Help find Series One, regret selling

[allgood]

Hi guys, thanks for any help you might give.  I’m hoping buyer is in the club.  I sold my Series 1, omega, zebra, med scale, with purple flight case, about 15 years ago.  Saw it for sale by Elderly about a year ago, but when I called it had already sold, for $3,500.  If anyone knows where she is, please let me know. I would like to see about buying it back, for more than buyer paid for it.    One other point, Elderly still has the flight case for sale, so I guess they only sold with ohs case.  Another thing, there is one on eBay that looks just like it, and might be it, for sale in Japan.  There are a couple of warnings in the reviews... I can’t see sending $7k to Japan without some assurances.  Thanks

[edwardofhuncote]

Well, either a disturbance in The Force woke me, or the last dose of pain meds just wore off a couple hours too early. Dang, I hate these stories... oww! Hang on a minute...

First lets make sure it's your bass... the one listed you're talking about first showed up early this past Spring on ebay Japan, and in short order was listed about a dozen times. I remember it well. That bass has some very distinguishing features. The E string saddle has a big chip in it. If it was there before, you'd surely remember it. Also, that lovely bass is a '75, and judging by the early two-tab pickups, it must be sequenced very low... like probably the serial number is around 200 or lower I'd guess.

If that matches up with your best info, <sigh> then I'd try to find out who actually has the bass, and deal with them. The way I understand the ebay deal, it's perfectly legal for anyone else to list the bass at any price. If you buy it from them, they simply go buy it from whoever actually has it and pocket the overage. It isn't necessarily a scam. It isn't necessarily helpful to you either, if you're trying to track down a prized possession.

We have a couple Club Members here who reside in Japan that may even have seen this instrument personally. They may chime in later as well.

I wish you the best of luck in relocating your old Alembic. That kind of regret keeps me up nights.
 

[allgood]

Thanks for the reply.  Mine did not have the chip, but that could have occurred after I sold it.  I don’t recall the exact serial number, but I do recall that one side was a bit double stamped, it was hard to tell if it said 75 or 77.  I sent a note to the ebay seller asking him to send a photo of the serial number.  He sent some photos, but not of the serial number.  If I can see that I would be sure.  I also so it listed several times, and was a bit suspect of that.  Thanks again, hopefully I’ll get some more replies/help. 

[hammer]

I'd certainly avoid that price even if it's your old bass and is legit. I've got three Series I basses at the current time and paid between $1200 and $4,000 for them. The short scale that went for $4,000 is pristine. The 77 medium scale standard point was in very good condition other than a PU selector switch. The $1200 one is fretless and very playable but needs some work so I don't have to keep chamging the location in which I play in the band every time we play out to keep the RF interference to a minimum.

So to put it a little more succinctly, if your patient and don't desperately need to reclaim your old bass, you'll find something quite nice in the $3,000-4,000 range. Anything above that should be a Series II.

[rv_bass]

What surprises me is when previously owned non-Series basses are priced much higher than previously owned Series basses.  I don’t quite understand the basis for that. 

[allgood]

Good advice Hammer, thanks

[goran]

rv_bass you have a point here, even in europe is like that, Series 1 are much cheaper than some other Alembics. weird.....

[lbpesq]

What surprises me is when previously owned non-Series basses are priced much higher than previously owned Series basses.  I don’t quite understand the basis for that. 

Priced higher or actually selling for higher?  There is a difference.

Bill, tgo

[edwardofhuncote]

To the OP - I'm wondering if you were able to determine whether this 1975 Series I Omega bass was yours? There were so many significant changes to standards between '75 and '77 that even with a double-stamped serial number we should be able to help you rule it out.

Did yours have those old style pickups with two screw mounts, or the newer type with four?

Did it have one truss rod or two?

The bird tailpiece... was it milled from a solid chunk of brass or made of wood and brass like the one in the ad?

The bridge on the ebay bass is the old 'channel' type, replaced by '77 by a type similar to what's in use today.

The headstock logo... was yours a cut silver logo like the ebay ad, or a cast bronze one, with a lot of detail? (another change)

I agree with the above sentiment - $7500 is a jacked up price. I'd have to be desperate (and I might be) to pay it. I do think somebody got a very good deal for this bass at $3500, if this indeed is the bass they got. I'd go as far as to call it a steal at that price.

[gearhed289]

What surprises me is when previously owned non-Series basses are priced much higher than previously owned Series basses.  I don’t quite understand the basis for that. 

Priced higher or actually selling for higher?  There is a difference.

Bill, tgo

This ^^^. A lot of these instruments sit for a LOOOONG time without ever selling.

[jazzyvee]

I think one of the reasons for the price difference is that the series basses up for sale for less than the non series basses are much older. I’d be surprised to find a series and non series bass made in the same year to be similarly priced for sale. The point Bill tgo makes is a solid one. Though i could imagine someone with a limited knowledge on the difference between the bass types going for a newer non series bass simply because its newer.  I personally didnt fully understand the difference even though i phoned mica and spoke to her about the bass i was about to buy. The fact it was marked up as an sc standard and mica told me it was a deluxe made it seem a better bargain added to the fact it was already heavily discounted due to the shop selling off the last of their Alembic stock. Win win for me.

[allgood]

Thanks Edwardo, for pointing out the differences.  Mine had the pickups with one screw in the middle, as the picture shows.  Also had one truss rod.  I believe I had the same logo and tailpiece.  I notice there is another seller now that has it posted for over $8k!  Always suspicious of these multiple postings.

[allgood]

I went back and searched old posts, I really don’t remember, (stinks to get old) but found post when the bass was listed for sale by Elderly.  It was 2011.  And the double stamp made it look like 73 or 75, rather than 75 or 77.  I remember that now. 

[allgood]

And funny that Elderly still has the flight case for sale, after all these years.  If you can stand the purple, it would be a good one for someone.  Medium scale.  I had it made from an actual drawing of the bass. 

[edwardofhuncote]

Well, shoot... the relative scarcity of pre-1976 Alembics with an Omega-cut body kinda' leads one to conclude this one was likely yours. I hope you can work something out and be reunited with it. Best of luck, either way. And Welcome to the Club here! 


(as you might have noticed from my avatar to the left, I'm quite partial to those curvy cutouts, myself... had Mica and the crew build me one a little while back.)