Alembic Guitars Club

Alembic products => Showcase => Custom Basses => Topic started by: crgaston on May 19, 2007, 05:13:56 PM

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: crgaston on May 19, 2007, 05:13:56 PM

Instead of posting these on the thread on the main page, I'll go ahead and start one here...
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40002.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40003.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40004.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40005.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40006.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40007.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40008.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40009.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40010.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40011.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40012.jpg)

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: 2400wattman on May 19, 2007, 09:55:14 PM

Charles, if you make it to my show in Chattanooga PLEASE BRING YOUR BASS! I've got to see this work of art.

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: keavin on May 21, 2007, 05:39:47 AM

All i can say is.........DAMN!!!...

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: southpaw on May 21, 2007, 07:55:19 AM

I love the look of the mahogony neck.  I believe it has been said that a mahogony neck will create a darker tone too. What a stunning bass, absolute art work.

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: 2400wattman on May 21, 2007, 08:11:01 AM

Paul, mahogany does make for a darker, richer sound. I had the opprutunity to A/B two 5 String Mark Kings w/Bal. K bodies. One with maple/2 purple heart lams and the other with a neck recipe similar to Charles'. I preferred the maple neck as it makes for a brighter attack(which I like & prefer) but the mahogany based neck did sound excellent, very rich and full on the bottom and the mids and highs were smooooooth and buttery.
Gonna go play some Barry White now...ooooohh yaaa..

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: jorge_s on May 21, 2007, 04:29:29 PM

That is just amazing.

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: dadabass2001 on May 21, 2007, 05:23:46 PM

Beautiful, just too beautiful.
Absolute congrats Charles
 
 
Mike

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: to_81_0190 on May 21, 2007, 08:23:25 PM

Thank you for posting pix. Every part is really beautiful!
 
Toshiaki

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: bassjigga on May 22, 2007, 09:02:57 AM

Beautiful. Congrats again Charles. I'm really thinking about black hardware for my custom...

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: crgaston on May 24, 2007, 11:25:40 AM

Thanks, guys...here's some blurry action shots from last night.  It looks huge on me!
 
 
(Message edited by crgaston on May 24, 2007)

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: crgaston on May 24, 2007, 01:51:37 PM

Here they are a little better...  
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40245.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40246.jpg)
  Looks like I need to work on my posture!

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: the_8_string_king on May 25, 2007, 06:45:30 PM

Absolutely stunning from all angles... thanks for the additional pictures!
 
What a breathtakingly beautiful and incredibly original looking Alembic!

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: hifiguy on May 25, 2007, 07:28:48 PM

Drop. Dead. Gorgeous.
I can only imagine how magnificent it sounds.
 
Congrats to you, Charles.
 
Paul (seething with jealousy )

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: jags on May 29, 2007, 02:11:38 PM

looking at the close up of the spalted maple and ebony meeting up just shot chills up and down my spine. great shot. 1000x nicer bass!!! smart job on all the wood selections

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: David Houck on June 07, 2007, 07:06:16 PM

Gorgeous indeed!

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: crgaston on February 09, 2008, 10:34:39 AM

In action...
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/48418.jpg)

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: David Houck on February 09, 2008, 11:28:51 AM

I love looking at this bass!  I bet it sounds great too!

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: palembic on February 09, 2008, 11:46:57 AM

Well ...that IS a CLASSIC!
Beautifully designed with a lot of taste for every small detail to support more and wider beauty.
(BTW: this last picture is amazingly beautiful! You DID work on your pose hehehehehe).
 
Remark: I KNOW I have a twisted mind (that's what Bill TGO always says and since he's a guitarplayer he is the one to know) but I DO see a frightening thing looking at me in picture 7 from top, with little glimmering eyes like black diamonds. A beast is hiding behind a rim in thsi guitar. Jaws ready to open ...
 
Ok ...that's my mind ...I know ...I HAVE to see that shrink again.
 
Paul The Bad One
 
PS: I DO am happy to see that there are a LOT of PAUL's hanging out here. I wonder if we already have an Ugly One ....we had a Fake One, a Jean One, a Silent One, a Good One, (I am forgetting a lot of Paul's seem to me...)
It's GOOD to be a PAUL!!!!
Hehehehehe

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: crgaston on February 09, 2008, 01:20:12 PM

Thanks, guys..Dave, I should be able to provide a link so you can hear it in a week or two.  Paul, I picked that piece of wood because of the beast lurking in it...glad you see it too.

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: keavin on February 09, 2008, 01:39:16 PM

alembic's most Haunting peice of wood to date!(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/48422.jpg)

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: tbrannon on February 09, 2008, 08:23:58 PM

Good stuff Charles.  Your bass is still my all time favorite custom.

