Alembic Guitars Club

Alembic products => Showcase => Orion Basses and Guitars => Topic started by: the_mule on April 27, 2007, 09:58:41 AM

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: the_mule on April 27, 2007, 09:58:41 AM

My new Orion, carrying some pretty distinctive custom features. Quite a unique instrument. A spectacular bass in every way!  - walnut, maple, purpleheart and mahogany body - purpleheart neck laminates - mother of pearl inlays - crown headstock  
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/39099.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/39100.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/39101.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/39102.jpg)
  Come sing this Tull-tale with me... ;-)  ***  Orion, won't you give me your star sign Orion, get up on the sky-line I'm high on my hill and I feel fine Orion, let's sip the heaven's heady wine  Orion, light your lights: come guard the open spaces from the black horizon to the pillow where I lie. Your faithful dog shines brighter than its lord and master Your jewelled sword twinkles as the world rolls by. So come up singing above the cloudy cover Stare through at people who toss fitful in their sleep. I know you're watching as the old gent by the station scuffs his toes on old fag packets lying in the street And silver shadows flick across the closing bistro. Sweet waiters link their arms and patter down the street, their words lost blowing on cold winds in darkest Chelsea. Prime years fly fading with each young heart's beat  Orion, won't you make me a star sign Orion, get up on the sky-line I'm high on your love and I feel fine Orion, let's sip the heaven's heady wine  And young girls shiver as they wait by lonely bus-stops after sad parties: no-one to take them home to greasy bed-sitters and make a late-night play for lost virginity a thousand miles away.  ***  Incredibly happy to be a 'real' Alembician once again!  Wilfred  (Message edited by the_mule on April 28, 2007)

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: FC Bass on April 27, 2007, 10:04:50 AM

Wow! (http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/39105.gif)
 
Congrats!

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: the_mule on April 27, 2007, 10:09:15 AM

Dankje Flip!
 
Wilfred

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: tom_z on April 27, 2007, 04:35:37 PM

Very nice, Wilfred! Love the crown headstock on an Orion.
Congratulations, and welcome back . . . so to speak.  
 
Peace
Tom

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: jazzyvee on April 28, 2007, 12:04:04 AM

Lovely bass, I really have grown to love the Orion body shape.
Crown headstock and rare neck lams are great.
 
Would ebony neck lams in a set neck bass have the same effect on the sound of the bass as they apparently do on neck through basses?
 
Jazzyvee
 
 
 
Jazzyvee

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: the_mule on April 28, 2007, 10:05:40 AM

I think in a way they do, but a bit more understated. Difference is that with a SN the sustain and tone are created by the body and neck working together in sweet harmony, while NT sonically isolates the neck from the body meaning that the tone is created by the neck (almost) exclusively.
 
My first Alembic, also an Orion with a walnut/mahogany body, had the regular maple neck with walnut pinstripes. This new kid in town in comparison has more punch and sustain, and I really think the purpleheart laminates in the neck make the difference.
 
Wilfred

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: jazzyvee on April 28, 2007, 10:50:39 AM

I'm sure that orion has my name on it ;-)
Jazzyvee

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: David Houck on April 28, 2007, 02:13:32 PM

Love the neck!

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: the_mule on April 30, 2007, 01:01:37 PM

You wish Jazzy! ;-)
 
Thanks Dave, I really love it too, haven't seen many other examples of laminated set-necks actually.
 
This weekend I've tried the Orion with TI Jazz flatwounds, but soundwise that didn't really work for me. Because the original Alembic strngs are a bit tarnished from 1,5 years of store life, I've ordered a regular light (.45 - .100) set of Optima Gold strings at LOTS. Expect to have them later this week...
 
Wilfred

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: the_mule on May 05, 2007, 04:28:32 AM

(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/39364.jpg)
 
I've cleaned and polished some brass today and strung the Orion with Optima Gold strings. For the occasion I wanted to make a few pictures, but found out it's hard to make good close-up pictures in the bright sunlight. This one was the only one good enough to put in the Showcase section. It only shows a hint of the gold, but it also gives a nice view on the woods of this wonderful bass...
 
Wilfred

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: the_mule on May 05, 2007, 04:36:23 AM

(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/39367.jpg)
 
OK, this one is nice too after some tweaking of the brightness and contrast parameters in Photoshop...
 
Wilfred

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: the_mule on May 18, 2007, 07:14:29 AM

Oh, the joys of a new digital camera... How 'bout some EXTREME close-ups?  ;-)  Wilfred  
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/39918.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/39919.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/39920.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/39921.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/39922.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/39923.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/39924.jpg)

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: tbrannon on May 18, 2007, 12:37:15 PM

Those are some incredible pictures. What kind of camera did you get?  My wife and I are considering a new camera when we move back to the States in July.
 
