What is this? Interesting SC on Reverb with unique serial number

[Scarlett]

The serial number of this one caught my eye... 01RR12615
RR? What is this?
01RR. Huh. Never seen a serial like this but it is listed as a Stanley Clarke and it clearly looks to be one.

https://reverb.com/item/92108916-alembic-stanley-clarke-2001

Any ideas?

Looks like an amazing bass for sure.

[jazzyvee]

I'd say it's anniversary electronics since it has the pickup switch and in that case you wouldn't need the single volume and blend that the signature has.
The hum canceller would be a cosmetic addition and would not be wired up for a non series bass. The horns look tighter than a signature also so may even be a custom brown bass.
That's my take and i'm prepared to be told i'm wrong. :-)
That bass is also about 1/2 hour from where I live if any interested buyers want me to check it out for them.

[adriaan]

The single R was used for the 3/4 size Spoiler made for Japan (R as in Rokkoman). I've heard about some retro models also made for Japan - note the channel bridge. Fabulous Koa top, and an Ebony headstock veneer. I'll second jazzyvee's asssumptions about the electronics.

[edwardofhuncote]

When I first saw it today's Reverb feed, I thought it was Jazzy's bass... I just figured our British friend couldn't resist Pierre Yves's blackwood short-scale any longer and put the koa one up... then I looked closer. 😄


RR = Rokkoman Retro... (?) Ordinarily I'd guess typo and it was a BB. Whatever the case, that one's a knockout.

[jazzyvee]

Adriaan, I am guessing you didn’t look at the headstock closeup pictures, as it looks to me like coco bolo.

[jazzyvee]

Ed, that thought never crossed my mind, and i’m not sure now if I should be grateful that you planted that seed, or consider you a troublemaker. 😂🤣. Now that you have rattled the cage, if i could raise all or at least 90% of the blackwood bass cost by selling my two series shorties and my bocate Europa, that could be a possibility. However i’d be gutted if i did that and someone else got the blackwood before me. So i’m leaving that thought well alone.

[adriaan]

Adriaan, I am guessing you didn’t look at the headstock closeup pictures, as it looks to me like coco bolo.

You guessed right - and it most certainly is Coco Bolo!

[mica]

Every shortscale Alembic is a Stanley Clarke bass dontchaknow?
Yes this was a special retro edition we made for our distributor in Japan. The channel bridge is decorative - it uses the improved stabilization pin design but the saddles are suspended above the channel for aesthetics. The 20th Anniversary electronics have nickel finished switches, and the peghead veneers in Cocobolo are more akin to the 1970s builds.