Moonstone basses

[hammer]

Anyone here have experience with Moonstone basses and/or guitars? Im considering an acoustic or hollow body bass purchase and know that a number of years back Mica had some nice things to say about their product one of which might become available in my general area soon (the guy is still debating whether he wants to let it go). I know Steve Helgeson passed away last year so they are no longer being built and that some of their basses were built with Alembic electronics but that’s all I know.

[jazzyvee]

I saw a lovely hollow bodied 5 string on one of the alembic facebook groups and it looks superb. At 36" scale length though it's likely to be beyond my comfortable reach.

[gtrguy]

I have always thought that the brand was high quality. They also made an 'Exploder' that is on my bucket list.

[lbpesq]

I had a Moonstone guitar, I believe it was an Eclipse.  Very high quality.  Definitely built in the Alembic style.  VERY heavy.

Bill, tgo

[rv_bass]

Here is one on Reverb, it is in Germany

https://reverb.com/item/39566945-moonstone-m80-unknown

[hammer]

That's the one of the ones I've been looking at but 36" is likely to be far too long for my reach. Long scale yes but that's extra long scale. Did Helgeson make them in a 34 in. Scale?

[gearhed289]

I remember them from the very early 80s. Great looking stuff, but never played one. I also heard they were heavy. That one in Germany is beautiful, but I'm more into less than 34'' scales these days.

[jazzyvee]

That is the same one I saw on Face book. If only it was a six string fretless..... I could completely ignore looking at it.
Is it truly a semi-acoustic like a Starfire for example, or is it carved out more or less where the F holes and electronics are?
definitely a great looking bass.

[hammer]

The M-80 Basses are described as having carved tops and chambered arch-backed bodies. This one has been around awhile originally appearing on Bassic.de well over a year ago. I believe it underwent an ownership change but pricing doesn't seem to have changed that much so its not a case of the current owner trying to flip it for a big profit.  I have been in communication with the owner and there are two things I'm considering in trying to decide whether to make an offer. (1) It's not a 36" but rather a 35" That's still an extra long scale; (2) It was never set up for use with a high C. That 5th string has always been set up to be a low B.


I'm wondering what a fair price is for this specimen.  From what I understand they have Essence like electronics.  The asking price  of $4,500 seems way too high to me given that I've not paid that much for any of my Series I basses.

[StephenR]

I really like the fact that the bass is hollow and 35" scale is doable for me, 36" would not be. I am not familiar with pricing for Moonstone instruments but the fact that both of the hollow five-strings I saw on Reverb have been listed for a while leads me to suspect that the price is indeed too high.

[BeenDown139]

at one time i had a 35" scale "poor man's alembic" for 89 days before i returned it to GC.  It was a neck-thru instrument.  you wouldn't think that 1 more inch would make that much difference, but that bass really vibrated when you hit an open B.  i could feel it throughout my body.  it felt significantly different than a 34" scale, definitely a longer reach to the lower registers.  unfortunately, the workmanship issues on that bass sealed its fate, first and foremost was the crappy factory fret dressing.  Some of the fret ends were sharp enough to leave cuts and i had to file them down for my own peace of mind before i played it.  Not something you'd expect on a brand new instrument.

all that aside, this moonstone is kinda pretty, i like the inlays, looks like abalone?  that top is awesome.

... not familiar with pricing for Moonstone instruments but the fact that both of the hollow five-strings I saw on Reverb have been listed for a while leads me to suspect that the price is indeed too high.

agreed.  but then again the price is always too high imho.

[jazzyvee]

I'm wondering what a fair price is for this specimen.  From what I understand they have Essence like electronics.  The asking price  of $4,500 seems way too high to me given that I've not paid that much for any of my Series I basses.

When you make that comparison it does sound expensive. 

[hammer]

I agree with both of you which is why I haven’t pulled the trigger. Nice inlays on the blue one and a wonderful top on both but the blue one is listed for over $5,000 and for that price we are in series territory. The burl one, which is in Germany, is a 35 which I’d prefer to avoid. My 6 string Europa is a 34 and that’s about the limit of my reach. Both have been listed for quite a while so I might make a lower offer but would not expect the owners who have had them up so long to part with them unless it’s close to the listed price.


Then again, I wonder how many Moonstones have an Alembic electronics package. Did they sell a few Electronic packages  to Steve Helgeson back then or 100?

[gearhed289]

I played a 35'' 4 string Modulus for a while and it wasn't that noticeable a difference versus 34''. OTOH, I played a 36'' Alembic 5 a couple of times and that was definitely noticeable!