5 String Signature Standard on Reverb

[kreinert]

New one showed up on Reverb in Japan.  The photos show frets, but if you zoom in on the paperwork it says "fretless with lines."  Seller said the serial numbers match.  Is it possible the Company made an error, or were frets added at some point after production? 
https://reverb.com/item/86516446-alembic-mjlb5f-signature-standard-2010

[fivestringdan]

I'm sure it was fretted after delivery. Some people have fretless regret..lol

[edwardofhuncote]

I'll guess it was fretted after the original build. Fretless basses are typically built without the oval inlays like this. Everything else on the build sheet checks out, right down to the recessed strap locks and custom engraved truss-rod cover. Pretty bass.

[BeenDown139]

I'm sure it was fretted after delivery. Some people have fretless regret..lol

well imho that bass might be worth that asking price as a fretless especially if it were unlined.  why butcher a perfectly fine instrument because you're tone deaf?  it has what appears to be an ebony neck lam stringer which would be killer on a fretless.    but alas, after-market fret job, no LEDs, no stereo output,  no thanks - not at that price.  next!
good luck to all!

[garyhead]

Gotta question for human-computer Greg…..doesn’t 14112 seem high for 2010?  That’s 15 years ago.

[FC Bass]

My 2010 Elan is 14105, so it checks out :-) They are now in the upper 14000's. '23 SII Europa = 14809

[edwardofhuncote]

Gotta question for human-computer Greg…..doesn’t 14112 seem high for 2010?  That’s 15 years ago.

My 2010 Elan is 14105, so it checks out :-) They are now in the upper 14000's. '23 SII Europa = 14809

My 2017 Custom is 14588... so... about right.   

[StephenR]

My 2016 Series II is 14541... so many amazing instruments.

[BeenDown139]

Fretless basses are typically built without the oval inlays like this.

i was looking at something else when this hit me - the headstock's 2+3 jsut like my fretted 5ivers as opposed to 3+2 for the fretless 5ivers. 

i've often wondered why that is.  i'm sure there's a thread aboot it somewheres around here.   a few years ago before i rebuilt my alembic collection i had a fretted and fretless pair of ib@nez 5ivers.  their headstocks were the same way.

[edwardofhuncote]

I chose this 3+2 config. so maybe there's a plan and I committed a foul? I blame Jimmy J... he started all this 5-string nonsense. 😄


Seriously, somewhere in here... like waaaay, waaaaaaaay back there was some discussion about 2+3 vs. 3+2 headstocks on 5-strings. It may even have been on Jimmy's thread. I don't remember that it had anything to do with fretless or nor, just that it came up. I can't see what difference it would make other than in his case, the very first 5-string had to use a specific B string. There wasn't a lotta of choice at the time after all.

[StephenR]

If I remember correctly Alembic now recommends the 2 + 3 headstock configuration for five-strings because the B-string will have a straighter pull.  My fretted 2016 Series bass was ordered with a 3 + 2 headstock, I personally prefer the way that looks. I am sure you can order either configuration for a custom build.

The fan headstock on my 78 Series five has a 3 + 2 configuration and the B-string sits very close to the nut. I have had this bass since 1985 and until I had Pyramid make me custom length strings every set that has been on the bass had issues with the winding of the B-string wrapping around the tuning peg and breaking, the bass would stay in tune but certainly not ideal. It was truly awful in the mid-80s when the only B-strings I could get were extremely heavy gauge, there were virtually no five-string sets on the market at the time.

[mica]

The 2+3 configuration is so that more B strings will fit without the core going through the post.

[BeenDown139]

The 2+3 configuration is so that more B strings will fit without the core going through the post.

so now i'm curious.  here's the ebony amazon headstock, not sure when the neck was made next to my '95 fretless essence.  i can't find any pictures of other 5 string fretless alembic headstocks around but i'm almost sure i've see other fretless alembic 5ivers configured like mine in the past.    is it a newer vs. older builds thing, a fretless vs. fretted thing or just the the way that particular headstock got laid out that day?

[JimmyJ]

Oh sure, blame me, I can take it.   

I think the factory configuration may be somewhat random unless the customer specifically requests one or the other.  If the 5th string is a high-C instead of a low-B it wouldn't matter as much.  But for me, as Mica said, 2+3 is the choice to help prevent the low B-string from trying to wrap around the tuning peg.  A G-string could make that turn without complaining.

Ironically, my original 5 from 1976 was a 3+2.  That's why the tailpiece on that bass had a "long" position for the low-B ball-end to lock into if necessary.

Jimmy J

[BeenDown139]

But for me, as Mica said, 2+3 is the choice to help prevent the low B-string from trying to wrap around the tuning peg.

thanx jimmy and mica!  i've never really noticed how close the B-string wrap is to the peg on the essence.  if it was closer then i can see how it'd be a problem.  it's never been an issue but i use the same strings (thomastic infield jazz flats) every time.