That was my thinking, Wilfred. But it's all in the name. The only negative I can think of on any Alembic policy is that they let you play these name games. You can design an identical bass from a couple different starting points and come up with significantly different prices. The monthly specials can increase the price gap. I'll play this game, too, when I order a custom, but it does seem odd.
If it's an SC standard with a few key upgrades, then the price is probably not far from what you could have bought it for brand new. At least, with the right monthly special and an aggressive dealer. An SC standard plus lams and S2 electronics would have been around $10K list, and $7500-8000 after application of the most advantageous monthly deal. A true Series II would have been about 1.5 times the price. It's all in the details, I guess.
All that said, as a player's bass it is probably worth the asking price. For the same money you can just about get a brand new SC deluxe. That's signature electronics and two purpleheart lams instead of three ebony. If the top/body/back woods were more to my liking, I'd seriously consider this bass. It's enough money that 'close enough' isn't really close enough.
