Thanks John.
If you were watching it on e-bay you'll know it was a kind of strange auction; listed, withdrawn then re-listed.
To be honest, I've always said that I wouldn't buy an instrument (at least not something as exotic as this) on e-bay but this couldn't be ignored and it just happened that it was only about 20 miles away from me so I was able to thoroughly check it out, meet the seller and pick it up rather than have it posted. It was as good as buying from a local classified ad in the circumstances.
The seller reckoned that the first auction was hi-jacked hence it being re-listed. I'm not altogether sure about that, particularly as he was quite keen to close the deal with me off-auction, but he was in fact a very respectable family guy, happy to deal with me at his home as much as I needed and with nothing witheld. He was undoubtedly a bass enthusiast and there was a genuine reason he was selling.
I'd checked it against the stolen Alembics and checked it's authenticity with Alembic. Everything was genuine and you can see how beautiful it is. I don't need to tell you that an instrument like this coming up on this side of the Atlantic is a rare opportunity!
So that's the story.
Now, I'm not a rich man and Alembics don't come cheap but I have to say that it was my wife's encouragement that made it an easy decision. She said that I would always regret it if I let it go. How right was that?!
So I guess I have a wonderful bass and a wife to match! What a lucky man I am!
Derek
