Author Topic: Planning my alembic purchase (Read 514 times)

tom_z · « **on:** July 13, 2004, 01:00:27 PM »

Hello all -
I'm preparing to purchase my first Alembic - a Skylark with a few custom touches. I'd appreciate any words of advice on the following issues.

I'm considering a 25.5 scale length rather than the standard 24.75. Since I cannot actually play Skylarks with different scale lengths, I was wondering if any of you have one with a 25.5 and what you think. I'm interested in a top that is on the orange or red side and am considering some different wood and/or finish options.

Also, I live in Las Vegas and the only dealer within several hundred miles is Ed Roman. I am aware of his reputation on these boards. I've been in his store and on a couple occasions have spoken with Ed at length. He was not the ogre that he's often made out to be (at least not in person . . . so far), though he did try to steer me in the direction of one of his Quicksilver guitars. To be fair, he also handed me a Rick Turner Model 1, and a Tribute (the only Alembic guitar he had in the store). I also spoke to a sales guy there who quoted me what seemed to be a pretty fair price on a Skylark. Have any of you ever bought an Alembic from Ed Roman? Any thoughts?

After speaking with Mica yesterday, I have decided to work out all of the details of the order with Alembic first, and then find a dealer. Since Ed Roman is in town, I thought I'd begin there.

Thanks for any feedback.
Tom

kmh364 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 13, 2004, 03:42:05 PM »

Tom,

While I can't answer for Skylark owners, (club members like Hollis, Glocke, 1stbass, etc.), I can comment as to scale length. Remember, these are highly subjective comments and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of others.

I am a long-time Fender Stratocaster player (I also have two Charvel/Jacksons of the same 25.5 scale length) and a Gibson Les Paul player. You must be a Fender player to pick 25.5 vs. Gibson's 24.75. It all depends on feel and taste. The shorter scale length offers reduced string tension, shorter reach from fret-to-fret and sweet-sounding highs. It also means somewhat muddy bass and chord voicings and less room to move for those with big hands. The longer scale offers more distinct bass, highs and chords with more room to move around, but is less sweet sounding and offers higher string tension. Of course variables like construction (neck-through, set-neck or bolt-on, neck/body shape, etc.), body/neck/fingerboards, pick-up type/construction/materials, etc. also have an effect on the tone/playability.

I have found that despite all the variables I just mentioned, the scale length (to me) has the greatest effect on tone and playability. For example, I play with std. nickel roundwound .009's on my 24.75 scale guitars, but can play with .010's on my 25.5 scale with the approx. the same string tension. The heavier gauge of strings you can stand to play, the better (fuller) your tone will be. In addition, regardless of wood, construction, pick-ups, etc., the longer scale instruments have that inherent Strat sound, while the shorter scale instruments have that LP sound that shines through no matter what.

OK, that's my $0.02 FWIW. Skylark Alembicians, now's your chance to chime in, LOL!

BTW, do yourself a favor and go with a better dealer like Steve Frank at Superbass.net or Gard or Beaver Felton over at Bass Central. You'll be rewarded with awesome customer service and great pricing. You won't be sorry. I can't say the same about Mr. Roman, LOL!

hollis · « **Reply #2 on:** July 13, 2004, 04:00:22 PM »

Hi Tom,

First off; Welcome to the club! I?m certain that you?ll get many good insights here.

I have a Vintage Wineburst Skylark with 25.5 scale length. It is a pleasure to play. From the 1st position all the way up to the 24th fret it is smooth as silk. It?s set up for .10?s on the high side.

I think that the Tribute has the same scale length and a set neck, so playing that will give you a fairly good representation of the feel.

My Skylark has abalone ovals, and they are stunning. Alembic?s inlay work is without equal. If you close your eyes, you cannot tell where the fret board begins and the inlay ends. It is sooooo smooth. I also had a brass back plate and battery cover added?. I don?t know, just something about having plastic on the back side of an Alembic that just didn?t feel right. And I added a Hipshot d-tuner just for that little extra umph at the low end.

I just want to mention one other thing about the fret board, it has opened up a whole other level of my own abilities.

I?m not sure if you have sales tax in Nevada, but if you do, you would save that by purchasing through an ?out of state? shop?.. It?s just a thought.

I can?t begin to say enough good things about this instrument. It?s the most responsive guitar I?ve ever owned in the 40 plus years I?ve been playing?.

