Nice looking Spoiler on Reverb

[rv_bass]

Nice looking!


https://reverb.com/item/48614622-alembic-fretless-electric-bass-guitar-used

[fivestringdan]

I just saw that. I would refret it for sure. Price seems a bit high for the non-factory mods. I don't know...my Orion was priced about the same.

Do you think it's long scale?

[gearhed289]

Seems pretty unlikely to be a long scale, but anything is possible with Alembic. The vast majority of Spoilers are 32'' medium scale.

[fivestringdan]

Good to know. I'll be sure and ask a seller in the future about the scale.

[OJ Dorson]

I've been looking at this one and I really want it... I don't know if we call "dibs" around here, but dibs! 

I want to find a four-string fretless and this would be a perfect complement to my Spoiler-bodied Series I. I just have to square away funding, but I'm really-really wanting to buy it if it stays available and the seller will come down to a more reasonable figure for the pretty serious modifications. I'm guessing most Alembic buyers aren't wanting a de-fretted Spoiler with huge pearl inlays. Who knows what's modified in the cavity... but, I like the weird ones and I love the look of this one!

[pauldo]

Here are a couple price leveraging points.

The neck pickup is mounted incorrectly (all 4 screws on top).  Closer examination suggests the G String side ‘ear’ on afore mentioned pickup appears to be cracked.  Ask them what happened there.

Ask for more details on the de-fretting, who did it, how they did it and lots of detailed high-resolution pictures of the fingerboard.

Pictures of the electronics. Post them here to get verification.


Dan and OJ… this may only be resolved via Rock, Paper, Scissors (roshambo).

[Slam]

Here are a couple price leveraging points.

The neck pickup is mounted incorrectly (all 4 screws on top).  Closer examination suggests the G String side ‘ear’ on afore mentioned pickup appears to be cracked.  Ask them what happened there.

Ask for more details on the de-fretting, who did it, how they did it and lots of detailed high-resolution pictures of the fingerboard.

Pictures of the electronics. Post them here to get verification.


Dan and OJ… this may only be resolved via Rock, Paper, Scissors (roshambo).

I messaged then about all that stuff. I’ll let you know if I get a reply.

[OJ Dorson]

I'm getting pretty close to having enough to make a reasonable offer. Thanks for all that input Slam and Pauldo...
I definitely plan to call and talk to them and I think it can't hurt if people have been asking questions about the obvious problems with the bass.

Dan doesn't want it, I'm sure... I mean, he's "fivestringdan" not "fourstringdan"!

[OJ Dorson]

Regarding that neck pickup - thanks for noticing the cracked ear! I'm guessing that a previous owner wanted that neck pickup further from the strings and thought that putting the screws over was the right thing to do. I don't think you could get the pickup that low with the screw under it... I'm guessing they did that because they couldn't balance the pickup levels with the three-way selector?

I think this would be a good candidate for replacing the selector with the Pan Preamp... right?

[mica]

No need for a pan preamp here - Spoilers already have a separate preamp for each pickup.

The pickup mounting crack usually happens when someone attempts to lower the pickup and only tightens the upper screws. The lower screws hold fast and if you keep cranking to upper ones.... CRACK! Usually can be repaired with epoxy and rarely impacts the function of the pickup as it's in the mounting area where where is no coil or wire.

[OJ Dorson]

Thanks, Mica! That's good to know about the separate preamps. And good to know that the cracks can usually be repaired and usually don't hurt the functionality.

[UglyBuzzard]

Bought the mint Stanley off them a couple of months back. My transaction was perfect - absolute mint condition...  They did accept my offer, which was not a lowball and I know I paid a bit more than I probably could have. But, this was advertised as mint and arrived mint and still much less than new. For what its worth...

[Slam]

31” scale and sent a pic of the electronics.

[mica]

Very likely to be 32" scale - I'm almost certain we've never made a 31" scale. The electronics look clean but there was some work - there's an uninsulated connection to the jack and I don't recognize the soldering style to the volume pot. Looks like a lot of action on the gain trimpots, which is unusual on a Spoiler/Distillate/Europa bass.

[Slam]

Thank you Mica. Here’s another pic with a slightly different angle. Not sure if this is useful or not but FWIW: