Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Factory to Customer => Topic started by: mica on November 26, 2002, 04:43:20 PM
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I posted a bunch of new pictures of Coco Bolo in the Wood Bank, take a look and see if anything there is suitable for your project.
I'm still not able to post the Burl Walnut photos -- they just don't look exciting at all, and the wood is really stunning. Oh well. I'm working on it.
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Also, the Amboyna pics you sent are really beautiful. As you said, they are a bit on the orange side, but from what I undersand, it's more typical than the yellowish one I posted in the Essence Showcase.
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Thanks Mica,
I'm actually torn right now. I'm thinking of getting swirly dark cocobolo similar to Growling Tiger or burl walnut like Rami's Walnut Bad Boy Series II (AMAZING).
I like the macassar as well but the figuring is too linear for me. You wouldn't happen to have any of that with more of a wild swirly kind of grain to it would you?
Thanks
Matt
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Also. For the body I'm thinking instead of the larger Valentino II, how about a modified Rogue (I really like the long upper horn) with a symmetrical bottom, and omegas on the sides. I'm not sure if the pistol grip horn would look right on this or not, but if you're willing to do some sketches I'll have no problem deciding.
Thanks again Mica
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I'm looking for a swirly piece of Mac Eb from Rami right now. I'll let you know if we find any. It's typically straight grained. The other option is Ziricote. I don't have a photo of that wood right now, but I can describe it as Macassar Ebony colors, grained like a slab of picture jasper - like rolling hills. It's stunning. The Stanley Clarke bass we made for Steve Jay (Weird Al's bassist) is Ziricote, you may be able to find a photo of him playing it.
The Coco Bolo pictures I posted in the wood section have a scale marked off in 6 inch increments. There's quire a few that will do the bookmatch to center.
The side omegas would need to be fairly small, as there isn't a whole lot of room between the edge of the bass and the pickups. I tend to agree with you on the pistol grip, but I'll bounce some stuff off my mom and Mike as well, they are creative enough to make it work if it can.
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Hey Mica,
How long before you can post some pictures of some Ziricote, and Burl Walnut. I saw that Gguitars has a Burl Europa but I haven't gotten a chance to go look at it. (He's a little over an hour away for me). His pics look a tad reddish, though that may very well be the lighting. If this isn't going to happen I'll have to order some samples of the wood so I can make the choice.
Also I was wondering if you could show me some sketches of the symmetrical rogue shape with the omegas.
Since the special this month is the same as last month I'm thinking I'll wait until after christmas to place my order so I can hopefully put most/all of the money together by the time I make the order. But I'd like to pick a piece of wood, and see the rough design prior to placing the order.
Thanks and I'll talk to you soon.
P.S. After the template is finalized, how difficult would it be to make a cutting board the same shape?
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Bump
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Nice to talk with you today. I added the first couple of boards to the Ziricote section in the Wood Bank. Check them out and see what you think.
Ziricote doesn't like to be stored in thinner bookmatches, so we leave it as lumber until we are ready to build. You'll have to imagine the bookmatch for these.
We dn't make cutting boards out of the same shapes as the instruments. We make similar shapes. As a one-off cutting board, you're probably looking at twice the regular price.
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Hi Mica
I gave Gguitars the downpayment on Saturday, hopefully Chris will be placing the order today!
I just noticed this on the alembic.de site. Is this an accurate representation of what burl redwood looks like after finishing? I had always thought of redwood as being more, well... red.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/3113.jpg)
If finished redwood really is that dark and contrasting, I might decide to go with a piece of that over the burl walnut.
Thanks for the help.
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Yes, that is typical of the Burl Redwood. I added a piece of Redwood Lace Burl to the Wood Bank (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=8034) last week that has a lot of similarities to the one on Station Music's website. The wood has a very reddish cast to it, but like many woods, is generally brown.
All the woods get a bit darker with finish. I don't see a whole lot of contrast in any of the burls, including the one in your last post. They certainly have tons of action, but none of them have the light and dark contrast of Zebrawood or Coco Bolo.
