Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Showcase => Persuader Basses => Topic started by: edwardofhuncote on August 22, 2014, 10:50:41 AM
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After years of dreaming, I got my first Alembic in mid-June... a 5-string quilted maple topped Persuader with a 3 purpleheart laminate neck, with matched headstock. It started off as an ebay deal gone terribly wrong, my own ignorance combined with a dishonest seller, scored me a beautiful bass... only to find her original electronics had been stripped long ago, and replaced with aftermarket Bartolini equipment. I gave serious thought to demanding a refund... the ad was misleading at best, and downright fraudulent at worst. But the bass was solid, and at least it was playable. I'd just paid what would've been a fair price for a correct bass.
In the days that followed, after I'd had a couple phone conversations with Mica, and received some sage advice from the Alembic Club and other Alembic players, I decided rather than bail out and start over, to restore this bass instead. This would mean *all* the electronics would be new replacements, and the control cavity would have to be repaired as well, where it had been modified to accept the Bart parts. Not an unexpensive endeavor, but not the end of the world either.
A couple months have passed, and after some careful reconstructive work, 89P5559USA is back in-service, and quickly becoming my main bass.
The entire story is here, with detailed pictures from the project: http://club.alembic.com/Images/393/193837.html?1408682209 (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=601)
I'll update with some better glam shots soon, but here she is posed in the backyard, under Southwest Virginia's golden sun.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/197150.jpg)
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Great looking bass.
How does it balance?
VMG
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Fantastic determination!! Best of luck, too... I'm sure you're the best thing that's ever happened to this bass!
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Looks great! Enjoy playing your Persuader; you did an outstanding job of rectifying those abominations that it suffered over the years. Play on!
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I took it out for the first full slate of gigs with the new activators just this past weekend. Friday night it saw a medium-sized bar/restaurant gig, then had 2 sets at a music festival on Saturday afternoon with a big stage for about 1000 people, then a more intimate setting that same evening with an acoustic duo. In each venue, it was very easy to dial in the tone I prefer with the filter at about 45% open, and Q-switch in the middle or bottom position alternately.
Ummm... balance is fine for me, but I can see how it would be a little awkward for some, as it is a little neck-heavy. Even playing for 3 hours a day, it's required no more than a strap adjustment for me, so I have just designated a good heavy leather one specific to this bass.
This Persuader is quickly becoming my go-to bass... (or at least one of them) as I expected it would. Most often, I play a Turner Electroline 535 PMM, or Renaissance 5's. (piezo briges) It's not a better/worse thing, or even a decision... it's just that this bass has a totally different voice altogether. I always carry two basses anyway, and the distant cousin Turner bass seems to get along well. =)
And yes, the experience of restoring this bass, though costly, was both rewarding and educational. Like they say though, it was totally worth it!
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Took some new pictures the other night...
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/207069.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/207070.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/207071.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/207072.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/207073.jpg)
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/207074.jpg)
...I love this bass more all the time.
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Gregory, ya did a great job restoring this bass. And it's a great recipe for a first Alembic: Maple over mahogany is a really good 'all rounder', as the mahogany tends to keep all that zing from the maple and ebony fingerboard from running away with it all. And it's hard to go wrong with the P/J setup, my favorite, and so useful for a quick range of tones.
So are you running the 12 or 15 Walkabout bins, and what do you think about that rig? It's amp time for me again, and I'm fishing . . . .
Joey
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Thanks Joey. I've been thinking a lot lately about the recipe for the next one. =)
I use both Scout 12's and a 15 on occasion. I'll send you a few thoughts I posted elsewhere on Mesa/Alembic combinations.
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One more picture... I just got a brass backplate from the Mothership to replace the original black plastic one. It was salvageable, though a couple of the screw holes were starting to break out. After the WOW factor of the new brass one sunk in, I just put the old one away for safe keeping. Here 'tis:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/207167.jpg)
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Looks great and it might even help with the neck dive.
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I believe I'm getting the "J" Pick up screws from this bass!!!!! Thanks Again :)
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That be the one! ;) After I installed the new pickups and electronics, there were some spare parts... seems only fitting they end up on another Alembic.
I haven't posted any good pictures of 89P5559 lately, will have to do that sometime soon. The Persuader Showcase has been a little quiet.
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We don't know for sure when my Persuader was 'born' since her records went missing, (assume late-August, 1989) but she came into my life 4 years ago this week, and my, what times we've had since... :)
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Nice, Greg, beautiful bass. :)
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Can't believe it's been 5 years today... I spent some quality time with my first Alembic this evening. First, I took the strings off, cleaned up all the brass parts and lubed the bridge. Took some lemon oil to the fingerboard too. Put in a fresh 9v battery, gave the whole bass a good buffing, and put the T-I Jazz Flats back on, then reset the intonation. It was time to play then but first, I took a few pictures for the Showcase Thread here.
She's 30 years old, and still going strong. :)
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Yum ;D
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Hey, there's Elwood!
Yessir, 89P5559 is a hottie. 5 years later, and she still hasn't told me what her name is... aren't they funny that way? We still don't know her birthday either, just sometime in late-August, 1989. I like that there's mystery. Even today when I'm playing it, sometimes I hear things I've not heard before, and it's like a little gift. She continues to inspire me.
Anyway, Mica's maroon carpet photography is a very tough act to follow, but I had to try!
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You did well with the pics.
She looks very happy ;)
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Nice photos !
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Beautiful bass, Greg!
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Six years ago today, I got my first Alembic. :) There have been very few gigs without this one since that day.
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Love the color ant top grain, gotta Love maple and mahogany!
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The seven-year-itch doesn't apply to me and 89P 5559. From the moment I got this bass, seven years ago today, I knew it was special. I often wonder if that guy who ripped me off ever knew how that bass could change a life. As always, Thanks to Mary, Mica, Flip for sending me, and all the regular crowd here at the Club who helped me put it back like it should be.
Hopefully I'll get home in time to play some music with it tonight! :)
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Edward - are you an ELP fan? Their album Tarkus was released 50 years ago today. Yet another celebration-worthy event.
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Not especially, but I got a lot of ELP by osmosis because my roommate spun their stuff a lot. A remember a long, rather one-sided conversation about Emerson, Lake, & Palmer vs. Powell. I was more into love, drugs, and Flatt & Scruggs at the time.
I still like cool coincidences. ;)
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Hoping I still got enough juice to play a couple tunes on my first Alembic this evening. We still don't know the 'Birthday', just knowing it was sometime in late-August, based on serial numbers on either side of 89P 5559. Well, I don't reckon we'll get much later in August than this... ;D
Don't ever get me wrong, I love my Series basses and Distillates, and the Custom is a go-to-the-grave instrument. Shoot, I have a really hard time deciding which ones go in the gig-mobile some days, but this one, this one is extra special to me. This bass introduced me to a whole new world of possibilities. And some pretty nice people too.
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***Status Update***
New Strings for the Persuader 5-string. I am going with TI Jazz Rounds for a while. Going from the Jazz Flats required a couple little tweaks to the intonation, and action. While I had the strings off, that was a good chance to polish up the bridge and nut, and rub a little oil into the fingerboard. The bronze logo and side-dots got a little brightening too. After everything was all set and stretched... time to PLAY.
She's ready for the year. I set her in the on-deck stand next to C-14588. It's going to be a noisy week in Masons Cove.
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Mighty Purdy!
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Looks nice, beautiful basses! :)
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Had this one 10 years today. Got it with me this weekend at a fiddler's convention in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
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That’s a beauty! :)