Michael's Coco Bolo Series II

[tmimichael]

Thanks to everyone! It was a LONG haul, but worth every minute of it...she's as beautiful to listen to as she is to look at. Par for the course, everyone at the Mothership has gone above and beyond to create a stunning instrument.
To answer a couple of other questions:
Glad to hear you guys like the band name! We're a classic rock cover band in Colorado, so I suppose the band name is appropriate! We play tunes mostly from the 60's, 70's and a few from the 80's-90's. I've been with the band for just over 5 years.
The guitarist and drummer are husband/wife, and my wife does just about everything else with the band except play an instrument: Lighting, merchandise, and of course, lugging equipment. Being I'm a casuality of GAS, she has her work cut out for her!
My band mates were STUNNED at the Alembic...the sound is SO EVEN across the entire neck, that they can hear some things I have been playing all along that they couldn't hear before. Obviously, I'm still tweaking the sound...I go between fingerstyle and a pick, and I'm trying to figure out the best eq settings for both, and how to get to it quickly. Sometimes we go straight from one song to another, and I'll have to change to/from a pick and make the adjustments quickly.
Also, if any of you are looking for the BEST strap available, the MOODY'S 4 strap is it! As we all know, Alembic's are pretty heavy, and I played 3 gigs this weekend (2 of them were4 hrs. each), and had NO shoulder pain. That's why Alembic uses them, and while there are none available on the store website(and the Alembic logo on them is COOL), there are many retailers who carry the non-logo versions. Got mine through Ebay.
So thanks again to all for sharing my happiness and excitement! I appreciate all of you who love our instruments and I look forward to being a part of this community of friends.

[edwin]

Where in Colorado are you? I live in Boulder.
 
As far as pick to fingers go, I find that the biggest problem I have is not that I want to change settings, I want to change strings! I love the pick sound with flat wounds and for finger style and slap, DR Sunbeams are unbeatable. So, I have several sets of rotating strings depending on the gig. Kind of silly, but it works.

[edwin]

PS. Your wife must really love you. I had a Crest CA9 for a while and that thing is heavy!

[tmimichael]

Hi Edwin!
We're in the Springs. You can look us up on the web...
www.tmiband.com
I used Ken Smith Rockmasters for so many years...then I bought a Dingwall about 6 years ago, so they wouldn't fit. I sent Mica a set of the Smith's to use duing setup, and I'll stay with them from now on. I love a piano-string sound with a pick, and so the agressive sound they give works well.  
I'm a BIG Crest fan! In addition to my CA9, we use CA12's for the PA (even heavier!!), and we have an X 20R rack mount mixer as well. It's so clean and musical, that we rarely have the tone control circuits engaged.
Which Alembic(s) are you playing?

[edwin]

Yeah, I'm a Crest fan from way back. My first up close and personal experience was when my old band was opening for Phish at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester NY in 1991. I played through Mike's rig, which was a Crest 8001 powered double 18/double 10 set up. When I heard the board tape I was dismayed that no one heard a note I played. When I heard an audience recording, I realized that the bass sound ruled in that room! So, my band bought a 5001 and a couple others for our PA. Consequently, the rack in which they resided was known as Ma Bitch (pardon my French, but that thing was heavy!). We even wrote a song about it (opening lyric: Every time I see you, every time I see you, every time I see you I want to cry. Well, it was actually about a girl, but you get the idea).
 
I've had a couple of Alembics. My first was this one, now in the capable hands of Afrobeat_fool: http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/4748.html?1290533942.
 
I miss it, but apparently my body can't handle a long scale, as it caused massive neck, shoulder and arm problems.  So, last year I took delivery of: http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/4748.html?1290533942. I should post some pix with the lights on.
 
And finally, the bass that gets the most play and is sort of an honorary Alembic, with early 70s pickups and Series electronics: http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/107063.html?1320105861. I still have to install the filters, although I have to say it sounds amazing even without the filters. I'll hopefully be able to finish it all up in the next month.
 
Interesting that Trade Mark Infringement shares initials with another common phrase: Too Much Information!

[cje]

Just a quick semi-hijack to say Port Chester '91 was my first Phish show as well as my first Shockra show.  I was also at your Wetlands '93 shows and taped them.  I should try to dig 'em up!

[edwin]

Thanks for the link to TMI! Great playing and I really like the instrument head pix. It must be a pleasure to play with such a solid drummer!
 
So, how do you guys feel about copyright? :-)

[David Houck]

Great photo essay!  And gorgeous bass!!!

[tmimichael]

I've just seen so many cool photos of Alembics arriving at their new homes...I couldn't resist sharing the event with everyone! It was great that we had a full weekend booked so I got to play her all weekend with the band.

[bonesrad]

That is one stunning bass, enjoy it in good health.
 
I noticed something in the above picture of you playing.  It looks like you have all of your settings on the bass pegged at wide open.  Have you futzed around with backing off things a bit?  With my Europa 5 w/ Series I electronics, I find wide open too bright for my taste.  You might find it fun to back the neck pickup filter to around 30% and get that mid frequency growl.  Just a thought.
 
Have tons of fun with your beautiful bass.
 
Bones

[tmimichael]

Hey Bones,
Yeah I do have them opend up. It's interesting that this bass is MUCH fatter(PHATTER?)than I expected. It's not really super-bright like the ones I've played before (nor like Stanley's bass). It's very full and round, and using a pick about 50% of the time, having the tone controls wide open seems to work. When I go to fingerstyle, it sure does help backing off the tone control to get some mid-high attack.
But I am still playing with the controls, and I think it will only get better as I experiment.