1975 Series I doubleneck

[hieronymous]

Douglas, thanks for posting this! I got it out of the case, it's sitting on its stand, just haven't had much time to play it. Thanks so much for the history you passed on about this instrument.
 
Here she is with some of her cousins:
 

[hieronymous]

Interesting thread here from John Judge, with his memory of being told that my doubleneck is probably the first doubleneck Alembic made! Woohoo!!!
 
(Message edited by hieronymous on April 17, 2009)

[57basstra]

nice bit of news, huh? congrats

[hieronymous]

Different view of some of the basses above...
 

[kenbass4]

Glad to see Sadie is still on guard duty Harry!

[hieronymous]

Thanks - I never thought of it that way!

[hieronymous]

Update: I ordered some Bass VI style strings - none of them fit the nut or saddles, so if I'm going to have it converted, new ones will need to be made (or the current ones modded - actually, that makes it a little less intimidating!)
 
For now, it's living in its case. But I am thinking I might take it out at some point, just make sure there isn't mold growing in the case or something!

[hieronymous]

Been trying to clean, go through boxes that haven't been unpacked since we moved - almost three years ago! Found the old picture that John Judge sent me (linked to a few posts above this one) - made a new scan of it so thought I would share:
 

[hieronymous]

Took the doubleneck out to a recent mini-gathering in Alameda - here's a link to that thread.
 
This picture from the gathering is currently my wallpaper:
 

[afrobeat_fool]

I love that shot, Harry!

[collyman]

Just curious why you believe the 6 string neck to be a baritone? Back in the day it wasn't so unusual to have a guitar and bass on these doubleneckers. and you say that the set of bass6 strings you bought don't fit the nut or bridge....

[hieronymous]

One of the previous owners contacted me and told me that it had originally been a 6-string bass, but he thought that was redundant since the fretless neck was already in the bass range. So after speaking with Rick Turner (who was involved in building the bass) he decided to have it strung as a baritone, from A to A, between bass and regular guitar. Also, the 6-string neck is 30 scale, like a Bass VI - an instrument that I really like too!
 
Actually, the term baritone is not strictly defined. I personally consider the Bass VI to be a short scale extended range bass, but I know other people approach it more like a guitar so for them it might be more of a baritone.

[hieronymous]

Here's a cool guitar/bass doubleneck Series I

[collyman]

The more I look at the pictures of your Bass, the more interesting it becomes. Very unusual indeed -- everything -- the dual bass necks, the large tuners on both necks, the logo, the bird tailpieces, wow, crazy. Well I hope you can get that 6string strung and find the ideal tuning... cool stuff

[hieronymous]

Yup, it's definitely an odd bird! A few other things - the radius on the 6-string is really flat - like a classical guitar. Plus, the single truss rod in the fretless neck & double in the 6. It's really hard to string up because the two headstocks get in the way on some of the tuners.