After a year of dreaming of having an Alembic bass built for me while my son?s Further was under construction, the process has finally started. It was just too much for me to take watching him enjoy his guitar without having a new bass of my own. Lots of thinking took place before I made the decision to go with one of the more traditional shapes and medium scale build. I considered the SC, Darling, and Balance K bodies. Though there are aspects of all of the Alembic body shapes that I appreciate, I do like the traditional look and I?m not a fan of long upper horns. The bass is therefore going to be a ? size Signature Deluxe with a Standard Omega Heart body (think Featured Custom Heart in Sonoma body type). The neck will be a maple/purpleheart sandwich with a central ebony laminate with side LEDS of course. The core is going to be the traditional mahogany, and the top and back walnut. Since my current Distillate is already walnut, I needed to make something about this bass special so after consulting with Mica and Susan decided to go with Superb Crotch Walnut. I was a bit hesitant about not getting the look I wanted and tried to describe exactly what I desired. True to form, however, the good people from Alembic came up with something that far exceeded my expectations and wildest dreams (see pics). Mica referred to the piece as having ?high degree of crotchiness.?
The most difficult decision to make was whether to go with the continuous wood (which I really wanted) or brass backplates. Susan did her best to convince me that the wood was the way to go and though I love the look, attempting to stay within my budget was the challenge. After a lot of indecision and trying to sell (unsuccessfully so far) an expensive time trial/triathlon bike to help finance this aspect of the build (any small triathletes out there looking for a barely used bike) I ended up deciding on the brass. I guess it all came down to form versus function as I would have needed to give up either the ebony laminate or the side LEDs to pull off the wood backplates and I just couldn?t give up sound and functionality for an enhanced ?coolness.? I realize that I?m probably talking about adding a pound to the bass this way but trade-offs sometimes have to be made. The only other additions I?ve decided to include are 3-way Q switches and a FATBOY pick-up for the bridge. Construction has just started and I?m already anxious to get my hands on it even though I know it?s going to be months before she?s in my hands. (Message edited by davehouck on August 17, 2012)