I hope this helps you a little.

Enjoy

(Message edited by hollis on July 13, 2004)

kmh364 · « **Reply #3 on:** July 14, 2004, 05:42:05 AM »

Hollis:

Did you or can you post pix of your beauty for the rest of the drooling Alembic collective? Inquiring minds wanna know, LOL! What's that they say about a picture being worth a thousand words?

bracheen · « **Reply #4 on:** July 14, 2004, 09:13:48 AM »

Tom, not being a guitar player I have nothing significant to add to this discussion but it is always a pleasure to welcome a new member. Once you get your Skylark you'll be an Alembic junkie like the rest of us.

I don't know anything at all about Ed Roman but I can vouch for Bass Central. Great guys. I was just there this weekend testing their Alembic display.They didn't seem to mind as the guy I was with was picking up his new six string fretless Pedulla. Gard told me that about 80% of their sales are internet.
Good luck

Sam

hollis · « **Reply #5 on:** July 14, 2004, 10:59:22 AM »

Hi Kevin,
I have lots of pics, sadly, my computer went south some time back, and the one I use at work doesn't allow me to use it's cd drive... I do however have friends.... hmmmm... soon... soon. I'll try to get them posted ASAP.

In the meantime, you've probably already seen the pic that Paul TBO was kind enough to post from the stores website. But if not it's about halfway down the thread.
http://club.alembic.com/Images/397/7855.html?1076381256 The picture doesn't do it justice. But it'll give you some idea....

kmh364 · « **Reply #6 on:** July 14, 2004, 04:09:53 PM »

Hollis: Very nice. It's like that one on EBAY that sold, but yours has the paua shell inlays. I'm sure you're right: the pix never do Alembics justice.

(Message edited by kmh364 on July 15, 2004)

tom_z · « **Reply #7 on:** July 15, 2004, 12:11:00 PM »

Thanks for the suggestions, observations, and welcome. It's probably worth noting that my interest in the longer scale stems from the fact that I most often play a Martin dreadnought and I thought that the slightly greater string tension might be closer in feel to my acoustic. The Martin has a 25.4 scale length with 20 frets. I realize this is a bit like comparing apples with peaches. Though I've owned a slew of guitars, mostly acoustic, you're correct Kevin, that I like the feel of Fender guitars - used to own an old Tele. I currently own a 1965 Guild S-50 (one of their first solid-bodies) with a 24.75 scale - it's comfortable enough but it's tonal range is severely limited.

I have dreamed of owning an Alembic since I played one about 23 years ago when I worked at Modular Sound Systems (the makers of Bag End speakers) in Barrington, Illinois. I don't remember what model I played, but it was the most comfortable, responsive, buttery guitar I've ever played. I can't wait to spec one out and place my order. I'm currently waiting for Mica to email a list of available options. I was not aware that the backplates are plastic and like Hollis, I would consider upgrading, perhaps even to a continuous wood backlplate. I also think it might look nice to have the peghead faced with a veneer that matches the top. I really love the body shape of the Skylark and look forward to getting my mitts on one.

I also appreciate the dealer recommendations. There is a 7.5% sales tax in Nevada and Ed Roman may have to go some distance to beat the over-all price of an out-of-state dealer. In terms of customer service, won't I be dealing primarily with Alembic? Roman does seem to have some very competent staff members that will be able to assist with any details after delivery.

kmh364 · « **Reply #8 on:** July 15, 2004, 12:37:23 PM »

Tom,

I can commiserate: I played acoustic primarily before trying an electric. I had my first Strat strung with roundwound .012's with a wound G in order to simulate what I was used to with those phosphor bronze lights over twenty-two years ago. As I got older and I wanted to bend more, I progressively went to lighter strings....as mentioned above. I still love my old Guild acoustics, a D-15M 6-str. and a D-212 Black 12-str. that I both bought new.

As far as uprading specs. go, you might want to consider a more expensive base model, and then have Alembic use the Skylark body. It all depends on how far you wanna go with the options (read:$$$, LOL!). It may work out that you can go with a much more expensive base model which has all/most of the features you want standard, versus starting with a less expensive model and optioning it up to high heaven (ask me how I know this, LOL!). The danger with this site is that there are so many options available (including ones you never thought of), that the more you see, the more you'll want (ask me how I know that one, LOL!). Good luck..it's capital fun having one made to your exact specs.