The Redwoods tend to give the isntruments a bassier tone, seeming to not encourage the extreme highs. If you've ever played a 1970s Alembic made from Schedua, the Redwood sounds very similar.
(Message edited by mica on January 13, 2003)
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Chris has the downpayment and should be placing the order anytime now.
Do you have any burl walnut that has as much action as the piece of redwood above? I definately prefer pieces that have very close heavy burling with no fade out, and no spots where the figuring changes form (ie, quilting or flaming). If you don't have any pieces like that I might go with a piece of the redwood. What's price difference for that?
Also do you know what your timeframe will be as far showing me some sketches for the body? I'm thinking a Rogue body with symmetrical bottom. Less pronounced waist to allow for larger side omegas. In keeping with the symmetrical bottom, no forearm cutaway. I don't really like the look of the laminate layers widening out on that part of the body.
Thanks Mica
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Chris did place the order with me, so the process is officially underway. I'll get soome sketches of the body together you later this week.
You mentioned in your email about the side markers. They will be aluminum unless you specify otherwise. We recently changed to aluminum on all the models because the high contrast produces a more useful marker.
We'll need to know before we start anything about the side markers, since the fingerboard is one of the first items completed, and the side markers are installed before it gets glued to the neck.
For plated hardware, we'd like to know at the time of the finalized order, it makes all the scheduling go smooth. You can even change the hardware until the day we set it up, but your bass will be sitting around with everything done while we wait for the hardware to return from the plater.
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Great. Aluminum Side dots are fine.
How much is the Nickel Plating, and if I go with bronze hardware instead is it something I could replace or have plated later?
One last thing. I notice that some basses have the Alembic name in gold on the pickups and some don't. Is that an option? Can it be done in a silver metal?
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Nickel and chrome are the same price, $400. The standard hardware is brass. It can be plated later, currently we charge $600 to plate later, as we need your bass here. This includes removing the hardware, prepping for plating, plating and setup.
The gold name hotstamped on the 4-string pickups with injection molded shells. You can opt to have the pickups cast in the traditional method like on Rami's fretless (http://www3.alembic.com/img/twin_bodyfront.jpg target=_blank).
It's possible to have the hotstamping done in any color the foils are available, including silver. I checked with our subcontractor, and he reports a $200 setup for a special order.
You could also fill the engraved Alembic name on the traditional cast pickups with silver paint.
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Ok
1. How much are wood pickup cases? (And do they affect the sound?)
2. What's cost of wood knobs?
For both of the above they would need to either be figured or made of laminated strips like the doubleneck and his son.
3. Can I get CVQs or 3 position Qs instead of the 2 position ones? What's the cost for that?
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1. Wood topped pickups (like Rami's) are $300 each. Full cases (like the doubleneck) are $600 each. There is no affect on the sound.
2. The turned dome knobs are $150 each (like Rami's). Multilam knobs are $250 each. Our knobs are turned by my uncle Bob and are always out of choice woods.
There are off-the-shelf wooden knobs available, I've seen them in some guitar parts catalogs, and they are much less expensive than ours (of course, they aren't specifically made for you either).
3. CVQ is available only for Series I/II instruments. To change to a 3-position Q switch will be $55.
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Ok, I'm going to get the 3 position Q switches instead of the 2s.
And I'm going to do brass hardware with the gold stamped pickups. (That's the way it was going to come anyways right?)
When I send the bass back for the inlay, I'll have the hardware plated.
This is SO AWESOME!!! I ought to have basses built more often!
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I think I'm going want to do a custom headstock as well if the Crown or Fan don't mesh with the theme of the body design. I think I read somewhere that it's 150 for custom headstock templates.
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Yes, gold stamped pickups and brass hardware are standard.
Typically the peghead templates are $150, it all depends on the design and the complexity of manufacture (for instance, a scrolled peghead would be more than $150).
I'm still working on your body design.
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Mica I talked to Chris and he was willing to send a Lakland out to you to get the neck measurements. (At my cost of course.) I think you had said something about taking initial measurements at the 1st and highest possible frets to help reduce the time you would have the bass for. When would be a good time to actually ship you the bass, in order to minimize the time that Chris is without the instrument?
