Alembicized Beatle Bass???

[adriaan]

Hey Packy, is this you on Soundcloud?
Packy Plays Booker T Plays Rolling In The Deep
https://soundcloud.com/packylundholm/packy-plays-booker-t-plays-rolling-in-the-deep
Tasty!

[mario_farufyno]

Hi Z pickups and passive guts? To me this can't be called "alembicized", at least not where would worth mentioning... didn't got it

[packy]

Hey Packy, is this you on Soundcloud?
Packy Plays Booker T Plays Rolling In The Deep
https://soundcloud.com/packylundholm/packy-plays-booker-t-plays-rolling-in-the-deep
Tasty!

Yup, that’s me, thanks!!

[dela217]

So, no shipping on this bass.   Local pickup only?

[packy]

So, no shipping on this bass.   Local pickup only?

I’m really trying to avoid shipping, as I’ve had some bad luck with shipping guitars lately on both sending and receiving ends. But if someone offers close to my asking price and is willing to pay for/take the risk of shipping I’ll do it.

Here’s a photo of the back side of a pickup. Does this look familiar at all? I’ve heard of Alembic making passive pickups for other cheaper brands, could that be what’s going on here?

[lbpesq]

"I’ve heard of Alembic making passive pickups for other cheaper brands, could that be what’s going on here?"

I've never heard of Alembic doing such, and I be quite surprised if they ever did!

Bill, tgo

[jwright9]

"I’ve heard of Alembic making passive pickups for other cheaper brands, could that be what’s going on here?"

I've never heard of Alembic doing such, and I be quite surprised if they ever did!

Bill, tgo

Agreed! I have never heard of that either and would also be surprised. Very surprised.

[dela217]

Really??

http://alembic.stores.yahoo.net/axybtacpic.html

[jwright9]

I’ve heard of Alembic making passive pickups for other cheaper brands, could that be what’s going on here?

I think you are trying to convince people that this bass is something that it is not.

[mica]

We made a batch of high impedance pickups for Tune in the late 1980s early 1990s. They were installing low-z and high-z Alembic pickups in some of their basses. I think they were all JZ shape. I'll ask dad later about high impedance pickups from this era. My first reaction to this bass is that it looks more like a Stars Guitars type mod than Alembic.

[hieronymous]

I was also wondering maybe Stars Guitars - as Adriaan suggested.

Really??

http://alembic.stores.yahoo.net/axybtacpic.html

I think Activators are still low impedance.

I’ve heard of Alembic making passive pickups for other cheaper brands, could that be what’s going on here?

Why would Alembic make pickups for cheaper brands? That doesn't make sense. I have never known of Alembic to lower their standards, let alone to accommodate an inferior brand.

I think you are trying to convince people that this bass is something that it is not.

I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything like that - I'm the one who posted it, I thought it looked cool and had an interesting story behind it. Through discussion I think we were able to get closer to the truth, plus we were able to meet the current owner/seller! I saw it as more of a cool community process than trying to pull a fast one on someone.

And by the way, I'm one of the ones who has Alembic electronics in "cheaper brands" - some cool music has been made on these kinds of instruments by a variety of people!

[StephenR]

Harry, I think jwright9's comment was directed at the seller, not you. Interesting thread and if you hadn't started it someone else probably would have.

[packy]

We made a batch of high impedance pickups for Tune in the late 1980s early 1990s. They were installing low-z and high-z Alembic pickups in some of their basses. I think they were all JZ shape. I'll ask dad later about high impedance pickups from this era. My first reaction to this bass is that it looks more like a Stars Guitars type mod than Alembic.

Ah, that must be what I was thinking of - obviously later period than what I’ve got here. Thank you for genuinely answering my genuine question. To be clear, I’m not bold or dumb enough to try swindling a forum of Alembic experts. Getting to the truth of this thing is, like, kind of why I’m here...

I’m curious about Stars Guitars, never really heard about them. Did they make passive mock-Alembic pickups as well as the brass stuff?

[keith_h]

I'm sure someone else will chime in with more info but there was some intermingling of Stars Guitars and Alembic back in the 70's. I know they bought an SF Alembic location/business from Alembic back in that era (Alembic's retail storefront if memory serves) and I believe it included the inventory. I also believe early on Stars Guitars bought some items from Alembic for instruments they modified but could be wrong. 

[David Houck]

Keith's post is a pretty good summary of Stars Guitars.  If you run a site search here, you can find more comments from over the years that will give you a good amount of background.