Now if I just had money.......

[elwoodblue]

So intriguing !!
Thanks for detailed story.  
Great moniker too.
I really look forward to see more Element pictures.
 
Now...if I just had money

[sonofa_lembic]

I am sure Mica will post more.  She has some cool ones of James, Jack, and Chris working with me in the shop during the initial phases of building.   I have pictures of the prototype build, but due to the secrecy of the development, have kept them to myself for the most part.  

[edwardofhuncote]

Fascinating Trevor, great job!
 
I volunteer to help with the design of the parlor guitar... may I recommend a slotted headstock, 12 frets clear, and size 00? =)

[cozmik_cowboy]

I say crown, 12-fret, & size 0.
 
Your description of the Element's design & sound makes me think I was right in my first guess of roughly 0000; can you confirm or deny, Trevor?
 
Peter

[sonofa_lembic]

The Parlor is designed as a 12 fret, and is based off a 00 size, but the hassle of a slotted headstock may not be the first choice.
 
The size of the Element would be closest to a Gibson SJ, but it is a little slimmer and deeper.  Scale length is 25.4 or 25.5 depending on what Susan decides.  The proto was 25.4.

[edwardofhuncote]

Oh man, I can hardly wait to see a Parlor prototype... that sounds like a guitar after my own heart. Better stop now, I can feel my Martin Custom Shop 00-18 getting jealous, besides that, I have a custom fretless order pending!  
 
Again Trevor, great work.

[hifiguy]

You live well, Edward, instrumentally speaking!

[dfung60]

Very interesting thread!  I'm curious to see where this goes.  
 
Since it was mentioned in the thread, I own one of the original 4-string PRS basses.  It's quite an unusual beast.  It has 3 pickups and a dummy hum-cancelling coil that's visible on the back of the bass.  There's a pickup selector knob (a la the old PRS guitars) and a master volume, then there are two different knobs that control a very unusual active bass and treble circuit.  They unusual thing about the EQ is that the kneepoints are very extreme compared to most active EQ - the bass knob really affects only the lowest bass and the treble knob only the extreme highs.  That's not really bad.
 
It has an great tiger stripe maple top and sunburst finish.  The neck is mahogany.  The workmanship, like PRS of the late 80's, is top rate.  
 
How does it sound?  Hmmm...  Let me say this - PRS makes really great guitars.
 
David Fung

[edwardofhuncote]

I'm curious what kind of neck joint was used... traditional tapered dovetail? Like the tried-n-true X-brace, it's hard to go wrong with it, but the Alembic acoustic of my imagination could go a different route, in the spirit of innovation.
 
Re; slotted headstock, how about a (somewhat drastically) scaled-down version of Classico?  
 
@hifi - I've had a thing for vintage Martin guitars for quite some time... it's fair to say, that's what put me on the road to here. =) I firmly believe the folks that founded Alembic are the C.F. Martin Sr. of their day, and the next generation(s) is/are following suit.

[sonofa_lembic]

Mortise and tenon bolt on neck system with unique brass rod full tenon support.   Very solid, very precise.  Only one bolt required for a very secure joint, but I had two on the prototype.

[gtrguy]

I had a friend who bought one of the first PRS guitar amps. It looked really cool, it did not sound so good! They ended up making a run of less than 200, if I remember right.  
 
Funny how companys can create products that should have been better.
 
I would love to see a photo of your PRS bass!

[pace]

I found one of those PRS amps in the trash a couple of months ago. I emailed Bill right away b/c of his testimonials on Pitchard's current line.... Aside from some scratchy pots in the clean channel, the amp sounds pretty freakin good! Yeah, it's not a blackface or a Mesa, but it definitely does the dual fender clean / Marshall gain two channel thing quite convincingly.

[5a_quilt_top]

To continue the PRS amp hijack a bit further - I have two, a Sweet 16 head and an Archon 25 watt 1x12 combo and have found both to be ideal for their specific purposes.
 
I use the Sweet 16 head with a closed back EVH 1x12 cab with 25 watt Celestion speaker to amplify my Rob Allen MB-2 fretless acoustic bass - don't laugh, it sounds pretty d*mn good when the treble is trimmed appropriately and the bright switch and reverb are both off.
 
And I currently use the clean channel of the Archon as my main gigging amp for guitar. That clean channel handles pedals as well or better than any other amp I've tried to this point and the half-power switch has made my volume tolerable for sound people.
 
To get back on topic -  one day I hope to be fortunate enough to snag one of those Alembic acoustics. Got a few things ahead of it on the wish list.

[ed_zeppelin]

I sincerely think that is one of the most beautiful acoustic guitars I've ever seen. The simplicity is its best feature, in my opinion. It's simply breathtaking.
 
(I've written this paragraph five times and it keeps coming out as pretentious blathering one would be embarrassed to hear at an art gallery wine and cheese yap-fest.)
 
The only other acoustic guitar that affected me like this is Django Reinhardt's Selmer, for the same reason; elegant simplicity.
 

[edwin]

Hey, I love art gallery wine and cheese yap-fests! After all, with a family of artists, they are a way of life for me. Here's Dawn at her opening at the Denver Art Museum with the first fragrance as art exhibition at a major American museum (that I know about), part  of the impressionist flower painting show called In Bloom. Sorry for the hijack!
 

 
I agree with your comparison between the guitars. The Selmer does have an Art Deco thing going on that sets it apart. The Alembic has something else. I wonder if us Alembic folks see it differently because we are so used to seeing some of the subtle details, from the point to the headstock, on electrics.  
 
I can't wait to hear one!