The cost of Alembic ownership

[synapticgroove]

Gentlemen,
 
I am just curious as to how many of you had to come up with clever ways to 'sell' an Alembic Series I or II to your better half?  Since most of us aren't career musicians, what did you find more difficult:
 
(a) Raising/saving the capital necessary to purchase such a fine piece of playable art, or
 
(b) Selling your better half on the thought of a bass that commands used car prices?
 
I'm currently in the process of working toward a Series ownership, adding to my currently owned 1994 Epic.  I love delays and I love stereo and the thought of punching out the bottom end with a Series going into an Alembic pre and a power amp, really makes me feel a little non-plussed on my current Markbass setup.
 
I definitely do think Alembic's are worth every penny and then some, but I'm having a hard go of it explaining to the better half that 5-8k is ok for an instrument you'll never ever have to procure again.
 
Tonal bliss is priceless.
 
What are your thoughts?
 
Benjamin

[terryc]

Benjamin, one is to look at the overall cost over a lifetime, let's face it, if you buy the said bass I presume you will keep it until you pass it on to your kids whereas furniture, decorations change with the trends and you will always get pressure to change it.
Trouble is in a woman's eyes it is 'toys for big boys' but you work for a living too don't you?, contributed to the household so that is a bargaining point.
I am divorced and live on my own so I don't have that problem but actually my ex wife made me buy my Alembic when we were in New York and I will be always eternally grateful to her that she made me purchase it!

[5a_quilt_top]

For me, the solution was easy: early on in our marriage, my wife and I agreed to have separate bank accounts.
 
We split the bills each month and whatever remains in either of our bank accounts is ours to do with as we please.
 
Rephrased: she don't ask me how many Alembics I've bought and I don't ask her how many handbags and shoes she's bought.
 
Single best thing we ever did - removes the money ogre from the equation.
 
YMMV.
 
 
BTW: you are correct tonal bliss is priceless.

[lbpesq]

When we started dating, I told my wife that for years I had planned to give myself, as a fiftieth b-day present, either a Jaguar XKE or a custom Alembic.  When I hit 50, six years later, the Alembic was an easy choice over the Jag as it was both smaller and less expensive.
 
Bill, tgo
 
(Message edited by lbpesq on March 27, 2015)

[hammer]

My strategy is a little more cagey (or underhanded if that's how you perceive it). Bought the first Alembic used (totally ok with spouse because it was purchased with $$$ I earn from a 2nd job coaching a Nordic ski team); purchased a 2nd used Alembic about 2-years later; purchased a 3rd 2-years following that (still ok with spouse because over each 2-year period she's forgotten how much these things cost).
 
At some point if I ever feel the need to go Series I'll downsize getting rid of at least two of my current Alembics and another top of the line bass I acquired used. Together this should give me approximately $9,000 which I'm thinking will be sufficient to find a used Series bass.  In doing so I'll be sending 3 basses out of the house and only bringing in one.  And you can be sure that what I'll eventually hear from my spouse is something like, See, I knew you really didn't need that many basses. Thank God you got smart and sold most of them.

[lbpesq]

Brian, for $9K you should be able to get yourself two very nice used Series basses.
 
Bill, tgo

[lbpesq]

Brian, for $9K you should be able to get yourself two very nice used Series basses.
 
Bill, tgo

[jazzyvee]

Most of the time I've been an alembic owner I was single so I never had that problem of justifying my musical instrument purchases.  Now that I'm no longer single, fortunately my other half is very supportive and actively encourages me not to sell to buy the next one if I don't absolutely have to. She's got a pretty good understanding of where people place alembics in the pecking order of basses too so tends to ask me questions to make me think about what I would get from a new one that I don't already have. Like Bill, I treated myself to one for my 50th too and my other half loves that guitar as well. In actual fact she knows that I deliberate a lot before buying anything that expensive because I don't like having gear that I don't use.  
 
The way I've looked at it sometimes is that I'm a pretty clean living guy, never been a smoker or a drinker of alcohol and never taken drugs outside prescription or pharmacy so spending money on a nice alembic what others may have spent doing those other things over the years is probably cheaper.
 
There have been a heck of a lot of alembics being traded the past couple of years so you should be able to pick one  up for a safe price.

[jazzyvee]

Most of the time I've been an alembic owner I was single so I never had that problem of justifying my musical instrument purchases.  Now that I'm no longer single, fortunately my other half is very supportive and actively encourages me not to sell to buy the next one if I don't absolutely have to. She's got a pretty good understanding of where people place alembics in the pecking order of basses too so tends to ask me questions to make me think about what I would get from a new one that I don't already have. Like Bill, I treated myself to one for my 50th too and my other half loves that guitar as well. In actual fact she knows that I deliberate a lot before buying anything that expensive because I don't like having gear that I don't use.  
 
