Author Topic: A Very Rare Discovery! (Read 307 times)

rustyg61 · « **on:** July 07, 2014, 01:26:48 PM »

Last week I was on vacation in California starting at The Mothership, then driving up the Pacific Coast Hiway seeing sights along the way. We made a stop in Carmel By The Sea & I saw on the map that there was a vintage guitar store in town, so I decided to stop in & see what they had. To my great surprise they have a custom Alembic guitar that was built for Dickey Betts of The Allman Brothers! The guitar was built around '73/74, but I couldn't find a serial number, so it may have been a one of a kind custom hand made by Rick Turner that had no serial number. Mica can probably shed more light on the origins, but they did have a letter from Rick Turner talking about the build & in it he says there would be no record at Alembic of this guitar. on the same letter there is a hand written note from Dickey Betts telling how he got the guitar & what he did with it. The binding around the guitar is all brass & the headstock doesn't look like any Alembic I've ever seen, but it does have the Alembic logo. It is a Series I guitar & the owner of the shop said he has the DS5 & cable & that everything works on it. Currently the guitar is not for sale, but he said if he did ever sell it he would ask around $30K. The shop is Rumble Seat Music in Carmel. Their number is 831-293-8299 if you want to call & ask about the guitar. They have a nice selection of guitars & basses, so I recommend checking them out if you are ever in Carmel.

David Houck · « **Reply #1 on:** July 07, 2014, 02:51:02 PM »

Great that you got to see this guitar in person; and great pics too!

Roger posted a couple of threads on this guitar a few years ago; here and here.

hammer · « **Reply #2 on:** July 07, 2014, 03:04:44 PM »

Thanks for the history lesson. Very interesting story.

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #3 on:** July 07, 2014, 03:19:55 PM »

The 2nd pic in the 1st thread Dave links is in Gregg's autobiography (Dickie showing me his Alembic guitar); nice to see more of it! (An Alembic with the TRC on the headstock! I wonder how few of those there are.)

Peter

(Message edited by coZmik_cowboy on July 07, 2014)

pauldo · « **Reply #4 on:** July 07, 2014, 03:47:24 PM »

Awesome find Rusty!
Thanks for sharing the pics and info.
She is a beauty.

jazzyvee · « **Reply #5 on:** July 07, 2014, 03:59:32 PM »

Great looking guitar, something I'd imagine Bill tgo would like the look of too. Did you get a chance to plug and play?
That mushroom on the back of the headstock looks familiar for some reason. I must have seen it on another guitar or logo.

David Houck · « **Reply #6 on:** July 07, 2014, 04:03:12 PM »

The mushroom is an Allman Brothers logo.

rustyg61 · « **Reply #7 on:** July 07, 2014, 05:17:31 PM »

Thanks for the links Dave. I figured there was probably something on here about the guitar, but at least we know who the current owner is now & where it can be seen if anyone happens to be in Carmel.

rustyg61 · « **Reply #8 on:** July 07, 2014, 05:20:02 PM »

Jazzyvee, I did not plug the guitar in, but I did play it a little. The action was a little high by Alembic standards, but it played very well!

rustyg61 · « **Reply #9 on:** July 07, 2014, 05:25:30 PM »

Correction on the binding, I was told by the shop owner that it was brass, but according to Roger it is sterling silver. The finish has yellowed so it looks like brass now.

dead_head · « **Reply #10 on:** July 07, 2014, 08:28:04 PM »

That's beautiful, Rusty. Thanks for sharing the pics and the story. Very interesting.

edwin · « **Reply #11 on:** July 11, 2014, 09:58:51 PM »

Looks good on you, Rusty. I say you go back and snap it up. You don't have to tell the wife, it will be our secret.

rustyg61 · « **Reply #12 on:** July 11, 2014, 10:16:50 PM »

Thanks Edwin, but my wife was nice enough to let me have a custom Europa being built now, so I'm not going to push my luck!

oddmetersam · « **Reply #13 on:** July 12, 2014, 12:57:48 AM »

Rusty, thanks for this cool thread! Man, that guitar looks REALLY good on you. Next time I'm in Carmel for the Pebble Beach Concours I'll make it a point to swing by, myself...

rustyg61 · « **Reply #14 on:** July 12, 2014, 01:18:17 PM »

Glad you liked it Sam!