Author Topic: Interested in alembic basses (Read 247 times)

sly_sloth · « **on:** March 30, 2004, 03:12:23 PM »

Hi, I'm interested in purchasing an alembic bass guitar. I currently play a fender jazz, and have recently become interested in alembics, I am curious about the average price of the models that mark king and stanley clarke use. I guess that would be a series 1 or their signature series. I am also curious about purchasing options, I live in eastern canada and have never seen an alembic around here so most likely I guess I would have to ship one in.

keavin · « **Reply #1 on:** March 30, 2004, 04:17:30 PM »

welcome sly! well there are several for sale on the (this) swap & shop page, have you looked yet?,and also ebay has quite a few of them under (musical instruments)/alembic but theres some here, look up seriesI or seriesII basses & guitars.

malthumb · « **Reply #2 on:** March 30, 2004, 06:54:22 PM »

Sly_Sloth,

Tthe best way to figure out pricing is to go to two particular websites:

1) www.alembic.com Click on the Quote Generator and play around with some of the various custom options. It will calculate LIST price for you. With most dealers you can work out pricing for considerably less than list price.

2) Go to www.basscentral.com They are one of several online bass stores that STOCK Alembics and post their pricing. There are several really good online Alembic dealers, but most either don't keep a lot of inventory or don't post their prices. GGuitars in Connecticut is another really good online dealer (I got my custom 5 string from there). They do also post there prices, but they tend to not have as much inventory as Basscentral.

Peace,

James

hollis · « **Reply #3 on:** March 30, 2004, 07:04:08 PM »

I had a very good experience with Guitar Resurrection out of Austin Texas. They also post their prices.

sly_sloth · « **Reply #4 on:** March 30, 2004, 07:12:46 PM »

Hi guys, thanks for the help. I browsed through the sites you recomended and yikes!!! a new alembic is expensive! What about buying used, whats the general going price for a stanley clarke or mark king signature, and a series 1 or 2 bass,

malthumb · « **Reply #5 on:** March 30, 2004, 07:20:04 PM »

Sly_Sloth,

Thought you'd be back after that. Keep in mind, the numbers off the Quote Generator are LIST. Working through a good distributor will bring the cost down significantly.

My experience says you can get a Stanley Clarke or Mark King Signature for $1,800 - 2,500, depending on options and condition. A Series I $2,200 - 4,000. A Series II $2,700 - 4,500. Again, all depending on condition and options.

Peace,

James

sly_sloth · « **Reply #6 on:** March 30, 2004, 07:52:39 PM »

Hi, back again
I was just going thru some of the pictures on this site, I think the stanley clarke signature is probally one i would want to get, Stanley always has great tone on his albums so why not... The only thing is I have never played a good short scale bass, although I do like the idea of it. I'll try and save up some bread and see what my options are ina few months i guess.

bassman10096 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 30, 2004, 09:14:19 PM »

(Message edited by bassman10096 on March 30, 2004)

bassman10096 · « **Reply #8 on:** March 30, 2004, 09:14:36 PM »

Hi Sly!

Welcome to the Club. I expect the people who frequent this neighborhood would be happy to try and help you figure out a lot about what you want.

Used Alembics definitely offer a lot of value if you choose well. They tend (in general) to weather pretty well, since they are all built like tanks in the first place. Also, while new Alembics are not cheap (though the list prices are definitely not what you'd need to pay), they do tend to drop in price fairly significantly from new when the hit the used market. Once there, they tend to hold their value pretty well.

Recently, in another thread, James outlined a very practical plan for buying a used Alembic and later trading up (when you have more cash), since your investment in the first bass would still be intact.

I bought my first Alembic without the aid of the folks here. As a result, I didn't know what I was looking for and only made out well because it'd hard to go wrong with any Alembic. If I'd known about the Club, I'd have asked a lot of questions and (more importantly) read a lot of the discussions already posted.

I hope you enjoyed the Alembic pictures you found. The websites can give you some perspective on the tremendous variety of wood, body shape and other options Alembic builds. If you didn't see BassNW's site, they have a really cool Alembic gallery at http://bassnw.com/Special%20Order%20Basses/alembic.htm.

Anyway - maybe some food for thought. Welcome. Don't be a stranger.

Bill

jseitang · « **Reply #9 on:** March 31, 2004, 09:55:15 AM »

hey
you've come to the right place sloth
i got my BASS OF DOOM in new haven ct from a place called gianpierto guitars. they are great and the sales rep is very knowledgeable and he got me a GREAT deal on my second alembic!
if you want or need any ideas or perhaps questions, feel free to ask, as i'm sure one of us with be able give you a good answer

mik · « **Reply #10 on:** April 02, 2004, 10:05:51 AM »

Hi All

Jimmy mentioned Giampietro Guitars - this is one and the same place as GGuitars that James also mentioned above. They're in New Haven CT and have a website at gguitars.com. I also bought my second Alembic there and was well looked after. They currently appear to have a (new) standard SC4 in stock which you might be able to get a price on for a reference.

It does sound as though you're a bit out on a limb location-wise as far as access to a dealer goes. That said, there are plenty who ship all over the place so it's probably more a case of finding an affordable instrument from a reputable source.

Sly, you say you've never yet played a good short scale. I'm not a short-scale player myself but those who are are always seem to rave about the Stanley Clarke signatures. It seems that the SC is generally considered to be about as good as you can get in that format.

Not seen any SC's over here on eBay in a while. The last one on there was in England and went for around $2300. It was a deluxe and in what looked like pristine condition though which would put it nearer the high rather than lower end of the pricing scale.

Good luck in your search. SCs do seem to crop up used fairly often so, when the time is right, hopefully you should not have to look around for too long.

mica · « **Reply #11 on:** April 02, 2004, 10:16:58 AM »

Steve's Music in Montreal is the importer in eastern Canada. They've usually got at leat 15 basses and a few guitars to try. Not sure where you are in relation to that shop, but it may be worth a sidetrip if you are every in their area.