Questions from a prospective (guitar) buyer.

[Gambit]

Hi everyone,

First post here.

Recently caught the Alembic bug, hoping to order one within the next couple of months, but am admittedly a bit intimidated by a few things.

Hoping I can get a few answers below:

Coming from a more conventional electric guitar background (Strat, Tele, LP, 335, etc.), can Alembic's be as conventionally "toneful" as those more common guitars, or is it an entirely different thing altogether due to the construction and electronics?
Seems like a lot more "hifi" sound- maybe not as "vibey"? Not a bad thing whatsoever obviously, and a vibe all its own- just trying to articulate my question better, which is kind of hard to do. Similarly, is the neck shape and overall feel at all comparable to more conventional electrics, or is it its own galaxy entirely?

How much do the front and back veneers affect tone, or do they affect it very little, with the core of the instrument deriving most of the tone? Or do the electronics make it such that the tone isn't as influenced by the wood as on one of the aforementioned more conventional guitars?

Similar to above, how did you chose which woods to go for, and what tone were you going for? Did the woods meet your tonal goal, or would you have done anything differently?

And on a related note- how did you ultimately, finally, decide on how and what to spec? The amount of options is truly dizzying, and the more I see, the less I'm certain of what to spec.

I'm all-in at this point, but still feel compelled to ask: why so expensive? Granted, I see how involved the builds are, the beautiful book-matched and exotic woods. Frankly, after obsessing over Alembic's the past couple days, seeing all the details, how involved the builds are, and then looking back at my old favourites, I'm left so bored and unimpressed by everything else- it all looks so tame after seeing these. But even still, their cost seems a touch disproportionate to what you get. I'm still in- just asking, don't shoot me!

How many people work at Alembic- how many hands are on each build, and how does the overall quality compare to some one-builder boutique guitars where it's one person doing everything start to finish? Is it still mostly the original crew working there?

How do modern Alembics compare to the older ones?

What other guitars are in your collection that you enjoy as much, or what are some that you've had before but got rid of after getting your Alembic? They seem like their own thing entirely, so I couldn't really see myself getting rid of any other guitars in their favour, but just curious if anyone has.

I think that's all for now- thank you all in advance, and apologies for what might seem like silly questions. I'm gonna' spend the next couple months coming up with a few different iterations of a Further build, and deciding on "the one". Will be sure to update it once it's done (which will be over a year away for sure).

[jazzyvee]

Quite rightly you have a lot of questions that need to be statisfied for a custom build, since the better you know your desires and concerns the closer alembic will be able to build your dream guitar. Hopefully "Bill tgo" will chip in as he has a lot of experience with alembic guitars and a damn fine player too.

My comments in brackets.

Hi everyone,

First post here.

Recently caught the Alembic bug, hoping to order one within the next couple of months, but am admittedly a bit intimidated by a few things.

Hoping I can get a few answers below:

Coming from a more conventional electric guitar background (Strat, Tele, LP, 335, etc.), can Alembic's be as conventionally "toneful" as those more common guitars, or is it an entirely different thing altogether due to the construction and electronics?

(Alembic pickups are unvoiced so they don't have a baked in tone that we are used to on conventional pickups so you will hear more of what the strings are doing and so the range is fuller. Using the Low Pass filteres you can focus on the the tone you want. I am a long time strat user and when I want a strat sound, i use a strat, i use an alembic when I want what the alembic gives me.)

Seems like a lot more "hifi" sound- maybe not as "vibey"? Not a bad thing whatsoever obviously, and a vibe all its own- just trying to articulate my question better, which is kind of hard to do. Similarly, is the neck shape and overall feel at all comparable to more conventional electrics, or is it its own galaxy entirely?

(Neck shape can be whatever you want, if you want a neck shape like your tele or 335, you can send that for alembic to profile for you so that the feel is what you are used to. I find that the alembic guitars have an acoustic type component to the sound.)

How much do the front and back veneers affect tone, or do they affect it very little, with the core of the instrument deriving most of the tone? Or do the electronics make it such that the tone isn't as influenced by the wood as on one of the aforementioned more conventional guitars?
(My understanding is that the the sound of alembics are more strongly influenced by the neck and body core and electronics, whilst the top and back much less so they can be chosen more for cosmetics than sonic properties)

Similar to above, how did you chose which woods to go for, and what tone were you going for? Did the woods meet your tonal goal, or would you have done anything differently?

