Author Topic: New to me: Alembic Essence 5 strings (Read 1616 times)

tbrannon · « **Reply #15 on:** April 14, 2016, 09:04:21 AM »

Michele,

Beautiful bass- welcome to the Alembic family.

It's a bit of a revelation to set these basses up after learning on other instruments. So many tiny details (bridge radiused to match the fretboard), adjustable nut, etc- all of the details make the setup so much more precise and adjustable.

It sounds like you're a setup pro,but Joey has a post in the FAQ section about setting up Alembic basses that is one of the most informative and concise explanations of how to get your action where you want it on an Alembic. You can read it here: http://club.alembic.com/Images/16271/16318.html?1107545766

5a_quilt_top · « **Reply #16 on:** April 14, 2016, 09:41:14 AM »

Nice!

Looks like a walnut top and mahogany back to me.

It's been my experience that Alembics are very easy to adjust to suit specific player preferences.

And, now that you've discovered this little corner of the galaxy, your only real problem will be curbing your desire for just one more...

michele · « **Reply #17 on:** April 14, 2016, 09:56:17 AM »

Thanks, already read Joey's great setup post. Alembic was unknown land to me till yesterday and, being the bass fanatic I am, I'm trying to educate myself on this amazing community as fast as I can :-)
That said... bass is missing two side dots and since it has a blank fingerboard ... I need them (one of the missing is at 12th fret which is particularly annoying).
Will Alembic provide me a couple dots?

gtrguy · « **Reply #18 on:** April 14, 2016, 11:16:23 AM »

I used to have an Epic 5 string that I really liked, but since I am such a visual player I sold it cause it had no fretboard markers. It was just too hard to see on a dark stage.

FC Bass · « **Reply #19 on:** April 14, 2016, 11:53:14 AM »

Are you sure they're missing and not just covered with dirt?
Never seen dots missing on an Alembic, I guess they go in pretty deep.

michele · « **Reply #20 on:** April 14, 2016, 12:16:03 PM »

Pretty sure they're missing, I see/feel the tiny little hole.
Plus aren't they supposed to be aluminum made? Mine are brass/bronze colored...

ed_zeppelin · « **Reply #21 on:** April 14, 2016, 05:15:37 PM »

quote:Capo at first fret, press the B string at 24th frets. This makes the string a straightedge.
Measure the gap between bottom of the string and top of 8th fret: this is your neck relief and here for an extremely low action (a la Victor Wooten) Fodera suggest 0.010. That way you could obtain (if that's what you want) a string action of 1 mm (measured at 12th fret) and around 1.5 mm (measured at 24th fret). That's to say that a gap of 0.010 measured this way translate to a pretty straight neck with minimal relief. Under that value the Fodera was string buzz fest.

Oh great. Now you tell me.

bigredbass · « **Reply #22 on:** April 14, 2016, 11:53:12 PM »

Congrats on your Essence Five, Michele.

You will find that ALEMBICs are 'Set-Up Workshops'. The adjustable nut frees you from filing or filling conventional nut slots as needed. The bridge is one-piece, matched to the fingerboard radius, so you skip a lot of argy-bargy vs. a conventional bass bridge. The double truss rods give you more control than normal.

Couple this with a five-piece neck topped with 1/4 slab ebony on a vintage 1999 guitar (yours), the action just isn't going to move much; and if it did, you have many more tools to tweak it than normally seen.

I essentially shoot for a dead-straight neck, and let in a little more relief until it no longer buzzes through the pickups. It may squeak a little unplugged, but once you're at that point, you've got all it's going to give you.

I'm really convinced that somewhere out there, there are some fretted ALEMBICs that would play just fine with a dead-straight, zero-relief set-up. Which is actually impossible, but I wouldn't rule it out.

You've come to ALEMBIC at the right time, having owned a formidable selection of other great basses, and there's lots of good ones out there.
ALEMBICs are not for everyone, not everyone gets it, or hears it.

You have to remember, they invented this game. A lot of their features existed in some fashion in other brands, but no one ever put them together like this, before or since. These things are like Bosendorfers or Selmer Paris horns or D'Angelicos: There is no substitute. There's lots of great axes out there, but they're all just everything else.

But for someone that can appreciate the construction and the tone, nothing else comes close. In a world of 3-band EQ's on basses (who thought that was a good idea?), you've seen so quickly that your hands, a pan pot, and a filter stack can do an awful, awful lot. Who knew?

And you'll find they're built and supported by the best people in the world. ALEMBIC is a very small family business, yet all of us here are all recipients of the Wickershams' good will and encouragement. Hard to get on the phone sometimes or via EMail, but any of us can tell you about buying a used Alembic to start with and being treated like we just placed an order for 12. Just the best.

So have a ball, and welcome to the Club!

Joey

michele · « **Reply #23 on:** April 15, 2016, 01:00:39 AM »

Joey, I totally feel your words!
On a side note:
among all these good things that Alembic brought to me there is one that certainly is worth mentioning.
When I consider/buy/wait for a new bass I went through all the youtube videos searching for demos, artists etc..
Alembic was no exception and while running through all the Alembic related videos I stumbled upon a player that I've never heard of before. He's name is Jimmy Johnson.
Good Lord, how refreshing is in a world full of flashing slappety-poppety-tappety speedy nonsense to hear someone with such a taste, someone capable of really putting his soul behind every single note, in every little nuance of his playing!
Check out this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tKQgz4AI3M

Gives me goosebumps everytime I hear it.

jacko · « **Reply #24 on:** April 15, 2016, 01:51:41 AM »

Michele - It may surprise you to learn that Jimmy is a frequent contributor on our forum and has his own thread here .
Many of us have also been lucky enough to meet up with him before one of his gigs and found he's one of the nicest, most down to earth 'superstars' of our instrument one could hope to find.

Plus, Congrats on an incredible instrument and welcome to the club.

Graeme

mica · « **Reply #25 on:** April 15, 2016, 12:53:02 PM »

Bronze might be the original material - we used that for many years. I've don't remember seeing one fall out, but there's always a first time for everything. I can send you a small piece of the rod you can glue in, trim then sand smooth. Email me your mailing address and I'll send it off.

JimmyJ · « **Reply #26 on:** April 15, 2016, 01:00:04 PM »

Hey Michele!

Welcome to the club and thanks for the very kind words there. You too Graeme, you're embarrassing me.

The Alembic bass has been my choice since 1975... (yes, I'm ancient). I had been playing a few years by then and had owned maybe 4 or 5 other basses before discovering the Series I. And that was that. Apparently this big open sound was what I heard in my head because I've been playing them ever since.

As Joey said, and you know from your own experience, there are other great builders out there but Alembics have a unique combination of things. They may not be what everybody wants - and some guys own different axes for different occasions - but I have played these basses in widely varying musical situations and have always found them able to do just what I wanted.

Hope you continue to enjoy your new axe.

Best wishes
Jimmy J

michele · « **Reply #27 on:** April 16, 2016, 03:24:44 PM »

@mica: many thanks! I'm about to purchase some polish and a trussrod wrench in the shop so the dots stuff could be included.
@jimmy: Sir, thanks for your words and for your music!