Author Topic: Another questionable Ebay listing? (Read 344 times)

David Houck · « **on:** November 11, 2003, 05:45:37 AM »

I'll defer to the experts; but I don't see anything Alembic about this listing, except maybe the knobs. To call this an Alembic seems inaccurate at best; and the ad seems misleading at the very least. But I'll defer to the experts.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2572364080&category=4713

David Houck · « **Reply #1 on:** November 11, 2003, 05:53:07 AM »

Interestingly, the seller is listed as being in Santa Rosa, CA.

adriaan · « **Reply #2 on:** November 11, 2003, 06:06:36 AM »

I'm no expert, but for starters it has an EMG pickup installed (early model, judging by the unfamiliar logo) and something that looks like a Badass bridge. There have been more cases where people installed EMGs in an Alembic.

Other than that the body design is quite attractive, the maple(?) top is nicely figured and it has an accent laminate. Body style is not far removed from a Spoiler or Persuader, but the 'neck-through laminations' are certainly non-standard.

As to the (allegedly) graphite neck, it would be nice to have pictures of the back of the instrument to see how it is attached.

(Message edited by Adriaan on November 11, 2003)

thebass · « **Reply #3 on:** November 11, 2003, 07:42:47 AM »

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I never saw any Alembic without the typical 2-piece Bridge (in its various permutations of course). Another bridge was always a good indicator (among others) for a faked Alembic to me.

adriaan · « **Reply #4 on:** November 11, 2003, 07:56:06 AM »

You're right about the bridge, but then it could also be a replacement like the EMG. And what about that Strat style jackplate. But the fake ones you usually see are really low-quality Precision copies, while apart from the hardware and perhaps the neck this one could be quite a nice instrument.

The elbow carving on this one actually looks much like it would on an Alembic. Perhaps another one of those employee projects?

xlrogue6 · « **Reply #5 on:** November 11, 2003, 08:02:37 AM »

I talked to the seller about this bass a month ago and told him that it wasn't an Alembic. What it *is* is a Modulus/Alembic labeled replacement neck on a body of indeterminate, but definitely non-Alembic, origin. As I recall, those necks weren't supposed to have the Alembic name on them, but somewhere in the production process it mysteriously appeared. I've seen a few of them around--they tend to be a no middle ground item--either you love 'em or you hate 'em. This bass would probably be better described as a Modulus Vintage prototype, IMO.

David Houck · « **Reply #6 on:** November 11, 2003, 08:46:51 AM »

Kent; given what you know of this instrument, would you say that the listing is deceptive or misleading or inaccurate?

dfung60 · « **Reply #7 on:** November 11, 2003, 09:16:04 AM »

Hey kids...

This looks to me to be a very old (1970s)production Modulus BassStar. When Geoff Gould started Modulus, his original production went to Alembic. Simultaneously with those early through body graphite necks that they manufactured, Geoff also started building his own line of graphite Fender replacement necks, followed by his own instruments, built at the original Modulus factory in Menlo Park. This looks to be one of those.

The early Modulus necks are marked Modulus/Alembic BassStar. There was some talk of these being distributed through Alembic's dealer network (remember, back then in the 70's, there were *no* exotic basses, and Alembic had to build dealers up from scratch), but I don't know if that ever really happened. Having the Alembic name on the necks did improve visibility, and the association was definitely there. Not only was Alembic the first customer for the product, but Rick Turner, at Alembic back then, pushed Geoff to patent the Modulus monocoque neck structure and the patent bears both names. I don't know about the Lesley neck, but it looks like there's a plate where the decal logo would normally be. Over the years, Modulus used different graphite material for the outer appearance layer of the neck - this is the old stuff, on the oldest necks, and this instrument appears to have the original tuners that Modulus used as well.

The pickups are original EMGs with the embossed tops, their second design and predating their current appearance. The bridge is a Stars Guitars brass bridge, also popular at that time. Stars was a famous guitar repair/mod shop in San Francisco in the 70's and 80's. They made a lot of premium custom brass hardware. I don't know whether Alembic was ever at that location on Folsom Street (right by where Moscone Center is now), but I remember seeing Alembics there back in the day. Geoff worked at Stars on and off, and after Stars closed, this was the location of the second Modulus factory.

This one is a bolt-on. There are similar neck throughs, but the cutaways and end of fingerboard look different than this.

I've got some Modulus basses of this age. They can be very nice, but you need to be careful about neck problems - as with all older Modulus, there's no truss rod so setup and refretting are harder than wood necked instruments.

David Fung

David Houck · « **Reply #8 on:** November 11, 2003, 10:06:41 AM »

David; thanks for all the information. The seller should hire you to write his Ebay listing .
Here's an earlier thread where David discusses this topic in more detail:
http://club.alembic.com/Images/393/2455.html
And here's another thread which includes a link to an earlier Ebay listing of a 1978 Modulus Alembic Moonstone BassStar:
http://club.alembic.com/Images/393/5430.html

bracheen · « **Reply #9 on:** November 11, 2003, 05:34:58 PM »

I asked the seller for the s/n and he sent me this photo along with the number 4145948.