Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Factory to Customer => Topic started by: mica on September 11, 2008, 06:07:41 PM
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Found your body at the assembly station the other day:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/56040.jpg)
So I asked it to pose for a picture:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/56041.jpg)
And then the neck got jealous, so it joined in, so to speak:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/56042.jpg)
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Nice...been a long time since we've seen one of these babies roll of the line. Can't wait to see it finished.
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Cool!! I agree with Jonathan; it's nice to see a California Special in the FTC.
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Now with more glue!
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/57111.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/57112.jpg)
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Cool. I'm looking forward to seeing this quilt under some finish.
Graeme
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Hi,
Mike from NJ here. These are my new guitar's baby pictures. I'm going for an ocean burst with emphasis on the emerald center, going to the auqa/teal edge.
This guitar represents a middle aged crisis wish fulfillment of a man who spent too much time away from music.
Hope I can be worthy of it when it comes home to me.
Actually, it is only the noon of life, and this drop dead gorgeous lady will get me back on the path.
Good wishes to all!
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Hi Mike,
Welcome to the forum and congratulations on a great choice to get you back on track.
Best,
Art
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Hey Mike, I hope to have a mid-life crisis someday too. Congratulations on your return to music.
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Open question to all in forum:
Look at the front of the guitar, near the tail, especially on the lower body half. Does anyone else see a waterstained appearance to the grain?
Does this give the appearance of a fault (blemish) in the grain that will detract from appearance later?
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Are you talking about the dark shaping marks around the edges which will obviously be sanded out during final shaping? otherwise all I see is a nicely figured slice of quilt maple - the dark lines indicate to me that you'll be getting a very deep quilt effect similar to woody (http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_woody.html).
Graeme
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I agree with Graeme- really deep quilt, which should look great when the finish hits.
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No reason to panick - if there's anything really wrong with the wood I'm sure they'd rather not put their name to it.
There's another FTC thread here for a Further, where they found a nasty spot in the neck after they started to shape it, which was even after the neck was glued to the body wings. They took the whole instrument apart and built a completely new neck.
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Michael:
No need to worry. Once the finish hits it, you will be blown away! People who see Woody for the first time invariably reach out to touch it because they can't believe the surface is really flat. The 3-D quality of quilted maple under finish is my all time favorite guitar top. Swirly cocobolo is a close second, which is why I chose it for Woody's back. Alembic don't do no water stains!
Bill, tgo
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OK. Thanks for the encouraging feedback.
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Quilted Maple is so hard to judge from photos. Now that we're sanding the guitar, the amount of figure appears to wane, so it will be especially rewarding when the finish hits it. The blue arrows are all pointing to the same type of feature:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/57382.jpg)
It's not a stain, but rather part of the structure and natural beauty of the wood. It's just where this piece was cut revealed it this way. The routing is completed now:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/57383.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/57384.jpg)
So in a couple of weeks, we'll have sealer coats and the first shots of color. Once you see that, I know your mind can be at ease. This is going to be a stunning guitar.
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Yeah, that is going to look SOOOO nice!
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SOOOO nice is right:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/57713.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/57714.jpg)
That little water stain worry should fade away now.
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Absolutely beautiful. More guitars need water spots ;)
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WOW! Sorry Bill, I think I might have a new favourite maple guitar!
Graeme
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I can't wait to see the color on this baby! I LOVE Alembic's quilted maple choices.
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No problem, Graeme. I may have to get one of these myself! This is turning out to be a stunning instrument in an iconic shape. You are indeed a lucky man, Michael.
Bill, tgo
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To All:
I am a believer! In fact,I am already getting a Woodrow looking at it.
Best,
Michael
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The stain that I am aspiring to can be found on this website under Products/Skylark/Staining options. Light emerald in the middle, with wash to teal at edges
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Great quilt!!!
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I know your going for a certain color, but this thing just looks so beautiful as it is. I'd put in the electronics, slap on the hardware and call it a day!
Either way, it's going to be spectacular.
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As usual, it looks sooooo much better in person:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/59351.jpg)
It's in the final curing stage, so it's at least a week away from any more work while the finish finishes hardening. But now you can enjoy that intense color.
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Very nice!!
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i never thought I would enjoy green so much! (well, except for certain situations... ;-) ) Congrats!
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Yea Baby!
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Rubout and buffing success story, now just getting loaded and drilled:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/60196.jpg)
Nut blank installed:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/60197.jpg)
Looking good!
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Looking good indeed!
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Michael:
Believe it of not, I saw another green California Special last weekend at the World Guitar Show in San Rafael. It is being sold by Guitar Showcase in San Jose on consignment from Steve Miller. (GSC had a booth at the show). It's a '93. IIRC the green stain is over flame maple and there is no burst. IMHO yours is far more attractive. That's a VERY nice piece of quilt you have there. And the subtle burst is sweet, especially the matching burst peghead. Congrats on another great Alembic guitar.
Bill, tgo
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Here's some photos of the abalone inlays:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/60302.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/60303.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/60304.jpg)
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Love those inlays. The third fret inlay looks like something crazy going on on Jupiter's surface.
Graeme
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Here's a picture of the finished guitar:
Sorry about the flash blowing out the tailpiece, but you can still tell it looks awesome. Once it's all polished up and ready to slip in the case, I'll take some more pictures and share.
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Great guitar!! Beautiful finish!
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Not only is the green finish awesome, the gold hardware makes it even more awesome.
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Sweet!.
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I cringed when I saw that this spectacular top was getting tinted. But I gotta say...very nice!
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Mike:
I happened to stop by Alembic yesterday to have a quick upgrade done to Woody, my custom Further. I got to check out your guitar. It is stunning. The abalone ovals are spectacular, especially how they flash and change as the viewing angle changes. As for the tint, I'm with Jonathan - I usually not a fan of anything other than subtle amber tints on quilted maple, but your green burst really works! Congrats on a beautiful guitar.
Bill, tgo
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Hey Everybody,
Thanks for the support and useful feedback for this guitar. Mica may post more pictures. The most recent finished product pic is not available for some reason.
I?ll look forward to your future projects, and will follow them with interest. I think that this may not be my last Alembic.
MK
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Congrats Michael!
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The picture nibbling gremlin has struck again. Here's the same picture as before, only less missing:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/61021.jpg)