Author Topic: Alembic needs another dealer... (Read 229 times)

bsee · « **on:** April 22, 2004, 05:30:41 PM »

There's one in NJ, one near the NY border in CT, and then nothing. How about a Boston area dealer? Is there anything in the works? I hate having to travel so many miles to touch an Alembic!

-Bob

PS - please forgive if this is the wrong board for this question!

goatfoot · « **Reply #1 on:** April 23, 2004, 08:59:05 AM »

I feel your pain, Bob.

I got spoiled living in Dover, DE. There was a very nice music store near my house that always had 4-5 Alembics (mostly Rogue-shaped Epics's though - no Series). The manager of the store is very big fan of Alembics. I bought my first 'Bic there and, best of all, no sales tax!

Now, I'm in Louisville and there isn't an Alembic dealer in the whole state of Kentucky!

I hope that ya'll living near Bass Central or BassNW realize how fortunate you are.

Kevin

valvil · « **Reply #2 on:** April 23, 2004, 11:59:43 AM »

Well, we would not mind having a dealer in the Boston area, or in Kentucky; we would not mind having many more dealers, in fact. We work hard on our side to open up new dealerships, but what really helps us is when good folks like you guys walk into one of your local stores and start asking for Alembics. That gets the store interested in contacting us to find out what's involved in becoming a dealer. Since there are a few members in the club who live in the Boston area, perhaps you guys could coordinate and hit one of your better local stores and ask if they'd consider carrying Alembic instruments.
That would be great, the ANEC brigade to the rescue...

Valentino

bsee · « **Reply #3 on:** April 23, 2004, 12:57:47 PM »

Kevin, you can't possibly feel my pain! You're literally surrounded by Alembics! There are dealers in just every state that borders Kentucky except the Virginias. Heck, there are five dealers in Ohio. Five! There are only two in all of California, none in New York and four in Texas, but five in Ohio. Alright, maybe they're not right around the corner for you, but at least they are within reach.

Val, I will check with the best guy I know out here and see if he's given it a thought. He used to carry Warwick as a high end instrument but dropped them a couple years ago and is a recent Zon dealer. He also has had Modulus a while. Unfortunately, most of our dealers out here are the chains, and they just don't have the required service to deal high end basses in most of their stores.

dannobasso · « **Reply #4 on:** April 23, 2004, 04:30:15 PM »

I would add that you also need to know how to sell Alembics. There was a dealer right here in my town in NJ and they couldn't move them. I went in to get a quote on a new custom and they wouldn't even help me out with a solid or near solid price. They didn't even have the smarts to have me try the few in stock they had to see if I would buy one of them. At the time I only had 2. Brian at Washington Music made a few of my basses come true at a great price. I ordered them and received them sight unseen. Ye gotta have faith! I had a guy at Ash tell me Nobody plays those boat oars anymore! Great salesman no?
Danno

bracheen · « **Reply #5 on:** April 23, 2004, 05:31:42 PM »

I don't know about Bass NW but Bass Central does internet sales, www.basscentral.com
They ship world wide as well. Sad to say I'm about 2 hours away from the store and haven't been there yet.

Sam

elzie · « **Reply #6 on:** April 23, 2004, 06:31:17 PM »

Maybe I'll have to head over to Performance Music here in Woburn, MA. to see what's up. After all, Setu ( Mica, I hope I spelled his name right!) works there and from what I understand he is quite the Alembic salesman;)

Every time I go in there we talk forever about Alembics. I'll talk to the owner, another Paul and bass player, to see why he hasn't carried any for quite some time.....

Paul TGO

bsee · « **Reply #7 on:** April 23, 2004, 06:59:49 PM »

Go for it, Paul. I checked in with my guy and he isn't interested. Apparently he's doing pretty well with the Modulus line.

ajdover · « **Reply #8 on:** April 23, 2004, 08:26:21 PM »

I've read all of the posts so far on this topic, and I have to tell everyone that yes, it indeed is not a good thing when an informed Alembic dealer is not nearby.

Here in the DC area, Chuck Levine's Washington Music Center is the only store I've found that has any Alembics in stock. I've gone there, and actually found an Orion that had a loose (I mean wiggling loose) toggle switch. The way I see it, Alembics aren't the typical Guitar Center Fender (e.g., it has action way too high, the strings are about a hundred years old, it has fingerprints all over it, etc.). They are handcrafted instruments above and beyond most, if not all, mass produced instruments. To treat them like the average Fender, Gibson, Musicman, etc., is, IMHO doing both them and the craftsmen who created them a great disservice, as well as the serious customer who wants to take one for a test drive.

As far as Bass Central goes, there is a reason they are an Alembic dealer. I bought my Spyder through them, and I have to say they treated me right. Beaver and crew are the greatest. How do I know? I inquired about Bartolini Pickups for my '87 Thunderbird (yeah, I know, not Alembic, but I do like the Bartolinis in this application), and they went the extra mile to actually call Bartolini and get me what I was looking for. Try finding that dedication at Guitar Center. That kind of let's get the customer what he/she wants attitude is similar to what the good folks at Alembic do. No wonder Bass Central is an Alembic dealer.

Anyway, buying my Spyder through them was painless, the communication was excellent, and the instrument exceeded every expectation I had by a long shot. Beaver even threw in some instructional videos (I'm not a great slapper/popper) for free (BTW, Beaver is a phenomenal player). One would most likely never get that kind of consideration with Fender, Gibson, Guitar Center, etc.

Anyway, if you want to buy an Alembic, Bass Central is most definitely a dealer to consider. And yes, I did it all over the internet, sight unseen, never touching the instrument until it arrived at my door. Trust is a good thing!

Alan

ajdover · « **Reply #9 on:** April 23, 2004, 08:30:15 PM »

(Message edited by ajdover on April 23, 2004)