(x) History Request - Spoiler 89S5223

[dimobr]

Hi!
I just became the happy owner of an Alembic Spoiler 5Strings! I would like to know if is possible to get more information about the construction of this bass, the serial number is 89S5223, could you help me?
I believe that at some point the tuners were replaced, they should be gold, right?

[adriaan]

Welcome to the Club!

The lookup may take a while, until Mica gets around to it, meanwhile we can tell from the pictures it has some nice upgrades in a 3A or 5A quilted maple top and a 7-piece maple and purpleheart neck. I'd hazard a guess the inlays are mother of pearl, rather than the perloid that came standard on Spoilers. The chrome tuners are period correct, and not all Alembics have tuners with the A marking on the back (and those would be essentially the same Gotoh tuners anyway).

It looks like it hasn't been played much in its 23 years. Remember it really wants to be played, not just looked at!

Edited to say: 33 years even!

[edwardofhuncote]

Indeed, Welcome. That's as fine a Spoiler 5 as ever seen here. It's an almost-twin to my 89 Persuader 5-string, just a few numbers newer. 

[dimobr]

Welcome to the Club!

The lookup may take a while, until Mica gets around to it, meanwhile we can tell from the pictures it has some nice upgrades in a 3A or 5A quilted maple top and a 7-piece maple and purpleheart neck. I'd hazard a guess the inlays are mother of pearl, rather than the perloid that came standard on Spoilers. The chrome tuners are period correct, and not all Alembics have tuners with the A marking on the back (and those would be essentially the same Gotoh tuners anyway).

It looks like it hasn't been played much in its 23 years. Remember it really wants to be played, not just looked at!

Edited to say: 33 years even!

Thanks for the welcome and the quick response!
Glad to hear the tuners are correct, so they're probably originals as there's no apparent sign that they've been replaced... I was ready to pull the trigger on a new gold kit, but I'll keep the originals.
Considering his age really apparently this guy has never seen a stage, but I'm definitely going to change that!

Inlay close-up (12th fret)

Indeed, Welcome. That's as fine a Spoiler 5 as ever seen here. It's an almost-twin to my 89 Persuader 5-string, just a few numbers newer. 

Thank you very much!
... Can you share pictures of your bass? it would be interesting to see another Spoiler 5 built in the same period.

[mica]

Here's the details I found in the instrument file:

serial number: 89S5223
model name: Spoiler
model number: SMB5
top: Quilted Maple
body: Mahogany
neck: 3-piece Maple
scale: 32" medium
fingerboard: Ebony
inlays: Pearloid (plastic) ovals
pickups: Alembic AXY
controls: "Spoiler" volume, filter, 2-position Q-switch, 4-position rotary pickup selector switch, mono output
originally made for: Rhythm City, GA
birthday: not recorded, but likely February 1989

The original owner didn't register, but the bass was registered in North Carolina in 1997 and in Georgia in 2001.

The inlays are the pearloid material, but it's the second generation. The original stuff in the original Spoilers turned clear over time. This is the good stuff

[mica]

Also regarding the tuners, these may be original. We originally put chrome tuners on with the brass hardware because the chrome finish lasts sooooo much longer than the gold plating on machine heads. But we changed to gold tuners with polished brass hardware in the 1990s because so many people complained about our long-lasting idea. So now I just sell sets of tuners to people after a few years since the gold wears off so fast. But those with chrome plated hardware still get the ones that keep lasting!

[dimobr]

Thank you for taking some of your time to help me Mica!