Alembirds!

[Steve Wood (s_wood)]

For the last year or so, I'ven been talking to Susan & Mica about my own tribute to my musical hero Jon Entwistle. He's basically the guy who taught me that there's more to bass playing than roots on one.  
 
John Entwistle did a lot of his best work on Gibson Thunderbirds, which he played from '72 through late '74. (Who's Next and Quadrophenia were recorded with T-Birds.) Of course, The Ox switched to Alembics in late '74 or so, starting with Who By Numbers.  I love Alembics and Thunderbirds, and I own some of each.  
 
Why choose between the two? Why not get Alembic to make me some Alembirds?  T-Bird body style and pickup placement, mahagony body and all-mahagony neck (used on T-Birds and crucial for their unique tone), but with Alembic electronics, hardware and construction quality -- and a veneer of killer quilted maple for the pimp factor!
 
One of my '64 T-Birds is on its way today to Alembic for researh purposes.  
 
I'll keep the group posted on the Great Alembird Project!  

[Jonathan Johnstone (stoney)]

Hey Steve,
Great idea! I've always like the Thunderbird reverse body shape..it's a littl easier to manage (and transport) than the Exploiter.  Bet Alembic would have a lot of fun accenting that shape too.
 
Stoney

[Steve Wood (s_wood)]

Here's the latest on my Alembird project.
 
Late last month, I shipped one of my '64 Gibson Thunderbird IV's to Alembic so that they could study it and begin to figure out how to build an Alembic with the body shape and some of the tonal characteristics of a T-Bird.  Last week, Mica and I had a LONG telephone conversation in which she basically asked me about every small detail of the T-Bird's construction so that we could figure out what to replicate, what to improve upon, and what to design anew.
 
Decided so far: the body will be mahagony (like the T-Bird's) in the shape of a T-Bird.  The neck will be a 5 piece, but made completely of mahagony (like the T-Birds). We'll use a small headstock, probably the Europa style, because the original T-Bird is extremely neck heavy. The heel on the neck will be made as small as possible so as to improve playability.  The bass will have a crushed abalone oval fingerboard markers and a 5A quilt top for the pimp factor, but the top will only be 1/8 thick so as to not affect the tone.  
 
Still be be determined:  the number of pickups (2 or 3), the pickup model and the tone controls.  Mica recommended doing this after the neck of the bass was built, so that they can experiment freely. We will place the pickups in the same location used by the T-Bird, as this is critical to the T-Bird's tone  
 
The goal here is to build something that looks like a T-Bird, with Alembic's typical quality. As Susan said, it will sound like a cross between a T-Bird and an Alembic...like a T-Bird with clarity!
 
I'll keep everyone posted.  

[Jonathan Johnstone (stoney)]

Hey, maybe Mica or Susan can answer this.  Looks like all those old T-birds were neck-through designs.  How did John get the Fender necks on them???
 
Stoney

[Steve Wood (s_wood)]

John:
 
Entwistle's Fenderbirds were made with Fender P-Bass necks attached to custom-built bodies.  The only parts on those basses taken from original  
T-Birds were the pickups, electronics and bridges.
 
The original reverse body T-Birds made from '63 until early '65 were neck-throughs.  The non- reverse T-Birds made from '65 through '67 were set necks.  The '76 T-Birds and the ones currently in production are neck-throughs.
 

[Jonathan Johnstone (stoney)]

Thanks, very interesting.
 
stoney