Go with whatever dealer gives you a level of comfort. If necessary, Alembic will always try their best to make something right, but your baby will in all likelihood have to be shipped back to them if it can't be addressed locally. I liked the customer service over at Superbass.net...if Steve Frank can't make it right, Alembic has his back. I got a KILLER price and the service has just been awesome so far.

hollis · « **Reply #9 on:** July 16, 2004, 02:04:20 PM »

I play acoustic and electric about 50/50. I play Martin, Guild, Alverez Yari, and Taylor acoustic guitars. If you like the neck on your Martin, you'll love the 25.50 on the Skylark. I use 12's on all my acoustics. I use 10's on my Travis Bean, Heritage and Les Paul. I use .009's on my Paul Reed Smith.

These days, I find myself playing the Taylor and the Skylark the lion's share of the time.

I'm not sure if the abalone inlays in my Skylark are the same as the paua inlays..... it's my understanding that the paua shell is somewhat more highly colored than the abalone inlay..... And yes, I know that paua shell means abalone, however, in this case I think that Alembic's paua shell is not the same as their abalone inlay.... Mica? Valentino? Susan? Anybody?

kmh364 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 16, 2004, 03:05:11 PM »

There's many different types of abalone...this according to Stewart-MacDonald (fine lutherie supplies). They offer: green abalone (darker green coloration with minimum pale areas and some grain ripple); red abalone (medium dark coloration that's mostly red with green highlights), red abalone heart (more red with a fine burl or birdseye grain), paua abalone (the most colorful, with purples, intense greens and blues). They also offer AbaLam which is a patchwork of thin, epoxied layers of various abalone shell.

Paua is what Alembic tends to use in their logo w/shell (like the one on my Orion bass) and in a lot of their fingerboard inlays (i.e., abalone ovals). I imagine, as in everything else they do, Alembic tries to find the best match of inlay materials to the instrument theme. They also aren't afraid to try new materials: just ck out the Factory To Customer thread. For example, instead of the Golden Mother Of Pearl oval inlays I spec'd on my bass, in order to continue the golden theme, Susan substituted golden agoya shell because it is a more intense gold and doesn't fade as easily (GMOP tends to look like yellowed-with-age MOP and fades over time).

Did I clarify or muddy the water? LOL!

kmh364 · « **Reply #11 on:** July 16, 2004, 03:14:15 PM »

I also have paua abalone shell inlays on my Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Elegant (think Les Paul Standard w/a AAA maple flame top, ebony board, custom sunburst color, sound-chambered/lightened mahogany back, abalone trapezoid FB inlays, no pickguard, chrome PAF's, etc.). Because of their size and intense colors, they shimmer and appear 3-D as you view from different angles (Likewise for the flame top). Because of this, I was very tempted to go with abalone ovals on my Custom Orion, but all the gold convinced me to go GMOP (eventually agoya shell).

hollis · « **Reply #12 on:** July 16, 2004, 03:31:15 PM »

I'm not sure...... but it sure is pretty whatever it's called.

Thanks for the info Kevin.

I subscribe to Stewart-MacDonalds as well. It's always a happy day when it shows up in my mailbox.

I'm just referring to the abalone ovals addition on the price list. If that's paua shell, great! I just thought that paua was an itsy bitsy more money.... If not.... very cool.

Whatever is on my fretboard is very very nice.

Valentino called it abalone on my guitar's spec sheet. If it is indeed paua shell, and that is the same price as abalone ovals..... then I consider this one of the many new things that I've learned today.

I just didn't want Tom to order something other than what he is expecting it to be.

The water is still a little mirky... but that's as close to normal as it usually gets for me! LOL

BTW Kevin, your Orion Custom is about as nice as they come. I love the logo! The whole bass is another Alembic masterpiece!

Enjoy

(Message edited by hollis on July 16, 2004)

kmh364 · « **Reply #13 on:** July 16, 2004, 05:34:51 PM »

Thanks, Hollis. Yep, abalone (paua) is the same price as GMOP. I hope I made the right choice...I loved the Almost Twins and their abalone ovals, but I wanted to keep the gold motif going. I'll let you know when I get it.

hollis · « **Reply #14 on:** July 16, 2004, 06:37:28 PM »

If the rest of it is any indication, you've got nothing to worry about. Have a good weekend.