Dings and Dents, or "I'm taking my Alembic to all of my events" ?

[mb94952]

Hey there !
So, I am just like 99% of players out there who have their gigging bass, and the Alembic that never leaves my sight or house.


I was playing my Orion last week and somehow it fell and hit a Hofner violin bass and made a small dent on the side. I was devastated initially because my Orion was spotless, but now it has a dent. My Essence has dings and scratches all over and I don't care. I bought it like that, so I didn't suffer the psychological warfare of your first dent.


Part of me was devastated, and part of me was relieved that I passed that hurdle and can take a breath now.


I saw a thread online regarding the same question and a guy showed his completely buckle rashed and dinged Sadowski that was a $5k bass. It was beat up and looked... BEAUTIFUL. You can see how much he loves it.


Are you a play no matter what, or I will only take my backup non-Alembic to a gig / out of the house ?

[pauldo]

Some people have admirably kept their Alembics in showcase conditions-  I’m not one of them.  Growing up as the 4th youngest son I never have been good with keeping things pristine.  My Distillate will go to my son when I pass, there is no consideration about resale value.

100% use it.  My Distillate has been with me for over 35 years.  It plays like a dream, it is a tone machine… she goes where I go.   She has dings, dents and scratches as well as weathering from playing outside gigs in Wisconsin which means all types of temperatures and dew point variables.  She is a survivor, she is a favorite, she is home.

There were several bands where I would drag along my fretless mish-mosh bass (Warmoth neck, Fender style body and Bartolini pickups), played on maybe 10% of the songs, the rest was old trusty dusty Distillate. 

[edwardofhuncote]

I play every single one of my Alembics.

I fretted about my Custom fretless for the first month or so, but after that, the self-evident conclusion was that a racehorse had to run. Sure, it has a couple tiny little dings, but I had a heluva good time while they were trying to earn their place on there.


*Now I just wish I had somewhere to play them. 

[garyhead]

Years ago a band mate dinged my Essence on a brick bench at a gig. So, it’s the dented one. I dinged the Classico myself but had them removed at the mothership in 2017-19. I couldn’t handle those dings, they screamed at me every time I saw them. The Spyders are flawless.  For some reason, I’m fine with the “working bass” being dinged. The Orion is like the “middle child”. No dings, but always under the radar.


I’m fine with rack rash on the electronics and keeping the cabinets spotless is pointless.  At least the pubs here are smokeless and few band mates drink while performing so my cabs are not beer mats.

[rv_bass]

I bought my Alembic’s to play them, so that’s what I do.

[mica]

I've told this story to some of you before, but bte extreme version is when I was taking bass lessons at Stanroy Music in the 1980s, one of the guitar teachers just purchased a Lowden Burl Walnut guitar, and was opening it up in front of a few people. He had waited a long time to receive it, and when he opened the case, everyone gasped at the beauty. He didn't pick it up, he just looked at it for a while. Then he pulled his keys out and made a good scratch on the top and said, "Phew! I'm so glad that's over."  We all thought he was nuts!

[gearhed289]

Great story Mica! Reminds me of the one about Billy Idol keying a brand new Hamer that Steve Stevens had just got when they had just started working together. 
Myself, I play all my basses in most any situation with the exception of my Ric 4001CS Chris Squire Ltd. Ed. (#425/1000). Bought new in '92, it's only been on stage a handful of times, but I've used it in the studio a lot. I bought my current Alembic last fall, and having the Exploiter body, I've been kind of waiting for its first mishap. Surprisingly nothing yet! I did whack the ceiling of my home studio with the headstock, and I was concerned. Looked at the bass, and it's totally fine. But now my ceiling has a dent, LOL! The Bishop is pretty pointy. 

[mb94952]

Wow, some great responses here and honestly I didn't know what to expect. I LOVE my Excel so much. I said in the post I dinged my Orion, but it was my Excel, the black one I traded with an Alembic Club member from Korea. It was SPOTLESS when I got it and now I sanded the back of the neck with 2000 grit to make it glassy smooth, and that darn ding, but now I feel like I can really play it with 100% attitude for fear of dings is gone, so I can actually concentrate on playing.

That is a GREAT story, Mica. I've never heard it before and I can see all of your jaws in disbelief, yet I can SO relate the his response of, "Whew, I'm sure glad that's over with." That is wisdom there !

[Mlazarus]

There seems to be weird exceptions to the 'scratch and ware' of a Guitar. For instance, the fender basses are praised to have wear and paint worn off so much that Fender decided to mass produce that appeal for years! "The worn look". Infact, if you do own an old American made Fender DO NOT REPAINT, because the worn look bumps the value up like gold! I have a 73 Fender P and sanded it down and had it re-painted. It looks and sounds nice, but.... It lost full value. As for our beloved Alembics, I get worked up if I bump it. I pamper it at gigs when i put the bass down between sets. Sometimes I just put it back in the case. I wonder if an old 82' Alembic series 1 with a worn look like a Fender will gain value? If so, then I shouldn't worry about it. As long as it's not broken.

[jazzyvee]

My aim is to keep my guitars and basses in pristine condition alembic or not. However careful I have been over the years some minor dings or marks have appeared on some of my instruments with only two I recall being a direct result of my carelessness, and only one on my strat is immediately noticeable (mainly because there is a bit of black tape covering). I decided not to re-spray it to give me a visual reminder to be more careful. I have gigged and will continue to gig with all of my alembics, none are for home use only and like the OP, on a gig i keep it with me or sit where I can see it. Most back stage area's i gig at don't feel are secure enough to leave my bass there, and neither do the brass players in the band.

[Greywolf]

Being a Luthier , I am a bit fussy about finishes on my instruments , but realize I can repair any damage so I gig carefully .  I cautiously lend instruments to artists who I trust , with the caveat that they returned unblemished, so far all have come back pristine.

Instruments are made to be played , and IMO benefit from it . 

[Picure]

I believe that the marks you make on your bass are what makes the bass “yours”. However, I feel that Alembics looks better with little to no marks because of it’s natural wood finish. I think colored basses/guitars looks good relic’d.

I toured China for a couple of years using a Reunion Blues continental gig bag before covid. But now that we are back to touring China, I’m a bit reluctant to bring my Alembic on tour because of a couple of recent horror stories of airlines breaking acoustic guitars and stuff 😂

[jazzyvee]

I doubt if i would buy a new ‘relic’d’ instrument but would buy a genuinely old instrument that has genuine wear and tear as long as it was in good mechanical and electrical condition, and sounded good.

[gtrguy]

I hate the fake relic look for some reason and can't imagine a company first making a beautiful instrument (aka: 'custom shop') and then 'applying' a fake relic look to it, no matter how well done. However, I like honest play wear on old instruments. I also like mint looking old instruments too. Go figure...

[gearhed289]

"I hate the fake relic look for some reason and can't imagine a company first making a beautiful instrument (aka: 'custom shop') and then 'applying' a fake relic look to it, no matter how well done. However, I like honest play wear on old instruments. I also like mint looking old instruments too. Go figure..."

I'm with ya 100%. My JetGlo Rickenbacker is slowly turning MapleGlo, thanks to hundreds of gigs.