Inlay's on a Series One Question

[ryord]

I just had a local luthier here in Kansas city replace the Ovals in my Series One Bass with Abalone it looks great. I bought it new from a local dealer in 1986. I noticed some years ago that the inlays where coming loose, on further inspection I noticed that the where not mother of pearl but a cheap imitation. I called alembic at the time and they where questioning me as to weather this was indeed a series one bass, I told them that it was. My question is why would alembic on such a fine instrument put cheap oval inlays in this particular bass. Is it possible that the music store ordered it like that.

[hammer]

Alembic does do custom basses so I guess it is possible that the store from which you purchased your bass ordered plastic but I find that very hard to believe. The people at Alembic take an exceptional amount of pride in their work and I can't believe that either Susan or Mica would want a Series I out there with plastic inlays.

[jazzyvee]

I know it's not a series bass but when I had a local luthier put an inlay into the 12th fret on my europa he told me that he was surprised to discover that it was a plastic inlay.  
 
jazzyvee

[terryc]

I think they all are..I think you have to state what type you want when you order

[jazzyvee]

Ryord, welcom to the forum, I just took a look at the  quote generator to see what the current situation is regarding the ovals. It looks like all have Mother of pearl by default these days except the Rogue and Essence. So maybe, like Terry indicates the earlier models had MOP as an option.  
http://www.alembic.com/cgi-bin/quote/quote
Any chance of you posting a photo of your bass on the forum. It's always good to see what alembics new members have.  
 
Jazzyvee

[ryord]

 
Here it is, 1985 Series one. What a great instrument.

[jazzyvee]

They are great instruments I got my first series bass only last year and it is very rewarding to play. Thanks for sharing the picture. :-)
 
Jazzyvee

[mica]

Series I and II basses and guitars have never had plastic ovals as the default inlays. I suppose one could have custom ordered such a thing in the 1980s. I guess someone could have installed them in error.  
 
The pearloid ovals first appeared on the Spoiler basses, as one of the ways to reduce the cost. The original material was ground up mother of pearl in epoxy and was pretty nice looking for the cost savings. Later, the supplier changed the material (without notice of course!) and it aged quickly, went totally clear and you could see the glue underneath.  
 
Later we changed to all mother of pearl or abalone inlay materials since none of the models were made to be economy styles. The lower priced ones in our line now simply have no inlays as the default.  
 
Glad you're enjoying your bass!

[hydrargyrum]

Wow,
 
I was fairly certain that my Orion and Skylark had Mother of Plastic inlays.  I guess they were fancier than I knew.
 
Kevin

[terryc]

hydragyrum..quicksilver eh??.. Just was reading Hunter's 'The Diseases of Occupations' when I came across mercury poisoning.
About AD50 Pliny called mercury hydragyrum, hence the symbol Hg.

[hydrargyrum]

That's correct.  My background is in chemistry, and I encounter a fair amount of mercury in my work.  It seemed fitting given Alembic's alchemical associations.

[terryc]

Hope to take all the precautions, as you know it is a neural poison

[hydrargyrum]

I spend most of my time at a desk now, but when I was cleaning up mercury spills I would wear an air purifying respirator. I get yearly physicals and blood work to test for exposure for mercury (and a variety of other heavy metals).  Elemental mercury is really only a threat if exposure occurs over a long time period (it doesn't absorb very well through skin, but the vapor can be inhaled).  Mercury salts or organomercurial compounds are the really dangerous compounds (and I occasionally work with those as well).

[wideload]

On the plus side, you can always tell the temperature by his complexion!