There are so many things that go into the construction of an Alembic bass guitar that it would be difficult if not impossible to isolate what aspect of the instrument contributed to the sound because these instruments are in fact still handmade by artisans. A mass produced tool might be easier to use for this research. A little thicker body, a subtle difference in the thickness of a stringer, how much of the inside is carved out, and of course there are the magical electronics.
I know that it’s clear to my ears (as bad as they are) that my basses with an ebony stringers in the neck sound quite different that those whose necks are maple and purple heart. And the bass with a maple core is different sounding than all the others that are mahogany cored. I don’t hear that much difference based on the exterior lams.
What actually amazes me more that the different tonal qualities of my Alembic basses (which are subtle), is how easily I can tweak them to get “my tone” and then with a couple of tweaks of the controls and the super filter get these basses to sound like those of John Entwistle, Chris Squire, and others who play with a tone entirely different than I do. So while these basses do have their individual nature, there is always that consistency so if you want then to sound like an Alembic they will.
Of course I have my favorites even among the Series basses that I own because part of unique nature of these instruments is that they are all really custom built. The fastest neck by far is the one on my custom Signature standard, the easiest necks to play is my SC signature standard and SC series I, but the tonal qualities I like most come from the series basses, several of which don’t play quite as easily, but have a better sound.
What really gets me is the massive difference I experience when I play an Alembic and then something else. That’s present even when there’s a connection between Alembic and the other manufacturer.
