Steve's "Alembird" Project

[s_wood]

Well, Alembic and fast don't belong in the same sentence, unless one is referring to the incredible playability of their necks.  
   
If I was in a big hurry for a new bass I would just buy some mass-produced thing made by a company with a big advertising budget that looked nice, sounded bad and played worse. (Insert name of famous high production bass maker here: ________).  Alembic builds wonderful stuff precisely because they are a small family-owned business that is obessively focused on the quality of what they make.  Remember what happened when Mike Tobias sold his company to Gibson?  Sure, their delivery times improved and they got a spiffy voice mail system that was specifically designed to end all human contact, but the basses sucked.    
   
It's true that Susan and Mica tend to be wildly optomistic when they guess about delivery time at the beginning of an order, but that's a function of the fact that Alembic's small size means that they have no reserve capacity.  If someone gets sick or has to deal with a crisis, or if Ron decides to spend a couple of weeks chasing his latest brilliant idea stuff gets delayed. I guess that there's some psychogeographic determinism at work, too - these guys do live in Northern California, after all.        
   
The Alembird has always been kind of a back burner project.  I told Susan and Mica that I wasn't in a hurry, and they know I have other Alembics to play.  When I placed the order I told Susan I wanted a quilt maple top that was so amazing it would be one of the best she had ever seen - so she spend 6 months or so looking for one and as you can see she damn sure found it!    
Then, after the bass was mostly through the finishing process Susan decided it wasn't what I wanted, so she decided to strip it down and start all over.  Bottom line:  in this project (and with all their stuff) Alembic chose getting it right over getting it done. Thank God for that!    
   
Maybe their web site ought to say Alembic: We Will Sell No Instrument Before Its Time.  
 
(Message edited by s_wood on March 09, 2005)
 
(Message edited by s_wood on March 11, 2005)

[mica]

This is an oldie, but I found it while organizing the last few month's photos:
 

 
James is just starting to fret the Alembird. I think this may be the first view of the old Rosewood fingerboard.

[gare]

Wow..this one is truely one of a kind. I too have been following this build. The peghead looks great with that body shape.
I seemed to have missed what electronics package will be in her. (or maybe it's just that I'm not fully awake)
It is sort of a cross between the T-Bird and Johns Fenderbirds isn't it.

[s_wood]

Gare:
 
Actually, the body was copied exactly using my '64 Thunderbird as a template. There are pictures of the Thunderbird at the beginning of this thread in the archives.  The peghead was based on Alembic's Elan peghead, turned upside down.  We wanted to use a smaller peghead and lightweight tuners to reduce the weight at the end of the neck because Thunderbirds are notoriously neck-heavy and therefore don't balance well. The electronics will be 2 Fat Boy pickups with 2 filters, 2 3 position Q switches, one volume and one pan control.  The pickups will be placed in the same positions that are used by the original T-Bird, and the neck and body is made completely out of mahagony (just like the original) except for the quilt maple veneer top.
 
   

[kevin_k]

Steve,
 
That's a beatiful bass.  I am also an admirer of THE VOODOO BASS...(I think it's yours.)  The neck looks alittle different to me.  If you don't mind my asking, is the neck a copy of your '64 Thunderbird too?  (I imagine it is not, since the Thunderbird is a 4 stringer??)  Is it something different.  I have been asking all sorts of people here on the club about neck widths.  I hope I am not imposing.  Thanks for any input.
 
Take care,
 
Kevin K

[s_wood]

Kevin:
 
The Voodoo bass is mine, but I bought it used so the neck dimension was not to my specs... I don't recall the exact measurements of that neck, but I do recall that it has much less taper between the nut and the 24th fret than is common today.  The neck dimensions of the Alembird are the same as on my other 5 strings. When I ordered my first Alembic 5 I had my dealer (Chuck Levin's Washington Music) ship a Tobias 5 with a neck I loved to Alembic.  They copied those dimensions perfectly - and then we made the neck thinner (the dimension between the surface of the fretboard and the back of the neck) as is my preference.  I'm kind of picky about neck dimensions, too, but I've come to realize that for me the thickness of the neck matters at least as much (and maybe more) as the width.
 
 

[kevin_k]

Thank you Steve.
 
That confirms my hunch that The Voodoo bass has less taper.  That's one of the great things about Alembic.  You can send them a bass and they'll match the specs. Thanks again for your input.    

[gare]

Thanks Steve..that is going to be a very cool instrument when done. The whole combo should sound great.  
'Thunderbirds are notoriously neck-heavy and therefore don't balance well.'  I remember trying one out in a shop, thought I was going to have to buy that baby when the neck got suicidal and headed for the floor.
Best of luck with the 'bird'
G

[mica]

Here's some updates for the color:  

 Upper "horn" - Bob wanted to preserve the quilted figure as much as possible, and elected to not quite go opaque on the edge.  

 From even a small distance, the edge starts to look darker.  

 The whole thing, so you can see the overall color and the how much smaller the reverse Elan peghead is.   Let us know if you like it. Top coats are waiting on your word.

[lbpesq]

Steve:
 
I was up at Alembic last week and saw your Alembird.   The pictures don't convey how truly and absolutely gorgeous it is (and this coming from a guy who generally dislikes sunburst finishes).  Your going to get a lot of compliments on this one.
 
Bill, tgo