The first one I ever saw was a 'rode hard, put up wet' Series One, VERY used and abused, in a Nashville guitar shop for a grand. No power supply, 5-pin cable, not even the case. This is back when I didn't know squat about these things, and entertained thoughts of buying it ('what the hell, how expensive can it be to fix this thing up and buy the other stuff ?'). Luckily it didn't work out, there's NO telling what it might have taken to restore its airworthiness.
I once got called to fill-in for a night in a bar band, and the drummer friend who set it up told me, 'I got a bass for you to play, trust me'. I show up and it's a blue burst Essence, a five-string. It was neck heavy as all get out, I couldn't get a tone out of it, and kept thinking, 'I thought these were better . . . ' the second Alembic I ever saw.
I bought the third one one I ever saw (the BigRedBass) as everything worked, it was in great shape, and it took a regular guitar chord.
It DID sound like I expected with AXY's, and sound even better with its' FatBoys.
When Will Gunn was still here, I saw several, and he even let me play one !
And then Susan and Mica got me the five string Elan, the fifth one I've ever seen. P/J Activators, a great counterpoint to the BRB with the FatBoys.
( . . . . WHY Alembic does NOT adapt FatBoys into a MusicMan shell is beyond me: They can sound like the BEST MM pickup you've never heard. . . . )
I've been around guitars and basses by the zillions, but there's always a handful of 'Flying Dutchmen' you just rarely see. A Super 400. The teardrop D'Angelico (actually, I have seen one of those . . .). An Atlansia bass (well, I saw one of those too . . . ). Nashville is a music town CRAWLING with guitars and basses, from god-awful to fabulous, and there are still certain things even here that you just don't see every day.
Anyway, Alembics are just rare. I'm tthinking they've made around 30,000-ish since 1976. Fender makes that in a few months. And they are their own world. Try to explain to your musician friends the merits of filters and watch their eyes glaze over. You either get it or you don't. Most don't. I'd like the Wickershams to be as successful as they want to be: If that doesn't involve 'cornering the market', I'm sure they crossed this bridge a long time ago, and it's their business, personally and literally.
Besides, I LIKE having something of a legend, a whispered question, a uniquely amazing axe that's as good as it gets, built by friends. Can't ask for more than that.
J o e y
