Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Showcase => Artists and Their Alembics => Topic started by: Googe Endeveronte on October 06, 2002, 10:37:19 AM
-
from Terrapin Station Concert Alpine Valley Ampitheatre:
-
Here is a pic of Phil and this bass. Circa 9/2/78
-
Heres another photo from my files . . . .
-
By the way, the triangular blue sticker is the Apollo 8 (http://www.nasm.si.edu/apollo/AS08/) mission insignia.
I'd love to know what all the knobs do. This is a Quadraphonic bass, right?
(Message edited by pasewark on April 04, 2003)
-
now thats a real alembic!!!!!
-
No kidding, Keavin! I saw the Godfather at the pictured Alpine Valley event. It was SORELY in need of a cleaning and other TLC!! Sad, for a bass that sounds so magnificent.
Bill
-
phil,s ritch,what does care! i wonder does he still own the god father?, it resembles mine alot #12, w/all those knobs,(i caLL mine the god mother),because of the sweet sound, and the big butt!
-
phil,s ritch,what does care! i wonder does he still own the god father?, it resembles mine alot #12, w/all those knobs,(i caLL mine the god mother),because of the sweet sound, and the big butt!
-
I assumed Phil still owns it, since the event the picture was taken at was a Dead Show. Plus it was exhibited along with other Dead stage memorabilia (including many items I assume were designed and or built by Alembic in the day). It was pretty obvious the poor puppy hadn't been played in some time, though.
-
I assumed Phil still owns it, since the event the picture was taken at was a Dead Show. Plus it was exhibited along with other Dead stage memorabilia (including many items I assume were designed and or built by Alembic in the day). It was pretty obvious the poor puppy hadn't been played with in some time, though.
-
It seems that there might be a chance for us mortals to play this bass. From Phil's website:
Hopefully, that will happen in early October, when I'm planning a special Phil Lesh University (PLU) Wolf benefit. We are looking to have classes on improvisation and jam sessions with participants playing with me and the band. PLU will be open to all musicians including bass players. I am having my old bass Big Brown tuned up especially for PLU. There will also be tickets available for people who want to watch the classes, enjoy a BBQ with the band and watch the evening performance by Phil Lesh & Friends and Family. Check back later for more info.
Good luck!
Edwin
-
He played it last night...sick show
http://www.philzone.org/discus/messages/2/246959.jpg (http://www.philzone.org/discus/messages/2/246959.jpg target=_top)
(Message edited by dubstar on November 23, 2005)
(Message edited by dubstar on November 23, 2005)
(Message edited by dubstar on November 23, 2005)
-
Thanks for the news; and welcome to the group!
that works a little better.
There are several pictures of the bass in the thread.
-
apparently phil needs help remembering what does what
i think there is a close up somewhere on the www
-
Poor Phil, He Looks Totally Lost with all those knobs..............Just play the freakin Bass line!
-
When I saw Phil in december 2005, I think he played this bass once. It was the only time the bass actually stood out from the rest of the music. When he was playing the Modulus 6 string basses, I heard nothing.
-
i dont know his problem is and i am guessing its the speaker set up or whatever because it sounds good on sdbds etc but live unless youre really close in my eyes it sounds like poop
muddled and toneless not clear at all and
someone should drag him by his neck over to sit with susan....
-
Both the modified Starfire and the modified EB0 that Phil had in the early 70s had very distinct tone. It's a tone I wish I could get even today! Check out the GD 4-29-71 Fillmore show, you'll see what I mean.
-
thanx for that pix - what a bass! how to find close-ups would be appreciated...and I ?d love to here that sound...again...Dick?s Picks 35 - ahhh, so sweet!
-
What's the wiring setup for that bass?
-
It's at the core, a Superfilter. There are descriptions of this on the regular Alembic site.
Edwin
-
playing a gulid starfire with hagstrom pick ups, with a superfilter with a f2b comes pretty darn close to phils tone from that era.
-
Hi, and I agree with jseitang - pretty darn close! I acheive it with a DARK STAR?d De Armond Starfire, superfilter+F1-X. The pickups built by good man Fred Hammon are essential...(Hagstroms on steroids). And don?t forget to use a pick. Happy New Year to all Alembicians!
-
yo albrecht, where's you find a de armond starfire. i've been looking and can't find one anywhere.
-
hi marsh-king, they often appear on the Swedish market, like this example: http://www.blocket.se/vi/15470075.htm?ca=10_s (http://www.blocket.se/vi/15470075.htm?ca=10_s) I bought my bass from the US, it was one Fred Hammon had used for testing his Dark Stars. it?s one awesome bass with wicked pickups!