Also when you're doing the body drawings, can you do one the same way as stated above but with a scrolled upper horn similar to this picture?
P.S. For anyone that's interested, this bass was made by a great private luthier by the name of Darrin Huff. You can find his site at
http://www.dhuffguitars.com (http://www.dhuffguitars.com)
Sorry about that Darrin
The top of this bass is made from Burl Thuya. Could you get me a piece of this Mica?
(http://alembic.com/club/messages/631/3167.jpg)
(Message edited by prime on January 31, 2003)
(Message edited by prime on January 31, 2003)
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Hey Matt,
I'm having a dandy of a time getting your body design based on a Rogue.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/3182.jpg)
It's hard to pick where the symmetry will work - it'll either be really skimpy or really huge at the bottom. With the addition of a scrolled horn and the side omegas, I'm getting the feeling we should scrap the idea of basing it on a Rogue at all, as it will not resemble a Rogue even slightly.
Let me know your thoughts and comments.
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Here it is Mica this is kinda what I'm looking for. I'm not all that good with the drawing though. I think I made the omegas a little to small. Hopeully you can take it from here though.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/3185.gif)
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OK cool, I'm not crazy - it won't look a thing like a Rouge by the time we're done with it. Thanks for the sketch - I wouldn't have known about the lower horn idea without it. I've got good stuff to work with now and I'll post some ideas for you either this evening or tomorrow morning.
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Here's another pic of what I envision the entire bass to look like. The ball on the upper horn is the scroll that I couldn't draw right, so I left it blank.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/3193.gif)
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Awesome, Thanks Mica!
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Can you get the Thuya Burl like the picture above? Also what are your experiences with Macassar as a fingerboard? I believe it should behave the same as Gaboon ebony and I love the way it looks.
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I've got a couple of suppliers that have Thuya Burl available, we've never used it on an instrument top, so I'm not sure about its affect on the sound.
Macassar makes a great fingerboard, especially if you like the looks of the figuring. I've never noticed any difference in service between the Gabon and the Macassar as fingerboards. The Series II on the product page has a Macassar Ebony fingerboard, it looks quite stunning.
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How much is the Thuya. If you can get a 1 piece top thats as burly as the pic I posted, that is what I want. Is there a price difference for the Macassar fingerboard?
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I'll find out about the Thuya Burl, it may take a few days to get back with pricing and availabilty.
There's no price difference for the Mac Eb fingerboard, just need to know you want it.
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I'll need to know if you're still looking for a bookmatch to center so I can locate the right piece of wood for your bass.
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If I can I'd like to do a 1 piece top to center. Or bookmatched to center if it's not wide enough.
Any more pics of Mac fingerboards? I think I'd like it but the pic of the Bass in the products page is a bit fuzzy and I can't really see what it looks like. If not I'd like a piece that's darker overall so that the figuring really stands out.
Thanks
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Oh and the back. Would it be a problem to get a piece big enough to go to center (possibly a 1 piece made from the same piece as the top!?), if I ended up choosing not to go to center?. If so I'll let you know by Monday. Thanks
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Still waiting to find out pricing for the Thuya Burl. We've got 2 suppliers checking their stock for wide pieces.
I don't have any other examples of Mac Eb boards handy, but here's a closeup from that same bass:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/3317.jpg)
It's nice and dark with good figure.
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OH YEAH!
That's it. I'll have that. Yep!
Hey I made a decision!!
Also for the Thuya, if it becomes too much of a problem don't worry about it. I'm still down for the Burl Walnut, provided it is like... BURLY. All the Burl walnut I've been able to find online lately seems to be really lacking. I'm wondering if all the good burls have already been dug up, cut up and used for other things? The quality of the Walnut I've seen lately is nothing compared to some of the stuff from 10 years ago. It must be the damn gun makers buying up all the good pieces.
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Matt-
I'm not sure if you saw this yet, but there is a fairly new post that Mica made in Showcase of a bass they are restoring. It has a scroll-looking uppper horn.
