Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Showcase => Series II Basses and Guitars => Topic started by: Enzo on February 23, 2014, 11:08:02 AM
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I'm not joking Pictures coming soon with the great help, as usual, from Mod Dave.
After so much waiting due to the extreme cold here in Chicago, my new (old) SII with a Graphite neck finally arrived and I'm nothing short than stunned. It's the most beautiful instrument I ever picked up in my life. It will need some attention from the mother factory, once I decide exactly what needs to be done and put together some funds this will be shipped in the hands of her daddy, Mr Ron for a pickups upgrade and more. Enjoy the view (whenever that appears )
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Here are the pics of Enzo's beautiful new bass.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/188226.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/188227.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/188228.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/188229.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/188230.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/188231.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/188232.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/188233.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/188234.jpg)
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This is not real ___ She just descended from a cloud in a dream ____
Beautiful ____
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That's a badass Axe you got there buddy! Spank that beast because it's made to be played and not pampered!!!!!
Kudos to ya... from
Chalie
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Excellent bass! Congratulations! Doesn't get any better than a Series Alembic with graphite neck! I really like that Alembic medallion, too. I've never seen one of those. Enjoy many years with that one!
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That is a great bass! Another beauty for sure. Congratulations and Play it Healthy!
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Congrats, a real beauty! Have fun!
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I'm so glad somebody bought this axe, so good for you, Enzo.
If it were me, I'd move the medal, and restore the rotary switch and the brass plate down there on the horn. I wouldn't go back with restoring the broken tips of the Omega: Let them sand/carve the cutout as it is and refinish. Those tips on my Spoiler scare the hell out of me every time I pick it up and set it down !
But however you proceed, Congrats. A great axe had for way behind market value, the best of all worlds.
J o e y
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Joey , I agree as to your ideas and recommendations !
Enzo ___ congratulations and follow your heart on this beauty !
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Thank you everybody, and thank you Joey and Wolf for ideas and suggestions. Mica was already very helpful on the phone, before I closed the deal with the seller, but I still have questions and doubts.
How do you guys feel about keeping it satin like it was originally or go clear coat finish? What kind (if any) impact would that have on the sound?
Would you have the brass parts cleaned up like a new one or keep it oxidized for a more vintage look? Well, I know this is just a personal preference but I wonder how fellow Alembicians feel about it
I will definitely not ask to restore the broken Omega tips, I feel the same about the fear of breaking them, will be just fine to sand them properly and refinish them. As for the rotary p/ups selector, hmmm that's a tough one, to put it back would be more proper to the original design but I like to slap and that might be in the way. Plus, given it's a logo medallion and not just a plain brass circle it kind of look cool where it is, it's almost like a medal of honor for the many stage battles
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I just had a doofus attack.
I was looking at the pic of the end of the fingerboard and I began wondering where's the truss rod cover. . . . . d'oh !!!
Since you asked, and speaking only for me:
I like shiny brass bits. And I'd change the M4's and the strap buttons to gold, which for me matches the brass in a way, they just look funny to me with the warm character of brass with chrome parts.
I'm very old school when it comes to Points and Omegas, so the rotary on the horn with the little brass surround is period-correct, if you will. Of course, then, where does that little medal go?
I'm no fan of oil or satin-urethane because I'm a greasy person, and I would wind up with shiny spots after a while. So I prefer the gloss finish, which to me makes the grain on these brown basses stand out more. Plus, knowing me, I'd oil the hell out of the thing and forever be playing a mess . . . . .
You just had to ask. My best advice: You will not go wrong with Susan and Mica.
Again, Congrats on scoring this very rare bird.
J o e y
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My 2 cents:
Do a minimal restoration. Fix the Omega cut, shine the brass, oil the fretboard, fix any electronic issues. But leave it essentially the way you got it. It's earned those battle scars. Why erase them?
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1.5 cents:
Just start playing it and don't put it down!! It's already a great axe without doing anything to it.
I'm a function over form guy so I'd say service only what's needed, in this order:
#1. Frets & action... I see evidence of thumb playing under the E-string at the 24th fret. If that's the only spot which is so worn maybe you don't need to address it. But if the rest of the frets are similarly beat you should think about new frets or at least having them dressed. And with no truss rod, any relief you might want in the fingerboard needs to be built in.
#2. Electronics upgrade... In my opinion, worth the time and expense to control noise and bring it up to current specs.
And that's all. (Well, I might actually make it a 5-string fretless but that's just me. HA!) It's already an impressive bass and has a historic look that I don't think I'd want to make new by refinishing and polishing. Also, the p/u selector switch was moved out of the way for the reason you mentioned and the resulting cap is unique to this bass. You could even ask Susan to design a new cap if you want to make it more personal. Perhaps something with glowing eyes?
Nice one!
Jimmy J
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A penny for my thoughts?
Regarding an electronics upgrade, it certainly isn't a sure thing it will be needed. Neither my '76 Series I guitar, nor my '77 Series I 12 string guitar needed the upgrade, and I'm in the S.F. Bay Area where we have lots of RF all around us.
+ one on enjoying the mojo. The rest of us eventually show our age, so why not our instruments?
