About Alembic bass

[edwin]

No worries! Do you mean you want to try a single filter (also seen on the Distillate), an EZQ or something else?
 
I have an EZQ sitting in a box in my basement that I had in a bass for a while. I liked it well enough. In fact, I don't remember why I stopped using it, or what bass I had it in, for that matter.
 
Edwin

[potato1992]

Thank you guys for the support.
Well, I want to get an alembic not only becouse someone (Jason in this case) played one. It's just i fell in love with the alembic looks, sounds... everything. (well not the cost ofc )
Anyway, I want a cheaper model for now becouse im pretty young now (18), i don't work for now, so i will try to get some cash in summer.  
And by the way, what model should i get then, spoiler or persuader, since i can't find some bigger differences between them (except for pickups)
THANKS!

[edwin]

I would just look to see what comes your way used. Between those two instruments, there's still a lot of variation in woods, etc. so wait until find one that you can afford and speaks to you. Be patient and you'll know it when it's right.
 
If the tone of that clip really appeals to you, you might consider a set neck instrument over a neck through. It will get you the kind of midrange you hear there. A neck through will have less midrange information and be more hifi sounding. The real question is: what sound do you hear in your head when you hear a perfect bass?

[potato1992]

edwin, the sound is almost like in that video, that's why i posted it. It's deep and thrashy if you know what i mean.  
Some people offered an aria bass (i know it's not the place to talk about it probably), since arias have that sound i mentioned before.

[bigredbass]

Slammin, I have both:  A P/J Elan, and a Spoiler, both fives.  The Spoiler I retrofitted with Fatboys from the original AXY's.
 
Bear in mind that the Elan is all maple and ash, while the Spoiler is maple over mahogany with the purpleheart/maple center lam.
 
The P/J sound is very Fender-ish, no doubt aided by the Fender-ish woods I spec'd for my Elan deliberately.  Yes the P is a lot louder than the J, but this is aggravated by Alembic's placement of the J backed right up to the bridge:  The string is just not making much movement relative to the big sweet spot the P is sitting in.  If I didn't have two preamps it would be very hard to reach any knd of blend.  But it's a great rendition of a very recognizable tone.  The P is very meaty, and the J is more tenor than baritone, but not thin-sounding.  The blend is just what I like, that fat tone with the articulation on top.
 
The Spoiler with the FatBoys sounds to me like a MusicMan on steroids with way more definition.  The AXY's are fine, but the FatBoys are just meatier.  I always say the AXY's sound like a great studio mic, the FatBoys like an SM57 or 58:  That tone is just built in.
 
But they both sound like Alembic:  You're gonna hear everything unless you turn the tone/filters way down.  With new strings, a great amp, a little treble dialed in, you can cut through anything!
 
J o e y

[richbass939]

Potato,
One way you can help your bass get the Alembic sound is with an Alembic Superfilter 2 (SF2).  They really help to dial in the sound you are after.  They aren't exactly cheap but worth the money.  They come up sometimes on the used market, too.
Rich