Collector or Player?

[bassplaynmatt]

I just got back from a gig where the sound man basically said I was crazy to be gigging with my Alembic. He ran a line about there?s no point in playing an instrument that costs that much basically his argument was that at most gigs, I could be playing a 500 dollar bass and the end result sound wise would be virtually the same (which doesn't say much for his ability as a sound man.) Obviously, this was a rock gig so he was coming from the perspective that all gigs are smokey, dirty, and loud. I tend to play a large variety of gigs (as most freelance players do) and I think the respect for high quality instruments seems to be more of a standard among other players. And to be quite honest, my bass would look better longer if I didn't put my grimy hands on it every day and sweat all over it at gigs.
 
Basically my question to you guys is this: Do most Alembic owners gig hard and heavy with there Alembics or do they collect them. I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers but IMHO a bass that sounds a plays like my Alembic should be the first piece of gear out the door no mater how big or small the gig. I know a lot of classical players and suggesting to a professional clarinetist that playing a plastic horn works just as well will get you laughed at!
 
Anyhow, I just wanted to see what kind of opinions are lurking in this crazy crowd and basically vent in a place where my beloved bass isn't insulted for being what it is, a truly professional level instrument and a work of art.
 
Matt

[bigredbass]

When I first started playing in the 70s, I waxed and primped and pampered my basses like they were show horses.  I even bought a Peavey T40 (built as if it came from solid oak!) to play the rowdy Texas beer joints so as not to 'mess up' my NICE basses. (Yes, I HAVE played on stages behind chicken wire!).
 
This just got tiring after a while, once it dawned on me that barflies usually pick fights with the guitar player or the front man, and virtually ignored me.
 
I've since learned to approach them the way you'd treat fine tools:  I take care of them, but I USE them.  I've never been bad about really scratching up an instrument, and the occasional very small dink or dent isn't gonna keep me up nights. And admittedly as I slide off into my 50s I don't do many 'swing from the chandelier' gigs anymore.  Haven't shot the bottles off the bar in quite a while . . .  
 
Why would you buy a Ducati but ride your Suzuki to work?  
 
Get used to pricks like the soundman.  To most other musicians, bass is a misunderstood, black art.  A band will kill to get a hot guitar player or a terrific front man, then get the first drummer and bassist that can walk and chew gum and drive the van.  They NEVER understand that they've got it backwards:  ALL great bands roll atop a terrific rhythm section.  John and Keith.  Bill and Charlie.  Al Jackson and Duck Dunn. And on and on.
 
That soundman irks me, but when asked why I never get stage fright, I point out into the house and say, Well, if they were any good, they'd be up here instead of me.  I think that covers him.  
 
J o e y  
 

[kungfusheriff]

You paid for the instrument, so as long as it sounds good, play it. I paid less than $500 for my PRS, which I've never heard a complaint about from any engineer or musician; haven't run sound with my Series 2 yet.  
As far as the general public is concerned, bass is bass, but the discerning listener is always a discerning listener. Your sound man is not. Step away from the moron because he's blowing smoke.
After all, you're the bass player, and that other guy is the sound man. As long as your bass is healthy he doesn't have a damned thing to worry about. The Wickersham family has spent 30 years worrying about tone, and how long has he been running sound?

[the_mule]

For me it's that 'new car first scratch' feeling. My Orion (my first Alembic, bought it brand new) is the one one I'm most careful with while my EVH Sig and Elan had some minor scratches and dents already when I purchased them secondhand. I wouldn't doubt about gigging with those two, but the Orion... (hmmm)
 
Although I'm not a gigging musician (yet) I consider myself a player, and not a collector anymore. I was until I realised it isn't what I really want. My rig now consists of 3 Alembic basses and two amps, and if I want something new, one of them has to make place. Nostalgia is all that remains of my collecting days. IMHO there's nothing wrong about being collector, but I personally couldn't justify the money and space it took anymore.
 
Wilfred

[dannobasso]

I've gigged with all but one of my 10 Alembics. I've used them since I bought my first in 83. I play hard and beat the daylights out of them. Mica and company did a refinish in black for my first Spoiler that I was beating on ala Mark Mendoza and forgot to take off my watch! Upper horn had dozens of little dings! I now only wear watches on my left hand. I do sound for club bands every week in addition to gigging with my own band Doomtree. The guy you spoke to is FOS about their not being a difference. My Alembic sounds killer when I bring them to a gig and let another guy use them while I mix. Most guys are not used to the Alembic sound and eq you like a P bass in the house system. Most won't take the DI out of the F1X. Most hate being there and have to deal with extreme butthead rock star types who in turn infect the soundman with the same attitude virus. I once tried out for a band and their old player had a POS bass and played badly. They were used to that sound . To recreate that sound on a recording, I had to hold a pick sideways and slash at the strings! Passed on that one. I have The collecting bug and I'm asking Mica for another custom Excel to keep Kay company. That will give me 4 Alembic basses for the road when I start touring in earnest in 05. I'm an Alembaholic. I admit my addiction and deal with it one day at a time. No wife and no kids make Danno get more basses (and guitars).
Danno

[palembic]

Bonnie has been with me from 1996. In the beginning there was no band I could play with and the paople from the old-style big-band didn't like the Amembic sound at all (afterwards I discovered they meant: we don't like YOUR sound on the Alembic, on a Series II you can get the sound you want).
 