-
I found this link to a video with Phil playing the starfire ( i think).
I've been looking around for some Dead video's to see if I like any of their music. I really don't know anything about them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBAuaJKMOTg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBAuaJKMOTg)
You may enjoy this anyway.
Jazzyvee
-
Anyone played one of these?:
http://www.warwick.de/modules/produkte/produkt.php?katID=22043&cl=EN (http://www.warwick.de/modules/produkte/produkt.php?katID=22043&cl=EN)
I have a suspicion that this would be a great starting point for building a modern version of this bass.
-
That looks like a very cool bass, but one thing that sets it apart pretty greatly is the fact that it's a long scale. The Guilds are short scale basses and I think there's really something to the tone of a short scale. Still, I've to try out one of these Warwicks!
-
I sold this Bass in 1978 But I still have another in mahogany that also has Alembic Modifications that I have owned since 1974 I will post some pics of it latter because I just lemon oiled the finger board and I am about to put on some NEW Pyramid Gold flat wound strings on it .I took it up to the 'Mother Ship " not that long ago to show.It has a very rare Alembic tail piece that was installed at the old 60 Brady St. Alembic location for me .Pics will follow of the one that I still have when I restring it .
-
I'm looking forward to seeing it Wolf,
...pretty dang cool : )
-
Nice picture Edwin!
-
That was a fun day. Our set at High Sierra in 2007. It was about 115 degrees out. We did a 3pm set the next day that felt even hotter. Great festival, though!
-
Happy 70th Birthday Phil Lesh!!
-
Happy Birthday Phil Lesh . Thanks for the inspiration !
-
The Birthday show was a lot of fun! One of the standouts for me was Chris Robinson (Black Crowes) sang Pigpens Two Souls in Communion. The show went from 8pm to 2am. I'm still tired!
-
A guy on Basschat UK has added some pics of this gear and a few of the Deads' stage rig some pics are duplicated but I figured you guys would find the thread interesting so here's a link.
http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=84262&st=0&gopid=804847&#entry804847 (http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=84262&st=0&gopid=804847&#entry804847)
Jake
-
I would love to see a diagram on the Godfathers knobs, which does what? Is that posted anywhere?
-
Here is the promised quick pic of my remaining Guild Starfire taken in my cramped messy control room.
-
Here is another shot ! __________ Fine Alembic Custom Brass Work!
-
Very nice! I've never seen a tailpiece like that before!
Do you know the year of the bass?
I like the Studer, too!
-
I was given a choice of various tailpiece designs when I took this Bass to Alembic at the old 60 Brady St. location for bridge & tailpiece replacement back around 1974 or so. This is the one that I picked. Look at the one on Alembic #72-01 , similar with out fine tuners ?
I think this Bass was originally a single pickup model from 1965.
I have had it since 1973. It originally had 2 Guild/ Hagstrom pick ups on it when I bought it .
The experimental HI-A pickups were added after the Alembic modifications.
(Message edited by sonicus on June 09, 2010)
-
Very nice - but I think we may need a better shot of the picture behind the rack......
Peter
-
Thank you Edwin & Peter!
Peter _ lol_____ That is an old painting that my Wife painted in Art School, Many years ago______.
-
Here is a clip of it live.
Jazzyvee
-
I always thought that Lesh's bass line from David Crosby's solo album was hauntingly beautiful. This had to be The Godfather back then, 1971 release date. Of course, Jerry Garcia's pedal steel isn't too shabby either.
-
Cool video! Thanks Jazzyvee!
-
This picture came up in a slideshow on dead.net/ (http://www.dead.net/ target=_blank) in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Europe '72 shows. Unfortunately I can't find a link to the slideshow anymore. You can't see the lower bout but doesn't it look like the Godfather, perhaps in a slightly earlier incarnation?
-
You can see a bit of the rail and the foil covered hum cancelling pickup. So it is indeed the godfather. Just not sure if its fully quad yet. I'd love to see a build history on this bass!
-
It's definitely the Godfather and it is definitely Europe, I think the Bickershaw festival. Same venue as the photo below. [size=78%] [/size]
Aside from the 2 pictures on the history page, I don't think there's much detail about the construction history. However, I think that the quad pickup went in when the rest of the big overhaul happened. I think that's the quad pickup in the middle, although I could be wrong. If you look at pictures of it, it definitely seems like there are 4 distinct coils in there.
http://www.hollowbodybass.com/wp-content/uploads/original-alembic-starfire.jpg (http://www.hollowbodybass.com/wp-content/uploads/original-alembic-starfire.jpg)
-
That picture is awesome - most likely the same bass, most definitely the same sweater!
