Author Topic: Alleged 1969 Alembic on eBay (Read 1137 times)

rodsguitars · « **Reply #15 on:** April 20, 2009, 09:15:47 PM »

Hello Folks,
My name is Rod and I have the Alembic on ebay. I emailed Rick Turner and sent him photos of the bass. He said it was made by an Alembic employee for personal use, possibly Frank Fuller. In his email he states his is sure the bass was made by one of his employees. I hope this helps and if there are any questions I will do my best to answer them.
Thanks,
Rod

57basstra · « **Reply #16 on:** April 21, 2009, 03:38:16 AM »

Hello, Rod. Welcome to the forum. I think the bass is an interesting one.

govegan · « **Reply #17 on:** April 21, 2009, 04:54:54 AM »

Hey Rod! Welcome to the club

Be that as it may, it is still not an alembic and it would be unfortunate for someone to purchase it thinking it was. You should edit your listing to be fair.

Have a good day!

bsee · « **Reply #18 on:** April 21, 2009, 08:20:32 AM »

Aaron, it isn't about fair. It's more about things like honest and legal. If Mica and Ron say that this bass was not made by Alembic, then it is not an Alembic. Rod clearly knows this now, having read this thread and, most likely, received Mica's email. Continuing to call this an Alembic bass is fraud at best and failure to alter the listing will most likely result in it being deleted. Mica always tries to be nice when the Alembic name is used by someone who has been misinformed, but it shouldn't be allowed to stand if they attempt to continue once properly educated on the matter.

Even if Rick Turner is correct in his assessment, the best Rod can do is to say it may have been, or even probably was made by a future Alembic employee in the years before Alembic began producing instruments. If Frank Fuller is still out there reachable somewhere and can be contacted to confirm Turner's story, then you could say that it was made by him rather than may have been. You could even say that Rick Turner, who was an Alembic employee in the early years, is sure that it was made by one of the other Alembic employees of the day. Anything beyond that is pure conjecture, and actually calling the bass an Alembic is offensive and dishonest, at least to me. Even if it were made by an Alembic employee in the Alembic shop, it still wouldn't be an Alembic.

Rod, It's a very interesting bass. I hope you alter the listing, or restart it altogether, with a more accurate description.

-bob

longhorncat · « **Reply #19 on:** April 21, 2009, 08:54:34 AM »

The seller ended this listing early

rodsguitars · « **Reply #20 on:** April 21, 2009, 09:19:09 AM »

Hello Folks,
I did end the auction. I'll put it up again when I find out exactly what it is. It's not my intention to deceive or defraud anybody. The bass was made 35 or 40 years and and at the very least is interesting because it could probably be the first Alembic copy ever made. Rick was very helpful and although he first thought it was an employee model he now feels it made by someone else. He did mention that certain parts on the bass are Alembic. I find it interesting that someone would make an Alembic copy all those years ago. I wonder where they would have seen a real one and be inspired to make a copy. Also, I've been buying and selling vintage instruments for many years and other employee guitars are collectable and bring as much or somtimes more than standard production models. Martin employee guitars are highly sought after and are very collectable and are considered to be Martins. The feeling is that an employee making their own guitars will put the very best effort in making an instrument for personal use.
Rod

keith_h · « **Reply #21 on:** April 21, 2009, 09:30:57 AM »

Rod,
Not sure if you will see this or not.

It is not uncommon to find instruments built by other folks that contain Alembic parts. There were several other well known luthiers that were known to have purchased electronics and bridges from Alembic back in that era. Likewise you can still purchase some of these items from Alembic today to place in your instruments.

Keith

57basstra · « **Reply #22 on:** April 21, 2009, 09:35:35 AM »

Thanks Rod.
Looks like you are in Memphis. I am up North from you just a ways. I plan to keep track of your items for sale and I could be a potential buyer for the bass we are all talking about.
Good to have you with us!

jfiles · « **Reply #23 on:** April 21, 2009, 09:42:27 AM »

Hi Rod,

I would recommend taking some pictures with the bottom of the control plate exposed to show the cavity and the components. When I inspected this bass recently, the only parts that I saw that were Alembic were the pots and there was no preamp - all passive. To my memory (be aware - I am 51 years old) everything else was either fabricated or off the shelf. My guess is that sometime in the '70s someone built a copy and got some NOS pots from Alembic. It would be nice to find Frank Fuller and get more information. This would not only clear things up, but might bring more value to this bass as well.

John

bsee · « **Reply #24 on:** April 21, 2009, 06:50:05 PM »

It's all good, Rod. Glad you're dealing with this in a professional manner. There's no doubt it is an interesting instrument no matter who built it, and the true story, once learned, could add value.

I also agree that employee guitars can be as good or better than factory release products from some companies. They still can't be advertised as a product of the company, but can be a great bargain if accurately described. That said, I believe Alembic craftspeople put forth their best effort on every instrument they touch and you're less likely to find an employee guitar that would exceed Alembic branded instruments.

-bob

rodsguitars · « **Reply #25 on:** April 23, 2009, 05:20:55 PM »

Hello Folks,
I did talk with Frank and he's not sure what's up with the bass. He thinks it's possible an employee made it or someone close to the shop doing their own interpretation. I sent a bunch of photos of the electronics to Mica. I haven't heard back from her. Hopefully, she'll be able to shed some light on it. The thing that I like most about this bass is that someone really played it. It has spent a lot of time in bars. As crude as some aspects are, it is still a really good bass and someone got a lot of use out of it.
Thanks,
Rod

lbpesq · « **Reply #26 on:** April 23, 2009, 06:24:58 PM »

o.k. Is there something I'm missing? As I understand it the following are the relevant facts:

1. This is a 1969 instrument

2. Alembic made their first instrument in 1972.

So how can it possibly be an employee project unless it was built by one helluva psychic employee?

Bill, tgo

longhorncat · « **Reply #27 on:** April 23, 2009, 06:43:10 PM »

Rod's new auction has corrected all the mistakes we pointed out.
He was just cool enough not to post the new link.
Since I am bidding, I won't either

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link

(Message edited by longhorncat on April 24, 2009)

southpaw · « **Reply #28 on:** April 23, 2009, 06:47:11 PM »

Well, if the bridge is lowered all the way down and the action is still high... then I know the bridge is a real Alembic part!! (inside joke).

rodsguitars · « **Reply #29 on:** April 23, 2009, 08:19:41 PM »

I dated the bass as 1969 from the pot codes. I have since found out that many later Alembics have 69 pots so that is not an accurate way to date it. I took a lot of photos of the inside of the control cavitiy, pickups, really quite a few shots. It anbody wants to see them I'll be glad to post them. I found this number under the bridge bass, Al-D903. Do that mean anything to anybody?
Thanks,
Rod