Author Topic: Exploiter on eBay (Read 1119 times)

hasadari · « **on:** August 11, 2005, 03:57:08 AM »

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7342755018&fromMakeTrack=true

longhorncat · « **Reply #1 on:** August 11, 2005, 07:30:20 PM »

From the Dudepit:
my observations: frets are pretty worn. bridge pickup cracked. lotsa gouges on the top wood. fingerboard dried out. this is the model without the sustain block under the bridge (fyi - i am really only familiar with how the series 1 & 2 basses are constructed). it needed a setup pretty badly (action was high, too much relief) i didn't plug it in. they say they have bids on it...

pmoran · « **Reply #2 on:** August 12, 2005, 07:51:41 AM »

the pics are pretty muddy in the parts described from the Dudepit. i can't see all of these things. has the descriptor actually, personally seen these things and/or played this particular bass? if so, thanks for the input because i was seriously thinking about bidding big and now i'm hesitant at best. or, is this an attempt to scare away other bidders? just curious.

neyman · « **Reply #3 on:** August 12, 2005, 08:07:28 AM »

The person who wrote the description actually went down to Guitar Center and checked out the bass. CG also claims it doesn't have a case, but supposedly it does.

kungfusheriff · « **Reply #4 on:** August 12, 2005, 12:54:30 PM »

The person who wrote the above review owns three Series basses of various eras and configurations, and has owned other models, and does not appear to be looking to bring this bass home, so I'd consider his description to be accurate and unbiased.
He and I frequently gossip about Alembic basses, and I consider the reviewer to be an informed consumer.

pmoran · « **Reply #5 on:** August 12, 2005, 06:56:38 PM »

thanks, kungfusheriff, longhorncat and neyman. that's the value of being a member here and loving alembics. i could tell you all a story today concerning alembic and regarding an order for parts i'd made 2 months ago, that would almost bring tears to your eyes. i was amazed at the attention to detail they displayed and a series of amazing phone calls that made me feel so proud to own one of their products that i was elevated to a position where i was left feeling like the owner of the roman conquerer-----well the REAL owner of the roman conquerer. i was almost embarrassed to admit i owned 2 relatively cheap alembics but they treated me like royalty. i truly know today what ALEMBIC SERVICE means. it's astounding to have them call you several times, go thru your order and treat you like you matter when you bought your bass secondhand; not from them. wow!

David Houck · « **Reply #6 on:** August 12, 2005, 07:01:00 PM »

Patrick; there are no cheap Alembics !

pmoran · « **Reply #7 on:** August 12, 2005, 07:02:58 PM »

oh, btw, have you'll noticed that this bass has a descriptive tag relating to 3 small dots that is similar to a prior exploiter description? a guy a few months ago sold, here and on ebay, a beautiful exploiter w/a nearly quilt top that he'd put 3 mother of pearl dot inlays into where he'd reinstalled an original bridge, replacing some other bridge. this is clearly a different bass, w/a clearly different top, but it has the same 3 dot alteration the other one did. is this common? were alot of these basses altered to accept other bridges, and then the owners/subsequent owners, aware the alteration was a mistake and the original/an original bridge replaced, but the holes had to be filled and a mother of pearl dot used to fill the hole? this is very curious.

pmoran · « **Reply #8 on:** August 12, 2005, 07:12:50 PM »

every time i do that, you correct me. sorry. i swear, one of these days i'll learn. i need to be slapped so often, i'm wondering if i'm a masochist. i guess what i mean when say things like quality of construction and cheap is that i wish to GOD i could afford a mark king/series I/series II. i can't. kids in college. now 2 of them. so, my alembic tastes are necessarily relegated to a scale much lower than i wish for. so, i'm a humble alembic owner. i wish i had a top of the line alembic and i now know the quality of wood, the museum quality tops, the multiple laminates, the beautiful hardware and the europa/series electronics options that i can't afford and don't have on my basses. so, i make these descriptive mistakes. when i do this, you have to, well you dont' have to, understand i'm a lawyer who wears crocodile johnston & murphy's. so, i guess i'm comparing the luxury of my shoes to my basses. i come into my bassroom, in the afternoon, after wearing those shoes. i look at my alembics. i get online. i see what's on ebay. i wish.

pmoran · « **Reply #9 on:** August 12, 2005, 07:17:25 PM »

btw, i'm diabetic, so i spend a lot of money on footwear. if i could justify the expense on my basses i would. i so wish i could own a series that it kills me. i'm always afraid i'll have a diabetic heart attack or stroke BEFORE i own one that it scares me! the mark king on ebay is so beautiful it's absolutely breathtaking, but i can't afford it and all the crap i have to pay for already. so, i refer to my alembics as cheap because they cost a third of the opening price of those things.

David Houck · « **Reply #10 on:** August 12, 2005, 07:34:07 PM »

Relatively inexpensive !

On the three dots; as far as I am aware this is not common at all. Every once in a while you see an Alembic on Ebay where someone has swapped out the pickups, electronics or bridge; but not very often, and I haven't observed any pattern at all.

pmoran · « **Reply #11 on:** August 12, 2005, 07:41:57 PM »

dave, do you remember the exploiter from about a month ago, where the seller mentioned he'd replaced the replacement bridge w/a bridge off an older exploiter or spoiler and had the holes filled in w/mother of pearl dots that he described as tasteful but they looked awful? remember? these dots look almost identical to those, but the distance of the camera from the bass seems to make this job better looking than the closeups of the other. also, this is clearly not the same bass top.

David Houck · « **Reply #12 on:** August 12, 2005, 07:49:36 PM »

I do remember; it could be coincidence, or perhaps both basses had the same owner at some point.

kungfusheriff · « **Reply #13 on:** August 13, 2005, 02:15:30 PM »

I know the prior owner of the maple Exploiter; when he got it a Badass had been installed.

pmoran · « **Reply #14 on:** August 13, 2005, 02:32:23 PM »

that's the one! i remember you posted a message suggesting he was selling too high. in an email to me, he offered to sell it for $1500, believe it or not. down considerably from what he asked on this site. then his email went down for 2 weeks. when he got his email working again, i emailed him and he'd sold it for $1500. i told him i would have paid $1750 and never heard from him again. it was a beautiful bass but those tasteful pearl dots where he'd replaced the badass w/an old spoiler bridge was not tasteful in my opinion. if i'd gotten the bass, i was going to have some pros here in san antonio do something about those dots. this one seems to have had the same treatment. i'm not bidding on this one. i believe the guy at the top of the column who says he played it. if you go back and look at the description on the ebay ad, the seller isn't being honest about the condition. he doesn't mention any of the stuff longhorncat says is wrong w/it. i don't like misleading ads that don't accurately describe something as disturbing as a broken pickup cover which might indicate other problems are present.