I have never met Stanley Clark and he does not play in any Bands that I follow. In fact I can not recall the name of any Band that he has played in. I do recall that RTF are the initials of a Band that he and Chick Corea are in.
My friends in Philly tell me that Stanley was well regarded during his teen years and that he is a musicians musician.
But I do know that during the late 70's he won the best Bassist award for many years in a row in the Playboy music Poll. This tells me that regardless of his musical talent he knew how to appeal to and communicate to an audience. Even the best promoters and publicists could make this happen yer after year.
I have heard many recordings of Stanley playing and they were all remarkable examples of playing; but why would my friends say to me this is his worst ever... you need to hear this.
I am puzzled about why any of you would condemn him for playing whatever instruments he feels will inspre him and bring out whatever he is seeking in his music.
My Alembic is less suited to playing some styles of music that an old Supro plugged in to a Silvertone amp. Certain instruments are better suited to specific genre's of music.
I trust that after 30-plus years of being a professional musician that he has learned a bit about what instruments will bring out the best in his playing. I commend Stanley for his commitment to music and for his wilingness to explore a wide variety of instruments to find whatever he can to accomplish his goals.
This is a Forum forum for people that like and Love the instruments which Alembic builds. The people that participate in this forum are probably going to prefer the Genre's of music which Alembis are optimal for. This forums members found Alembic instruments because these instruments are so suitable for their preferred styles of music.
Even after reading all of the above comments in this thread I have no idea what the intrinsic and inherant strengths and weaknesses of a Spellbinder bass are.
Posting comments like those basses suck is not enlightening to me nor anyone else. Comments like: I find ____ instruments fall short for the following reasons.... This type of comment is enlightening because it defines the problem and explains to some degree what the properties of that instrument are.
It is not my desire to Flame anyone on this forum. I just wish that the people that have posted about this topic (and countless other topics) had posted fewer unenlightening comments so that I could learn something more from this discussion. I am not adverse to comments which are critical and/or unflattering as long as they are enlightening.
I own instruments which were built by at least 20 differnt luthiers/companies. They are all different and they each have their strengths.
I trust that Stanley clark, David Wilcox, Jerry Douglas, Doc Watson, Izaak Stern, Buddy Emmons, Steve Cropper, and most any of the musicians that have been playing professionally for a long time can figure out which instruments will bring out their best. I do not think that Alembics instruments will always be their first choice, nor do I think that Alembic instruments should always be their first choice. Alembic instruments are not always the best.
(Message edited by u14steelgtr on March 16, 2008)
