(x) Custom Jazz Bass SN 04C13237

[bpeder]

Recently purchased from a music store in Dundee, Scotland UK. I have seen a number of these custom Alembic, Fender Jazz style body/Orion 4 or 5 head stock hybrids discussed on the forum. Mine has the book matched walnut top and walnut pinstriped neck and red LEDs. I believe there is another bass out there with a top made from the same piece of walnut, but no LEDs and without the inset sterling/MOP/abalone logo. I'd be interested in knowing how many were made and shipped. My images are too big to attach, but hopefully this link to a GPhoto Album will work for anyone who wants to see reasonably sharp images. https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZQkocSt1Hdowuswa6 My recently Alembicized NS SFII is pictured as well. Thanks in advance for any relevant history!

[jazzyvee]

i recall a conversation with Mica a good few years back that alembic made a number of these jazz style basses for the then UK alembic dealer. One of the forum members George aka Geepee has a Jarrah Burl version with front leds. There is one on reverb at the moment and there was one on ebay for years and years. Just checked the one on rever is gone, i guess you bought it.

[bpeder]

Yeah jazzyvee, the one on Reverb is likely the one I bought. It was hard to see unless you dug a bit was my experience. I first started seeing it 6-8 months ago and when it popped up again at the psychological moment when I had missed a Bocote topped 5-string Europa I had been eyeing, I finally decided to pull the trigger. I have not regretted it. Super nice bass. It's HEAVY with the ash body wings and the top is a full 3/8ths inch thick. But the bass itself feels slim in my hands. I'm not sure but I think the bridge PUP might have been replaced as it looks newer. The neck PUP's gold foil logo has worn away. I don't know if those are decal transfers or possibly pad-printed? Mica will know. Those logos may have varying life spans depending on how well they are applied. Otherwise the bass is squeaky clean even by the standards of rating "Excellent" at Reverb and the guy who closed the sale was about as cool a CSR as he could be.

The bass sounds great. Close to a Fender Jazz. But not 100%. It has a much tighter Alembic voice. And of course all of this run of basses I have seen are eye candy if that's how you're wired. Mine is very understated to my eye, which I like a lot. GeePee's bass is sweet too. That lad has quite the collection... His "C" Jazz is more over the top, more recognizably Alembic.

I had fun with the Starfire modification too. There was a Reverb seller who had that bridge/block/tailpiece up there and at eBay, for quite some time. Claimed it was uncut, NOS Alembic. But I'm not so sure. Does the Mothership brand brass parts other than machines? Recently I saw a guy calling himself "machinistbill" or something at one of the sites selling Alembic style hardware specifically for SFII mods. But l looked again recently and he seemed to have vanished. His parts looked decent? But significantly less than what I paid even after a lower offer was accepted. But hey, I got the job done and I love that bass too and like I was telling Edwin? "It's just money. I'll make more..."

[pauldo]

Peter, those basses look great!   Nice supporting gear also. 😎

[bpeder]

So, digging down about 4 pages into this section I see that my bass was already searched by Stefan in Dundee, Scotland UK I see no reason for Mica to need to search it again! But FWIW, the bass came home to mid-America and did not pick up an accent! Thanks for the kind words pauldo. Mark this request "(X)", yes? Cheers all. The bass gigged this AM at one of my churches and it turned some eyes and grabbed some ears. 🕉️☮️💜

[adriaan]

That would be this lookup request.

[bpeder]

Just one more add to this thread. In a post by tbrannon back in November of 2009, there was a picture of what turns out to be my bass. It was younger then, and the image was captured before the SimS LEDs were installed. I had originally thought that that bass was not mine because the image showed a bass with no LEDs. The wood was similar though, and I had assumed there were two walnut topped basses with book matching from the same piece of wood. I took the image and pushed some contrast and pop into it, then compared the grain in the image to my bass in real time. Yep. Same bass.


I added that image to the GPhoto album that can be clicked in the first post of this thread. This bit of information is likely only of interest to me. But I can say for our cousins in the UK, that to my eye, the SimS people do a really nice job with their LED modifications. The dots in the fingerboard are flawlessly flush and the material they use makes for a spread like a fresnel lens. They actually need a dimmer pot or to be switchable from front to side. The side markers are not ringed in sterling. But they are ringed in a white material that makes them visible in daylight. The side markers are totally smooth too.


Fun bass! I wish I knew who took such good care of it for most of the years between 2004 and now. Stefan at Rainbow Music in Dundee, Scotland UK said it was in his shop for a good bit and that there were some folks who were sad to see it leave. "They had their chance..."