Pierre-Yves' African Blackwood Custom Series II

[tubeperson]

I think Edwin really wanted to tell you he was going to drive up to the factory and kidnap the bass.  That is how gorgeous it is!  Who could blame him?   Can't say I'm not tempted, thank the Lord I am on the east coast.  I wanted to put a smiley face here but can't find them to insert.  Any helpers out there?

[pierreyves]

What kind of madness I can read here !!LOL !!!
I give you this one, please copy/paste  

[pierreyves]

whats happend now ?? No answer to my mails, I don't know if the bass is in the plane or not, I will start for hollydays on friday...  I see now a new error very unsightly and quite serious in my opinion: we see the mechanism of the machineheads because the holes were not centered. I saw immediately that the holes were badly done, I did not think to say it because I thought it would not see too much. Now I have all the pictures I realize that it is visible.  What do you suggest? Have you machineheads where we do not see that the mechanism (Shaller). For which reason the holes are not they placed correctly??  

[cozmik_cowboy]

I think this might be camera angle, Pierre-Yves; none of these shots are straight-on.  Notice, for example, that in the finished front shot, you can see the left side, but on the right you only see the bevel.  The same is true, to a lesser extent, on the back shot, and in the opposite direction in the unfinished shot.  The variation in perspective not only changes what you see, but throws your photoshop boxes off as well.  I think I'm right on this; I truely hope I am - she's just too damn pretty!  Hope you have her safe & happy in hand soon.
 
Peter

[deburgh]

What a beauty!  I think I would agree with Peter, if you look at the angle of the strings coming off the nut, they look perfectly symmetrical. Either way, you're got something special with this one! Enjoy

[pierreyves]

ok please could you stop with this story of photo angle ? THANKS   The back view is straight on and the red circle show clearly what I mean, even the last picture

[toma_hawk01]

Chaos, rumors, hype, and theories!
 
A true makings of a reality show spectacle.
 
Nothing to see here... move on...
 
In the end, I am sure there will be a beautiful happy ending.  
 
I have much faith here...
 
Peace and Love,
 
Hal-

[FC Bass]

Pierreyves observations are 100% correct ;-)
 
I can find some of this neat little flaw details on all my Alembics.
To me it shows these instruments are made by hand and not fabricated in a mass production line.
None of the flaws on my Alembics bother me at all, the playing area has always been perfect on any Alembic I laid my hands on.  
To me that's what really matters.
To find those flaws in most cases, you really have to look hard. Once you've found them, they will seem to be more pronounced.  
I think it depends from person to person how much this affects the level of joy you get from your purchase.
This wouldn't bother me, because it's only visible if you see the instrument straight on and when it?s completely standing/hanging still.  
As I write, I'm looking at five Alembics hanging on the wall. None of them meet the above criteria (I'm not seeing them exactly straight on)
But that's just my opinion
 
Bass looks awesome, congrats!
I really hope you can see the beauty of the complete picture (the instrument) and enjoy it for at least a 100 years  
(I'm not being realistic on that last part, but I can hope what I want)  :-)
 
If not, I hope the replacement will be perfect and won't take too much time (they've showed amazing swiftness capabilities with Hal's Toma_Hawk)
There's a lot of $$$ involved, so you have the right to be picky
Either way I hope you will end up happy! :-)  
 
Btw: Blackened also had some flaws (which I have learned to love) Mica was extremely nice and fast to get things solved.  
(though I'm still waiting for a certain package, Mica?) ;-)
For instance: They must have mixed up our neck finish request? I got the Satin finish, though I was assured (also in the ftc) it would be glossy.
I was a bit shocked and disappointed when I first held her, but love it (the satin neck) now.  
When I look at the Satin neck I smile and think of the extremely nice people (especially Mica) that worked hard to make my dreambass reality.
Most important: when I play it feels great!
 
I keep the other flaws for myself.  
Maybe we can start a quiz in the miscellaneous section: find the tiny flaw in my Alembic
Bring on yer non centred tailpieces, crooked tuners etc.  
 
(Message edited by fc_spoiler on May 17, 2011)

[mario_farufyno]

My bet is that at E string's pole was moved outside to doesn't bend that string too much towards the center. The A string's just followed it and may be this explain why they are clearly moved outside (no angle could justify such un-alignment)... But this just doesn't explain why not assume the same at treble side (note how G string is angled towards center).
 
As far as I see by picture, it should be better to keep A and D poles closer to center, maintaining strings less angled (as in D string), and move E and G poles outside to keep the strings more straight (as in E string).
 
May Alembic could think about change their templates...

[mario_farufyno]

Couldn't express my self better than Flip did

[pierreyves]

sorry double post, discus error
 
(Message edited by pierreyves on May 17, 2011)

[pierreyves]

thank you for your testimony fc-spoiler. It is true that I am not in the same state of mind because I think that the defects identified are inattention, and personally I would know how the holes correctly placed.
 It is also true that one must have a look of experienced photographer as I am to find these defects and it is true that beauty is not too comprehensive affected.
 It is also true that I have not found these defects in other low ... but I'm more attentive considering the price paid.
 Getting back to some comments that I will not, if the bass was in my hands, these posts would not exist.
(google translate)
It might be the angle or the lenses or whatever else. Although the machine heads wrong position won?t affect the instrument I am just completely speechless that such mistakes can happen on an instrument I paid more than $17,000 (one year before delivery). This goes on top of other mistakes, communication issues. I am not even questioning the value I am investing for this instrument as I was aware of it from day one. But, the way the whole procedure is being handled is simple way out of what someone could expect.
Too bad. (friend translate)

[toma_hawk01]

P,
 
Here's something to cheer you up Brother...
 

 
This simple mistake is now worth 2.7 Million dollars.
 
Clearly, perfection is not all it's cracked up to be...
 
Peace and Love,
 
Hal-

[pierreyves]

Here is an abstract of some conversion I had with Susan few minutes ago:
 
I am delighted to have this magical bass (despite some flaws): I will now go on holiday look at what I can photograph in the wild: flowers, insects, frogs, lizards, snakes, vipers and landscapes. I'm going to Croatia is a beautiful country in Europe which unfortunately keeps track of the Balkan's war in 1991.
 
here is the page I did on my trip last year in Croatia:
 
http://www.batraciens-reptiles.com/trentin_croatie_batraciens_reptiles.htm

[pace]

Pierre,  
 
you only requested that the tailpiece be centered in your work order... you made no mention of the tuning pegs!