(in my case my guitars were not ordered by me so as far as woods go, it wasn't a consideration. Having said that, there is nothing missing tonally that i can personally attribute to the woods. So if i ordered a custom I would chose more because of cosmetics and confirm with alembic that it will be fine.)

And on a related note- how did you ultimately, finally, decide on how and what to spec? The amount of options is truly dizzying, and the more I see, the less I'm certain of what to spec.

(i've had the same issue in the past and have had a few communications with alembic about a custom guitar and had some ideas. Whilst I am confident that alembic will build me exactly what I specify, i'm not sure if I can identify what i think is my perfect spec.)

I'm all-in at this point, but still feel compelled to ask: why so expensive? Granted, I see how involved the builds are, the beautiful book-matched and exotic woods. Frankly, after obsessing over Alembic's the past couple days, seeing all the details, how involved the builds are, and then looking back at my old favourites, I'm left so bored and unimpressed by everything else- it all looks so tame after seeing these. But even still, their cost seems a touch disproportionate to what you get. I'm still in- just asking, don't shoot me!

How many people work at Alembic- how many hands are on each build, and how does the overall quality compare to some one-builder boutique guitars where it's one person doing everything start to finish? Is it still mostly the original crew working there?

How do modern Alembics compare to the older ones?

What other guitars are in your collection that you enjoy as much, or what are some that you've had before but got rid of after getting your Alembic? They seem like their own thing entirely, so I couldn't really see myself getting rid of any other guitars in their favour, but just curious if anyone has.
(As I said earlier i've been a strat player mostly and haven't sold anything off as a result of getting my alembic guitar. I also. have a strat with alembic pickups and electronics which is awesome.)

I think that's all for now- thank you all in advance, and apologies for what might seem like silly questions. I'm gonna' spend the next couple months coming up with a few different iterations of a Further build, and deciding on "the one". Will be sure to update it once it's done (which will be over a year away for sure).

Do you have any opportunity to try out an alembic guitar?
There may be members here who live close that may let you get to grips with their guitars to help your quest.
All the best building your dream.


Oh also check out this section there are a lot of ideas there.
https://club.alembic.com/index.php?board=193.0

[pauldo]

Gambit welcome aboard. 
Jazzyvee expressed some solid advice.  The membership here at the Alembic Club is community orientated.  If there aren’t any Alembic dealers near you and you are comfortable stating what major city you are near, chances are good that someone will invite you to their music room to try one out in person.  Be aware that their electronics are nuance filled and an afternoon twisting knobs and flipping switches may not reveal the exact tone you seek - but it is there.   

Speaking for myself, That is where the majority of expense lies,  you are paying for the master craft skills of a pioneering electrician who developed the electronics inside of the gorgeous instruments.   Alembics are crafted with pride and quality by proficient crafts people,  you get what you pay for. 

[rv_bass]

Welcome, Gambit,

I have two Alembic guitar models, a Skylark and a Series I, and one thing that I find distinguishes them from the other makers and models you mentioned is clarity.  I find you can get the same types of sounds out of Alembic guitars, but the clarity provides a presence that you can’t get from guitars of other makers. But it’s all in the way that you use it.


This can help with your wood tone question. My understanding is that with a neck through design the neck woods contribute most to the tones, where with a set neck design the body woods contribute a little more to the overall tone.  Wood recipes do make a difference.

http://alembic.com/info/woodsamples.html

As far as woods and other details, talk to Alembic and they can help you determine the components to meet your desires.

There is also a “Dreaming for Now” page on the Alembic club that people post to for ideas as they are designing their new build.

https://club.alembic.com/index.php?board=193.0

Have fun and ask questions!

Rob

[fivestringdan]

Good questions, difficult to answer as well. Here is a video of a tele with activators installed. You tell us how you think it sounds from a standard tele.

[gtrguy]

You really should play some first. Also, if you use pedals at all, you should play some alembic  guitars through the same pedals.

[Gambit]

Thanks for the replies, everyone- greatly appreciate your time, expertise, and kindness!

