(x) History for 864224 series 2

[Alembic AZ]

I just purchased this instrument and other than one ding it barely looks played for a 37 year old instrument. No cracks in the finish…looks brand new!  Any info would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks!

[Spoilers!]

Weekend posts get missed sometimes, and it can take the Mothership a while to pull up the records.  For now, it looks to me like a walnut top and back (with some burl on top), mahogany body with maple contrast, seven-piece maple and purpleheart neck (or possibly maple/walnut).  Quite a nice bass there!

Now for the big question - are you selling this from Belgium at a huge loss, or did somebody else just re-list it as a scam?  Currently on Reverb for $4,500, and located in Belgium.

Ken

[Spoilers!]

Apologies in advance if that last question seemed out of bounds.  I'm just guessing the new listing is another in the recent scam Reverb listings that re-used legitimate ads.

Ken

[Alembic AZ]

Wow!  Definitely a scam as I have the bass on my body right now!  I do wish I could have bought it at that price though! Lol!  I just contacted the gentleman I purchased this from and he is reporting this as I write this!  I’m sure someone would have bit on this…a series 2 in mint condition for 4500.00.  Thanks for the heads up!

[Spoilers!]

Sure thing!  Welcome to the Alembic family.  You started with a really exceptional one.

Ken

[Alembic AZ]

Thank you Ken! I am very happy with the Series 2!  When I was searching to buy my Alembic I also saw a 6 string fretless Rogue for sale.…I couldn’t get it out of my head so i bought that one as well. It is featured on Alembic’s featured custom archive page as “behind every note”.  It’s an incredible bass.  They both arrived the same week within 2 days of each other!  As you can imagine I have been playing a lot!  Here is the link for the fretless.  http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_ben.html

Happy 4th of July!

Tom

[mica]

Hi Tom,

Here's what was in the file for your Series II bass:

top: Walnut
body: Mahogany
back: Walnut
neck: Maple and Purpleheart
scale: 34" long
fingerboard: Ebony
inlays: none, LEDs on fingerboard
pickups: SC-1 and Hx
controls: Series II
originally made for: not recorded, but it was a custom order
birthday: December 5, 1986

Custom features noted: Special neck size, LEDs on fingerboard, special truss rod cover. D string .750 from edge of fingerboard at 7th fret

So weird that back then the way the record was made, the original purchaser wasn't included. The "wood card" was filled out by hand a carbon copy of the writing was on the inside of a manilla file folder, the "instrument file" It's crazy that we didn't record what the special fingerboard dimension were, or what the special truss rod cover is made from. I can only assume the original customer specified the D-string location, because I've never seen that particular specification before.

Not recorded is the special body shape - the upper horn is longer than typical, no doubt to coax better balance since the original Standard Point/Omega shapes were designed at 4-string medium scale basses, so that longer horn will really help with the balance.

[gearhed289]

"I can only assume the original customer specified the D-string location, because I've never seen that particular specification before."

I know us musicians can be pretty specific, but that's one of the oddest specs I've ever heard of! A real ode to "ask and ye shall receive" from Alembic.

[Alembic AZ]

Mica, Thank you so much for the information!  I agree the “D” string placement request is strange, but it doesn’t feel odd when playing this bass and doesn’t seem to affect the other strings. I don’t have any other 4 string series II to compare the neck to to see how different it is. Too bad they didn’t record the neck dimensions if they were different. I love it and it feels great regardless. Thanks again for the info, Mica!🙏✌️