Series I ID assistance please

[57basstra]

Hello, Mica.
.. I am talking with the folks at Gruhns in Nashville about a Series I they have on consignment. There is a thread here in the Seen in eBay section which discussed the bass and I have posted the pic from Gruhn website. There has been some discussion here, but some mystery remains on the bass. Gruhns does not know the   serial number and it has 1 9 4 6 spaced out like that on the truss rod cover....I emailed them back and asked them to check in the electronics cavity for a serial number stamped or embossed there. They got back with me today and said they found no serial number in the electronics cavity. They said the only numbers they could find are the pot codes which say 19 8231.
 
I have seen and played the bass and it has nothing stamped below the 24th fret or on the back of the peghead. Also there are no numbers under the truss rod cover.
 
It has pickup selector switch in the old position..round battery cover, extended upper horn, thin body............Could it be an '82 model?
 
...any notions or ideas on this? Mainly, do you think it is an authentic Alembic Series I? Is there anywhere else the serial number could be?...Thank you so much for your time!

[mica]

The date code says it's a 1982 model, which seems in line with the look of the bass.  
 
The serial number would have been originally stamped directly into the Ebony fingerboard below the 24th fret. Even if you can't see it, a good macro picture and some playing with levels in Photoshop can bring out more details. Also, a rubbing with thin paper and graphite pencil can pick up things that are sometimes hard to see.  
 
Since it seems like a 1982 bass, I wouldn't expect to find the serial number anywhere else. 1946 is not the serial number - that's a Bubinga Distillate.  
 
It sure looks like the real deal from the photos. I do remember some experimental body shapes like this, trying to get the balance better on long scales and 5-strings.

[s_wood]

My Voodoo bass, a 1987 Series I 5 string, has the same (or very similar) weird body shape as the Series I at Gruhn's.  
 
See it here http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/3330.html?1044237519
 
You don't see too many basses from the early 80's or before with quilt maple as pretty as the one you are looking at!

[57basstra]

Thanks for the info, Steve. The old bass in Tenn. has some battle scars, but they are not painfully obvious.

[57basstra]

Oh, and thanks again, Mica. I may give the paper and pencil method a go!