I have a custom 4 being made and have found after several years of playing both 4's and 5's that 4 stringers are home for me. This is a great bass, but when the new Elan arrives this one will be gathering dust.
Showcase thread and full body shots can be seen here- As far as I can tell, I'm the 3rd owner of this bass and bought it from fellow club member Charles (crgaston).
Here is a rundown on the basics:
~Rogue 5 string that had the electronics upgraded to Signature at the factory. It still has the bass & treble quick change switches- so it's a kind of a super Signature setup IMO.
~Standard maple neck, mahogany body, maple accent laminate and wenge top.
~Zero issues with the playability of this bass- electronic package is in great shape, both truss rods are in perfect working order and it's an incredibly steady neck. This bass moved from Georgia to New Zealand and then back to one of the driest, hottest parts of So-Cal and has only needed a 1/8 turn of the truss rods once a year to keep it happy.
There are some finish flaws on the wenge top which I tried to detail in the pictures below- it appears as though the finish has bubbled in 3-4 spots (about pea sized) and has rubbed away as a result. One of the previous owners was obviously an aggressive pick user, because there is a worn spot between the pickups near the B string.
I think the aggressive picker was also a 'belt buckle' guy because this bass has some pretty good belt buckle rash on the back- 95% of it is just finish damage, but there are a few that have created some worms in the mahogany. No major gouges or rips though- it looks worse in the pictures than it does in person. It's not a mint condition Alembic, but it's a heck of a player's bass.
I paid $2250 for this bass from Charles- I'd like to get that price back + actual shipping costs. email me with interest at
savtrack@yahoo.com (put Alembic in the title please!). Please make a note here if you've sent me an email, I have my spam filter on red alert...
EDIT: Alembic/G&G hard shell case included~ a few minor scuffs on the tolex, but probably a 8.5/10 cosmetically and 10/10 functionally.
(Message edited by tbrannon on July 03, 2008)