It took awhile but I finally took delivery of my new Alembic Bass. She is a custom short scale. The body is what Mica calls the "Mac" bass design. I saw a '80 Alembic Graphite short scale bass with this body design at the 2011 Alembic Gathering and just fell in love with it. My bass has the same wood recipe as a Brown Bass, but I hand picked the burl walnut top (very trippy) and and flame walnut back. I also had the front book matched to center and had it set up with Anniversary electronics with a prep for a Series conversion which I hope to do later this year. Some of the other features include silver bound black Tahitian MOP oval fret inlays. The logo has the black MOP in the cloud and a psychedelic abalone behind the logo. What I love about this Alembic logo is the black MOP cloud had a natural dark to light gradient and reminds me of a storm cloud on a spring day. I have the bass setup with a DS-5R and SF2 Superfilter, Mesa Boogie Carbine 6 amp and Mesa Boogie powerhouse 4x10 cabinet. I have the output going from the bass through the 5pin cable into the DS-5R power supply splitting the stereo signal (1 channel per pickup) with each pickup being assigned to each channel of the SF2 Superfilters. The range of tone I can get out of this setup is beyond amazing. I can tailor the sound of each pickup individually. While the Mesa Carbine 6 is not a stereo amp, If I were to use a stereo power amp, I could assign each pickup signal path through the superfilter into an FX-1 (or F2B) with each side of the amp driving two cabinets each dedicated to each of the two pickups. Just the fact that I can do that makes me smile. So after playing it for the last 2 weeks I have come to the following conclusion. This is the best bass I have ever owned or played. The tonal qualities are pretty limitless. It's got amazing bottom end and nice clean highs. The sound of this bass is unlike any other I have played. I bought my first Alembic used in 1980, from there I have bought and sold lots of used Alembics over the years, even had 2 new stock ones built then replacing them over time. But this instrument is The One! This is the first time I ever had a bass custom made. It fits me perfectly (the neck is amazing) and it's really fun to play. Regarding price, we all know Alembics aren't cheap, but after the 2011 Alembic gathering, I decided that I wanted my own custom Alembic. So like many musicians, I had a collection of instruments and gear that didn't see a lot of use, so I sold most of my music collection to fund this build. It's the smartest musical investment I ever made. I've never named a instrument before, but this one needs a name. Because of its design and build, I was thinking about naming it something powerful and cool like And?ril, Flame of the West (LOTR Fan alert!). But I decided to name it after my wife, Michelle. We've been married 11 years and she is the most supportive woman I have ever known. A true partner. She gives me 100% support in my musical endeavors, comes to 95% of my gigs and really enjoys herself. I couldn't ask for more! Thanks to everyone at Alembic for making this bass for me, it's a true work of art.
