Your first Alembic... what was it like?

[guitarguy]

Thanks gentlemen, I wanted to introduce you to my new best friend......what a beauty!!

[terryc]

I have had 93MJ7899 now for 11 years, it has been played at every gig from when I brought it from the USA..it now has LED's in it. It is the finest bass I have ever played, I have suffered from insomnia for the past few months due to a painful right shoulder(which doesn't hinder my playing, just getting the strap over my head) and when I cannot sleep I plug it into my Zoom unit and put some head phones on, the tone and the action are superb, there is nothing else like it except another Alembic..I would love to try a SII with it's Vari-Q controls.
They are and always will be exceptional instruments. In my eyes they are the best basses in the world

[musashi]

I was lucky-- my first Alembic was a medium-scale, small-bodied Series I (electronics), with Series II woodwork-- with a rosewood top.  It was the scratching of a deep, deep itch as I'd been trying for years and years and years to become the owner of an Alembic-- always coming up $200 short...  Yeah, that was a good day.  By the way, the Alembic was the result of a round-robin trade, where I gave up a Jaydee GA24 that had been played by Jaco at the 1984 California Guitar Show, a buddy gave up a brand new Pedulla 5, and a retailer gave up the Alembic...  I would like to think that everyone got what they wanted.  I know I did.
 
(Message edited by musashi on June 09, 2009)
 
(Message edited by musashi on June 09, 2009)

[terryc]

I guess the mystique of owning a bass played by jaco was overcome by the want of an Alembic, as long as you are happy and you have what you want.
Did the JD have any 'mojo' about it(See Bass Of Doom in Misc section)

[sonicus]

I recently checked out a JD for sale locally and discovered that although the laminates look like ran through  the body from the neck they are not really neck through but a set neck . I did not buy it although it was in perfect condition. The seller told me that Mark King had actually played that same bass.

[pas]

The year was 1985.  By that point, I'd been playing for 5 years.  I had (well, still have actually) a 1980 Guild B-302 that I had converted to fretless the previous year.  The Guild had some neck issues however and I REALLY wanted an instrument that wouldn't fight me.  
 
I became aware of Alembic initially through some articles & ads in Guitar Player magazine.  I knew #1 had been built for Jack Casady.  I knew about the association with the Dead.  I knew that Alembic had earned a reputation for top flight quality and as I said, I REALLY wanted an instrument that wouldn't fight me.
 
There was a local band whose bass player apparently traded several basses & a stack of cash for a new Spoiler.  It sounded great!  In 1982 I saw Dickey Betts at a little club called The Coffee Pot in Roanoke, VA.  The  place couldn't have held more than 100 people.  Rook Goldflies was playing a Series 1, which I got to see & hear up close.  The bass sounded great, as did Rook's playing.
 
I finally called Alembic in the spring of '85 & they sent me some very good info & promotional material, as well as a list of dealerships.  I was living in Norfolk, VA at the time & the closest dealer was Rolls Music in Falls Church, VA.  I was familiar with them - Phil in particular - as I grew up in Arlington & had shopped there before.
 
I started putting cash away & finally in either June or July, I took a road trip up to Rolls.  My recollection is that they had a couple of very nice Distillates...which were out of my price range.  
 
It finally came down to a choice between 2 basses.  One was a Persuader with a with a gorgeous cocobolo top under a gloss finish.  I had never even heard of cocobolo before, but I knew it had me nearly drooling!  The other bass was a Spoiler with a Bubinga top under a satin finish.  It sort of said to me Hi, honey, whereas the Persuader sort of said Ooh, baby.  As much as I liked that cocbolo top, when I picked up the Spoiler & played it, that was it...I had found my bass...or perhaps it had found me.  It just played, sounded & felt so RIGHT!
 
I was still a little short on cash, so I put half down & they put it on lay away for me.  The following month I came back with the rest & my Spoiler finally came home with me.  We've never had a fight & have been happily married for 24 years now...
 
(Message edited by pas on June 10, 2009)

[terryc]

sonicus..beware of that statement of Mark King, if he played it then he may have signed it to the seller.
Early JD's were battery eaters and white cloud on here owned one and said the damn thing was impossible to set up.
They are good basses and Mark King used them all the time, so much so that JD could not keep up with the demand 'cos everyone wanted one to sound like Level 42.
That is a bit misleading as it it is a set neck, someone once said they are a poor man's Alembic but they still deserve a place in bass history.

[musashi]

terryc, that Jaydee that Jaco played did have a lot of mojo.  It had been reviewed by Rick Turner in Guitar Player magazine (this was before Bass Player magazine existed), and Rick had likened it to an Alembic LSB.  I picked the bass up at a NAMM show, because I could afford it (Jaco was still with us back then), and because I couldn't afford an Alembic Series instrument at that time.
 
That was my main axe for awhile-- it was a mean machine-- but it wasn't an Alembic.

[jeffbass4]

My Alembic journey started almost 25 years ago. After seeing Stanley and Jimmy Johnson and the beautiful instruments they played I just had to have one!  
In Oklahoma there were no dealers, so I went to Dallas to play and actually hold one. I played a Distillate/Exploiter in Birds Eye Maple, but it was a slightly different version I had in mind. I wanted the Distillate body with a Cocobolo top, and so it was ordered. It showed up on my door a few weeks later and it was the most amazing bass I had ever played, and still is to this day! It has been the mainstay for me all these years, and although I have several other basses there is not a one that compares in sound or playability. Although I only own the one Alembic, and I have dreamed of having others, I can't see myself EVER replacing it!! It's amazing when I am on tour vitually no one in the rock scene knows what it is. I hear, what kind of bass is that,and are they still in business. I guess there are not that many rock players out on tour playing these awesome instruments, but I'm sure glad I'm one of them. I spread the Alembic word where ever I go. Here's a recent picture of me and the Distillate from the House of Blues in Las Vegas.
Rock On!
Jeff~

 
(Message edited by jeffbass4 on June 22, 2009)