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I guess it is an honor to have Alembic making a version of my bass?!? The Thuya bass shown above, is Curt's Z-5. If you would like to see more pics of the bass headover to my site http://www.dhuffguitars.com (http://www.dhuffguitars.com) where you can see updates of his, and my other customers basses.
thanks,Darrin
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http://www.ctbasses.com/4-7dragonettiFretless.html
here is another example of what you are wanting.......
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Darrin. I've fixed the post above to include a photo credit to you. Sorry about that man, I honestly meant no harm by it.
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Look at my bass!!!
http://www.dhuffguitars.com/matt.html (http://www.dhuffguitars.com/matt.html)
Also, here's a concept drawing I made with photo deluxe:
http://www.ctbasses.com/~mattwilk/bass.jpg (http://www.ctbasses.com/~mattwilk/bass.jpg)
Yay! I can't wait!
--Matthew
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Hey Matthew,
I've seen your bass. Definately going to be sweet. Darrin does some great work. That's a nice piece of crotch walnut.
I'm interested to see if you like the shorter scale. I know the Alembicians here that play the medium scales swear by them. I might end up getting a medium for my next bass!
Matt
Imagine how sweet it would sound with some Alembic pickups and electronics in it ;)
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Yes, I am quite excited to see how the shorter scale feels. Darrin assures me that I'll like it just fine! :-)
I wanted 29 frets for more range, yet I didn't want to have to have a huge cut-in on the lower horn. It's kinda based off this instrument here:
http://www.ctbasses.com/LES4string.html (http://www.ctbasses.com/LES4string.html)
This is Les Claypool's bass made by Carl Thompson (but you already knew that...). Notice the bridge position--similar to how many shorter-scale Alembics are. With a standard neck length, and a bumped-up bridge, the fretboard ends where your standard run-of-the-mill board would end.
Ya follow that? I don't! lol
--Matthew
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The red arrows indicate where the upcurve for a neck through body needs to be added. Your drawing will work fine for a set neck design, but the labor involved in making a continuous curve with sharp angles by the neck on a neck through is very high.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/3368.jpg)
We made a neck through Epic as a custom order. From the front, you couldn't tell at all (the bookmatch to center made it work) it was a neck through. Kris told me after he carved that bass I better charge a lot next time, as it was very demanding of his time. The quick sketch above ceratinly will need some more work (blending the curves better, making the bottom a mirror image). I wasn't excited by the lower horn in your drawing - it certainly needs to be wider. The roundover brings the top surface in 3/4 of an inch, and that horn looks narrow enough that it may overlap. If you're interested in having the lower horn pointing outward as in your original drawing, I suggest we put more pressure on the upper part of the curve, to echo the scroll and the give it the "meat" it will need to survive the roundover. The drawing below also adds some substance above the side omega.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/3369.jpg)
If either of these general ideas are very close, let me know and Kris and I will review the design together and make the final drawings. Also, the scrolled horn was not part of the quote for this bass.
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Hi Mica
Making the design work for the neckthrough is totally cool. I kept screwing up the body/neck joint so I just did the body. I definately did not want the sharp corners, I just couldn't draw the round ones properly. And the bottom horn on the black image with the arrows is right on. Very Alembic!
I figured as much about the quote. And the scroll may or may not go. The rest of the body is looking good so far though. How much for the scroll, done similarly to the bass Darrin made with the Thuya above? And can you do another body image similar to the black one, but with an extended pistol grip upper horn?
Thanks so much Mica
Matt
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Mica,
Can you tell me what the warranty is like on Alembics? I'm talking about things like delamination or cracking as the woods are adjusting. I realize that I'd have to pay for shipping and insurance round trip, but is that something that I would also have to pay to have fixed?
Thanks
Matt
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The warranty is for one year. We rarel have warranty work to perform - we just make them so we don't have to fix them.
If repairs are covered under warranty, return shipping within the United States is also covered. You only have to get it to us.
I only know of only one Alembic where a joint delaminated, at that was back when I was about 5 years old. It's a pretty good track record.
