Michael's Coco Bolo Lefty Custom

[mele_aloha]

Dear Michael,
 
I couldn't take it any longer. I just asked Mica if I could copy your body of your bass for mine. Is this OK with you? I mean I know you put alot of hard work into the design but it is the best bass that I have seen overall considering I am a lefty also.  
 
I would be very greatful if you let me just copy the shape, is that OK?
 
Buy ya dinner--
 
Thanks, Paul, mele_aloha

[Bradley Young]

Paul,
 
The Balance model is a standard one.  You wouldn't be copying anyone.  There have been several built.
 
Bradley

[mele_aloha]

Oh, OK Bradley, now I get it! This is the balance  point which is the biggest, then there's the standard point, then there is the balance K which is the smallest.
 
Thanks, I thought this bass was his original taken off of one of the others.
 
Thank you, Paul

[mele_aloha]

Hey Bradley, if you are still there,
 
Is there somewhere where these body shapes are shown or depicted that someone could compare or is it just by feeling ones way around that I could find out this info because I have been confused about this for some time.
 
I wanted the lighter bass but all in all I love the look of the larger bass and think that it will have the best sustain in the long run.  
 
So at this point I am torn because I really think I want to go with the larger bass even if it is heavier.
 
What do you think?
 
Paul

[mele_aloha]

And Michael,
 
If I can connect with ya!, how does the weight fare with you on this model. Are you noticing it at all? I know this is all individual opinions but I just wonder how you are doing with this?
 
Thanks, Paul

[jlpicard]

Paul, In this club everybody's custom is in some way influenced by someone elses ideas. Go for it. Bradley is correct. It'd basically a full balance point body that I added a pistol grip horn and heart omega to. To my way of thinking, the trick is to find the right combo of woods and/or grain pattern to compliment that particular body shape. In this case I was fortunate because I happen to love the look of cocobolo and it is also a great tone wood. But I also thought long and hard about the right color and grain pattern of the wood and also how it would be positioned on the body for optimum effect. It's very subtle but to me the grain and color can have an effect on how you view the body shape making it appear slightly different

[jlpicard]

One more thing, Hope you have a strong back. I chose the full size body because I just can't get enough of that gorgeous cocobolo! And I positioned the grain pattern opposite of what is done on most Alembics with cocoboblo. Usually you will see the straighter part of the grain positioned in the middle  of the body  where as I felt by doing that I would lose the majority of the wilder grain to the curves of the body.

[jlpicard]

By the way, just finished a gig with the Raging Bass. The more I use it the more blown away I am by the sound!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So clear and tight, yet so full!

[mele_aloha]

Very good response Michael,
 
You did mention the weight and my back. After playing the gig I would like to ask two points, how did your back fare, and do you think that the larger body is contributing to the beautiful sounds you are getting? It seems to me that that larger body would add to the sound.
 
If I were to go down to the medium size or standard point do you think I would loose any of that quality sound you are getting just to loose a little weight? Is it worth it in your opinion?
 
Thanks so much for helping me with this, Paul

[jlpicard]

Well, that's a hard one to quantify. Everything about the bass has an influence on the sound to some degree but Mica says that that in Alembics ( and this is probably true of most neck through's ), the vast majority of the sound comed from the neck woods/construction. I would focus on that aspect of your bass as far as the tone is concerned. The classic Aelmbic tone has been for many years the maple/purpleheart combo (either two or three purpleheart laminates ). More recently, Ebony seems to be taking over as the way to an Ultra-tone. I have also discovered that scale length on Alembics is a great way to kind of tune in the general character of the tone kind of like tweaking the Enhance knob on an Eden or SWR bass head. I base this knowledge on having owned several Alembics in different scale lengths, 32, 33, and three 34's. Now we are talking about a subtle tone change here but to my ear and preferences it is an important difference. now just to be clear, not all my basses were of the exact same contruction woods etc. But all but one had Maple / purpleheart neck laminates,  (one is graphite) and three were cocboblo tops. All but the Raging Bass have Mahogany bodies. Anyway, my point is, that for me this one thing seems to hold true. As the scale length DECREASES, there seems to be more of a hump, (if you follow ) in the overall frequency response  at about (rough guess here, judging by using Alembic's SF-2 as a guide to tone vs. Hz.) 100Hz. - 300 Hz. Not a bad thing at all, just different. Whereas,  as the scale length gets longer, to my ear it seems as if the response curve seems to flaten out more giving a slightly more hi-fi character to the tone. Because I knew I wanted a slighty shorter scale to increase the overall comfort and playability of the neck, I hedged my bets by combining the Ebony neck laminates for increased fundamental with the 33 scale. The result is interesting. What I got was a very comfy playing neck with a tone that can best be described as having both a strong fundamental AND more punch/ drive/ tightness than other Alembics that I have. If this helps here is how I would characterize the tone of all the Alembics I have had or still have. ( I wish it was all of them still )
 
 98' EUROPA; Figured Walnut top, 34 standard neck lams, standard electronics = clear, defined finger tone, razor sharp slap tone, very flat sounding hi-fi character.
 
