This bass arrived at my house about 3 weeks ago. I’ve been playing it for a couple of hours a day ever since to get accustomed to it, which is why I’ve delayed posting about it up until now. Presenting my new 2019 Mark King Signature deluxe 5-string with buckeye burl top, mahogany core, black MOP inlays, violet/red LED position markers and a whole host of other features. I bought it from the fine folks at Bass Central who worked with me to get the deal done. It seems that private sales are becoming almost more trouble than they’re worth these days and so I highly recommend them if you’re going to go through a dealer to purchase an instrument.
Pictures hardly do this instrument justice, it really has to be seen close up to truly appreciate the craftsmanship that was put into this bass. This is Alembic #10 for me (the 3rd new one), I’m pretty sure I’m done buying basses since I’m approaching retirement age, but I’ve learned to never say never. Its predecessor was a 1990 Elan that I shipped to its new owner soon after this one arrived. He’s as pleased as punch with it and I’m sure happy that it went to a good home. This bass has a somewhat smaller, much more contoured body and weighs about 2 lbs. less than the Elan did. Since I only play sitting down these days due to old age taking its toll on my joints, it makes a huge difference in playing comfort and I’m now able to play a couple of hours at a stretch without incurring crippling right shoulder pain anymore. String spacing is slightly narrower than the Elan, the fret dressing on this bass is just impeccable and the thinner satin neck makes my left hand a much happier camper as well.
My Elans’ most endearing feature was its sound – the only other bass I’ve owned that sounded better was my 1998 series II that I lost in a divorce years ago. The sound of this bass is more refined, a little less in-your-face than the Elan. I play fingerstyle, my right-hand technique is pretty aggressive and when I dig in, this bass just eats it up. I’ve found that the dynamic range on this bass is wider, so I can get the tone variety that I want by diming the tone controls, turning the volume up a little more than usual and using my right hand position and technique to control my dynamics and get the sound that I want for the song that I’m playing.
Since this bass has been in Florida for the last year and the climate is so dry here in Colorado, I’ve had to work the truss rods and the string height to get it dialed into my accustomed setup. I’ve found over the years with alembic basses that if you know what you’re doing, you can get the strings to sit right on top of the frets without any fret buzz anywhere up and down the neck (as JE once said “I like the strings on the other side of the frets”).
Now if I could only find the same model in an unlined fretless version. Hmmm…
Shown here with its new roomate, my 1995 fretless essence:
