Why Is This Man Crying?

[kmh364]

Simon,
 
No worries, Mate. It took me a couple of days because the search engine on the site was giving me nothing but error messages.  
 
There were other pix as well, but I think they were from Bass World UK's site. Apparently, they don't have a sold bass section like some others have on their sites on this side of the pond (i.e, Bass Central, G Guitars, Superbass, etc).  
 
Mica and Co may have some more pix hidden away somewhere.
 
I think you're not alone on this site...a lottery winner here would keep Alembic in beer n' skittles for a long time to come, myself included. With Alembic, you are only limited by your imagination...and your bank account, LOL!
 
Cheers,
 
Kevin

[valvil]

Hello Kevin,
 
we only made those two so far.
 
Valentino

[kmh364]

Thanks Val...I had a feeling that the Wickershams weren't real keen on re-inventing the Fender wheel unless specifically comissioned to do so, LOL!

[jacko]

Aaarghh! you said the F* word Kevin. That's 3 hail marys and an 'our father' for your sins. ;-)
 
graeme

[kmh364]

Forgive me Father for I have sinned...I own two Smith Stratocasters from the early '80's, LOL! Amen!

[kmh364]

Steve:
 
Just for sh*ts and giggles, what stand did you use that caused this great catastrophe? Inquiring minds wanna know. I use USS Genesis stands and I just recommended them to another (new) club member in another thread.  
 
PLEASE tell me that you didn't use one of those, LOL!
 
Cheers,
 
Kevin

[terryc]

Guitar stands..mine is a standard body sits in cradle with two rods that clip together to form the neck cradle, there is no 'stop on the neck cradle as there are on music shop hanging types..to solve this get a very wide rubber band and wrap it around the exit of the neck cradle, if the bass decided to go walk about it will bounce back.
Even with all these precautions something is bound to happen that makes it fall over etc..we need to play 'em and not wrap them up in cotton wool.

[s_wood]

Kevin:
 
It was, indeed, a Genisis stand that fell over and caused this disaster. The model was Genisis Ultimate GS100. It's one of the ones that uses a red disc to lock the folding legs into place.  One explanation for what happened is that the lock failed to engage, but who knows?
 
I do know this, though: guitar stands suck.  All of them.

[kmh364]

Sorry to hear that...they seemed like the best of what's available today. I use the GS200 because I like to cradle the instrument from the bottom, as opposed to hanging it from the neck.  
 
I have two older stands (no longer made...and I can't remember the manufacturer) of early '80's vintage. They're built of heavy-duty steel and are chrome plated. They're cradle type and are identical in contruction and aesthetics to ultra-premium drum/cymbal stands. The cradle is a heavy-duty steel padded removable fork and the neck cradle is a smaller version (no neck lock). Unfortunately, the foam rubber padding on the surfaces that touch the guitar succumbed to age and turned to powder. I'm sure it wouldn't be to difficult to re-pad them with something soft that's NOT reactive to lacquer (gotta watch the Custom Shop Les Paul, '62 VRI Strat and Heritage Golden Eagle jazzbox finishes). I have never seen any other stands come even remotely close to the quality and strength of these stands...I wish I could still get 'em. In the days when $1k guitars were expensive, we had good stands....now that guitars can cost more than a house, we have junk...go figure!

[howierd]

Back in 1980 when my cat knocked over my guitar stand with series I in it, the bass fell straight out and landed on a carpet on the fretboard and snapped the neck starting under the neck lams and them diagonally across the neck. The front lams held so it did not come complely off. I showed it to my buddy at Giant Music and he said it can be fixed. So I took it to my Luthier and he glued it back together with yellow glue. I still used a guitar stand while at home but I used large staples and nailed the stand to the floor and put a large rubber strap across the neck holder. It held for about 21 yrs when a friend had it in his studio and while recording the neck slowly started separating and the crack opened up again. He took it to Washington Music center( Chuck Levin's) and they repaired it using a poly glue. You can see the crack but can not feel it. The harmonics are perfect and still plays like a dream. If this ever happens again I'll send it back to alembic and have it replaced with a new neck.
Howierd

[johnnybassboy]

Steve, that bass is a beauty... and the damage is a shame. I stumbled onto this post, I was actually looking to see what new and exciting Alembic(s) you might have in the works.  
 
Now I'm curious to see how it all works-out: rebuild or replace.
 
At least you've trusted your bass to the best of hands.
 
-John

[hb3]

My cats knocked a guitar off its stand face first onto the floor, too -- an MTD 535 onto a HARDWOOD floor.  
 
Here's the amazing part: no damage. Zero. Not a ding. I swear to God.

[terryc]

the cats would have become Davy Crocket hats..

[s_wood]

Susan and Mica:
 
Now that I have the repair vs. replace estimates in hand, I am still unsure how to proceed with this project.  One factor that will help me decide is this: from the photos that Mica posted above which show where the new scarf joint would be placed it looks like that there will no longer be a continuous system of maple and ebony from nut to bridge because there will be a glue joint somwhere between the nut and first fret.  Am I right about that?  If so, would it be fair to say that a repair would basically turn this bass from a neck through to a set neck (with the glue joint being near the nut as opposed to where the neck joins the body)?

[kmh364]

Steve:
 
While my intention is not to speak on behalf of Mica et al, nor am I looking to usurp their authority, please allow me to interject my $0.02:
 
You've always had a glued scarf joint, it was just disguised by the headstock lams. Alembic will just lower the scarf joint slightly. You will still have a neck-thru-bodied instrument...the vast majority of the neck remains.Other than the slightly visible new joint, the sonic effects should be zero to nil, IMHO.
 
Cheers.