Finally, the Spyder 8 has arrived today.......

[jlpicard]

An 8 string Alembic must be a truly awe inspiring  sound indeed!!

[bigbadbill]

I wish I had one.....congrats Oliver!

[senmen]

Jean Luc :-), BigBad,
the 8string Spyder is really amazing.
A very great and unique sound. I have the same string setup ordered like John had to play it mainly with a pick to be able to play Johns riffs like in Success Story or Trick of the Light or so.
But it is also very good playable with fingers!
The next in the line will be a Dragon Wing, John?s last design.
But my biggest wish, an original Spyder from John,
has not turned up yet.... :-)
 
Many greetings from Spyderland
Oliver

[jeff]

Oliver,
 
Once again, congratulations on a tremendous aquisition, and I will bet that the bass sounds awesomely full!  Do you know on what recordings John used an 8 string?  I want to listen again! Thanks Oliver.

[senmen]

Jeff,
I have to relisten to the CD?s to list them all.
Here are a few:
Success Story, Trick of the Light, You....
I have to relisten again. There are many on the Too Late The Hero album as well as some on the The Rock CD.
But The Rock was completely recorded with Warwick basses, even the fretless and 8string.
A great source is the audio cassette training course of John where he is playing extensively with his Alembic Spyder 8string.
 
Oliver (Spyderman)

[jeff]

Oliver,  
 
I'm taking a guess here, but it sounds like John is using an Alembic on a few of the Who's really popular songs, like, You Better, You Bet, Another Tricky Day, The Real Me, but I don't know for sure. Do you have any information on his choice of bass with these songs?  Thanks Oliver!

[senmen]

Jeff,
as for You Better You Bet and Another Tricky Day it was definetely an Alembic.
The original version of The Real Me - dunno!
But the second version on the Quadrophenia soundtrack was also re-recorded with an Alembic.
 
Oliver

[geddy]

Sooo, does anyone know how many of the JE spiders are left at the mothership? I assume not many if any. Also is the spyder shape something you can order in a custom or would it be the standard exploiter?

[jeff]

Oliver,
 
As always, you are a valuable source of JE/Who information.  Thanks.
 
Jeff.

[stoney]

I believe you can order the Exploiter body with whichever headstock and electronics you wish.

[geddy]

stoney-
but I think the spider shape differs from the exploiter in it's contour cuts. I'm wondering if the spyder is offered on customs of if there's any JE spyders left.

[senmen]

Geddy, guys,
there are three Spyders known to be left in the world.
Johns then main Spyder (the one which failed at the Live Aid Gig) is currently at the Hard Rock Vault in Orlando. It was located for many years in the Berlin HRC, but after the Sotheby?s auction they thought to bring an instrument with such a high value to the vault.
The second Spyder he used (also with the pointed headstock) was sold at the Sotheby?s auction. I am still on the search to locate this instrument.
The V-head Spyder was also auctioned at the Sotheby?s event. Also here no chance to locate it yet.
In an old statement Mica said that they made at least 6 different Spyders for John.
The above three and three different 8strings.
I have only seen one of those; this one is also in Johns book but was not in Johns posession anymore.
Whereabouts? Don?t know. Also the other two 8strings did not uncover yet. Following Mica one of the 8strings was equipped with a V-headstock!
I have never seen a photo of it but I really would like to know where they put the tuners on the V.
In general the body designs Exploiter - Spyder Limited - John?s Spyders is really different.
Even the Limited Spyders do not have the shape of Johns original ones. Take a look at some photos.
The two pointed Spyders that John had were very similar in body design, but the pickup spacing was different. The V-head body was totally different to the others and matches more the current limited Spyders.
I still dream of getting one of his originals or at least an exact replica. But even this would burn a deep hole in my pocket.....
 
Oliver (Spyderman)

[kenbass4]

Actually, I think Geddy's (If only HE played Alembics!) question was more along the lines of How many MORE Spyders will Alembic make of the current run? Are all 75 sold yet? (50 4-string, 25 8-string)
 
Ken (TEO)

[senmen]

Ken,Geddy,
sorry if I understood wrong.
If I am informed well about half of the Spyder4?s are still available. Don?t know for the 8strings.
Maybe Mica can tell us.....
 
Oliver (Spyderman)

[geddy]

Thanks guys, ken yes you're right I'm wondering if the reissue spyders (4 string) are still available new, not actually looking for one of JE's personals! If only!
 
Senmen  
 
you answered exactly what I was trying to find out about, which is can we still get the JE style spyder body, (which I prefer)?
 
quote:
In general the body designs Exploiter - Spyder Limited - John?s Spyders is really different.
Even the Limited Spyders do not have the shape of Johns original ones. Take a look at some photos.