Alembic Guitars Club

Alembic products => Showcase => Signature Basses => Topic started by: jacko on June 06, 2007, 08:47:35 AM

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: jacko on June 06, 2007, 08:47:35 AM

This just arrived today. What a fantastic instrument. I can't stop picking her up.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40731.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40732.jpg)
  There's more going on in that coco bolo than you'd think..
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40733.jpg)
  A revised family group..
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/40734.jpg)
  Graeme

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: olieoliver on June 06, 2007, 09:01:36 AM

Very nice trio you have there.  
 
How does the Balance K feel in comparison to the Rogue Body?

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: georgie_boy on June 06, 2007, 09:46:31 AM

And howz about the sound Graeme??

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: tbrannon on June 06, 2007, 10:46:53 AM

And how bout the signature electronics?  Let's see....Epic, Europa and Signature..... the next obvious step is Series.  Try that logic on the management and see if she agrees. =0
 
Beautiful bass and you even had a sunny day to take photos!  Enjoy~

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: crgaston on June 06, 2007, 06:32:33 PM

Very Nice!
 
Is that an ebony stringer I see in the middle? And an LED switch?  
 
Somebody planned this one out right!

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: jacko on June 07, 2007, 01:12:22 AM

lemme see.
 
Olie. She hangs slightly to my right compared with the rogue. makes position 1 less of a reach. I need to experiment with strap positions a bit more to get that 'sweet' spot.
 
george. She's an Alembic, need I say more? Actually I only had 30 minutes spare to fiddle with the settings but I've found a nice fat/round tone and a very aggressive, epic sounding tone so far.By the time i play falkirk on the 16th I should have found a whole pallette of sounds. See you there?
 
toby. This was supposed to have been a 4 year saving up period to get a series for my 50th. Mrs J decided I'd be better of getting something I could afford now and enjoy the time together. Who knows, a series may still appear down the line but for now, I'm very happy with what I've got.
 
Charles. this was very much a spur of the moment decision so I took what Beaver had finishing. This was originally  custom build but luckily for me he wasn't happy with the top wood. As well as the ebony and LED's, she has Abalone inlays - very pretty.
 
It's days like this I hate having to come in to work. luckily for my, my wife has gone to Inverness for the weekend to visit her mum so I'm going to crank it up tonight ;-)  
   
Graeme

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: adriaan on June 07, 2007, 01:54:06 AM

Graeme, you lucky devil!
 
By that way, any idea if the wide shafts on the tuners were special order?

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: jacko on June 07, 2007, 01:56:00 AM

Dunno Adriaan. They don't have the 'A' on the back either, just the gotoh logo.
 
Graeme

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: adriaan on June 07, 2007, 01:59:47 AM

You know what, I was thinking I really prefer the narrow ones, but in a 3+2 the wide ones look better. Must be something to do with proportions and symmetry.
 
Enjoy!

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: karl on June 07, 2007, 05:48:16 AM

Congratulations, Graeme! She's a real beauty!
 
Karl

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: rraymond on June 07, 2007, 07:37:34 AM

Wow! That's a beautiful bass, Graeme. Great collection you got going there, too!
 
Reid

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: keith_h on June 07, 2007, 08:16:32 AM

Graeme,
Congrats she looks great.  
 
So if Mrs J hasn't decided what to do with all of the money you saved by not getting the Series please feel free to wire it to me. My Series is looking a little weak at the moment. :-D  
 
Keith

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: David Houck on June 08, 2007, 12:44:38 PM

Beautiful bass!

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: jazzyvee on June 08, 2007, 05:03:25 PM

Lovely bass, I love the coco bolo it really does look special. The colour changes really nicely from orange to dark brown depending on the light and the angle you view it at.
 
Hope you get used to the signature electronics, It took me a while but now I can more or less dial in what I want by feel rather than visually.
 
My favourite sound for a long time hs been this.
Neck filter closed (fully anti-clockwise) and Q-switch off.
Bridge filter open all the way. ( Fully Clockwise), q switch on
Pickup fader taken fully clockwise to select the neck pick up. Then turn anti-clockwise  until  you can just hear the bite of the bridge pickup.  
 
I really love that sound.
 
For other sounds I just tend to control the bridge filter and pickup position. Rarely ever  use the Neck Q-switch. except sometimes for slapping.
 
I'd be interested in what settings you have when you find your preferred sound is on that bass.
 
Jazzyvee
 
 
 
(Message edited by jazzyvee on June 08, 2007)

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: 5stringho on June 10, 2007, 08:24:02 AM

Hey, Graeme!
 
Congrats on the new Signature. She did turn out to be quite beautiful! I know she sounds as good as she looks. I'm glad she found a happy home, and wish you the best, and many years of enjoyment from her!!
 
Mike  (the 'Ho)........

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: tbrannon on June 10, 2007, 11:54:44 AM

I'll chime in on Signature settings-
 
my favorite setting- and it's not mine, it was recommended by Charles (cgaston).
 
Neck filter at about 65-70%- Q switch off
Bridge filter at about 60%- Q switch off
Pan- about 70/30 favoring the bridge pickup.
 