The way I've looked at it sometimes is that I'm a pretty clean living guy, never been a smoker or a drinker of alcohol and never taken drugs outside prescription or pharmacy so spending money on a nice alembic what others may have spent doing those other things over the years is probably cheaper.
 
There have been a heck of a lot of alembics being traded the past couple of years so you should be able to pick one  up for a safe price.

[stout71]

My wife was going to let me get a BMW Z4 for my mid-life crisis purchase.  (Think made-up reason purchase.) To sell her on a new custom Alembic (now #2 is in the works), all I had to do was explain the loss of value of a car over time.  The difference in the purchase price also helped.  Seriously, it was a 10 minute conversation.  Kablammo!

[synapticgroove]

Haha, you guys are too much!  I think it's safe to surmise that Alembic owners are probably the most cerebral bass players on the planet!   Some very good responses here and I've definitely enjoyed reading them thoroughly!
 
I've never been a 'collector' per se, so if it sits around gathering dust for a few months, I'll move it on down the line.  However, the Alembic is truly (remarkably) the first bass I've ever owned that I don't feel this way about.  I know tone is channeled through the heart and filtered with the hands, but man, I've honestly never been that smitten with any other instrument and to think, I've never played any other Alembic than my Epic.  I can't even fathom what it must feel like to play a Series...one day, I think I'll understand.
 
Even though I'm not a doctor, I have limitless patience and plan to soak up the atmosphere on these hallowed boards until that day arrives!

[5a_quilt_top]

Tone is in the hands, heart and head - BUT it sure helps to have something responsive and beautiful in your hands that appeals to your heart and inspires your head.
 
Try that line on her and suggest how owning the ultimate Alembic would be somewhat equivalent to the joy that another high-quality source of inspiration has brought to your life...
 
...and if that don't work, a nice dinner with a killer bottle of wine and a new hand bag with matching shoes usually does th' trick.

[gtrguy]

I stay single!

[rustyg61]

I'm blessed to have a wonderful wife who encouraged me to buy both of my Alembics. On my 1st one I was trying to decide between a Brown Bass & Stanley Clarke Signature Deluxe & she told me I should buy the SCSD because it was much prettier, even though it was $1000 more than the Brown. For my new Europa, I had set up all my gear to take a picture & she counted that I had a total of 9 basses & guitars & told me that I needed to buy one more the make it an even 10! I told her the only other bass I would even consider would be a 5 string Alembic & she told me to get it! She even suggested ways we could finance the build. I highly recommend getting a Series bass if you can. I was happy with the sound of my SCSD, & still am, but the Series II Europa is so much better! It has more of everything that is great about the Alembic sound.
 
I will also say that I just bought a F-2B preamp, & it brought out the true sound of both of my Alembics. I can't even put into words how amazing the F-2B sounds! I thought I had a great amp with my Eden WT 800, but it sounds like I had pillows in front of my speakers compared to the F-2B! So, if you don't have the funds for a Series bass right now, get an Alembic preamp & your Epic will sound like a brand new bass!

[synapticgroove]

Right on guys!  Yeah, I've definitely been eyeing an F-2B, since it will probably be another year or so before I will have the funds to properly consider a Series bass.  Thank you for the suggestions!
 
One thing that kills me, is that Alembics are known to cut through the mix on the higher register, but this Epic has more bottom end than Grace Kelly in Rear Window.  I'm a multi-instrumentalist and spend a majority of my musical time tracking in the home studio.  However, the first time I jammed with a drummer, I actually had to turn the preamp down on this thing as it had a little too much thud for his bass drum!  That is a great problem to have!  
 
I can only imagine how much more tonally expressive an F-2B sounds, or a much higher end Alembic, like the Series I & II, SCSD, running into an F-2B!
 
What I've noticed, pretty much across the board, is that with musical gear, the better the craftsmanship, the better the clarity; the lower the manufacturing count, the higher the cost.  I could liquidate the Epic, a Moog, a mint vintage Space Echo and probably wind up with a nice used Series bass right now.  But, the non-impulsive side of me wants to wait and not liquidate the Epic and really savor the build up of working up into a much higher end Alembic.  
 
I'm only 35 and have played Alembic for the last (almost) two years.  I'm not quite sure I'm ready for a Series yet! haha