GP: What is your current instrument?
Chuck: For the past two years I've been playing an Alembic; it did for me what the Rickenbacker did when I quit using Fenders. It took me a while to get used to it--it was much heavier than my Rickenbacker, but I'm really comfortable with it now.
GP: Was it custom-built?
Chuck: No. I just wanted to see what it was all about, so I bought one from a music store and played around with it. I had some work done on it--the body needed a little contouring to suit me, and the frets weren't to my liking. Then I wanted to have another one made because I was really pleased with it. It took about a year for me to get it, and it sounds wonderful! I record with it as well as take it onstage. All the guitars I use onstage I've recorded with as well. I don't have a guitar that I keep at home and a guitar that I bring out.
GP: You look at it as a workhorse then?
Chuck: Yeah. I want to be comfortable with what I play, and it should be a fine enough instrument that I can bring it into the studio or onstage. It should be tuned as a fine tool, as it is when it's in the studio. It's kept in topnotch shape, so it's ready for anything.
GP: What kinds of specifications did you request on the new bass?
;Chuck: Mainly cosmetic things. I wanted something dark, so we went with the ebony top-it's maple inside. There's also some purple heart wood. I've screwed up the back with my buttons and belt buckles, but it was really beautiful. The electronics are stock, and I had some LEDs put in for position markers. I'm happy about that now, because we open the show with the band in total darkness. Dennis comes out, the curtain goes up, and it's still dark. The close of the show is like that too. It really ends up where it's just Dennis and me playing. No one else is onstage, and Dennis has the lights; I don't! So when you have a long-scale neck in pitch darkness, you wonder where you're going to hit. With the LEDs at least I have a point of reference.
GP: Wouldn't a lighter wood such as maple be visible enough?
Chuck: Probably not. There's almost always that dark binding on the sides, and those little dots are no good when no lights are on. And the darkness is really accentuated by the very, very bright lighting onstage. When the lights are bright, they're really bright. And when they're dim, they're still bright. So when the lights go off, your eyes play tricks on you.
GP: Do you have extra batteries for the LEDs?
;Chuck: No. I have to keep batteries in the bass for the electronics and my Nasty VHF wireless, which I love. I don't move around that much or walk from one end of the stage to the other, but I have a lot more freedom. It's a boon, too. We all go wireless; if we didn't, there'd be cords all over. Who wants to be stuck with 20 feet of cord that you're going to be stepping on all the time? It's just one less variable to deal with.
GP: Is your Alembic's neck graphite?
;Chuck: No. it's wood. I wasn't flipped out by the graphite. I guess I like the more traditional idea. Graphite's really not perfect. So I said to myself, Why deal with something that's going to have some drawbacks to it, or just not feel completely right, when I can feel good about wood?
GP: What kinds of strings do you use on it?
Chuck: Rotosound Swing Bass round-wounds. I've been using them for a long time. I'm not sure about the gauges.
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Copyright Guitar Player, July 1981.
One of the most exciting live concerts I ever experienced, perhaps the best overall band performance - Grand Illusion live at the Tennessee Theatre. A college friend of mine at Murray State University circa 1975 said Styxx had played at his high school prom in suburban Chicago......