Bill, tgo
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Thanks for all the coins, keep 'em coming, it's gonna be expensive in Santa Rosa
This bass needs the pick up upgrade and some work to the frets, whether will be a full refret or a dress, we'll see. The seller (great guy btw) described me the bass in details and I understood right away when he talked about a noise based on your position.
Jimmy, that's how I feel regarding basses generally speaking, they have to be technically perfect before looking good. Thinking about it, I actually would have problems with a brand spanking new Alembic, I would hate to put the first scratch on it, it would be painful. So probably no full refinish, like Dan says, minimal restoration would do it, it has just the right amount of scars. There are a couple of light dings on the neck, those have to go, maybe they can refinish just the neck.
Some very helpful inputs though, I appreciate it.
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Out of curiosity, what's wrong with the pickups?
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Yeah, I get no noise at all in my area out of the old series instruments!
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Apparently, instruments made before a certain year ('99-'00, if I recall) had pickups that COULD become noisy because of the way they were made. With the extra waves of today's technology, it's something that might happen. So it's been described to me, you might want to ask details to the electronic savvy on this forum.
So basically there's a ground hum that increases depending on the position the bass is.
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My understanding (which could be wrong) is that since there is some physical distance between the pickups and the hum-canceling coil - as in, they are not stacked like a traditional humbucker - they hear electromagnetic interference at a slightly different time... Cancellation may not be 100% because the signal from the pickup and the signal from the hum-canceller may already be slightly out of phase.
The upgrade Ron has come up with in recent years is a way to fine tune the circuit so that it more effectively rejects EMI.
The thing is ... it is instrument specific! He literally has to hand tune the circuit for each instrument. Because the individual pickups, hum coils, preamp components, and even the mass of the brass plates and bridge block ALL effect this noise rejection system.
And because all the above factors effect the circuit's efficiency, there are likely some older instruments that are already quieter than others. I've had all my main instruments done simply because there have been times on each where I've run into difficulties. I believe they're much quieter now and I rarely have any noise issues. But others may have never had any difficulty and it could be that all the planets aligned for their instrument and they're already as quiet as they can be.
So certainly as Enzo rejuvenates this axe he could wait to see if there is any noise rejection issue before jumping on the mod bandwagon. Please ignore my #2 suggestion above and lower my comment's value to only 1 cent!
Jimmy J
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Any comments coming from Jimmy J are always worth their weight in gold. It is so nice to have such great wisdom available to the members of this forum!
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INDEED. Thank you Jimmy!!!
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UPDATE. Almost exactly one year later, the SII finally landed in Santa Rosa where it will be checked out and evaluated. Regarding the electronic noise, after talking to Mica over the phone, a few months back, I explained how the neck pickup was missing 2 screws and that it was laid almost all the way down. Mica suggested that that could have been the reason why it was producing the hum and graciously sent me a few replacement screws (along with a lovely big sticker) for me to raise the pickup to a reasonable height. Well, the hum decreased quite a bit bringing it to a more acceptable level, similar to a typical single coil in a Jazz Bass and always changing based on the direction of the bass. Hopefully this can be fixed without having to replace anything but the last word will be up to Mr Ron.
Regarding the rest, refin or not refin, the jury is still out. The Omega cut and the 2 'nice' dings on the back of the neck need to be addressed for sure, then we'll see what else...
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Work in progress The Omega is perfect now.
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Last picture disappeared in the forum transition, let's try again.
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...more.
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Nice looking bass!
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Once finished this will be a stunner!!
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Ciao Stefano, I agree!
I just hope I can afford to keep it, looks like my expenses will go up quite a bit this coming year due to skyrocketing health insurance premium :(
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Nosey (possibly silly) question here... does the graphite neck require any special preparation for finish to adhere to it?
Maybe a better question would be, does it even need to be finished at all?
I love these little sneak-peeks into that particular room... ;D
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Hey Enzo, I sincerely hope that all works out and you will be able to keep and enjoy your axe for years to come. Insurance is costly but it came in handy for my quad bypass this Aug. I hope you never need to use it and it will all work out. If you have any Stati 5's w/leds you need to unload, LMK.
Cheers, Danno
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Thank you Danno. I'll keep my eyes open for that Status you're looking for.
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Ciao Enzo,
I sincerely hope you can keep this superb bass!
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Enzo
Curious as to how this bass looks in finished condition. Have you posted somewhere else?
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Hi Brian, sorry for the late reply.
I received my Series II back from factory in October but since then I didn't have much time to dedicate to it (nor any other bass). I had to fly to Italy to help my elderly parents to deal with a serious illness. Unfortunately things don't look good. I like to say that it's time to give back the love and dedication I received from them throughout my life.
I took a couple shots of the bass but they don't give any justice to its restored appearance. Maybe Mica has better ones, I know she usually takes pictures of finished basses, even though she's been extremely busy. Once my schedule clears a bit I'll take some semi-decent pictures.
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Sorry to hear about your parents but glad to hear you'll be there to support them.
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Here's a couple of the "after" pictures. Best wishes for your parents, Enzo. I'm sure you are taking very good care of them.
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Oh, wow... :D
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Gorgeous! I love it
Nick
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Superb!
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Alembics are SO sexy!
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Enzo has sent some more pictures of this wonderful bass!
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wow, that's beautiful...
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I'll do that to my bass in near future!!!