LED's - user input wanted

[keurosix]

Robert,
Welcome to the group. We're a weird but nice bunch of musicians who have come to respect Alembic as our preferred obsession. One thing that Alembics are known for are Firsts in the industry. First in active electronics, first in beautiful laminated exotic woods, LED's, etc.. etc. Now I know some other manufacturers may claim First Rights to these things, but Alembic gets all the glory, so too bad. In any case, LED's are synominous with Alembic. Mark makes a great point in that if you can afford them, do it. I would like to add that if you do, not only will you be delighted with them, but the value of the guitar will be at it's highest retail, like a loaded Luxury car instead of the base model. If you ever needed to sell it, appraise it, or just for your own enjoyment, for whatever it's worth.
P.S. The cost of adding them later is much more than getting them new - add refinishing costs!
(And FretX strips - while cool and cheap, just aren't the same as permanently installed ones)
Kris.

[jlpicard]

Now that I have a bass with LED's, I'd hate to be without them. Besides, the jaw-dropping factor for the uninitiated is always alot of fun!

[dfung60]

Well, I hate to be the pooper in the group...  I've got two Series II basses with side LEDs (1987 and 1992).  
 
The good parts have been illuminated above - the look cool and are both visible in the dark but subtle to the outside world (at least with the red LEDs I have).
 
There are two bad points though.  The first is that (on my basses at least) the LEDs only operate when you're plugged in on the external power supply with the 5-pin cable.  Some of the newer basses have a bunch of extra 9V batteries solely for the LEDs.  In my case, when I run with a wireless, I'm actually worse off than regular dot markers as the unlit LEDs are not visible at all.  Again, on newer basses, this has been addressed by having the LED shine out through a sterling silver inlay dot instead of out of the wood.  Whether on the external power supply or internal LED batteries, it is some extra hassle and cost if you play unwired.
 
The second problem is more serious.  As you probably know, the side LEDs are implemented by routing a long slot along the side of the neck after it's built but before it's finished.  A wood strip is wired up with all the LEDs, then installed into the slot.  As a technical wonder, this is like flying under the Golden Gate Bridge upside down - it's *hard* to do.  But it has the effect of making that side of the fingerboard potentially very fragile compared to a non-LED instrument.  This means that the risk of damage is radially increased in the event you need a refret or other fretwork.  The chances of damaging the LED strip when doing work on the neck will be reflected in higher costs for fretwork, if you can get anybody other than the factory to do it!
 
One of my Series II is a 4-string graphite neck and was one of my main basses for a number of years.  These graphite instruments sound fantastic, but don't have a truss rod, so relief adjustments need to be manually cut into the frets.  When I got to the point that I needed fretwork, it was a battle to get my favorite fret guy (an expert on Modulus necks) to even work on it.  I had enough fret height that he was able to address my wear issues by re-levelling.  He told me up front that if it required fretwire replacement that he wouldn't even consider doing it.
 
I find that my fret life is better on my Alembics that most others and this is a dull, practical concern.  If you have the bucks to buy an Alembic with LEDs, perhaps a factory refret shouldn't be an issue.  But it is a consideration
 
David Fung