Author Topic: February Custom (Read 256 times)

rklisme · « **Reply #30 on:** February 08, 2006, 11:00:14 AM »

Val

Very cool, enjoy!

Rory

jaysimon · « **Reply #31 on:** February 08, 2006, 01:29:35 PM »

i also wonder about the ebony vs the brass, might this become a new option on upcoming instruments?

valvil · « **Reply #32 on:** February 08, 2006, 03:36:00 PM »

Well, even though I have a second bridge with brass saddles, as well as a second nut made of brass, I must confess that I've never tried putting those on to hear the difference.
Part of the reason is that I love the sound of it as it is, the other part is that I just never got around to it. But soon I'll be taking a week off work and among other things I plan to try that combination. So far my impression ( and James' as well) is that you get a slightly woodier sound with ebony saddles and nut. Also open notes and the fretted notes sound very similar.

In regards to ebony saddles being available for order, the answer is yes. We already have a customer that has requested them for his bass after seeing them on mine.

Paul, I'm not sure if you are referring to the saddles or the bridge block. The saddles are ebony but the bridge block is regular brass, just covered by a piece of coco bolo.

Valentino

(Message edited by valvil on February 08, 2006)

bob · « **Reply #33 on:** February 08, 2006, 05:08:47 PM »

Here's another little nudge to get you to swap out the saddles. The difference between open and fretted notes should only be affected by the nut (you know this, of course), so I'm mostly curious what difference the saddles make.

Of course, if future saddles will be ebony on top of brass, then this might not tell us as much, but it would still be quite interesting.

Much as I generally dislike pointy things, this is a beauty, Val. Enjoy.
-Bob

bigredbass · « **Reply #34 on:** February 08, 2006, 06:50:26 PM »

Over the course of the Featured Customs, there's always some I like, a few I really love, yet more than I would expect fall into the 'What WERE they thinking???' file. No reflection on ALEMBIC, just the side effect of someone being able to get just EXACTLY they wanted.

And I'm very 'old school'; some of the new shapes are I'm sure necessary, but I could NEVER warm up to some of them.

But . . . leave it to an Italian ! ! Double V, I am just dumbstruck looking at this bass. The 'tailoring' if you will is just so precisely balanced among the colors of the woods and the woods you selected. And I'm really not usually inclined towards the dark woods. I really like the tailpiece, and the idea of ebony nut and saddle echoes the idea of a brass nut to match the sound of the metal frets.

I would like to suggest that this become a Signature model in fretless only. I can only imagine what Alain Caron or Gary Willis would sound like on this remarkable instrument, not to mention you, paisan! I'm really amazed at the shapes you've conjured up, and just how much they 'hit' me.

I can scarcely imagine the line that would have formed at NAMM to see this bass.

J o e y

jeff · « **Reply #35 on:** February 09, 2006, 07:05:23 AM »

Valentino,

Ever since I first saw the pictures you posted of this bass on the club website, I have been in awe. Your bass has to be one of the most beautiful Alembics ever made and is truly inspiring. I'm so glad that a good guy like yourself is the proud owner. Congratulations my friend.

Jeff

jack · « **Reply #36 on:** February 09, 2006, 12:01:32 PM »

Really dig that tailpiece. Awesome.

What does this mean:

Since the string nut and saddles are made of Ebony (more on that later), the tailpiece needed that little Ebony shim under it.

Is that because the ebony is a bit more delicate than brass, so less of an angle to the tailpiece? Does that effect tension? Why not make the tailpiece taller rather than slip a shim under it (unless the brass was already machined, I guess)? Or did I misunderstand shim?

-Jack

mica · « **Reply #37 on:** February 09, 2006, 12:14:36 PM »

I need to reword that - it's referring to the decorative feature of the Ebony shim. On some of the models, the tailpiece is made from a chunk of Ebony with a brass overlay. Many of the early instruments we build were made this way out of necessity. Now we do it only for decoritive purposes.

kenbass4 · « **Reply #38 on:** February 09, 2006, 12:20:56 PM »

Jack,

I may be mistaken, but I think the need was an asthetic one, to give it a more balanced appearance.

Valentino - Congratulations on the FC. And thank you for letting me play it when I visited. It made me order my current Series 2.

HEY!!! I guess I was right! It happens occasionally.

(Message edited by kenbass4 on February 09, 2006)

jack · « **Reply #39 on:** February 09, 2006, 12:44:25 PM »

I got it. needed that ebony shim not as in required but demanded. Like my girlfriend 'needs' a new handbag to go with a new dress (and new shoes, and new jewelry...).

Thanks for clarification. I checked it out on the original Factory to Customer thread too. What a bass!

lbpesq · « **Reply #40 on:** February 10, 2006, 07:16:23 AM »

Hey Val, Congrats! Beeeeeeeauuuutiful bass. I got back from NY last night. For some reason every time I checked the site on my mom's computer in NY, the FOTM was still Owl (no slouch either). I was reading all this stuff about your bass, but the only picture I saw was Scott's Further. I just went on line at home and voila there's the Bird! Awesome. I especially love the headstock omega. May you play it in good health for many years to come.

Bill, tgo

jacko · « **Reply #41 on:** February 10, 2006, 07:18:55 AM »

Bill.
You may just need to click refresh on the explorer bar. Sometimes all you're seeing is the cached images.

Graeme

lbpesq · « **Reply #42 on:** February 10, 2006, 09:06:21 AM »

Graeme:

I tried that, but it didn't work. My mom uses AOL, so maybe that had something to do with it.

Bill, tgo

Bradley Young · « **Reply #43 on:** February 10, 2006, 02:15:15 PM »

Bill,

AOL uses caching pretty agressively. This has been known to cause problems; fortunately, it saves on their bandwidth bills so they can let more spam in.

Sarcasm aside, you were viewing a cached copy from AOL's servers, rather than what was on the actual Alembic site.

Brad

lbpesq · « **Reply #44 on:** February 10, 2006, 02:23:13 PM »

Brad, thanks for clearing up the mystery. I was hoping it wasn't my mother's fault! LOL

Bill, tgo