Since 4 years now playing with Blue Stuff and last 2 years with Drive Bonnie has been on every stage I play. I play the size of bars and stages that 90% of the time I am gratting behind our guitarplayers ears with Bonnies peghead, can sit on the bassdrum or get some beating from our ladysinger when my fingers are plucking the wrong string.
Anyway ....I can imagine that IN EUROPE Bonnie is a 12000$ bass. I know I am taking a risk but I never heard a complain. 1 soundengineer insisted in using a DI box with my old SWR SM 400 (although the line out is very good on that amp). In another situation there was a complain about a constant hum from my bass. In the end it turned out that I stood too close to the light-mixing console and some parblazers and as you know: that IS something Series electronics HATES.
Because we play as you understand in small venues we set up our sound as in rehaersal situation with FULL OWN CONTROL of what we want. Last night I had ? bass-players co,ing up to me and just asking: how do you do that how do you do that ... nah ...not the playing ...just how do I get that sound. As you know Series (and ALL Alembics I guess)combined with F1-X, SF-2 and poweramp is a POWERFULL combination ...in every meaning of that word.
I cannot afford to collect Alembics so it will just be that only one. I surely will buy more basses in the future when live is more shining on me but even THAN it will not be a collection, just for the sound or the beauty of that peticular instrument.
Beware ...I can complete UNDERSTAND that someone collect Alembics -I know a guy who collects Ferrari's- but I conider them as to play on!
 
Some idea's.
 
Paul the bad one

[dadabass2001]

My father played a 1940s Gibson Large hollowbody as a bar player and sideman for 40 years. What I learned from him is that ultimately, the instrument is a TOOL to be used. I try to avoid dangerous situations (I never had to play behind chicken wire), but my own comfort level on stage is based on having MY instruments up there with me.
Mike

[ajdover]

I own ten basses of different makes, to include my Spyder and my Europa.  I like all of them for different reasons, and I didn't buy them to keep them in a closet.  I play them.  
 
Am I more careful with my Alembics?  Absolutely.  Who wouldn't be given the cost?  Does this stop me from gigging with them?  Nope.  I bought them to play them, like I said.  Same goes for my other basses (two Fender Jazz Basses, a Rick 4001, a Gibson Thunderbird, a Gibson Ripper, a Musicman Stingray, a Pedulla MVP, and an Ovation Acoustic Electric).  If they were dinged or banged up, sure, I'd be upset.  But I'd get over it and keep using them.  That's what the Wickershams and the good folks at Alembic made these instruments for.  They're both a finely crafted tool and work of art - they should be treated and played as such.
 
I don't consider myself a collector, even given what I own.  They're all basses I've always wanted, but couldn't afford until now.  Some I got fairly cheaply (the Ripper and Ovation), others not (the Alembics, the MVP), and the rest somewhere in the middle (Thunderbird, Jazz basses, Musicman, Rick).  All of them were meant to be played, and that's what I do with them.
 
The days of the bass guitar being nothing more than a backing instrument are long gone.  It started with guys like Chris Squire, John Paul Jones, Stanley Clarke, Jaco, etc., and now we have guys like Stu Hamm, Les Claypool, and Flea carrying the torch.  Those who don't understand that are, IMHO, missing the boat.  Back when I first started playing in the mid 70's, slapping and popping wasn't something most guys did.  Now it's a required technique for many players.  Same goes for sound.  The P-Bass and SVT sound isn't the only one out there anymore.  The soundman you refer to needs to wake up and smell the coffee.
 
Anyway, my two cents.
 
Regards,
 
Alan

[David Houck]

Matt; I can certainly understand why there are those who are collectors of Alembics, just as I can understand why people collect other works of art.  For me personally, my Alembics are for playing.  I want the quality of my sound to be as good as I can get it; just as I want the other players I play with to care about their sound as well.  I tend to think that having a quality sound heightens the overall experience of the listeners as well as the players.  But that's just me.  Everyone has different situations, different bands, different styles, etc.  I can certainly understand why someone would not want to take a custom one-of-a-kind instrument on the type of tour where wear and tear are unavoidable; and I can understand why someone would not want to take their beloved instrument into a room full of drunks.  As for the soundman; yes, there are going to be times where your wonderful tone will not make it past the board.  Unfortunately, that happens to even the best players.  I've heard Victor Wooten's sound mangled when he was fronting his own band.  I guess we can feel compassion for the soundman as he is being a soundman at his level of ability just we are being players at our own level of ability.  So perhaps treating the soundman with respect and patience is the best course of action.