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: robinc on June 02, 2008, 12:54:40 AM

whoa, man! your bass is craaazy! What are all the controls?

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: cozmik_cowboy on June 02, 2008, 05:56:55 AM

This lovely piece is a Series II, Robin - an explanation of the controls is here (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=272).  Charles had them add a stereo/mono switch & a dimmer knob for the LEDs.  This was the Custom of the Month for August-September 2007, so you can get more details here (http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_dragonfly.html) - or, to really get into it, check out the Factory to Customer thread (http://alembic.com/club/messages/631/27354.html?1177888588).
 
(I LOVE this neck receipe!)
 
Peter

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: robinc on June 02, 2008, 02:22:59 PM

I couldn't agree with you more, Peter. That neck recipe is a winner for sure. I love the contrast of the coco, mahogany, and ebony. Am I seeing things, or are the mahogany neck laminates and the body a singe piece?! They are seamlessly matched, if not, especially on the left side of one of those photos above.

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: robinc on June 06, 2008, 11:00:50 PM

Ok, maybe this is a dumb question... but what is under that black plate between the pickups?

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: tbrannon on June 07, 2008, 06:57:43 AM

Robin,
 
That's the humcanceller for the Series II electronics.

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: crgaston on June 17, 2008, 03:07:59 PM

Hi Robin,  
Thanks for the compliments.  They sure did a great job with this one.  The neck is separate from the body, but I did ask them to make it as close a match as they could.
 
Thanks Peter and Toby for helping Robin out...I don't check here much...it makes my wallet start hurting, and we're in the process of building a house :-)
 
I do keep peeking at the FTC section to see if Toby's thread is up, though....still waiting!

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: tbrannon on June 17, 2008, 03:45:36 PM

You and me both Charles.  
 
I have a feeling it will be a relatively quick build.  I won't be surprised at all if it's done by the time Mica finds time in her busy schedule to get to creating the FTC.
 
No real fuss.... I think seeing it might make the waiting harder....(but I still check everyday too!)

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: bassman68 on June 18, 2008, 06:00:03 AM

That is defineatly the SEXIEST looking Alembic 5 string i've ever had the good fortune of seeing on this site (must type this quietly incase my baby hears of this!).

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: crgaston on June 21, 2008, 06:07:13 PM

Thanks, bassman...surely your baby isn't the jealous type, so long as you love her best!
 
 HERE (http://www.ececollege.com/artist/Scott_Little_Band.html target=_blank) is a link to the East Coast Entertainment webpage that features my band.  There are a few little snippets of some cover tunes on there, which sound pretty good through my headphones, but cruddy on my computer speakers.  These tunes were recorded live, but with no audience.  We went to the Peachtree Tavern on a Sunday and set up everything and just took a stereo recording off the board.  They were mixed by Skip Slaughter, who is an amazing engineer and fellow Alembican, so he did the bass right :-)  He said he ran it flat except for a little bump in the upper mids.
 
I'm using the D-fly and an F-2B in stereo, then combined into a DI.  I'm running the neck filter rolled back to somewhere between 800-1kHz with just a touch of the CVQ, and the bridge filter all the way open.  Each channel of the F2B is pretty flat, with a little bass and mid cut on the neck, a little bass boost on the bridge, and treble is boosted slightly on both.  I adjust tone mainly by varying the volumes of each pickup, and with my right hand.  You can hear the switch from fingers to pick on Alabama.
 
Hope this is at least somewhat educational.  Enjoy!
 
Oh, yeah, I'm using nickel DR strings...either Lo-Riders or Sunbeams...can't remember which.

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: tbrannon on June 21, 2008, 07:16:29 PM

Good stuff Charles!  There are quite a few tunes there that I didn't hear from the CD.  Really nice work on the bass- you and the drummer work really well together.  I really like the version of Tupelo Honey and one of my favorite tracks from the CD is still that live version of Jacob Brown and Will the Circle be Unbroken.
 
Skip did the Dragonfly justice in the mix =)  I think you should post a link to this in the 'gigs' section.  I think more people might stumble across the link in a new thread- it's worth hearing.

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: crgaston on August 06, 2009, 08:44:39 AM

Just posting to consolidate...
 
 FTC Thread (http://alembic.com/club/messages/631/27354.html?1177888588 target=_blank)
 
More Pics (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=3524)
 
 Another One
 
Another year gone by with the Dragonfly...seems like I've always been playing this bass now.  It is definitely My instrument.  One thing that I really appreciate is the string spacing.  Back in the '90's I played a Modulus 4 nights a week and would have to soak my hands in ice water after a gig for a few minutes or else they hurt like heck the next day.  Now when we do a 4 night run I'm feeling no discomfort at all.
 