You've got a beautiful bass-

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: the_mule on May 18, 2007, 11:45:26 PM

Hi Toby, it's a Canon PowerShot A710 IS (7.1 megapixel, 6x optical zoom). Not expensive at all, but it shows that technology has improved a lot in the last five years since I bought my previous digicam. It can make pictures up to VERY close range (Alembic logo & pickup script with high E string) and it has a built in  stabiliser that compensates shaking hands when zooming in.
 
These pictures were very quickly made inside my house with no flash and only normal (not sunny) daylight from a window. With my previous camera  this surely would have been mission impossible.
 
Wilfred

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: tbrannon on May 19, 2007, 12:16:06 AM

Wilfred,
 
Thanks for that.  We currently have a 4 year old Canon Powershot A95.  5 megapixel, but trying to get up close pictures like you have, even on the macro setting, is a mission.
 
I'll check it out for sure.

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: bassjigga on May 19, 2007, 12:06:00 PM

Hey wilfred, I have the same camera! It has worked well.

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: the_mule on June 14, 2007, 08:23:52 AM

Just came back from a holiday to England a week ago, and the little camera has performed very well.
 
Glad to be back with my Orion also, I really missed playing it for 2,5 weeks. But considering the luggage lunacy and security morons on Heathrow airport especially, I wouldn't dream of taking my bass with me...
 
Wilfred

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: white_cloud on November 29, 2007, 07:05:42 AM

Wow, that is the nicest Orion I have seen yet..love the headstock!!
 
You lucky lucky man

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: jazzyvee on November 29, 2007, 10:33:35 AM

That bass is just delicious.  A slight digression. Those strings look really cool. Is the gold colour just for aesthetics or are there tonal benefits?
 
Is it a long lasting coating as I imagine it would look quite shabby if it started to peel?  
Just curious.

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: foth on November 29, 2007, 12:07:55 PM

Wilfred
I just noticed your extreme closeups of your Orion.  They are beautiful!  You are a really excellent photographer.
Paul

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: the_mule on November 29, 2007, 12:59:09 PM

Thanks for the kind words. I love(d) that bass but I've traded it for a 1983 shortscale Series I.
 
A bass I once rescued from a pawnshop and let go way too soon (bittersweet regrets). After a few years I was given the opportunity to get her back. Luckily this unique Orion found a very happy new owner in forummember Manfred.
 
Those strings are Maxima golds. Not a 'plastic' coating like DR Black Beauties and such, but anodised. I'm not sure about the tonal benefits, but the clarity should last longer as the gold is less likely to corrode. And yes, they also look cool!
 
Paul, thanks, but the camera deserves more praise than me, it's got a very cool macro setting indeed.
 
Wilfred

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: jazzyvee on April 25, 2012, 12:30:31 PM

Bump
This is now up for sale on the UK Bass Chat page
http://basschat.co.uk/topic/174166-fs-ft-alembic-orion-custom-4/page__p__1630170__hl__alembic__fromsearch__1#entry1630170 (http://basschat.co.uk/topic/174166-fs-ft-alembic-orion-custom-4/page__p__1630170__hl__alembic__fromsearch__1#entry1630170)
 
jazzyvee

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: juggz on June 28, 2013, 03:22:59 PM

This bass is now living in Ireland where I think it will stay for a long, long time.

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: pauldo on June 28, 2013, 08:01:10 PM

Congratulations Justin!
:-D

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: juggz on July 08, 2013, 02:07:31 PM

Thanks. This how it looks today, great bass. One of the tuners is missing the back plate but I'll be getting that off Mica soon enough, restore it to full glory.  
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/168012.jpg)
 
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/168013.jpg)

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: growlypants on July 08, 2013, 04:16:30 PM

It could be just the lighting... but I swear that bass has darkened with age.  Magnifique!!!

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: juggz on July 09, 2013, 01:58:15 AM

I think it has, compared to some of the earlier pictures. Certainly the purpleheart is a lot less, ehhh, purple in the flesh than the early pics. I'll take some more pics in direct light too.

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: mario_farufyno on July 09, 2013, 08:41:51 AM

Crown peghead fits nicely on Orion body, doesn't it?

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: the_mule on February 27, 2016, 05:02:58 AM

Glad to see her in good hands, and in Ireland. That's cool!

Title: 2005 Orion 4 'custom'
Post by: moongerm on February 27, 2016, 05:14:38 AM

Very nice