[David Houck]

Alan; as to your comment about the soundman needing to wake up.  I used to frequent this rather famous blues club to see the many touring bands that came through.  Of all the bands I saw there, I only saw one Alembic.  I think it could be somewhat difficult to smell the coffee when night after night the soundman is primarily only getting to hear P-basses.

[smokin_dave]

ALL great bands roll atop a terrific rhythm section.
 
Hear,hear.You got it right Joey.I've told people for years that you have to have a great drummer to make a great band.It will make or break your band.Plus the bass player too.You can take so-so players and make them sound like a million bucks with a great rhythm section.
As far as collecting/playing is concerned,I've never had a bunch of basses laying around since I've always wanted them to be played.My two Alembics are the most basses I've owned at one time.I'll never part with them.I've always wanted to see intruments played and not stored.Thats why I don't have all of the basses I have purchased over the span of my life which would have been pretty numerous by now.
     

[ajdover]

Dave (houck),
 
    Yeah, I can see your point.  If that's all they hear, then anything new that is introduced might throw them for a loop.  But it also goes along with what I said - P Bass and SVT isn't the only thing out there, but too many folks (IMHO) have come to believe that's what a bass should sound like.  And it's unfortunate.  Don't get me wrong - there are times that I like that P-Bass type sound.  But it isn't the only one.  That's why I love my Alembics - I can make them sound like just about anything, P-Bass included.
 
Where I live, there is a very large blues scene.  They (meaning guitar players, mostly) want the P Bass, stay in the background kind of sound and style.  This is one of the reasons I'm not really gigging with anyone right now.  Nothing against that way of thinking, but it's not what I like to do.  That and the fact that I-IV-V progressions, over and over, 4 sets a night, and endless guitar solos bore the snot out of me.  But different strokes and all that.  Doesn't make it bad, just makes it not for me.  
 
Blues, to most folks I guess, calls for that P-Bass style sound (think Duck Dunn, James Jamerson, etc.), so it doesn't surprise me in that idiom that soundmen like that - it's safe, traditional.  Anything that isn't probably doesn't appeal to most folks.  That being said, I'd still play my Alembics in that situation since they're so versatile, soundman be damned!
 
Best Regards,
 
Alan

[lbpesq]

Matt:
 
  I have been playing guitar for 40 years, electric for 36 years, and in bands for 30+.  I long ago figured out that music, for me, was a wonderful hobby from which I derive immense pleasure and cheap therapy.  As an occupation, (I played both solo acoustic and in bands), I learned that I hated the business side and didn't want to exist on Mickey D's and pizza.  So off to law school I went at the age of 28.  Over the years I collected a few guitars, not as art objects or investments, but rather because here and there I'd run into an axe that was fun to play and the $ worked out.  Currently I rehearse with my band every week and we play out when we can, usually every couple of months.  (I'd like to do that a little more, but everyone has families and jobs and not much time to hunt up places to play).  
 
Given that backgound, here is my 2 sense:
 
From an economic standpoint, strictly business, your soundman was right.  But is that why you play?  I play because it makes me feel good to create simultaneously with four other people who are great friends and accomplished musicians.  The better my instrument feels to play, and the better it sounds to me, translates into my playing better and, thus, the band playing better.  I have lusted for an Alembic since around '75 when I played in a band, Cripple Finger, with a rich kid whose parents had suppplied him with one of the first series 1 guitars.  Last July my lust was finally satisfied (at least temporarily) when I found an '83 Electrum in excellent shape.  It is now my number one guitar.  Of course I gig with it (& of course a back up which changes according to whim).  If you are a struggling erstwhile pro on the road from dive to dive, I can understand that you might want to save the Alembic for future, bigger gigs. (Though I probably wouldn't).  But if you are like me, and I suspect like a lot of people in this club, and you have a real job (who else besides Clapton, Santana, Springsteen, Dylan and Simon really makes enough money playing music to afford an Alembic? - alright, admittedly a slight exageration, but you get my point), our Alembics are pleasure giving diversion machines.  Play it!  Enjoy it! Soundman be damned!  And start saving for another - (I know I am).
 
Bill the guitar one.

[palembic]

Brother Dave,
 
Got drums?
People will move!
Got a voice (read melody)?
People will sing!
Got a bass?
People will dance!!!!!
 
 
what I say alwyas
 
 
PTBO

[keavin]

Alembics are the DIAMONDS* of guitars, so when you go out to play, wear your shit man!,,, the only thing one should be collecting is beer cans!