(x) Body Shape

[adriaan]

Southpaw - make that 2 millimeters. Two centimeters is about .8 of an inch - that would be taking tolerance to the limits.

[southpaw]

My bad... I'll just say it's off center a tiny bit; that's a technical term that covers many measurements.  
 
(Message edited by southpaw on March 10, 2007)

[shim]

Hi, guys....
As a customer, I agree with Pierreyves.
 
I spend my money a lot to Alembic. I decided buying my bass and waited for my bass for a long time.
 
I think Alembic is the greatest bass in the world. So I expect a lot about the Alembic. Although The symmetry is not problem of Alembic, but if it is problem to customer, Alembic should correct this for their customer. After making my new bass, Mark request his bass should have symmetry.  
 
I think, Alembic must do anything in this problem. I know Handmade is difficult, but Alembic want to maintain their name value. Symmetry is not matter to some customer, but it is matter to other customer. To be the best bass builder, Alembic should do anything in this problem.  
 
I appreciate Alembic, because Alembic make my dream bass. But..... they can do anything for me.

[pierreyves]

we are waiting for an objective and honnest answer from Mica. I had a lot of basses (4 Alembic, Fender, Rickenbacker, Ibanez (severals), BC Rich, Musicman, Steinberger and I never seen that. You have material to mesure the exact position I think, hand made or not. For many people, Alembic is like a god, I agree for many thing, particularely THE sound, BUT, you could be stay objective and have an other regard for this problem.
My next bass will be an other Alembic with correctly positionned tailpiece ! ;o))

[ajdover]

we are waiting for an objective and honnest answer from Mica. I had a lot of basses (4 Alembic, Fender, Rickenbacker, Ibanez (severals), BC Rich, Musicman, Steinberger and I never seen that. You have material to mesure the exact position I think, hand made or not. For many people, Alembic is like a god, I agree for many thing, particularely THE sound, BUT, you could be stay objective and have an other regard for this problem.  
My next bass will be an other Alembic with correctly positionned tailpiece ! ;o))
 
Pierre-Yves,
 
    I own, at the moment, the following:
 
'73 Fender Jazz Bass
'94 MIJ Fender Jazz Bass
'05 MIA Fender Jazz Bass Deluxe
'99 Fender Jazz Bass Deluxe Fretless
'76 Fender Precision
'77 Gibson RD Artist
'74 Gibson Ripper
'87 Gibson Thunderbird
'81 Gibson Victory
'79 Musicman Stingray
'02 Musicman Bongo
'04 Pedulla MVP
'87 Peavey Dyna Bass Unity Series Limited
Martin BC-15E Acoustic Electric
Ovation CC-074 Acoustic Electric
Godin A4 Acoustic Electric
'77 Rickenbacker 4001
'76 Rickenbacker 4001
'03 Alembic Spyder
'04 Alembic Dragon's Wing
'91 Alembic Essence
'92 Alembic Essence
'03 Alembic Europa
'06 Alembic Stanley Clarke Sig Standard
Lakland 4-94
 
Like you, I've spent a lot of money on Alembics.  I've spent, personally, close to $25K on the Alembics I have now, and damn near $10K on the one I have being built (with more owed -sigh!).  I've said repeatedly in many forums and in this one that an instrument (or anything else for that matter) is only worth that which one is willing to pay for it.  For me,an Alembic is worth every penny.  I've been to the factory, I've met the people, and I've played the instruments.  There isn't any bass finer in my opinion, flaws be damned.  They may not be for everyone, but they're a cut above, IMHO.
 
My '76 P Bass has a horribly aligned bridge.  I know this since I replaced the original bridge with a Badass II - I literally had to move the saddles almost to the back of the bridge to get the intonation right.  Nothing I did with the Ovation got the action low enough, to include having a professional luthier shave the saddle.  And the bass I traded for the Stanley Clarke, a brand new Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray HH, absolutely refused to accept light gauge strings.  It was beautifully made, but it just couldn't be adjusted to the point where I could play it.  It buzzed all over the place, regardless of how high I raised the action.
 
What I'm saying here is no bass is perfect, regardless of cost (the P cost about $700, the Ovation about $300, and the Stingray over a thousand).  My Alembics aren't perfect either.  Perfection is a goal - if something was perfect there would be nothing to shoot for.
 
Alembics, like any bass or guitar, have their flaws.  If you don't like the less than symmetrical placement of the tailpiece, tell them that you want it symetrically mounted.  They'll do it, too.  Of course, the bass or guitar may not play well or sound good in that instance, but if it is that important to you they'll accomodate you.
 
Don't get me wrong - I'm not apologizing for anyone, nor am I defending anyone.  I'm just saying that if symmetry is important to you, tell the elfs at Alembic ahead of time, and you'll get what you want.
 
My two cents,
 
Alan
 
(Message edited by ajdover on March 11, 2007)

[5stringho]

Suggestion.... If a Perfectly Positioned Tailpiece is of the utmost importance, maybe the elfs at the mothership could put a straight bar tailpiece on it, therefore rendering any minor imperfection unnoticeable, and not affecting the string placement, tone or anything else they strive for in the build, and it would still look magnificent....
 
