Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Factory to Customer => Topic started by: mica on May 10, 2006, 11:04:36 AM
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Super nice and swirly top that Chip selected for this guitar:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/27979.jpg)
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George, that's a REALLY cool piece of coco bolo!!!
George, I respectfully submit that you should strongly consider getting a bookmatch to center. It would look really awesome, and get more of that beautiful wood on the top.
It looks like they'd have no trouble with the fit at all. I think it would look much more awesome.
I mean no disrespect, but I wanted to suggest this before the boards are cut and then you don't have the option.
(Message edited by the 8 string king on May 10, 2006)
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Yeah I agree with the 8 string king. Beautiful piece and definitely do the bookmatch to center.
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I hear ya, but.... This item is meant to match a custom bass (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=7772). I spec'd the bass with not-to-center top and back so as to have the flame maple and ebony neck lams on display.
It was a tough call then, and it's a tough call now. But the through-neck is a major feature, both cosmetic and functional. I think it should be in-your-face :-)!
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Well, it should still look awesome regardless!
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George:
I'm with you. When you got it (neck-thru), flaunt it! Awesome piece of cocobolo. Can you tell I like swirls?
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/28015.jpg)
(the back of my in progress Further)
Bill, tgo
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Bill, about the swirls.... I told Susan I wanted swirls, and here's what she came up with for my bass
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/28100.jpg)
The baritone twelve is meant to match: three ebony lams with flame maple for the outer lams.
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I'm with bill on this one. Just love those coco bolo swirls;-)
http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/17164.html?1126545125 (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=8583)
Good luck with this one george. can't wait to see how the wood turns out.
Graeme
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Graeme, I still think your Rogue has about the best CocoBolo grain that I have ever seen!!
G
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Here's the neck in a picture I snapped last month. Sorry I've been a little behind in posting updates.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/31382.jpg)
The Flame Maple figuring is super nice like your bass.
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I like it. Even at low res, the flame pattern is obvious.
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I'm relatively new to seeing all these stages. Is the maple routed on the neck for the front LED's? This guitar is going to be gorgeous.
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Brad:
I believe the routing you see on the neck is for the dual truss rods.
Bill, the guitar one
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Ah! Of course that's what those are for. Like I said, I'm not used to seeing the necks pre-fingerboard. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
~B~
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Here's the template that Chip made:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/32048.jpg)
It's perfectly symmetrical, the camera is a little off-center.
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Those over 6-string headstocks just make me want to holler they're so cool looking.
Very, very nice.
Bradley
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Body with rough shaping now:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/32200.jpg)
That spot on the upper horn is just a rogue piece of glue.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/32201.jpg)
Obviously this still needs a bunch of sanding.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/32202.jpg)
There should be a steady stream of pictures until it hits spray.
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In the pipe clamps for the evening:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/32349.jpg)
And the cool peghead shape all cut out:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/32350.jpg)
That's a centerline in pencil and some glue smears on the peghead - they won't be there once carving gets a hold of it.
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Wow. It's going to be a shame to hide that wood under the logo.
Graeme
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sorry Graeme, but I now think that this is the nicest Cocobolo that I've seen.
Truly beautiful!!
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Boy. Talk about fickle ;-)
Graeme
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Yeah, Graeme, I agree with you about hiding the wood under the logo. And then the logo gets obscured by the strings :-(. I had hoped to have a cone-head with the logo at the tip, but I'm told that's an engineering impossibility.
But, even so, it's still going to be an outstanding item!
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It's in spray, but I always catch it wet so I only get to see the back:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/34366.jpg)
But I could sneak around and get a closeuo of the front:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/34367.jpg)
Your plates, including the beckside of the truss rod cover ready to prep for the next coat of spray:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/34368.jpg)
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James finished the GEO inlay today, and should be dropping it in the 12th fret space before he goes home tonight. Here it is as of this afternoon:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/34664.jpg)
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When I look at the routing in the December 14 pictures and Rory's December 27 pictures here (http://alembic.com/club/messages/449/34728.html?1167318766), I infer routing for a bridge block, a bridge pick-up, and a neck pick-up.
When I look at the Spectrum description here (http://www.alembic.com/prod/spectrum.html), I'd expect routing for a bridge block, an HG neck pick-up, and two STR pick-ups.
What's up? Am I misinterpreting something?
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Holy smokes, George, your baby's lookin' pretty Fab-u-lous!
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Spectrums do get STR pickups, but on a 12-string, that pickup won't catch all the strings in the magnetic field.
There's still enough room for a third pickup if you want it - just say the word.