I find this to be a wonderful fingerstyle tone- if I want to brighten things up or play any slap, I flick the Q's on and then brighten up the neck pickup.

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: smuprof on June 10, 2007, 01:04:22 PM

Graeme - beautiful bass - I bought a very similar bass from Beaver at Christmas - standard, but similar woods and configuration.  I've stopped playing everything else.

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: jacko on June 10, 2007, 04:19:16 PM

Thanks for the kind words all. I've spent most of the weekend fiddling - first off, the trip from hot and sunny california to mild Scotland affected the set up so I've had to reset the action and intonation a couple of times while the wood settles down. As of 8pm UK time sunday, I think she's pretty settled. As far as tones, there seems to be an infinite variety. I've got used to having a single filter and Q on the rogue but having one for each pickup more than doubles the possibilities. God only knows how series 2 players get on ;-)  For a workable fingerstyle tone to kick off, I've set both filters between 70 and 80% clockwise with the pan favouring the bridge pickup slightly. Flicking the Q switches gives a very convincing slap tone so at least I should be able to use her at next Saturday's gig without making a complete fool of myself. One thing I have noticed is that the volume right across the neck is pretty much equal whereas, on the epic I always have trouble getting a level bottom and top.
We're rehearsing Tuesday so I'll get a good chance to see how she sounds cranked up (our guitarists insist we rehearse at gig levels!!).
 
graeme

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: jacko on June 18, 2007, 12:23:54 AM

Well, she had her first gig Saturday night. I used her for about 2/3rds of our sets, the rest being fretless. What can I say that you don't already know? The tone was incredible. Very clear from the low B up to top E on the G string. The filters are incredibly sensitive - the slightest adjustment would give a totally different tone - and as for the volume control, I only had to move it up a millimeter or so to get angry looks from the guitarists ;-) By the time I was halfway through the first set, I was very comfortable with her and was making 'mid song' changes. All in all, an excellent night. Considering how cold and damp saturday was, there was alot of eye candy in the place ;-) the only downside (if there can be one when you're playing an Alembic) was right after soundcheck, a couple of students came over and asked if my basses were Spectors :-O  Oh how I laughed.
 
graeme

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: zn_bassman on June 20, 2007, 03:59:57 AM

Hey Graeme, congratulations on your new Signature! Glad it works out so well for you. I played a very similar instrument a few months ago when I was in the States - a cocobolo MK with purpleheart neck laminates owned and excelled upon by Stoney Johnstone. Fantastic bass, yours probably sounds a little deeper because of the ebony.
 
We are, of course, expecting sound files...  ;-)

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: bigbadbill on June 21, 2007, 05:33:07 AM

Spectors, LOL! Graeme, someone once asked if my 1st Warwick Dolphin Pro 1 (I've had 2 but no longer possess either)was an Alembic.....that was before I had one. My answer? I wish....
 
Very nice bass BTW!

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: the_8_string_king on August 21, 2007, 10:27:33 PM

Sorry I overlooked congratulating you on your acquisition, Graeme.  It's quite lovely, and I'm pleased you're enjoying it so much.
 
Do you feel like your getting more Coco Bolo sound... having it on both sides and all?  Your Rogue has the Coco only on one side, right?
 
Now that you've had it for a while, how do the two compare in an overall sense?  (I've read your previous comments.)
 
Take care, Mark

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: jacko on August 22, 2007, 05:42:52 AM

Mark.
I think the biggest differences are most likely due to the ebony neck stringer and the extra filter and 'Q' switch. I think you're more likely to notice the 'coco-bolo' effect due to having BTC laminates. What I can say is that I can get a huge variety of tones from a big fat bottom (think tony levin on 'sledgehammer') to a very aggressive 'Entwistle' style exploiter.
With the ebony laminate, the sustain goes on for ever but also seems to make the note 'bigger' in some way. ( very difficult to explain without sound clips).
 
Graeme

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: georgie_boy on August 22, 2007, 10:45:54 AM

Then let's have some Graeme!!
 
G

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: malthumb on August 22, 2007, 06:22:02 PM

If my stock options were worth more than the paper they're printed on........
 
(Message edited by malthumb on August 22, 2007)

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: 2400wattman on August 22, 2007, 07:34:19 PM

Levin has one of the most killer bass sounds period. Sledgehammer could've been written around his tone.

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: jacko on August 23, 2007, 01:25:28 AM

George. All our attempts at recording so far have been very bass light to say the least. However, we've 2 upcoming Falkirk gigs on 23rd november and 27th december so I'll expect to see you at one of those ;-)
 
Graeme

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: georgie_boy on February 07, 2008, 10:41:13 AM

 I can't believe I live less than 20 miles from this bass and have never held her
Hahaha
 
LOL
LOVE it Graeme
One day eh?
I'm just about to put new strings on the big fella, so you, John and Mike are more than welcome to play her.
I do not think she will be BETTERb than your bass,------just a slightly different sound
As I've said many times before, A Series is only better if you like single coils etc.

Title: Graeme's MK5 deluxe balance K
Post by: white_cloud on February 07, 2008, 12:09:46 PM

I will hold you to that promise George!
 
John.