Author Topic: Early series II (Read 513 times)

poor_nigel · « **Reply #15 on:** October 26, 2004, 02:37:13 PM »

I have a chip out of the finish on my 75 that I look at in triple takes all the time, as at a certain angle, it looks like a crack in the neck like this one does. When I enlarge the picture in question above, I can see that maybe it is a patch of finish that popped off - but maybe it is indeed a crack from neck damage of some sort. I would want verification on this, if I were thinking of seriously bidding on that bass.

dela217 · « **Reply #16 on:** October 26, 2004, 05:31:01 PM »

Everyone, I have had lots of early Alembics. I have owned several from 1975 and 1976 with the bridge slanted like that. I assure you that it must have come this way. Poke around in the showcase section of the 1975 series 1 instruments. It was common.

As far as the serial number goes, the the zero in front of the 33 is not a zero, but an O (alpha). Trust me on this one. I have had basses from that era with that same marking. When I contacted Alembic about this, the person I talked to did not know why the O was there, or what it meant. It is just there. I was told that the person that used the O in the serial numbers is no longer with Alembic, so they didn't know what it meant. Serial number 33 would have been from 1973, I know because I owned that instrument too.

That is definately a zebrawood top. I remember several basses from that era with that type of wood. I owned 1976 O62 that had that top.

Mica - When I was considering a new custom, the look I was hoping to get with the koa top is exactly like this bass. The birdseye zebra is what inspired me to use that type of koa. I think the birdseye zebra is gorgeous under that yellow finish. With the Koa it can have that same hue with a clear finish. Maybe one day.

What a beautiful bass!!! If it only was a short scale. I think the strap button is in the wrong place for my tastes too.

Michael

adriaan · « **Reply #17 on:** October 26, 2004, 11:39:15 PM »

Silly guess, but perhaps the O was just for omega - ? - which is of course the letter o in the Greek alphabet.

adriaan · « **Reply #18 on:** October 26, 2004, 11:48:50 PM »

Well, the omega doesn't print in the code page, so here's a picture of one:

poor_nigel · « **Reply #19 on:** October 27, 2004, 12:57:14 AM »

I never read this auction, as I was not interested in the bass much. However, The bass is in very good condition, and only has a few minor cosmetic flaws. There is a small chip on one side of the Omega cutaway which is about the size of a quarter. If I were to list this when selling a bass, I would list it as a major flaw. I asked the person posting on this bass in the Swap Section if he was the seller and if so, he should check out this thread. He sent me an e-mail asking me which thread, so I posted the link to this one in the other thread and then e-mailed it to him, also. Considering that he has not addressed the neck issue and how he described the missing wood on the omega cut, I would beware of this bass until I was satisfied the glitch in the neck is missing finish and not a crack that would mean even more serious structural repair is needed. $0.02 tossed in.

bsee · « **Reply #20 on:** October 28, 2004, 06:55:28 PM »

Well, the listing has been partially adjusted, but the seller has neglected to come clean about a few important pieces of data as yet. Namely, he still represents the bass as burl rosewood over mahogany. He also hasn't mentioned that it was originally fretless, meaning that the inlays, LEDs and fretwork were done after the fact and probably not by Alembic. Seems like a fairly important piece of data when you're trying to play up the collectable nature of the instrument, no?

Well, it's not for me anyway, so it will be someone else that ends up either happy or disappointed.

teiscodelrey · « **Reply #21 on:** October 31, 2004, 12:14:45 PM »

The new owner will be Very Happy! This bass is Awesome!