Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Owning an Alembic => Serial Number / History Requests => Topic started by: kidalamo on March 27, 2025, 10:21:21 PM
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This bass guitar was recently passed on to me. I registered it as the new owner. The serial number is 82203LUSA. Can you help with its identification, history, and value. My goal is to sale it.
I attempted several times to add photos but kept getting error messages.
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Hi, and welcome to the club. If you can scale the pictures down to be a file size of 1000kb (1mb) or less that should work. If you are still struggling then I would be happy to scale them down for you. You can email me using the link on my icon.
We'd love to see an 8 string. In fact there has been a discussion on 8 string alembics so you may find a buyer here real quick.
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an 8 string Alembic... I'm fainting right now!
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yep , we haven't even seen it yet and folks are bouncing of the walls and thinking about offers ;D
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You might check that serial number again. The L is a bit unlikely. See if it might be a 1 or 7 upon closer inspection. Sometimes those stampings are tough to read.
Welcome, and good luck with your sale.
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Good afternoon.
I read everyone's helpful replies.
Attached are a few photos of the 8 string bass.
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Do you know the history of the bass and what may have happened to it?
Investing in some refurbishing/ repair would garner a good selling price.
If selling “as-is”, you should expect some low offers.
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When I registered the guitar with Alembic three weeks ago. I include a request of its history. But I may have provided an invalid serial number as suggested by someone's reply. I know the previous owner and suspect he is the original owner but cannot confirm that just yet. Alembic has yet to respond to my request.
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that was probably a pretty nice bass at one time. good luck to all !
🗿
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It still is, just needs some work.
The serial number is 82 2031. (admittedly the 1 does look like an L...! ) I would have expected to see a letter code in there, but between the first two digits and the sequence after. There's that, and the L letter code would be a Skylark guitar, which this certainly isn't. The absence of a letter usually indicates a Series instrument, which this isn't. It looks from these pictures to be an 8-string Exploiter, with Distillate controls. We'll just have to wait for Mica to pull the card on it to see what the specifics were at the time it was made. Anything else I'd say would be a guess.
As others have said, a few repairs here would go a long way towards helping the resale value. I see an output jack tearout, and at least one of the truss-rod nut looks stripped. Other than that, and without an in-hand look, I see only some cleaning and reassembly needed. The nuts are available from Alembic. The jack repair shouldn't be that hard for any competent repair shop, and if some care is taken with the touch-up it'll look okay. Not sure what is available to you at your location.
That's an unusual and desirable bass you have there. Good luck with it.
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And what's that headstock called? Bishops hat? Don't see that too often.
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Really hope you can find a respectable luthier to restore this beautiful instrument. Of course, the mothership is the ultimate choice for repairs. Didn’t that 8-string down under go for $7K?
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Welcome to the club!
You have a beauty there, but obviously the damage is a tough one.
If it has not been said yet, the serial number lookup takes a bit of time, so be very patient.
The member Edwardofhuncote knows a thing about repairs and has great insight, as do a great deal of club members, so treasure and heed the advice!!
The beauty of these basses is that they are made very well, and with a little effort and careful work, it will look and act like new.
Good luck with it
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Hello everyone.
I spoke with Mica this afternoon and learned a few more details about the guitar. She advised me that it will take a while to generate the guitar's history. Here is what I learned today:
Serial Number 82 "silent D" 2031...lol!
Distillate with L.E.D
Neck? Maple and Purpleheart
Fingerboard Ebony
Front Body Walnut
Back Body Mahogany
32" Medium Scale
While we were talking I discovered the attached document in the case.
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Ah, the silent letter code. ;D Well, you got it from the source.
The hand-drawn Distillate circuit is bonus points... that's really cool. 8)
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I thought the schematic diagram was cool, too.
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Today, I confirmed that the guitar was passed on to me from the original owner. I passed on his name and where the guitar was purchased to Mica.
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The guitar and I are in San Antonio Texas. My plan for now is to repair and sell the guitar.No card from Mica but it is still to early to expect it.
Artgeckko, Edwardofhuncote, and the other members who replied. I appreciated the warm welcome and encouraging words. I looking for a repair shop in my area. If you know of one, please forward their contact information.to me.
Happy Easter, everyone!