Unbelievable! The quilt is absolutely killer. Once it gets the extra oomph from the amber part of the 3-tone burst finish it will be deadly...
Hey, Danno -- screw Nikki Sixx. This bass in a tribute to Thunderfingers - the late and great John Entwistle.
When I first realized how amazing JE was and fell in love with his playing he was using a Thunderbird, and when I first saw them live that's what he played. My all-time favorite rock bass album is Quadrophenia, and JE used a T-Bird there, too. Most Alembicians who are Entwistle fans think of JE with one of his Spyders, but for me JE and T-Birds are forever linked. So, my first dream bass was a T-Bird...and then in 1974 I fell in love with Alembics. When JE started playing Alembics in '75 it was perfect!
The Alembird is my tribute to John Entwistle, and it's also an homage to the Thunderbird, which is (still) my favorite non-Alembic bass. I wanted to capture some of the unique tonal qualities of the T-Bird, along with the body shape, which is why we used a mahagony neck and the T-Bird's odd pickup placement. The quilt top is really just a veneer (for the pimp factor) that won't affect the tone. It's a five string because I don't play 4 much anymore.
If you want to get an Alembird as a tribute to Nikki Sixx, that's cool. May I suggest killer quilt and a see-through black finish?
