Alembic catalogues

[mica]

The CVQ appeared among the earliest instruments, we'd been installing them on other maker's instruments for at least a year before producing our own instruments.  
 
The first Series I and II basses and guitars  weren't called anything - we didn't have any model names. They were Standard basses and guitars. The model names weren't around until the mid 70's. But we talk about controls with CVQs as Series II even if they were made before the name distinction.

[glocke]

thanks for the post.  I vaguely remember being in high school in the 80's and drooling over Alembic catalogs.  At that time I never thought Id be able to own one....

[adriaan]

Glocke, not sure what the going price was for an Alembic
 
 
 
 
catalogue back in those days. Wouldn't they have been free hand-outs?

[glocke]

Dont know if they were freebies or not, as I was not the original owner.  I had been a fan of alembic thanks to the Grateful Dead, and obtained the catalog from an older musician friend who shared similar musical interests....

[FC Bass]

I've also got the (European) price lists. The prices are roughly todays second hand prices.

[adriaan]

I bought my Epic in 1994, when the exchange rate was good at about $1.50 for DFL 1. The importer managed to keep the price just below the psychological border of DFL 3000, plus I got a 10% discount from the shop (no case, no tools, no buildsheet) so I paid DFL 2700.
 
We went to euros in 2002, so that price would now be about EUR 1100 - not counting (1) the everchanging exchange rate to the USD, (2) 13 years of 2 to 4% inflation, and (3) the 10% that we lost when our guilders were converted into euros (as Gerrit Zalm acknowledged after his retirement).
 
You can probably find a used Epic for EUR 1100 around here. But a new one will cost the same amount in EUR as the MSRP in USD - prices starting at about 3500 - or DFL 7700 in old money. In short, an Epic now costs nearly three times as much as 13 years ago.
 
(Message edited by adriaan on October 31, 2007)