-
OK, I have discovered that the bas fully quad at the time of these pix. I was listening to the Dark Star from 3/23/72 and there are some areas where the strings are coming from different parts of the stereo field.
-
There are some great pictures of this bass under construction in the latest issue of Fretboard Journal that feature Rick Turner looking quite young indeed.
-
OK, I have discovered that the bas fully quad at the time of these pix. I was listening to the Dark Star from 3/23/72 and there are some areas where the strings are coming from different parts of the stereo field.
Edwin, I believe you are correct.
Ken
-
What I didn't put in the callouts were the trimpot gain controls for the bass and treble pickups. I made this in about 10 minutes, and so it's as good as I could make in that short time.
We were worried from some stuff we heard that someone had been inside this bass, but when we opened it up, nearly all the solder joints were clearly done by my dad, Ron Wickersham.
We're going to have the bass back again in the near future to finish the documentation of it. The low pass filters go really really low, like you can make the E string almost disappear if you set it right (or is it wrong?) Anyway, there is a lot under the hood!
-
Thanks Mica!
-
Oh yeah, I didn't callout the little mini toggle above the master volume, as it isn't connected now. It was a master volume mode switch, where Phil could have the master volume set anywhere he wanted, but then flip the switch and have it go to the maximum volume.
-
Thanks, Mica! I have to say that it sounded really good on the vid from TXR. Even aside from filter settings, it's got a great tone. What you guys do electronically is obviously cool, but I think the physical mods you've done have really brought the tone alive.
-
That's great!
That's the bass that is responsible for my obsession with Alembic. So nice to see it cleaned up and looking so good.
-
amazing.
-
Always loved the Apollo 8 sticker.
Bill, tgo
-
Fascinating info - thanks for pulling back the curtain on a mystery that has confounded me for 40 + years.
I first saw this bass in the photo booklet that was inside the 3-record Europe '72 package. Hearing it on record and seeing it in those photos was a mind blowing experience for a 12-year old budding musician.
Up to that point, the most knobs I'd seen on a bass was four and many of the recorded bass tones that I'd heard sounded like mud.
I've always wondered what functions all those knobs control - and now I know!
-
It looks fantastic! Enjoyed hearing it in the TXR video. Hope we get to see and hear more about this beauty in the near future...
-
My favorite bass of all time. ! Mica, Thanks for the diagram. It's all crystal clear to me now! Not really I have a ton of questions.
-
From back in the day:
I'm guessing that this pic was probably taken shortly after Big Brown was originally first delivered to Phil.
-
It looks like it's prior to the addition of a couple of knobs. CVQ?
-
Still has the full tail piece too.
-
Thanks. I've often wondered what all the knobs controlled.
What I didn't put in the callouts were the trimpot gain controls for the bass and treble pickups. I made this in about 10 minutes, and so it's as good as I could make in that short time.
We were worried from some stuff we heard that someone had been inside this bass, but when we opened it up, nearly all the solder joints were clearly done by my dad, Ron Wickersham.
We're going to have the bass back again in the near future to finish the documentation of it. The low pass filters go really really low, like you can make the E string almost disappear if you set it right (or is it wrong?) Anyway, there is a lot under the hood!
-
Wasn’t sure where to post this, but this thread looks like a good place.
Pretty cool photo, 9/2/78 Giants Stadium. Phil playing Big Brown with Orange Osage at the ready in a stand near the McIntosh amps. Notice the Four F-2B preamps that match up with the four power amps. Pure Alembic sound right there! I was at this show, but don’t remember much :)
-
Cool pic! It looks like he’s using two of the F-2Bs, one mono and one in stereo.
Bill, tgo
-
Look at all those red knobs. 8)
What's the little green figure sitting on top of that rack?
-
From Here (http://www.musicbox-online.com/photo-journals/echo-project-2007/phil-lesh.html#axzz6PiIfW9hl),
(http://www.musicbox-online.com/photo-journals/echo-project-2007/lesh3.jpg)
-
Wasn’t sure where to post this, but this thread looks like a good place.
