1982 Distillate (Ebay Auction)

[drewtaylor3187]

This is a 1982 Alembic Distillate. Serial number 82D208. Top looks like walnut to me. Bidding starts at $3,500.

Would definitely love to see the specs on it. Wonder if it comes with paperwork.

https://ebay.us/m/j3A1hO

[garyhead]

Looks like the last number (under the string) is a 7.

[edwardofhuncote]

At 208X (and I agree with Gary, it looks like a 7 if I squint) that'll be fairly early in 1982. That looks a little dark for walnut, maybe some species of rosewood (?) which I'd consider to be an upgrade wood. Also of note, the maple pinstripe/accent between the top laminate and the mahogany core. Not commonly seen on Distillate. I remember only a few with this.

Looks like the Q-switch is rotatated 90°... maybe on purpose? And for whatever reason, they left that fool wax paper on the brass backplate. Good luck getting it off there now. Pass the acetone.

If I wanted another Distillate, I'd try to snipe this one at the last second. I like it. Mine was pretty special.

[StephenR]

Agree about the date it would be early 82. I still have the build sheet for the 82 Distillate that was my first Alembic, serial is 82D2344 or it may be 82D2349 hard to read the last character, either way the “birthdate” is 11/23/82. That also does not look like a Walnut top to me. Nice bass and decent price assuming everything works as expected.

[sonofa_lembic]

I bought the bass, and it has a cocobolo top with maple pinstripe.  Very unusual for a Distillate.  It got here today and was in very nice condition, but as I dug into it, I realized the bass and treble boost switches were not working.  That was an easy fix since the switches had a bent resistor which had grounded them out.  Then I thought it was smooth sailing until I realized that the bridge pickup was not working.  My hope was it was something simple, but after a lot of swapping pickup outputs and inspecting the circuit, I realized that the pickup had no continuity and was just plain dead.  I have tried to contact the seller to see what he might do for me as a replacement pickup will be expensive, but I have not heard back.  I don't really want to send the bass back since it is so unusual and very resonant, so I am hoping he might help me out a bit with the cost to fix it. That said, if anyone has a circa 1980's AXY pickup with no logo that works, please let me know. So sad tonight.

[cozmik_cowboy]

  I have tried to contact the seller to see what he might do for me as a replacement pickup will be expensive, but I have not heard back.

I'm shocked - shocked, I say! - that an EvilBay vendor would sell something broken and then ghost you!
But seriously, lovely bass; hope you get it all sorted with minimal buttockal agony.


Peter

[gearhed289]

I had a similar experience over the summer when I picked up an '84 Spoiler. One pickup was dead. Seller was willing to accept a return, but I got it for a nice price and really like it, so I bought a FatBoy for it. I really wish I had bought an AXY instead, but I'm working on that situation...

[sonofa_lembic]

Seller seems receptive to helping me out, but he said he was in a car accident that day, so I am not going to ride him about it for now.  I have seen a few dead pickups over the years.  Often it's not due to abuse.  It just seems like the epoxy gets old and shrinks a bit which is enough to break the winding somewhere on the coil. 

[mica]

Yeah, the polyurethane resin isn't happy with extreme temperature changes. Usually it's excessive heat that can do them in - like getting left in a trunk in the Arizona heat. It's not really likely to happen if the pickup is kept at temperatures that people don't mind for the same amount of time. Afterall, there are thousands of pickups out there that aren't broken. I've even seen ones that are shrunken to the point of looking like an Almond Joy candy bar that still work, but usually they won't survive such abuse.

[edwardofhuncote]

Back in just say that '81 I had with those pickups was special. Something hard to describe, but it was totally different from the '85 I had. Both had their merits, but that older one just had a little extra. Hopefully you can find another one of those glossy shell AXY's for this one. Pretty bass.