My newest addition and my fourth Alembicized instrument (already have a P-Bass, Jazz Bass, and Strat). I’m going to fathom a guess that this is the bass of its kind. I’ve always wanted a Rickenbacker. Love the look of it. But want it to sound, well, like my Alembic. Hence this project.
This bass started off as a new 4003s Jetglo Pearlstar - a limited model that has a gold sparkle added to the jetglo black, with gold sparkle pickguard and trussrod cover and maple fretboard. I had Alembic make me a set of Activators to fit the bass, along with volume-pan-filter controls with a 3-way Q switch - thanks to Will Gunn for making that happen. (The depth of the electronics required routing the control cavity to make it deeper, and it was close. But in the end it all worked out fine.). I cut down a Rickenbacker “treble bezel” to surround the bridge pickup. I used Alembic hat control knobs. I painted the chrome pickup bezel matte black and replaced the tuners and bridge with black hipshots. Finally, I added black Schaller S straplocks. I wish the pickups had the gold-foil imprinting, but whatcha gonna do.
This bass now looks — and sounds — great!
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