Pretty cool photo, 9/2/78 Giants Stadium. Phil playing Big Brown with Orange Osage at the ready in a stand near the McIntosh amps. Notice the Four F-2B preamps that match up with the four power amps. Pure Alembic sound right there! I was at this show, but don’t remember much :)
I remember that rig! Saw it at the Boston Music Hall, 9/14/78
-
I was at the 78 Boston Music Hall shows, too. Was really psyched to get to see the band again in a small venue but the shows themselves were pretty lackluster. Security was really obnoxious and it took forever to get in each night, I saw them checking peoples wallets for, I guess, drugs. Each night the show started before everyone could get in. I skipped Giants Stadium since I didn't like going to shows in stadiums, made an exception for Dylan and the Dead, though.
Somehow I never paid that much attention to the equipment at 70s shows except watching the evolution of the "Wall of Sound", the individual components weren't a point of focus for me just the visual aspect and the sound of the music. I did pay attention to the instruments themselves, though, especially Big Brown, Mission Control and the Wolf guitar and the oscilloscope Phil used to have on stage was hard to miss.
-
I was at the 78 Boston Music Hall shows, too. Was really psyched to get to see the band again in a small venue but the shows themselves were pretty lackluster. Security was really obnoxious and it took forever to get in each night, I saw them checking peoples wallets for, I guess, drugs. Each night the show started before everyone could get in. I skipped Giants Stadium since I didn't like going to shows in stadiums, made an exception for Dylan and the Dead, though.
Somehow I never paid that much attention to the equipment at 70s shows except watching the evolution of the "Wall of Sound", the individual components weren't a point of focus for me just the visual aspect and the sound of the music. I did pay attention to the instruments themselves, though, especially Big Brown, Mission Control and the Wolf guitar and the oscilloscope Phil used to have on stage was hard to miss.
That's odd. I loved the night I saw! I thought it was cool that they played the final side of the Skull and Roses album. No problem getting in and wasn't checked for anything. I had a seat in the 15th row and gave it up for most of the show to be in the balcony, where it sounded better to me.
-
May be time for me to revisit the show(s). At the time I was a bit disappointed but it may have been having a higher expectation based on a return to a small venue. As is common with Dead shows the perceptions of the show can be all over the map depending on who you talk to. But, I am surprised that you didn't notice the obnoxious security, if you went in really early that may be why. We didn't get the overly-obtrusive pat-down and weren't asked to empty pockets or turn over wallets but saw people that was happening to and the line to get in was painfully slow all three nights.
-
May be time for me to revisit the show(s). At the time I was a bit disappointed but it may have been having a higher expectation based on a return to a small venue. As is common with Dead shows the perceptions of the show can be all over the map depending on who you talk to. But, I am surprised that you didn't notice the obnoxious security, if you went in really early that may be why. We didn't get the overly-obtrusive pat-down and weren't asked to empty pockets or turn over wallets but saw people that was happening to and the line to get in was painfully slow all three nights.
I remember leaving the show and facing a line of cops with snarling dogs. But, it was my first show, so I had nothing to compare it to. I was only 15!
-
I took a listen to most of the 11/14/78 show on the live music archive and was surprised at how energetic it was and the playing was much better than I thought at the time. Great place and show for a first one! Gigs in small venues became increasingly rare, you were lucky to have that experience for your first show. Glad I missed the snarling dogs. My girlfriend and I got the elderly woman who had a small fire in her hotel room which was down the hall from ours. We stayed in quite a weird place and closed out the hotel lounge bar both nights if for no other reason than to watch the strange clientele.
-
Not sure when I took this photo, but Phil wanted to make sure you heard him :) Maybe these towers factor into the standing wave discussions that have taken place here.
-
Not sure when I took this photo ...
After staring at that picture for quite a while, I'm wondering what it was like in person.
-
Very laid back, David, one of my favorite places to see a show. Nice to be outside too, the rocks gave it a very natural feel.
-
OK, back to our regularly scheduled program...an early version...
-
I took a listen to most of the 11/14/78 show on the live music archive and was surprised at how energetic it was and the playing was much better than I thought at the time. Great place and show for a first one! Gigs in small venues became increasingly rare, you were lucky to have that experience for your first show. Glad I missed the snarling dogs. My girlfriend and I got the elderly woman who had a small fire in her hotel room which was down the hall from ours. We stayed in quite a weird place and closed out the hotel lounge bar both nights if for no other reason than to watch the strange clientele.
Actually, my third, after 6/11/76 and 5/7/77. I was still too young to travel to shows, so I just had to catch the Boston shows. I knew what the deal was, so I wanted to travel, but my parents were just not into it.
-
Just spotted this on you tube. There is a section about the big brown.