Black Fretless Spoiler- Jason Newsted

[rv_bass]

Posting this here to document as reference for others, this is what I know:

The seller of the bass stated that they were selling it on behalf of Jason Newsted.  This was confirmed by the person who made the bass as a "Shop Night" personal bass while working at Alembic and sold it to Jason Newsted when it was finished.  Although the bass lacks a serial number and is not an official Alembic issue, it is still a beautiful high quality instrument that plays and sounds great.

Mint condition, no signs of wear or play
Spoiler body shape
Tummy contour
Mahogany body
Maple neck
Ebony fretless findgerboard
Brass hardware
Adjustable nut
Sustain block
Controls: volume/volume/filter/LED switch
Red LED side lights
Neck profile is thin and narrow (very comfortable and easy to play)
Electronics cavity very clean, everything is in order, only replacement is the battery connector

The bass is lighter than I expected (I'm used to 70s large body Alembics), perhaps the tummy contour contributes to that. The Bridge and tail piece are set near the bottom edge of the bass and at first I thought the wide spacing of the pickups was to facilitate greater tonal differences between the neck and bridge pickups, but I think it was more a modification to accommodate scale length. I'm not sure how it all works, but the fretboard only has 22 frets instead of the standard 24 frets, so maybe the lower placement of the bridge and tail piece was to compensate in some way.

So, it's not an official Alembic issue, but it's a very nice high quality instrument made by a former Alembic employee and owned by Jason Newsted.  Please correct me if I have misstated anything.

[edwardofhuncote]

Very cool bass, Rob.   

[BeenDown139]

few things are more awesome than an alembic unlined ebony fretless bass fingerboard.  with LEDs to boot! whooo! 😍

[hieronymous]

I didn't even realize it was fretless! I was intrigued by the tailpiece being so close to the end of the body - that's an idea I had, for example, there is so much extra space on my doubleneck between the edge of the body and the tailpiece, the 1st couple of frets are waaaaayyyy out there, unreachable if standing. I'd gladly have the neck further in and lose a couple of frets...

[edwardofhuncote]

Curious Rob... what is the scale? Could it be a 34"? Most Spoiler/Persuaders are 32" but a long-scale could explain the tailpiece and bridge placement, as well as the absent 23rd and 24th fret positions. I'm trying to imagine this as a builder... and as a player. I know Jason had a few Alembics but I don't know what his preference was for scale length. Sorta' makes you wonder if it had some bearing on the planning of this instrument though.

[rv_bass]

Thanks everyone!

Beendown, yes a fretless Alembic is a wonderful thing!  Also, I’ll have to check the pickup trimpot setting, but this is a powerful bass with very rich tones.  I’m also used to having a volume for each pickup to mix the pickup output levels, so that works well for me.

Harry, the reach is very easy on this bass, so that neck length is perfect!

Greg, I believe the scale length is 34”.  It’s 17” from nut to 12th fret, and 34” from nut to bridge.  And you are right in that this seems to be a hybrid of Spoiler and Persuader: Larger Spoiler pickups (AXY and/or Fatboy) with V/V/F Persuader controls.  Is there a way to determine if a pickup is AXY or Fatboy?

I’m loving the fretless sound right now!

[edwardofhuncote]

A-ha... 34" long-scale makes it all make sense.

AXY Fatboys are probably marked as such on the underside, like this. (mine are in Classic 80's type shells...)

Man, what a cool fretless bass.

[gearhed289]

Man, that is one beautiful bass! I bet it sounds amazing too. Probably the first long scale Spoiler/Persuader I've ever seen. I've got the only long scale Distillate I've seen. Anyone else recall seeing one?

I'd gladly have the neck further in and lose a couple of frets...

This is on my list for my dream Alembic. 

[rv_bass]

A couple more nicer photos for the record

[sonicus]

I love it !

[StephenR]

Nice unique fretless... bet it sounds great! Have you given any thought to adding a Q-switch at some point?

[rv_bass]

Thanks guys!

Yes, I’ve been thinking of adding a 3-position Q switch, I was actually looking at the cavity photo when you were typing!  It looks like I would have to modify it to make space for the switch in between the battery and LP filter, so I’ll have to think about whether I would want to do that or not.  I do like the 3-position Qs though.

[edwardofhuncote]

I like the 3-position Q as well. Not only that, I like the alternative values of 0-3-6 dB on mine. One thing to remember, with this V-V-F switch-less setup on activators, unless I'm mistaken it's as if the Q is always toggled [ON] which for a fretless is somewhat advantageous. (is it like 8 dB or something...? I know turning it [OFF] makes a lot of difference.) I think you can squeeze one little switch in there... might have to move the LED toggle over.

[rv_bass]

Yes, I see, I can put the Q where the LED switch is and move the LED kind of above the 1/4” jack and in line with the volume knob.  That will work, great suggestion! 

[sonicus]

I have a 3 position Que. switch on my 92 4 string  Essence as well as the 97 6  string Essence. this makes a difference as to what I hear from folks in the audience that know what I want t to sound like to my listeners .   Short story ; A 3 position Que switch can make your live  DI hook up experience a walk in the park ,and faster .   My Story on non Series is that my Series  electronics bass story  is different but positive  and  more detailed .