First Impressions Of My First Alembic....

[yogalembic]

As an Official member, it's an immense honor to be the caretaker of such a fine bass!
 
I purchased an '82 Distillate w/original case, from a gentleman named Craig (from Craig's List...no relation---lol), thanks to hammer's lead.
 
I've done a fair amount of bonding with it over the weekend (it arrived Thursday).  
Since 1971, I've been basically a Fender Jazz guy.  As well, I'm quite acclimated to a 35 5 string.  Well......
 
I found myself instantly off by three frets to the north!  I'm sure many of you are either grinning, or lol'ing. I sure did!  As my mind started to adjust, so did my muscle memory from Jazzdom and my Lakland 55-02.
 
I then tweaked it (nicely user-friendly) and, after setting it up and making it mine, I really layed into it.
 
I just finished my 2nd long practice session for the day and, while there are tons of positive impressions, the one I really love is that each note totally SPEAKS!  Many of my other basses have one or more areas on the neck where it chokes.  The thing doesn't fight me, it works WITH me, and I'm sure you all know what I mean. This thing goes from thunder to spit, and that's with the flats that were on it.  lol    
 
While it took me 60 years to finally acquire ownership, I'm thinkin' I'm somehow right on time!  As soon as I figure out how to downsize the pics of the Dis and other members of my Harem, I'll post.
 
bassically,
j michael

[rustyg61]

Congratulations & welcome to the family of proud Alembic owners!

[flpete1uw]

Jay,
I was a P-Bass player for many years and all I can say is That Bass will make you a better player. My 2 Alembics bring out the Bass riffs that have been dancing in my head for decades that I couldn't quite make happen before. Enjoy and let it flow.
Peace  
Pete

[pauldo]

J. Michael -
I get it!  
:-D
 
Paul TDO

[that_sustain]

When I picked up my Distilliate, the scale length felt so comfortable.  I also noticed how you can go beyond the B, on the E string.  Get's kinda mushy on other basses.  Congrats!

[peoplechipper]

I came over from guitar, so the 32 scale feels better to me( I also have a couple broken bones in both hands-Mtn biking and snowboarding) so my stretch is not great, but the best thing about my Distillate is how even the tone is; the strings are all even with no dead spots...I love my bass! I've been leaving it at the rehearsal space lately as dragging 29lbs. with case on the bus is not fun but we had 3 weeks away from practice and damn, I missed my bass!
 
Another thing I've noticed about it is that it sounds AMAZING dropped to D...sounds like a machine that is dangerous...a peoplechipper?

[bigredbass]

JLM, I'm guesssing from the pics that it's quilt maple over mahogany, which to me is a favorite combination, the mahogany soothes the high-end from the maple and the ebony fingerboard.
 
Neckthrus with the ALEMBIC electronics/pickups are just a different world from Fenders and Laklands, great traditional basses.  Also, I'm a big believer that when you can find a 20-odd year old Alembic that suits you, by then the wood is firmly settled into old age and is very settled:  I think you'll find that if you set this up for a certain set of strings and use them every time, you will not be tweaking the action often at all.  I have a 92 Spoiler Five, and I check the action once a year just out of habit . . . . maybe next year, maybe, I'll have to tweak it a bit.  It's been two years since I last took a wrench to it !
 
Enjoy !
 
J o e y

[jacko]

PeopleChipper - Doesn't Steve Buscemi end up in one of those in the Coen brother's 'Fargo'?
 
graeme

[David Houck]

Tony, the solution to your problem is quite simple; two Distillates, one at your rehearsal space and one at home.

[peoplechipper]

Graeme, yeah he does wind up in one, or he's operating it; I forget...and yeah Dave, one of these days I'll have the money for a second Alembic...one day...Tony