Christophe, thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it. It's been a long time in coming, believe me. I've been busy doing some home recording with this beauty, perhaps someday I'll include a link to some Mp3s...
A MK 5 String Signature is certainly no slouch, for sure!
But I've played many Alembics, and I can say with absolute certainty that the Series II Basses are beyond your wildest imaginings. Anyone who disagrees either simply doesn't have one, or doesn't know what clarity and presence of tone is, period. F Basses are cool- I recently played a 5 string @ Rudy's, in NYC that was pretty cool. I've seen Leducs, but never held one in my paws.
Do whatever you have to do to get a Series II Alembic, even if it means (gasp!) selling all your current Alembics and other basses (which is what I did, and I don' regret it, for a minute).
Hal, Congrats, Bro! I had my eye on that for about a minute before I woke up from my day dream and realized that I'd just dropped all my cash into the Series II Six and didn't have a penny left to work with. The Mesa Boogie was meant to go to you, just like the S2 6 was meant to end up with me.
I know you've mentioned a bit about the clarity and tone of the amp (or better put, perhaps, the clarity and tone of your bass, through the amp, but you know what I mean, lol) and I've heard great things about MB over the years- if this is any indication, Les Claypoole from Primus, etc, uses MB, and he's one of the best bass players around, hands-down.
I guess most of what I've heard around the Club is that the best amps allow the true tone/color of the Alembic to flow through, while lesser amps tend to color the tone with the amp's sound, more so than that of the instrument- if that makes sense.
Let me know your thoughts please- now that I have my dream bass, I'm thinking of down-sizing my rigs and grabbing something more manageable, along the lines of MB or Bag End (I hear from Barry aka bkbass that a friend of his that works for them is going to be sending him some to bring to an upcoming Gathering...)
I was able to play through some Phil Jones gear at the NJ Gathering, and it was microsized and light with a great sound, but it's also very expensive...
A friend of mine from Los Angeles that plays NS Stick uses Aguilar or Epifani (sp?) I forget which, but he's got a great sound, and his rig is super small (a 2x10 and 6 space rack, I believe). It handles his low B really well.
A friend of mine invited me to jam with a Drum Circle that has 2 African Drum Masters, and I hate to lug my 1200 Watt Kustom Groove Bass Head and 4x10 to the coffee shop where they're playing, but I do not currently own any small amps, so out of necessity, I will probably have to use one of my Kustom rigs...
I'm still in the thinking process because I just spent a lot on the S2, but I'd be selling my Kustom gear to pick up whatever I get. I have to be particularly careful because I play out alot, and I can't afford to get something that isn't going to be BALLS LOUD, you know?
Hope everyone had great Thanksgiving!
Peace;)
Frank
