Alembic Guitars Club

Alembic products => Showcase => Custom Basses => Topic started by: s_wood on April 14, 2014, 04:36:54 PM

Title: Three of a Perfect Pair
Post by: s_wood on April 14, 2014, 04:36:54 PM
With apologies to King Crimson...  Three Series II/Europas out for a stroll on lovely spring day! Killer quilt and killer tone.  
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/190387.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/190388.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/190389.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/190390.jpg)
Title: Three of a Perfect Pair
Post by: sonicus on April 14, 2014, 04:49:03 PM
Such a beautiful daydream ___ in reality !    
 Your instruments  are just beyond words ___
Title: Three of a Perfect Pair
Post by: jazzyvee on April 14, 2014, 05:04:09 PM
Wow that is an incredible set of basses, if this was your hand in a game of bass poker, I couldn't show a winning hand of basses.  
 
Rusty is going to start dreaming about his own bass when he sees that blue one. :-)
 
Jazzyvee
Title: Three of a Perfect Pair
Post by: rustyg61 on April 14, 2014, 05:17:05 PM
WOW Steve!! What an incredible display of Europa beauty!! The blue looks even more stunning in the daylight! I must say though that I had finally reached a point in my build where I was comfortable waiting it out & lowered my anticipation for weekly updates, but after seeing this, you just reopened the wound! LOL! I want mine NOW!! My Europa envy just pegged out!
 
Rusty
Title: Three of a Perfect Pair
Post by: tbrannon on April 14, 2014, 07:21:41 PM
Such a gorgeous trio of Europas.  
 
The natural finish has one less 'CVQ' style knob. What is the difference in control layout on that one?  Is it Master V, Pan, Filter, Filter with 2 CVQ's, rather than a pickup selector?
Title: Three of a Perfect Pair
Post by: poor_nigel on April 14, 2014, 10:18:14 PM
You're killing me . . .  And which bass in your closets is for Casual Tuesdays?
Title: Three of a Perfect Pair
Post by: s_wood on April 15, 2014, 07:13:28 AM
Thanks to all for the kind comments.  I know that I am blessed to own and play these basses. They motivate me every day to improve as a musician so that I might some day be partially worthy of owning such wonderful instruments.  As you all can imagine, they sound much better than they look.  That's the point of these basses, isn't it?
 
Rusty: it will be worth the wait.  Promise!
 
Toby: good eyes!  The extra knobs on the red and blue basses control the LED brightness.  I eventually realized that I never change it once I set it to my preferences, so I decided to simplify the layout on the blond bass by eliminating the knob.
Title: Three of a Perfect Pair
Post by: JuancarlinBass on April 15, 2014, 08:15:16 AM
I=B4m in a severe need of a bucket right now... drool just can=B4t stop = falling!.=20 So, how do you preset the LED brightness on the blond one? Change the = knob potentiometer for an internal screw-type...?
Title: Three of a Perfect Pair
Post by: jazzyvee on April 15, 2014, 08:30:00 AM
I have one of those knobs on my bass for my LED's and i use it rarely. More often than not when i feel the heat from the LED on my thumb as I grip the neck. Hey Steve, I think we are all worthy of alembics regardless of musical ability the only qualification is the desire to be different.    
 
I'm sure you enjoy them immensely.  
Jazzyvee
Title: Three of a Perfect Pair
Post by: tbrannon on April 15, 2014, 10:43:44 AM
Steve,
 
OK- so LED brightness.... but you've got SII electronics, but no pickup selector knob.   So am I correct in assuming you have master volume, pan, filter, filter (w a CVQ for each filter)?  
 
If so, that would be my order for a SII if I had the money to order one.
Title: Three of a Perfect Pair
Post by: s_wood on April 15, 2014, 10:48:49 AM
You are correct, sir.  All of my Series basses were built with a pan filter in place of a pickup selector.  I find that setup to be easier to handle in a live environment because I only need to use one knob to change my volume, and only one knob to vary the balance between the pickups. YMMV, of course.
Title: Three of a Perfect Pair
Post by: tbrannon on April 15, 2014, 02:27:31 PM
That would be perfect for the way my brain works.  I've never been a Jazz bass guy because the two volume setup isn't my favorite- I prefer a pan and master volume.  Your setup is exactly what I'd get if I could build one.  
 
Now- three identical Europas, but with different colors- do they all sound identical or do they each have unique characteristics and do you tend to use certain basses for certain styles?
Title: Three of a Perfect Pair
Post by: mtjam on April 15, 2014, 03:07:18 PM
Fantastic!
 
If I ever do a custom build, it will most likely have the Europa body shape.