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I don't think I NEED another pick up, and I'm not experienced enough even to say that I WANT a third one. Let's go with the way you have it planned.
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What a beauty! WOW!!
NLP
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We're ready to cut the peghead out on your neck, but we need some more input from you. In order to get a straight string pull on 12-strings, the peghead would have to be an unmanageable 14 inches long. That doesn't sound like something you would want. Susan and Chip have come up with these designs, to keep it a manageable size. Hope you like one of them, the main difference is the logo position.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/31692.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/631/31693.jpg)
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I'd vote for #2, and bevel the edges. Or #1 with an omega and beveled edges.
We get two votes, right?
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Have been off the grid since noon Thursday---went to the fortieth reunion of my college class.
I hate the idea of obscuring the logo behind all the strings, but.... I'm imagining the shape of whole instrument. I think the one on the left would look better. The one on the right would, I think, look too big.
Brad, as for the omega, well.... I know this will seem sacrilege to some, but points and omegas all seem like busy-work to me. They remind me of antique furniture.
Mica, let's go with the one on the left, with the logo under the strings.
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George,
I agree on two counts. First, yes, it is sacrilege that points and omegas are too busy. But I also agree that the peghead on the right would be too big. See? We agree on everything! That guitar is going to be something else.
Brad (Hmmm. We're becoming as ubiquitous as Olivers)
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If you hate the idea of obscuring the logo behind all the strings
Maybe the Logo inlayed in the body is an option?
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Maybe the Logo inlayed in the body is an option?
I don't have any idea how Alembic feels about it, but I absolutely love Keavin's bass (
#12 (http://alembic.com/club/messages/411/8517.html?1132140547) )- he's got the logo below the bridge- it's killer.
EDIT: The folks at Alembic must be OK w/ it- the Featured Custom for Feb 2000 (http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_bobguitar.html) has the logo inlayed there.
(Message edited by tbrannon on September 24, 2006)
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George,
Not liking omegas isn't sacrilege! Way I figure it, you're paying for it, get what you want.
I still think you should bevel the edges, though.
Bradley
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I got the word to Chip about your peghead preference, George. I'll post some more pictures when interesting things happen.
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Sounds good to me!
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Hi George,
It's here, your Factory to Customer thread for your 12-string baritone guitar. I'll post pictures as interesting things happen.
Let me know if you've got any questions, and make sure you get any changes or additions posted in that area so they won't be overlooked.
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Hi George! Just in case you missed my other post, I wanted to compliment you on the exceptionally awesome speciman of coco bolo Chip selected -but also to suggest that you might consider getting a bookmatch to center option for your top.
Your boards look awesome, and look like they'd have no trouble covering the top completely.
In my opinion, it would look substantially more awesome, and would allow you to use/show even more of that beautiful coco bolo top. If you compare what it would look like with the BTC, you might prefer it -and I don't believe it's a very expensive option.
12-string baritone guitar... I love it!!! Hard-core!!! This may just be another Alembic first! (I'm the guy who got the first Alembic 8-string bass -that's tuned in straight 4ths, not an octave-bass).
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I appreciate the thoughts, Mark, but, as I said in the top thread, I'm going for a matched pair here.
As for the 12-string, well, that takes me back to my senior year in college, when my graduation present to myself from myself was a Gibson B-45-12 (which I still have, 40 years later). As for the baritone spec, blame that on Leo Kottke and his tuned-down Bozo (http://www.guitarmusic.org/kottke/photos/yng_leo.jpg). The first thing I'm gonna do when I get this guitar is slap on a drop-A(!) tuning and go for Louise (http://getsome.org/guitar/olga/acoustic/l/leo_kottke/louise.tab).
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Nice concept George.
They say that Louise was not half bad.
Peace
Tom
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Speaking of concept, Tom, I asked Susan to explore the technical feasibility of stringing ALL the courses in octaves, not just the lowest-pitched four. Current feedback by phone yesterday is that the question is still open, but the highest-pitch course may still need to be a pair.
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Hi guys, long time reader, first time poster.
I know it's not quite the same, as the 12 string will have greater tension on the neck, but Bill Conklin puts a high A string on his extended range guitars, he uses an 8 gauge string, I believe. It's only a tone below what you'd be trying to achieve which leaves you the option of seeing how you like the extra tension (i'm guessing it'll be pretty high) or tuning your instrument A-A, rather than B-B (which I've heard alot of bari players do).
I've never picked up a Conklin so I have no clue what the high A feels like to play, so I guess it'd be helpfull if any Conklin players on the board chipped in their views, but I just thought I'd give my $0.02
Nate