True story, or TALL TALE

[Michael Walker (rockandroller)]

sounds like another EBAY FIB to me!
 
This item up for bid is an original Infamous 1982 copy of an Alembic Bass Guitar by the original Fernandez Company from Tokyo.These copys were made identical to the original models, at a fraction of the cost!!! They were endorsed by Neal Schon,Peter Frampton, Alex Ligerwood(Santana Band)and many other famous artists.When the manufacturers of the guitars the copys were made from found out& saw these guitars ,THEY FREAKED OUT!!!! and many lawsuits were filed. All guitars already for sale in local music stores were seized and all had their headstocks broken off,right in the parking lots!!! I personally bought a few of these and was waiting in a music store in denver to pay for them,when federal agents rushed in,confiscated all the units,and I watched as my guitars were destroyed right in front of me.This bass is in great condition,and plays & sounds just like the original.
 
(I seriously DOUBT it plays & sounds just like the original)  
 

[Joe Schwartz (the_schwartz)]

I just saws this listing...I don't remember any of this happening at the time, when I was a young Alembic-lusting bassist in my high school jazz band in the Denver area.
 
The part about the federal agents sounds especially incredulous.  If stuff like that really happened, you'd see Feds busting up all the NY street vendors who sell fake Rolexes, Polo shirts, etc.  
 
The bass in the photos looks more like a copy than a counterfeit, as there is no logo and nothing with the Alembic name on it.  It should be noted , though, that it is suspect that the manufacturer omitted its own logo or name from the bass.

[Paul Ellsworth (elzie)]

LOL! I think someone watched too many 80's movies.  
 
While I have no doubt that companies sue to stop infringement, that story is a tad drama ridden.  
 
Oh well, it takes all kinds of fruit to make a basket  
 
The Other Paul
 
(Message edited by elzie on March 03, 2003)

[Rami Sourour (rami)]

That thing REALLY looks like an Alembic Series I to me...minus the Alembic Logo.  It's got the Bird tailpiece, dummy hum cancellor, 'Q' switches and all!
The owner even claims that it has the adjustable trimpots in the back.
The headstock shape looks slightly off, but that could just be the angle of the shot.
Scary!
I hope Mica sees this.

[Billy V (billy_v)]

The lawsuit imported guitars story has its basis in actual fact.  By the early '80s, Ibanez, Tokai, and Fernandes all were marketing dead-on copies of Fender and Gibson basses and guitars in the US (I remember seeing a beautiful 335 with the name Navigator inlaid in the headstock--and the first-issue Tokai Les Paul copies ACTUALLY HAD Les Paul Reborn silk-screened on the headstock, where on a Gibson you'll see Les Paul Model!), and Takamine was knocking off Martin, Guild, and Gallagher flattops; they were really fine guitars.  The stateside manufacturers of the originals did eventually bring suit to stop trademark infringement, as the guitars sported headstocks shaped EXACTLY like the originals', even down to the brands' names being styled to resemble the names on the American guitars.  I think the ebay seller may be, um, emBELLishing his tale a bit:  I know that mass headstock-sawing-off did occur at a West Coast port of entry (per an article in one of the industry trade mags, Music Trades or Musical Merchandise Review), but I suspect the story about watching all my guitars being decapitated in the parking lot of a strip mall may be slightly...um...fanciful.  Eventually, these import maufacturers made alterations to the shapes of their headstocks, in a settlement to the suit.  I've never seen nor heard of a lawsuit-era Alembic, though.  (I was surprised to run across THAT!)  To see examples of lawsuit-era guitars currently for sale, go to www.gbase.com, and search for Tokai, Fernandes, or Ibanez guitars from '77 to '83.  

[Dino Monoxelos (dean_m)]

I do remember the same thing as Billy does.  I worked at a music store the time Tokai was ripping off Fender.  We had a Tokai jazz style bass that looked and played just like a Fender Jazz.  The headstock was indentical to the point were they even duplicated the spaghetti script on the logo to look like Fender's.

[Michael Delacerda (dela217)]

Well, I remember this stuff too.  I even had one of the Alembic rip off basses.  Mine was a short scale with a small standard body.  The bass was very close to the real thing until you held it in your hands.  Sure it looked identical, but to me it had a cheapie sort of feel.  It played and sounded ok, but that feel...  I think it may have had to do with the finish the bass had.  It was no way near the quality of the Alembic finish. I think they were trying to copy the 1975-ish era of Alembic.  At the time the Alembics had a distinct yellowish hue that I LOVED.  The Fernandes copy had more of a brownish tint that was just not as smooth.  It was more sticky  if that describes it correctly.  The bass had the same type of electronics, and they worked the same.  BUT when you opened it up it was quite obvious that it was a piece of junk.  There were no mil spec components, and the inside of the cavity was not shielded with the silver shielding paint we all know and love. It just had some sort of black stuff poorly sprayed in there, and without the shielding paint, nothing was grounded.  I also think that the first run of these basses had no logo, and after that Fernandes was put on the headstock.  
 
After Fernandes stopped selling the Alembic rip off, I saw some of their Fender copies show up with the fake Series 1 electronics fitted!  I guess they had some left overs and had to do something with them.  A friend of mine in Nashville has one of these fake Fenders converted to a fake Alembic series 1 basses. Terrible stuff indeed.  
 
 
(Message edited by dela217 on March 04, 2003)