I've swapped my rig up a bit, too.  I'm just using the F2B and a power amp (Superfilter went on the fritz, and now I don't really miss it at the cost of having to lug a 6 space rack).  Also I replaced the 2 Bergantinos with Edens.  It's a bit more focussed and having 3 of the same cabs stacked looks cooler  
 
My band's  YouTube Page (http://www.youtube.com/user/ScottLittleBand#play/uploads target=_blank)

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: tbrannon on August 06, 2009, 09:52:58 AM

Good stuff Charles... glad to hear you and the Dragonfly are happy making music.

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: pauldo on August 06, 2009, 07:51:46 PM

Keavin really nailed it in a much earlier post. . . . DAMN!
 
That is one sweeeeeeeeeet lookin' bass.
 
(I really dig Whippin' Post from the youtube link)

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: dadabass2001 on August 07, 2009, 07:30:28 AM

(me too)  
 
unredeemed jammer

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: wishbass on May 03, 2012, 06:37:16 PM

This bass is so put together! A real beauty too.The attention to detail in the planning and exacution of this bass is very admirable.

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: crgaston on December 10, 2012, 10:11:36 PM

We start at about 1:36...
The lead picker is Barry Waldrep, fiddle player Bob Banerjee, singer Paris Luna, and Kane Russell on percussion.  This was the biggest show I'd played, considering the internet and TV audiences, and was freaking out on the inside :-)
 
http://www.livestream.com/musiccityroots/video?clipId=pla_ca7955e5-d182-4590-9cb3-6ecea3c85bcf&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb (http://www.livestream.com/musiccityroots/video?clipId=pla_ca7955e5-d182-4590-9cb3-6ecea3c85bcf&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb)

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: dadabass2001 on December 11, 2012, 08:39:56 AM

Very nice Chuck. The Dragonfly sounds excellent and the playing is solid!
MIke

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: jazzyvee on December 11, 2012, 04:56:54 PM

Yeah great solid playing and the bass sounds strong in the bottom end.
 
Jazzyvee

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: charles_holmes on December 11, 2012, 05:30:58 PM

Now that's my dream 5 string! It would go nicely with my 4 string series Distillate! That's baaaad bass you got there! Much Kudos to you Chuck!!!!
From Chalie!

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: charles_holmes on December 11, 2012, 06:10:52 PM

Really nice set! That's a pretty tight band indeed!
Of course your Dragonfly sounds superb!

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: wishbass on December 12, 2012, 07:50:43 AM

Great tunes, and solid playing... a winning comb. There are so many favorites when it comes to COTM basses,  but the Dragonfly and Karma are my top in the balance body shape. I look forward to more sightings!

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: crgaston on December 12, 2012, 09:17:35 AM

Thanks guys.  I just put some D'Addario flatwounds on a few weeks ago and wasn't too sure about them at first, but they have settled in nicely and sound great now.  
 
As for the group, that was the first time all of us had played together on the same stage. Barry, the guitar/mandolin/banjo player had played with us all in different projects, and the singer and drummer are actually married and in a band toghether.  Bob the fiddle player lives in Pittsburg and the rest of us are in GA or TN, so we got to run over the set with him a couple times in the hotel the night before.  He's truly an amazing player and quite possibly the nicest, coolest guy I've ever met.  He's all over youtube.  Bob Banerjee.  Check him out!

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: 5a_quilt_top on December 12, 2012, 10:31:21 AM

First off - great bass. Unique visual concept and wood selection. A very striking combination.
 
Second - the D'Addario flats you used, are they the Chromes?
 
Been thinking about trying the chrome flats.

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: crgaston on December 12, 2012, 03:44:25 PM

Thanks, 5aqt!  Yes they are the Chromes.  They are still surprisingly bright, and need a little help in the upper mids on my bass. I had been using DR Sunbeams for a few years, and was really happy with them.  I just recently started playing the upright and so kind of decided to try the flats in a quest for sonic symmetry or some such weirdness. I think they are starting to sound really good as they mellow and as my fingers and ears acclimate to them.  I would say go for it, but be prepared to be patient.  Also, they are SUPER easy on the fingers.

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: 5a_quilt_top on December 13, 2012, 07:14:06 AM

Thanks.
 
I have a custom in the works and will use the Alembic standard strings to start, but when they're shot, I have a hunch that flats will be a good choice for this instrument.
 
Based on your input and some other reviews, Chromes are the front runners at this point.
 
Sorry for the partial thread hijack.

Title: 07C13725 Series II Balance K 5 string
Post by: tbrannon on December 13, 2012, 02:04:13 PM

Solid stuff, Charles. You are locked in and the fiddle guy can play a bit, can't he?    
 
Hope you're well and that the fretboard on the Dragonfly is behaving.  Been meaning to shoot you an email to catch up, but you know how that goes.
 
Toby