Long Time Alembic owner, brand new to Forum!

[LongLiveAlembic]

Hi Everyone,

I bought my first Alembic Bass in 1982 from Guitars Etc, in Bellevue WA.  I also bought a SWR SM400 amp mated to an Energy 2x15 cabinet around the same time ERA.  (Young!) Now 40 years later, I am sort of revisiting the bass guitar after having played mostly banjo and fiddle and accoustic bluegrass guitar since about the late 90's.   I still get occasional bass gigs, not very often. 

Sometime in the early 90's I bought another Alembic Elan long scale bass, and I used that for awhile with the Energy set up.  It was an awesome setup!  No toys, nothing just straight in, direct.  Never really learned much about the Distillate Electronics, just set where it sounded good.  With the bass and the amp there were like a million different tones. 

Long story short, sold the Elan and the SWR and the Energy 2x15 at Bass Northwest in Seattle, about 1993 or so I am guessing.  Mike Lull sold me my SWR and Energy Amp at Bandstand East in Bellevue WA, about 82 or so before he opened his own shop.  I am not 100% positive about all this stuff, date wise, as it's been about 40 years.   

I recently bought a used SWR SM-400 just like the original one, and I had a Energy 1x15 cab I bought from Mike Lull at the store (in Bellevue WA as well).  Trading Musician in Seattle had a used McCauley 1x15 800W Bass Speaker the exact same speaker as used in the original Energy cabs, I bought that and finally put it all together 2 years ago and it rocks!  I don't play much though, as I am in my early 60's now.   

Mike sadly passed away recently, and he was always my go to Bass question and answer person.  I miss having him around.  He always joked that JBL cabinets (speakers) were better than the McCauleys, and that his basses or Fender P Basses were better than Alembic!  Same with Bertolinni pickups, he liked those better, perhaps they were newer or more modern sounding, not sure.   

My distillate is totally stock, I even have the original reciept somewhere.  No mods. 

Favorite Bass Player was always John Entwhistle!  Yet I also liked many others, I always learned the song off the Vinyl LP or later off of a cassette with an Ibanez RockBass or whatever it was called.  A small bass headphone amp for cassettes. 

I will post more song specific questions soon, just introducing myself.  Great site!  Hi to everyone and I am glad I got my Bass in 82 for a mere 1800$ or so, full retail of course. 

In summary: I am John, from Bellevue WA.  82 Distillate owner.   Hello to all! 

[StephenR]

Hi John... welcome to the club!

That is a very pretty Walnut Distillate! My first Alembic was also an 82 Distillate with a highly figured Koa top. I bought it used when the original owner had only had it for about one month. He paid $1,800 for his, too, but sold to me for a fraction of the cost. The guys at the local Sam Ash where he bought the bass were very familiar with him, he bought gear constantly and then either traded it in or sold it privately shortly after. When I was at his house he had a big stack of Sam Ash receipts on his desk. I was overjoyed to finally have an Alembic bass, never thought it would happen. I ended up trading it for a 1978 Series I five-string a couple of years later and regret not having any pictures of the Distillate.

Did your Distillate come in a trapezoidal shaped case like mine did? Also wondering if you ever disconnected the LED, it drains the batteries really quickly. Great basses, though!

Everyone here loves to see pictures, please post some more. You could also create a showcase thread for your bass and include pictures along with the info from the build sheet so it is properly documented on the site.

peace,
Stephen

[pauldo]

John, welcome to the camp!
As Stephen mentioned, we do like pictures.

Keep it low, stay outta treble!
Paul

[fivestringdan]

Welcome. I used the same SWR for years. One of my favorite amps. Lovely bass, I bet that's a perfect combination.

[LongLiveAlembic]

Thanks to all who replied so quickly!  Most of the original paperwork is mothballed in my house, probably in the "storage closet", I am pretty sure I do have the original receipts somewhere though.   
To answer questions:
1) Bass came in standard rectangle case, pretty nice at the time.  My friend commented "you'll be lucky to be buried in something as nice as that case."  Very matter of factly, dry humor!  We were all in our early 20's, death was something far beyond us!  Jokes like that were just things said in passing yet I still remember to this day.   I work for a Hospital, so I can deal with it.  All I can say is the case it came with was very impressive!  Very high end, not some cheap case that's for sure. 

2)  I have had pretty good luck with not disconnecting the LED light, the duracell 9 volts seem to last a long time.  I don't play it as often as I used to. 

Anyways the original paperwork is buried in my past, with all my old memories and pictures!  I can provide the serial number though.  82D2262?  The serial number has worn off in front of the 24th fret, so that is my best guess right now.  Perhaps it can be looked up, it would have been sold in Bellevue WA, salesman name was Kam, that's all I can remember.  Guitars Etc, on NE 8th Street, Bellevue. 

Sounds like I paid too much but I still have the Bass after 40 years!  How much stuff have people bought 40 years ago that is now "lost to time? "  I have some killer banjos!  That's another web forum though...   

I'll say this about price:  When you pay full price at the store, and you make 24 loan payments at whatever rate it was back then, you don't feel like selling it for cheap!  I think I pawned it a few times but I always paid the ticket and got it back.  I could get some money to pay bills with it, the pawn guys knew me, they knew I would be back to pay the ticket. 

On the other hand when you get a good price, used, it seems easier to part with things.  Just my 2 cents. 

