HI Guys! I have experienced many times when engineers do not want to see an Alembic in the studio. This does not mean that the bass don?t work. In my experience its quite much a psychological thing. Hard core Rockers want to see a beaten up Fender bass. They do listen with their eyes. I have many stories about the subject but here is one;
There was a guitar player who was really old school he insisted passive basses for this session no active bullshit basses because he hates them. The guy was behind the mixing desk and asked me to play my Jazz Bass. He could then make the bass sound the way he did prefer it to sound.
After a few minutes of playing the Jazz Bass he asked me to stop playing and leave it there, now the sound was really good, it was amazing?. It was just what he was looking for! What did you do he asked? Well, I did put the active electronic on??? I did answer! I do not want to embarrass anyone but I really did enjoy this??.
Having active electronics does not mean that you have to boost the high end to the max every time you play. I guess this is what most people think, who hate active electronic in a bass. To me there is a place for everything that is good?..
Alembic basses happen to be one of the few high-end basses or any basses where you really have equally all the frequencies available not only high and low end. The articulation is great on Alembics too the only problem is that if you make a mistake everybody can hear it; with Fenders you might get a way with it.
But yes Jarek with Alembics you can also go wrong the whole way I have experienced that too. You just have to watch out and know your equipment.
But in general Alembics are the basses of all basses that cuts through the best everywhere from studios to live performances, if that is what you are looking for.
Fender basses are good too? nice sound like is Fodera, Ken Smith and many more basses out there.
You also have to remember that for many engineers the bass guitar is not the most important thing in a session. They usually spend one minute for the bass sound at most, so you better be prepared and make it right the first time because you will not get a second chance. In this way Fender is a good choice because everyone knows how it sounds. But if you know your Alembic it kills everything!! OK you know what I mean??..
If you have the time listen to the track New Song on my myspace page
www.myspace.com/janolofstrandberg its maybe not that special today, it was recorded more than 10 years ago but I think there is enough midrange in the bass sound. It was recorded with an Alembic Signature Bass.