(Message edited by 5stringho on March 11, 2007)

[flaxattack]

i think you're nitpicking
its a gorgeous bass. probably sounds good too
you think anyone is going to think less of your bass because its microscopically off center by millimeters? i didnt notice it until it was brought up and i look at almost every bass made in the ftc's
i wish that was my only problem with the bass that had the wrong neck built built and then to blast mica and company after all the posts and i assure you a very good production time in the eyes of many on this site who wondered why yours moved quickly  shows a lack of maturity on your part shim
its amazing that with all the changes you made on your bass that it came out as good as it has.
if it sounds good and plays good. that should be your final determining factor. handmade is exactly that-handmade- it doesn't affect its playability and i bet more basses have slight imperfections on them because a machine does not make them. whats next? measuring the curve around the body for accuracy?
i swapped out a regular pu for a fatboy on direwolf. the fatboy didnt fit in- should i have sent it back to alembic? uh no. i modified the pu to fit.
this is so minor and yet you seem very ungrateful

[jtussing]

Shim, I agree with Flax. It's your bass, but you're nitpicking. If you don't like the bass I'll buy it from you as-is at your cost!  :-)
 
Pierre, on the other hand, is beyond nitpicking... Impugning Mica's honesty? I read the posts you referenced and many more besides and I think perhaps the only thing I would hold in higher regard than Mica's honesty is her patience.  
 
- Jim

[dannobasso]

The turnaround on this bass was amazingly fast. As was said, the amount of changes during production were higher than average.Truly custom including electronics.  Many here know what a wait can be like. Some are like Olympic contenders.  
 
The craftsmen really came through for this instrument and spent a lot of time in correspondence compared to most customers. After viewing this thread I took a look at all my instruments. (aside from the black finished which solves the visual symetric asthetic) None of them are perfect in their bridge/tail placement. Besides the Alembics, Gibson, MusicMan, Hamer, Stambaugh, Dean Bromberg, Fender, Schecter, BC Rich, ESP all have some minor issue. Function is sometimes more important than form. The customer is more than entitled to their opinion. Mine is that Alembic tries to make each instrument to the best of their ability. After being in business for so long, I'm guessing this issue has been encountered before. Perhaps the solution does not enhance the playability?  
We are all individuals with varying culture, experience, expectation and ability. I don't believe we will all see any issue exactly the same.
 I hope that Shim will grow to cherish this instrument and enjoy it for many years to come.

[pierreyves]

Nobody here explain to me with simple words, I be able to understand, what is the report (?) between tailpiece position AND playability without strings

[mica]

Pierre-Yves and all,
 
The general discussion about tailpiece centering has been redirected here thanks to Jim.

[mica]

Shim,
 
We tried very hard to make your bass to your specifications and with the time constraint you placed on us. When you placed your order in November, we made the agreement to have it finished to time with your visit to San Francisco.  Even though we couldn't start the bass right away because the specifications list was not solid until January (at one time a 4-string, fretless another), and though there were many changes, we still made the delivery date, and I feel made you a wonderful bass. We appreciate your business, and  wish you felt better about the bass we made for you, as we consider each instrument we ship to be our best effort.  
 
I am not sure what you are asking me for in your last post, Shim, could you restate it?

[shim]

I'm sorry mica, there is something misunderstanding.
 
Before I made a decision to order my new bass, I saw the pierreyves post about symmetry of tail-piece. I worried about the my bass, but I don't mind because it is not important to me.  
 
But, after I had a simple question about the position of tail-piece, and wrote this question in this page, Mark requested you exact position and symmetry on his new bass.  
 
I think this is not important, because my Alembic is the greatest, and most gorgeous bass in my life. I think my bass has the most beautiful grain in the world.  
 
You know, Alembic do their best in building their bass, and for this effort, Alembic can be the greatest bass company in the world.
 
 I think someone worried about symmetry, when they order their own bass, like Mark.  
 
 I know, Alembic made my bass in short schedule. I think Alembic did a great job in my bass.
 
 In my hope, just you know the hope of your customer. I'm sorry because of my English skill. My unprofessional words and sentence make some trouble in this page.  
 
 Hey guys. I just want to know the reason about the symmetry and I just want to express Alembic should explain their work and make their customer not to have misunderstanding. Including me, we just want to know the exact Alembic procedure, so we can understand our Alembic bass more. That's all.  
 
 Again, sorry to Alembic, my mistake about express my English. Sorry, and Thanks a lot about making my dream bass. Thanx.

[lbpesq]

I'm with Flax.  I have been astounded watching this thread develop.  My initial thoughts leaned towards speculation of who Shim kipnapped, had embarassing pictures of, had paid off, or was otherwise extorting.  I've never seen a bass built this quickly - especially with all the customization and changes along the way.  The rest of us waited much longer - Bradley and I are still waiting at 2 years + because of customized inlays.  Once the instrument is finished, you want the strings to line up correctly for playability as opposed to the point in the middle of the tailpiece lining up with the neck lams.  I suspect part of the problem is that the strings themsleves are not symmetrical - wider on one side, narrower on the other.  Does Alembic set the spacing from string edge to string edge or from string center to center.  These are different, though very close, measurements.  I would gladly trade having my tailpiece slightly off center, as it is on both by '83 Electrum and my '76 Series I,  in exhange for having had my Further completed 2 years ago.  (And I expect it still won't be perfectly symmetrical when it's done).  I guess this is an example of the old adage: no good deed goes unpunished.
 
Bill, tgo
 
(Message edited by lbpesq on March 11, 2007)

[flaxattack]

anyone who has a problem with mica and anyone at alembics honesty,dedication to customer satisfaction etc better not meet me in  a dark alley as i promise to kick your tail up to your esophagus.
i waited 14 months for scooter- it was made incorrectly and i am now awaiting its replacement
heck i might beat bill out the door again
your backtracking your earlier rudeness.
you got a custom made bass made in 3 months
quit griping already