I've owned a couple of Carvin basses over the years, and they both played absolutely like butter. They sounded good as well, though obviously not nearly as versatile as an Alembic. They were both delightful instruments to play, but yes they came out of a machine and in that respect had no real personality of their own.
To me, I think, the thing that really makes an Alembic the desireable instrument that it is, is the ability to dial-in an infinite range of timbres (many very unuseable until I got my brain around the filters concept) without having to carry a slew of instruments to the studio or gig. And of course it has the absolute best shiny-bright roundwounds sound of any bass I've played..
Another thing to consider would be that every other instrument I've played naturally compresses the signal as I play harder, whereas the Alembic just gets louder. For me, this makes me much more likely to have a bad experience and sore fingers and arm everytime I play another bass. Other people have a hell of a time getting what they want out of the Alembic because it's reproducing their sloppy technique very precisely. We've all experienced that humbling experience and have chosen to grow through it, while many have chosen to hide from it instead. For them, yes, an Alembic probably isn't a good value at any price..
John
