1972 Alembic/Doug Irwin

[Quasar1]

Irwin Guitars Instagram post 
Great photos 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDX6INZyXvt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

More photos in the Instagram post

[edwardofhuncote]

That's very interesting, that those two were together in the barn picture. I'm fairly certain the bass is Dela's #72-16. (or its twin)  https://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=8496.0

[flavofive]

Super cool; love these early short scale basses.  Love the body shape, and woods.  Plus the way the finish darkened over time - I like it better now than in the early photo!

Also - a clear control cavity plate??  Cool idea; maybe I should fabricate one for mine!

[edwardofhuncote]

It's been a while since I did any really deep digging in here. I thought it was familiar, and because of my fascination with serial numbers and process of elimination, it came to me I had seen this guitar. It's #72-15... (scroll down for pic and confirmation of number)

https://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=1264.msg13193#msg13193

So we're looking at #15 and #16 together, probably for the first and last time, almost 53 years ago. [shiver]

Maybe one of the moderators might move the thread to somewhere else as neither of these were Series II? Cool post to spot though.

[dela217]

Yes, that is my bass.

I saw that picture taken of it when it was new.   I was just floored!   I reached out and sent him the posted pictures above.   I have always wanted to know about it's history, and that just fills in a bit of the detail.   

I have had this bass since the early 80's or so.    I purchased it from an acquaintance that picked it up at a pawn shop in Tx.    If I remember right, I think he paid $300.00 for it.    Of course he sold it to me for a profit.

I was the one that installed the clear control plate on it.     I did that because the brass plate that was on the back picked up too much noise.    There are 2 hum cancelling coils mounted in the inside, and I guess it just acted like an antenna for noise.    With the clear plate on it, it is now dead quiet.    That sticker on the clear plate is a decal of the grim reaper in crosshairs.    I thought it was a cool sticker.

I didn't realize that #15 was the one in the picture too!   

Michael

[rv_bass]

Does the bass have a PF5 with no Q switches?  And what does the switch near the five pin jack do?  Beautiful bass 😊

[lbpesq]

I believe on the very early ones, it’s a mono/stereo switch.

Bill, tgo

[dela217]

It's not PF5, it has 2 separate pre-amps one for each pickup,  but no filters.   The tone controls are more like on a passive instrument.  No Q switches at all.   So each pickup, has it's own channel like a series bass, and a hum cancelling pickup for each pickup.    The hum cancellers on the inside are trapezoidal too.   If there is interest, I can take detail pics of the electronics.

That is a mono/stereo switch.   But it is a locking one.    You have to lift it to move it from one setting to the other.

It sounds amazing.

[rv_bass]

Wow, so unique, and so cool! 😊

[edwardofhuncote]

If anyone would like to continue down the rabbit-hole, here's a thread on #72-17, a medium-scale bass VI built for Jack Casady. There are a couple pictures of the electronics cavity. (hat-tip Club Member gtrguy) 

https://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=26305.msg266892#msg266892

and #72-14, the scroll-body bass immediately preceding the two in this thread.

https://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=8616.msg101054#msg101054

I gotta get back to work on that time machine... 

[flavofive]

Thanks Michael and Edward for the info.  All super interesting.  I often forget that not all of the early Alembics have "Series" electronics.

Michael, if you do have the chance to take photos of the electronics, I for one would definitely be interested in seeing them! 

And thanks for the reply about the clear control plate.  It seems like a metal plate would shield against noise, but that's obviously not (always) the case - I am really curious to know how a non-conductive plate would work out on mine.  Maybe I will give it a shot...