About the scroll, the shop labor will be between $225-355 depending on the time. We won't charge above the estimate, even if it takes us longer to do. My mom thought you might like an adaptation of this scroll from our kit guitar:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/3371.jpg)
We've got a Thuya burl coming up that will do a non-bookmatch to center. Our supplier is still looking for a wider piece in his inventory for a possible BTC.
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The scroll on my bass being referenced is carved on both sides... does that est. do both sides for Matt?
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No, Darrin. The existence of a scroll of any kind on this yet to be made bass is still undecided.
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Mica,
I'd definately want the horn scrolled front and back. The scroll on the kit guitar isn't bad, but it's not scrolly enough for me. If you can do the scroll like Darrin's then go ahead and add it to the quote. Otherwise I'll need to figure out what to do with the upper horn.
Thanks
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BTW Is the kit guitar actually a kit you sell!?!? I'm figuring you don't, but if you do I'd be interested in picking one up.
Matt
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I don't think that the kit has been available since the mid 70's. I remember reading about them, seen one of the basses in a picture, but never got the chance to check one out in person.
I think the scroll on the kit guitar is very dainty and sweet. I like it a lot. Not too overpowering. Michael
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The scroll quote is based on time, so twice the time and twice the price will get it to you. Thanks for pointing that out, Darrin.
Kris can get the templates made on February 24th. So gather any changes before the deadline. Then we can start getting this bass built.
I think the design with an extended pistol grip will be so close to Valentino's that it will practically match. Anyway, you seem pretty dedicated to the scroll. Let me know if this changes.
The kit guitar is a project from more than 30 years ago. The idea is we send you a pile of wood, the pickups, electronics and hardware and you get to put it all together. We didn't sell many, and I only know of one person that ever finished one. We've had a stack of these bodies in the corner of shop ever since then. I figured we should just go ahead build them ourselves.
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Thanks for the info on the kit Mike. I too like the way the scroll looks on the kit guitar. It goes well with the rest of the look. However for mine I am looking for more scrolling.
Mica, Darrin had made a good point to me on the phone the other day. Would it be possible to get a full size drawing of the bass before the templates are made? The body is good to go conceptually (The black picture you did with the red arrows), I'd just like to put it on a piece of cardboard so I can see approximately what it's going to look like full scale.
Did you build all the kits? And if not what would you charge if I were to want to buy one.
Matt
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Hi Mica,
When you have some free time could you do some acetone swabs on the Redwood Burl, and the Wacky Walnut in the showcase and perhaps the Madrone Burl? I still have yet to decide on a piece of wood for the top and back.
Thanks
Matt
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Here's the Redwood Burl:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/4042.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/4043.jpg)
This wood always looks really nice. I'll get the other ones for you shortly. We're not selling the kits - we're making the guitars and selling the finished instruments. I've put that project on a slightly lower priority for now.
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It's either that or the Wacky walnut for me.
Will either of those pieces bookmatch to center?
Matt
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Hi Mica when you get a chance could you acetone the Wacky Walnut. I'd like to go either with that or the Redwood.
Matt
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Hey Matt - I have to reclassify that Wacky Walnut to Mutant Myrtle, after smelling it, there's no mistake. Still interested?
Both the Redwood and Myrtle are wide enough for BTC.
-Mica
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Absolutely... Positively... YES
Oh and for the redwood is that thick enough for the top and back or do I need to get another piece for the back?
Thanks Mica
Matt
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If you decide on Redwood Burl, we'd have to find another piece of for the back - I have several sets that are very similar to the one you were interested in. Here's 503 and 504 acetoned:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/4324.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/4325.jpg)
It seems like it will look like slightly greenish Koa. These are two unusual pieces, that's for certain.
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Let's go with the redwood burl. I'd say I'd take the other burled piece in the woodbank if it didn't have the flame. Do you have any other pieces that are just heavy burl like the piece above?
Can you send me a copy of the final body design? I know it'll be a bit larger than the bass will end up being but it'd be nice to be able to judge the shape at a more appropriate scale.
Thanks
Matt
P.S. My address I've sent to you via email.