc., it really should be considered a Matsiko only. What I can't understand is if he was such an amazing luthier, why he opted to add back plates that are not inset like an Alembic. The bass really falls down in my eyes from the back plates, the boring walnut headstock laminate on back, the initials on the top, the screw in the center of the back, and the mismatched finish on the pickups. For $3K I would take a chance, but at $8K, you would be outta your mind. Even at $3K, you would likely be stuck with it for life.
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Wow. Just wow. The Schallers look original.
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Looks like there might be some remnants of the original woodwork?
In the (unshielded!) controls cavity pic it looks like there's some surfaces with Silver paint.
Battery in the controls cavity could be the second 9V that doesn't fit in the new (single?) battery cavity.
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The reality that restoring an instrument can be challenging and expensive is often overlooked. I applaud anyone who tries. 😊
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Wood is a forgiving medium, but this is a tough room... 😄
I'm just thinking - the number of shops that could have pulled off a neck beam replacement on a Series bass using the original body wings, then adding on laminates (?) in the 70's has to be pretty small. It ain't that bad.
The joints appear to be tight, and not sloppy, it retains its original shape. It clearly functions as a bass. The inlays look a little tacky, but that's a taste thing, and it was clearly meant to be a personalization. The extra body laminates look a bit amateurish. I wonder if they were added later, or were needed for extra cavity depth? A thin, maple pinstripe accent would've helped, if you just had to add another layer. (looks like it had a mahogany or cherry core, with rosewood top and back to start with) In the ad it says the wood backplates were added later by the same apprentice, who earlier (?) had added the extra laminates. I wasn't really clear about what was done or when. Maybe we're seeing stages of work... re-work?
The brass tailpiece and bridge are interesting... they don't conform to anything ordinary I've ever seen on an early '77 bass. If someone made them purposefully for this application, good job. Why not use the originals? For comparison, here's the bridge and bird on #77-621
I wonder about the serial number. It seems more logical that 77-728 applies than the number under the pickup... that number really means nothing. Did this bass come with CVQ's and Master Volume, or was it converted? By whom? If it started as a Series II, how would we know, without seeing the neck beam? We'll just have to wait for the lookup on that.
I think we're looking at a project bass from long ago. I just won't beat up on it... a lot of folks just don't have the means or desire to send a messed-up bass back to Alembic for repair, and seek an alternate solution. I'm not advocating for that, just stating it. This could really be a lot worse.
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Glad to hear some defense for this bass. Although I'm not a fan of a few of the design choices (tailpiece, backplates, no truss rod, 12 lb weight), I love the looks overall. The dark wood choices are awesome, and the oil finish is a great pairing. Reminds me of a few of the earlier Alembic instruments from around ~74 or so, but these didn't seem to get made much after the mid-70s. And that neck volute is amazing. :D
Also, unless I'm missing something, the electronics appear to be 100% "correct" based on the photos and the description. i.e. stock Alembic Series electronics + any modifications done by Alembic themselves (including the replaced pickup). So at least it has a full set of Series 2 electronics.
Agreed I wouldn't spend quite $8k on it personally, but I certainly wouldn't mind having it!
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More defense,
I would love to own this very medieval looking Ax!!
I partially agree with Trevor, the bass would be with me for life, I wouldn't consider myself being "stuck with it" per say.
Here are a few of Gene's photos when it was being modified
you can see what the back looked like
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Thanks Quasar! Man, that headstock, super cool 8)
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At least now we know where the Brazilian rosewood is too.
What could have necessitated that back laminate addition to cover such a beautiful piece of wood? And the screw hole directly in the center? Curious-er and curious-er. 🤔
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Just my guesses:
- Maybe the back laminate was just to get it "bookmatched to center"?
- The screw in the back - It looks like it lines up with the humcanceller. Maybe when they rebuilt it, they felt that it would be a good idea to make the humcanceller more easily removable. Which, to be fair, does seem like a valid concern. My understanding is that in Alembics, they are typically glued in, and the only recommended way of removing them is "using a mallet to pound out the humcancellor from behind", at least according to this earlier thread: http://alembic.com/club/messages/394/78579.html?1271545828 (http://alembic.com/club/messages/394/78579.html?1271545828). So I'm guessing this screw holds the humcanceller in from behind, so that it's much easier to remove, but still has the same screw-less appearance (from the front).
At least it's pretty tiny. And certainly less eye-catching than the backplates ;D
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Hey Mike Dimmel, and the rest of the gang here
UPDATE !!
Well folks, seems this mysterious and intriguing instrument has sold!
I hope the new owner will share photos and perhaps a video showing all the detail!
One more of Gene's personal snaps
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Hope so. It's made for an interesting discussion. There is an active serial number lookup thread, so we may find something out then, at least about the original makeup.
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Nice - yep, would be interesting to know more. Thanks for the note!
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Here is the bass played by Trevor Lindsey