Alembic Tone

[pauldo]

What If?  Was my first Dixie Dregs adventure.  Back cover under the picture of Andy West with his Series I, he is listed as “Bass Innovator”.

[rv_bass]

Ah yes, Andy West as mentioned above…and Mr. Johnson of course (I was listening to the Steve Gadd Band, Foameopathy, this morning, love that tune!), and John Entwistle, Jack Casady, etc…and that solid tone pops up in so many other places as well…love it! 

[bigredbass]

My favorite reference for what Alembics really sound like is the JT double album, 'James Taylor Live', with of course Jimmy Johnson in the engine room with his five-string.  This recording is especially choice as it was produced by George Massenburg through GML preamps straight into a Sony recorder at stage side, with minimal digital hocus-pocus and no later overdubs. 

A great sounding set all round, and the Double J sounds wonderful as always, his tone is that trademark Alembic tone of very full yet transparent.  That tumbledown at the end of his little solo in 'Traffic Jam' to set up the last verse is worth the price of admission alone.  Really Recommended by Me.

[cozmik_cowboy]

I thought I had posted this, but either it didn't get there or it went away - so:  While the thing that sealed my equation of "bass" and "Alembic"* was fooling around on a Spoiler at a GC after-work jam in '83, what got me really interested in them (actually more than Phil Jack, John, et al) was Doug Edwards, bassist for the Muff Brothers (a big deal in SE OH in the mid-to-late '70s) and one of my instructors at the Recording Workshop in '79 pulling out a Series I when I asked him to play on a session that I was the "producer" for.  And here I thought a 4001 was the big-deal bass........


*It took meeting Bill and playing his instruments before I discovered for sure that yes, Alembic & Alembic-powered guitars are just as good; I had never encountered one before that.  Thank you, Counselor!


Peter

[alemboid]

I love hearing about your references and experiences!!! I am listening to the examples, broadening my horizon.

[lbpesq]

If you want to hear an Alembic guitar, head on over to this thread that Peter started.   The second post includes a video from the (2015?) NorCal Alembic Gathering in which I’m playing 76-476.

https://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=27494.0

Bill, tgo

[cozmik_cowboy]

Just came from there -and once it's done playing, there are others from the same day that pop up.

And verily, Bill's SI doth soundeth quite well.

Peter