Western Alembic copies (I know they are out there)

[blazer]

Given the fact that I as a certified Guitarfreak, love to find out stuff about exclusive desings being copied, it was a revelation to find out that the Alembics that Mark King Played on the first couple of Level 42 albums weren't Alembics at all. They were custom made basses made for him by a luthier called Ashley Pangborn.
 
I read an interveiw with King in a 1982 issue of the Dutch magazine Music maker in which he states that Alembic makes extrodinary good basses but they didn't compliment his style as much because of having the strings at the bridge too close together (don't flame me, those are his exact words) and of having the neck pickup so close to the fingerboard that Popping became a hassle, so he approached the Brittish luthier Pangborn to make him Alembic-styled instruments that had a wider string spacing at the bridge  and the neck pickup moved a little more to the middle of the bass.
 
In Amsterdam, one of his original Pangborn basses is displayed at the Hardrock cafe and it's easily destinguished from a real Alembic.  
 
Mark's Pangborns can be recognized by having arrow shaped headstocks, Bigger humbucker pickups (slightly wider and without the rounded off casings that Alembic pickups have) the absence of a pickup selector, and there's no filter switches and they have Schaller bridges. Mark is seen playing a Pangborn in the Lessons in love video
 
I guess the set up of his Pangborns went down so well that I suspect that Mark had his Pangborns in mind when actually getting his signature Alembic put together, and even the JD supernatural and the Status King signature have all those elements in place of those Alembic copies made by Pangborn that he played in the early years of Level 42.
 
My question is, who knows more about these and what do you think of them?
 
Here's Mark at a 1982 concert playing a Pangborn.
 

[mica]

Wild. Mark's Alembics all used the classic fingerboard taper (1.75 nut x 2.25 24th fret). We've always made custom everythings, so simply making a neck wider and moving a pickup has alwasy been relatively simple.
 
I believe Ashley was making the Alembic style basses before Mark asked him for one. I met Ashley in Frankfurt, Germany sometime around 1989, I think he was working in Hamburg at the time (sorry I forget the name of the shop - mabe No. 1 Musik?). He was friendly and of course an admirer of our work, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, he told me. There was an article in a German weekly music newspaper with Mark holding his maple Pangborn. I might still have that somewhere. I'll post it if I run across it.
 
When Mark ordered his first Alembic (a Series II), he never even mentioned the other basses he was using. The only custom item on the basses was the Laser LEDs. He had the first instrument fitted with those. It was really perfect for his performance style.

[Jan R]

You can also check the bassography on the level42 site.
There is some info about his alembics, but not a lot about the Pangborns.
 
Jan

[bigredbass]

While I know nothing about Pangborns, I do know this, Blazer, . . . (and as an aspiring builder, it will pay you well to remember this!)
 
Between the JayDees, Pangborns, Alembics, Status, and several 'Signature' models of them as well, one can easily infer that a lot of musicians are just FICKLE !!  All of these builders have built Mark the SAME bass over and over, moving this, stretching that, shrinking this, 100 less turns on this pickup, and on and on, and I'll bet this process if FAR from over !  
 
When I worked at Gibson, one famous artist refused FREE delivery of five Custom Shop Les Paul flametops that were 'to die for' because the bodies were ONE QUARTER INCH TOO THICK !!  And these were guitars that Mandolin Brothers or Georger Gruhn wouldn't have taken a cent less than 20 grand for each that he was getting for free.
 
I'm sure that Susan and Mica have the patience of old oysters to hear and deliver on requests that can be just unbelievable, and I'm sure some of the stories they'll never tell are hilarious. But hey, there's no business like show business !
 
All of which broke me of getting too hung up on little details that boost nothing but my ego.
 
J o e y