 
 90' ELAN 6; cocobolo top. 34 maple/purpleheart neck lams, only one w/maple core I jsut realised standard electronics I believe. (same as Europa but with no quick change tone switches =  
very similar to the Europa, but an even more shimering, clear-as-a-bell treble. again very flat, hi-fi sounding.
alembic.com/club/messages/411/18221.html?1116200276
 
 86' DISTILLATE: cocobolo top, 32 standard neck lams, standard electronics = good finger tone , warm and round, fuller and warmer and stronger mid-bass than the Europa, recorded very nice finger tone, very distinct in mix but always round. not as pronounded treble, not as high pitched treble. Not my first choice for slap tone. see this link for a photo.
//alembic.com/club/messages/411/1666.html?1030943741
 
80' SERIES II; Birdseye maple top. 34 graphite neck, standard series II electronics = A graphite neck Lefty! whoa! who knew one even existed! this is my workhorse bass, does pretty much everything well, strong bottom, round yet tight fingertone (though not as tight as the Raging Bass)Open up the filters and it's razor treble, hi-fi ,slap city! ( what you might expect form graphite ), yet still maintains that clear fundamental. Definately the bass with the widest frequency range in my collection.  
 
06' SERIES II Raging Bass 33 custom maple/ purpleheart/ebony lams, vermillion core, standard Series II electronics = strong, strong finger tone , the clearest tightest sounding of my basses, stronger mid bass than the graphite neck series, bright but very balanced treble, not as hi-fi sounding as the graphite bass. Pitched slightly higher than the other series bass yet still maintining enough fundamental.  
 
I hope this helps to clarify. It may just bring to mind more questions, but that's not a bad thing either. Mike D

[jlpicard]

To your other question, My back was fine and I'm not in great shape, but if your doing 4 hour club gigs several nights in a row, you may want something lighter. Then again, if your not making a bass out of cocobolo you might be just fine. It's really up to the individuals stature, age, physical condition etc. Even with a heavy bass, with a normal, uninjured back, if you do some basic back stretching /strenghtening exercises ( including a few crunches to keep the tummy from sticking out too far ) regularly, you should be fine.

[olieoliver]

Michael, I love the grain positioning of the coco bolo on your bass. Way cool!

[mele_aloha]

Well, Very good and very helpful.
 
As you probably saw, my Series II has a maple core (which your decription of your Elan excites me with clear as a bell tone)and then hopefully will maintain the fundemental with the 3 Ebony neck lambs. I love your decriptions though of all your beauty's and thanks so much again.  
 
I agree with the neck woods as being the primary tone carrier but I can't help believing that the vibes somewhat get dispersed alittle more in the large body and helping the overall sound in a different way one might say. But I do think I am safe overall if I just step down to the standard instead of balanced but this is all based on Mica's and my conversation Tuesday to see what she says in return.
 
As it stands now with the order that I have, Susan is having to design a pistol grip horn because I ordered the smallest balance K. This is not why I am changing my mind. I was just a little confused when I finally put my balance K order in and was too imbarassed to go back and tell them that I would really rather have the larger body bass stricktly because of the looks. So I know I've caused them a little anguish over this but I hope that if they haven't started my body which I don't think that they have then I can change to the the larger body. I must throw in that I was most influenced by Val in deciding on the balance K to begin with and didn't really know the other bodys that well and so I didn't know what I was doing. But after hanging around in forum for a while I have learned alot.
 
Anyway, your Raging Bass has been a definate inspiration to me all the way around. Even your neck lambs inspired me in the design. I didn't even have Coco Bolo on my original bass but after slapping up RB on my desktop for a while it convinced me to go CoBo.
 
Nice pictures and keep em coming as I say you are an inspiration in all that you do here!
 
Aloha, Paul

[jlpicard]

Thanks Olie and Paul, It's great fun to share knowledge and experience with others on a topic so near and dear to my heart! It's almost like reliving the excitement of having my bass built all over again! I certainly agree with Alembic..
Cocobolo is the best! That doesn't mean that I don't drool over Buckeye Burl, 5A quilted Maple, Superb Walnut, Flatsawn Zebrawood, all the burls, etc. etc. but Coco just has a certain something for me. The way each piece's grain pattern is a work of art, the surprise  of colors that each board holds until the finish is applied, the wonderfully complex tone. What else can I say?

[mele_aloha]

I know what you mean as I have even changed my woods a couple of times now as, like you say, I like all of them. It's kind of like- what's my cup of tea today?
 
But I am very greatful that they have enough Quilted Coco Bolo left for me (and that I could squeeze enough dough-rae-me as my father would say)to afford it this one time.
 
I really want to have a fretless as my next order and I am sure it will be something in the neighbor of walnut or something really hard like that but for this one I feel blessed to get a part of this tree!