Wow! 2001 Allen Woody interview

[slammin]

You do own some Alembics, and a lot of those instruments are 32 scale, which most people consider to be medium scale.
 
Most of mine are 34. I played in a fusion band for several years, so of course I'd gotten into Stanley Clarke, and we did some shows with the Dixie Dregs; Andy West was playing an Alembic, and the sound just jumped out at me. Around Nashville, the music stores wanted the closest thing to Fender they could get, so any store that dared to get Alembic basses got long-scale ones. I bought mine in early l977. Alembics bring out all of the characteristics of your playing; you can't hide behind an Alembic like you can with some other basses. I've played some medium-scale instruments; it's enjoyable and in some respects it's the best of both worlds.
 
 
LOL! he said: Alembics bring out all of the characteristics of your playing; you can't hide behind an Alembic like you can with some other basses.
 
Aint that the truth!  I love the dynamic range I get with mine, but the fact is, as easy as this bass is to play feel-wise, it is much harder to play technique-wise.  Sometimes it's very hard to restrain myself when I'm feeling a groove.  My tendancy is to 'hit' harder, 'play' harder when I get that 'feeling', but this bass makes me have to temper my 'feelings'.  I am finding all sorts of ways to express with bass, and really feel like this bass is teaching me how to play.
 
Are all Alembic players just naturally 'touchy-feely' players?  How do us that are used to beating up a bass get that natural dynamic range-type of technique?  I can when I concentrate, but the funk just takes over sometimes and things get crazy.
 
Man, been playing since I was 6, now pushing 50, but I do like what I am learning now. Control.  Wish I had gotten an Alembic long ago now.  Seems some of the the best bass players got early exposure.

[David Houck]

I think that because they bring out all of the characteristics of your playing, the range of expressiveness is expanded; and that with practice, rather than your feelings having to be tempered, the instrument allows a greater range of feelings to be expressed.

[oujeebass]

The use of flatwounds tempers the range and prevents the out of control ness that can ensue. I like roundwounds myself, and ride the lightning.

[slammin]

Dave, you are so right.  I really am learning, and enjoying how to play bass all over again.  I knew, or kind of knew, that I would have to adjust to THIS bass, but I am pleased with the way I am learning to express my sound/self with my fingers now.
 
Wade, that may make the transistion easier but I only had some Optima Gold's available to string it with with when I bought it.  Very hi-fi.  I'm getting used to playing hard/soft now.  I want to try different strings now, but still want to see if I can get the tempered volumes I want with these strings before I go to flats.
 
It's a new toy for me. I really am looking to trying some flats, but I wanna get some control with rounds first.

[peoplechipper]

I love the fact that when I lay into it, my bass sounds like a peoplechipper!
Tony

[adriaan]

IMHE the point is that on most basses you have to apply some degree of force to get some response from the string/instrument combo, and you have to do it with both hands.
 
On an Alembic, you don't have to fret the string as hard, and you don't have to hit/pluck the string quite as hard if you want to accentuate the attack of the note.
 
Problem is that at the far end of that scale, a regular instrument will probably absorb more of the excess energy that you're putting into the string, but on an Alembic it will make the string start misbehaving.

[glocke]

Personally I think flats and alemics are a match made in heaven.  Pyramid flats rock.

[jbybj]

I love the fact that when I lay into it, my bass sounds like a peoplechipper!  
 
I agree. Though my Alembics have enabled me to play with a softer touch, what's the problem with digging in hard and having it go out of control?
 
I love it when my bass and my playing gets a little wild and unpredictable, at times........
 
JBY

[pauldo]

I love it when my bass and my playing gets a little wild and unpredictable, at times........  
 
yeah

[adriaan]

 
 
(Message edited by adriaan on March 05, 2010)

[hifiguy]

It took me a couple of years after buying my Alembic to figure out that one's left hand touch has to be seriously rethought for the lighter and more dextrous after a lifetime spent on Fenders and Rics.  
 
IIRC, it was Olie who called this Jazz (bass) hands and it takes a while to break long-set bad habits.  But that makes it so worth it when you start hearing and responding to the way an Alembic talks back to you.  And they do.  And you'd better pay attention if you want to get the sound you paid for.
 
Alembics allow for a far wider range of dynamics by doing nothing more than plucking slightly harder or more softly with the right hand.
 
A Bosendorfer grand is, after all, just a bit more sensitive to playing style than the old upright piano in Auntie Mavis' basement.

[benson_murrensun]

I find that the better instruments are more responsive to where on the speaking length of the string you pluck. My Alembic is very versatile this way.
But... back to the Allen Woody theme...
I just re-watched Rising Low. A good film, entertaining, and it is good to the memory of Mr. Woody.

[crgaston]

Well, my dyslexia kicked in when I saw this thread title and I thought... What does Woody Allen have to do with Alembics? lol!

[slammin]

I think he played in White Men Can't Jump?