If anyone in/around Toronto, Canada has got a Further (or any of their six-string electric guitars) they'd let me test out, it'd be greatly appreciated!

I did have a PRS Super Eagle II previously though, and seeing as that was meant as a sort of Jerry homage guitar, perhaps that gave me some idea of what to expect. My favourite sound on that thing was running the neck + middle together with the preamp and bright switch both engaged- loved that sort of hifi crystalline, almost hollow, sound, which seems to very much be apart of Alembics sonic signature, totally up my alley. 

[Gambit]

One thing from my OP I'm still curious about is how many people are employed at Alembic, and how many folks typically work on one instrument? And are they mostly the "OG's" from back in the day, or a mix of new and old faces?

[lbpesq]

Hi Gambit. 

I'm Bill, tgo (the guitar one) to whom Jazzyvee referred in his above post (thanks for the kind words, Vince).  All of the suggestions posted so far are excellent.  Alembic guitars are really a different and unique beast.  One thing that I don't believe has been mentioned is that, along with providing a full clear tone, Alembics will not hide any slop in your technique.  A common statement from Alembic players is that the instrument forced them to improve their technique and become better players.

A custom build is a serious project.  The more you know about Alembics, and what you want, going into the process, the closer the finished product will be to your ultimate fantasy instrument.  With that in mind, may I suggest that you consider picking up a used Alembic and spending some time with it first before you take the plunge on a custom.  Furthermore, your custom build is going to take some time, often a year or more.  Having an Alembic to play while you are waiting will make the process less frustrating.  Another thing you may want to consider its that Alembics take a big hit on the used market compared to new prices.  The converse, however, is that once they take the initial hit, Alembics maintain their price very well.  So you can feel secure that whatever you spend on a used Alembic can easily be recouped if you decide to sell.

My first Alembic was an Electrum.  I then found a '76 medium scale Series 1 guitar and a '77 long scale Series 1 12 string.  Playing these for a while, reading a lot of posts on this site, and asking questions on this site, and in person with Susan and Mica (I live an hour South of the Mothership) really helped me decide on what I wanted in my Custom Further.   For example, at first I wasn't going to get LED side markers.  My initial thought is that they were a bit of bling.  But after several people on this site testified as to the benefit of the LEDs, and then having them on my 12 string, I realized the LED side markers are great and a godsend on a dark stage.  (I still think the top LEDs are bling, but some people like bling). 

As mentioned, Alembics will interact a little differently with some pedals.  Some people have struggled to find a dirt pedal that plays nicely with Alembic electronics.  I, as others, tried a few different distortion pedals before I found one that works well with my Alembics and my non-Alembic guitars loaded with Alembic pickups and electronics.

Expensive? Yes, especially new.  But this reminds me of the old joke:  Why is divorce so expensive?  Because it's worth it!  (I personally have been happily married for 21+ years and have never been divorced).   You are getting a piece of functional art built to your personal specifications.  When my Further was being built, I brought my old 1961 Strat up to the Mothership and left it there so they could copy the neck profile on my Further. (Here's a link to my Custom Further, "Woody":  http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_woody.html)

I strongly concur in the above suggestions that you get an Alembic in your hands and spend some time on it before pulling the trigger.   Then enjoy the ride.

Bill, tgo

[edwardofhuncote]

I agree with everything that has been posted thus far, and from far superior guitar players to me. I'm a bass player who dabbles in the six-string world a bit... I had a '78 Series I for a while, built a Super-Telecaster with Alembic activators, and another guitar with Gibson type activators too, then fell into a Little Darling guitar with Skylark electronics. I have a plan for a Custom guitar build, but it's on-hold for now.


As for the folks who build Alembic guitars... that should be the last thing you need to think about. I get it; I'm as big of a freak for the vintage stuff as anyone drawing breath, but Mica Wickersham Thomas runs the show, her Dad, Ron builds the Electronics, and her Mom, Susan is still the President. Everything they build is perfect before her Aunt Mary inspects and packs it up and it leaves the shop.

[hammer]

I am an Alembic bassist but I have some experience with Further which I purchased for my son. I’m going to strongly suggest you heed the advice to “play one.” These are truly hand made instruments and there are variations in just about every one. If you are having a custom made you can be very specific about what you want and don’t want, but you have to figure that out first (which is certainly part of the fun).