Woods for my new Hybrid Essence "Brown Bass"

[the_lad]

I just put in an order with Valentino for a new hybrid Essence with a Brown Bass style body & headstock. I am having second thoughts about using the more common Walnut facings and mahogany body combo. Using the no upcharge option wood choices, I'm thinking of perhaps a Vermillion facing with a California walnut body or a walnut facing with a vermillion body. My concern is two things: sonic qualities & weight issues. How do all 3 of the above mentioned combos compare vs. each other sonically & weight wise? Could anyone with extensive knowledge on woods advise me on this before Alembic cuts any wood for my new bass in Jan? I really appreciate any wise advice. Cheers,
            The Lad
            Robes
P.S. I know there are other no upcharge woods to choose from like lacewood ,maple, bocate,zebrawood, but these are lighter color woods , and I prefer the deeper color variety.

[flaxattack]

think about how you like your sound. thats the first step-
from my brief experience
vermillion has a more warm tone to it and the walnut lam will give you a little more punch. consider an ash core? ash is good for middle range. mica and val are very knowledgeable on these questions- also keep in mind that over time the vermillion will turn color to a more brownish hue.
 you will have a fair anount of time to decide. it took me a while to get mine figured out and i made major changes- you can see mine in ftc -the direwolf custom
i chose an ash core- walnut and maple lams and cocobolo tops- hopefully  its going to give me the sound i like- fat rumbly bottom, warm mids and clean highs

[the_lad]

Food for thought, flaxattack. thank you very much my friend. I appreciate you taking out the time on the eve of the new year just to help a fellow bassist that loves Alembics as well. I wish you all the happiness, health, wealth....and lots of Alembic toys to play with yet to come! Cheers,
            The Lad
             Robes

[bsee]

If you're sticking with the Essence body shape and just playing with the woods, it's not likely to be too heavy no matter what you do.  The Essence is a pretty small body.  That said, I played a small standard bass (the shape of the Brown Bass) made of solid vermillion and it was pretty heavy.
 
Among your choices, bocate can appraoch walnut in color.  Wenge and Bubinga are a couple other dark wood choices that are on the Alembic wood samples page as 'standard woods'.
 
As far as sonic properties, you didn't describe what you're looking for, so we can't help you much.
 
One other thing is that any change to the core wood is an upcharge.  The money is generally not large, $100-300 for most, $500 for flame maple.  I want to make sure you're aware of this since you say you wanted to do this with standard woods.
 
Additionally, I have a 1990 Persuader that is flame walnut over mahogany with purpleheart neck laminates.  It sounds great to me for blues/jazz/etc, but it doesn't have the treble response of some other woods.  Of course, my bass doesn't have a laminate between the core and top.  Today's Alembics would have a slice of maple in there that might tighten up the top end.
 
-Bob

[the_lad]

Bob,
    That was truly enligthning what you shared about the woods on the Alembics you've played. This has helped me very much. I may stick with the mahogany body & walnut top since the laminate is maple & should help the top end a bit more than without it. You all have been kind & helpful. I thank you very much! All the best in this new year! Take care , Bob. Cheers,
                                  Robes

[bsee]

Robes-
 
If there's one important piece of advice in the whole lot, it's that you should form some concept of what tone you want and ask the pros.  I am not them.  I can only give you one man's opinion from a limited experience with a few instruments.  
 
One thing that has messed me up so badly in ordering a bass for myself is that this is a once-in-a-lifetime purchase.  I am not a multi-millionaire that can throw $10K at another new bass if I get this one wrong.  If I order a second bass, I want it to be a four to accompany the five, not a replacement because I screwed up on the specs.  There's a lot of stress in placing the order, and then in waiting to see if the order was right.  I assume this is the case for many of us, and I think I understand your indecision.
 
Fortunately, Alembic has been extraordinarily understanding of this need to work with us as much as we need to make sure we get what we are seeking, and to be flexible on spec adjustments when possible.  All we can do is to make our best guess, and then to be at peace with the results.  May we all guess right!

[the_lad]

bsee,
    Well said and well received my friend. I made a mistake with my first Alembic order which can be viewed at March, 2001 Heart's Desire custom of the month (gorgeous, but not practical for me). I chose long scale on a classis short horned body which unless you have really long arms like Stanley Clarke , the first position will (almost did) lead to carpal tunnel syndrome. Also, I lowered the bass pickup to close to the bridge pickup which made the bass lacking in enough bass response for my taste. And finally, with the heavily grained, super dense coco-bolo for the facings, my bass was way too heavy for my taste & shoulder comfort. I regretfully sold it within a few months after receiving it & losing money in the process. I am not repeating that mistake this time 'round. I have had other custom, high end basses since then; Fodera VW Monarch, Wal 5 string, Warwick Thumb 5 string, a used alembic Rogue 5 string. All are sold. I have a couple of '70's reissue Jazz basses, '64 reissue Ric 4001, '60's reissue Gretsch Broadkaster which I enjoy for what they give me. And now I'm back to desiring a custom bass for my arsenal & it is Alembic I've happily come full circle to once again. I've loved that small standard body style for some time now which is my fav Alembic body style. I don't have the $$$ for a soup to nuts version with series II or even the Brown Bass or Standard S.Clarke models. But thanks to Valentino, my dream of having the 70's small standard body & crown headstock with Essence electronics just fit my budget maximum limit. Thanks Valentino! As you can tell, I love retro looking instruments. Thanks again, bsee! Cheers,
Robes  

[dgcarbu]

Hi Robes,
 
Sounds like you've aquired some valuable experience with the whole process in the past.  Cool of you to share it here.  That's what makes this forum nice and unique.  Learning the do(s) and the don't(s) of our previous decisions help us improve upon the next go around.  You've pretty much done that.
 
Can't wait for the end result.  I know you'll post pics when the time comes.
 
Darrell

[the_lad]

Yeah Darrell, you're quite right, bro. I enjoy reading & sharing experiences with you all. I'm sure this next bass will work out much better for me for I've done my homework & I will be talking to Valentino tomorrow (Tues) morning to finalize all my new specs & ask all needed questions to lock in all info pertinent to start the building of my new Alembic baby. I will posr pics of her when she arrives in my arms this Spring. All the best, Darrell.
      Robes