I will probably consider selling when I can no longer play, that is still a few years out hopefully!  Will make sure people know who to call, probably Alembic itself, and put an ad for a fair price.  I would require a "written note of buyers intent" for buying the bass.  Favorite artists, ambitions, just a short essay something like that. 

That's kind of why I hope I live long enough to sell it myself!  I don't think others would be able to do that. My brother would, maybe a few of my friends even.  Musician friends.  40 years is a long time to own something...  yet time passes by. 

I'll post more later, I am getting email notification when someone comments on my posts so don't fret!  It might be awhile though...

I am a fiddle player and "fiddle players don't fret!"  Lol...   How do you keep a Bass player in suspense??? (answer to follow... Lol!) 

(Edited- Serial number appears to be 82D2262, it's worn pretty bad and really hard to confirm) 

Thanks again,
John M

[StephenR]

Hey John, you certainly did not pay too much for your bass I just lucked out meeting a seller who made a foolish deal without thinking it through. I can assure you it was a rarity.

I still have the build sheet from my old Distillate, the "birthdate" of the bass is Nov. 23,1982, the serial number on the sheet is 82D2344 so yours would have been made a little earlier in the year.

Cool to hear about you reconnecting with your bass!

[LongLiveAlembic]

It's okay, I knew a girl who played at the College with me and she got her spoiler at the same store for way less than I paid.  I knew all the guys, and I was working full time so I could afford the payments.  She was more shrewd and negotiated a better price!  The local guy told me it would be 25 years for the bass to recover that price, and he was about right.  It's worth more than I paid now, about double is what I figure.  One is listed for 3200$ on Reverb but it sold recently, but that's about the "street price" as sellers have to pay reverb fee's and buyer has to pay shipping costs.  Figure about 3k is a fair price, but a good price would be less!   

You must be on the west coast as well, it's getting late!  Take care, probably be back next weekend.

Also pretty sure that serial # is correct, thanks for telling me what yours was.  Format appeared to be 82DXXXX and so it fits right in there also says USA on far right.  Wonder how many they made in 1982?  2000 seems like a lot of basses for a boutique company, that's a lot of basses!  200 per month?  Seems like a lot to me...

[adriaan]

Hi John, and I'll add my welcome.

Your hunch about the serial number is totally on point - it all started with #1 for Jack Casady in 1972, and they've basically kept counting ever since.

[edwardofhuncote]

Another Welcome. What a cool story. 


I love Distillates, and banjos too! We'll have to compare notes sometime. Are you on BHO by chance?

[keith_h]

As Adriaan says the serial number is probably correct. If the serial number is on the end of the finger board sometimes making a rubbing with a piece of paper and pencil will help bring it out.

[LongLiveAlembic]

A few quick replies:  Edwardofhuncote:  I am on the BHO, nice looking tb3 you have, I have a 27 tb-3 no hole and a tb-4 no hole as well, great banjos!  I don't post much there but I go by 95RenoRevival, something like that.  Big Don Reno fan!   

Also your distillate looks very similar to mine, with the Walnut top, I sent a request to look it up and see if the serial number matches the store in Bellevue WA I got it from.  The receipt is somewhere in all my old stuff!  Not going to be easy to find, might try the pencil and paper trick.

I was thinking after I posted that about Serial # 2262, must have been since the beginning of Alembic!  Not per year, so thanks for clarifying that.   I always wanted a Series 1 or 2, but the Distillate worked for almost everything I ever needed to play, Rock, Jazz, Funk, Accoustic Rock stuff(as it looks kind of like an accoustic guitar with the Walnut top), I don't usually play Bluegrass Bass as I am the banjo or fiddle player in those situations!   But it works for that quite well, very versatile instrument.   

I think that's about it for now, just checking back on the original post.  Just an introduction basically, so I want to stay on topic.  Hi to everyone, and I'll post specific questions in a new thread! 

[edwardofhuncote]

Oh man, we gotta' talk sometime. Don Reno (and Red Smiley) lived here in Roanoke, Virginia back in their heyday... WDBJ 7 is where the Top O the Mornin' show with Irv Sharp was broadcast from, literally within sight of my office. I grew up on their music. While on my crash-diet/music career in Nashville, I rented out a place from Don Wayne and Dale Reno, with their bass player,  Ernie Sykes. (our band had the same booking agency at the time...)

My Ol' Man and I build banjos too, it turns out, though not many in the past few years. My '26 is a Ball-bearing.

And finally, vthokie7227 on the Hangout is a good buddy of mine and an absolute Reno freak. My handle on there is KalamazooKid. I don't post much, just lurk. And a bunch of my banjo-playin' buddies are one there too. Occasionally someone shows up with one of our banjos... so it's helpful to maintain a presence.

Welcome aboard here. The Distillate was my second Alembic... it's a fantastic bass. The first Alembic bass I ever played was a Distillate 5-string, while I was still in Nashville... branded me for life.

[David Houck]

Welcome to the board!  Nice top on that Distillate.

[YamatoJJ]

Hi John!

What a nice ‘Lembic you’ve got there! Still trying to find one for myself here in Osaka Japan after getting hit with the “bug” Christmas holiday last year trying out a Stanley Clarke…obsessed ever since! Lol

I’m Jeff from NYC originally with 29 years here in Osaka since right outta college. Very nice to meet you: a good buddy of mine out here hails from WA as well: a great musician.

Great people here: ENJOY!