Author Topic: '81 Series I Koa (Read 331 times)

shellfish · « **on:** September 19, 2004, 01:08:05 PM »

I've published some photos of my #811772 at http://homepage.mac.com/inseparable/PhotoAlbum17.html
Should have done earlier (esp. for PTBO;-) but I had to play Bass the whole weekend...
Today I've polished the bridge as seen on img1217, it was very oxydized... hoping the lustre meets the Alembic specifications?
On img1227 you can have a presentiment (uuh... right word? I'm a typo dumbass) of the grain. Something like 3 dimensional just like the laserlogo on Mastercards, the lighter grains turn to dark at different viewing angles. A laminate to dive in...
Life is good to me these days!

Kai

poor_nigel · « **Reply #1 on:** September 19, 2004, 03:07:14 PM »

Hey Kai, welcome to the club! What a great old bass. Simply a classic, and a very fine example of an Alembic. I think I like img.1220 best, as it is art with art. Have fun and take care.

I hope you don't mind that I added your pictures here. I thought about it, and sometimes commercial Web sites go down or you may change your account. This way the pictures of your great bass will be here for members to enjoy, if such an event happens. I can always remove them, if this is not acceptable.

(Message edited by poor_nigel on September 19, 2004)

poor_nigel · « **Reply #2 on:** September 19, 2004, 04:46:00 PM »

room037 · « **Reply #3 on:** September 19, 2004, 04:48:37 PM »

Hi,

I found Short scale 81-1772 at showcase.

http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/5269.html?1056634211

Which is real 81-1772 ?

poor_nigel · « **Reply #4 on:** September 19, 2004, 04:59:50 PM »

Wow Eiji, good catch. You don't miss much. Probably a transposition error or typo.

It looks like someone personalized the truss rod cover, but I really cannot make anything in the pic out, except that it does not look like a serial number. Kai, where did you get the serial number from? Inside of the control cavity?

room037 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 19, 2004, 05:24:46 PM »

Yea,

I think, 1981's basses has serial No. at fingerboard end.
This bass has smooth fingerboard end (no serial No. at here).

Mica or Val,
Can you add the build info of 81-1772 ?

(Message edited by room037 on September 19, 2004)

bob · « **Reply #6 on:** September 19, 2004, 07:25:39 PM »

One of the things I really like about Koa is that often, when you have bookmatched sides, they react differently to light such that one looks quite a bit darker than the other - as in the first three photos here, for example.

But if you turn it around (somehow), then the other one looks darker. I assume this must be because the wood cells have been cut at an angle or something, but for whatever reason I've seen this lots of times with Koa, and rarely with other woods.

I think it's cool - and this is a great bass, congrats.
-Bob

(also a great polishing job, and some really nice photos)

shellfish · « **Reply #7 on:** September 20, 2004, 12:32:54 AM »

Fellow bassists, much thanks for alle the appreciations.
poor_nigel, thanks for posting the pictures! This is the only place where they should be.
Actually I can't find any serial# (this is what i've written in the registration form to keep the files up to date). Seems to me that the fretboard has been refurbished without restamping any numbers. But whoever this was, has has done a good job... ebony and frets appear like new.
Even on the top of peghead is no number...
I found #1772 written on the electronics plate (thought this was the serial...?). But there is another one I found yesterday - on the inner top of the bridge filter pot is #1730...
A bit of investigative work to do...? Exiting!

Wow, and you people have eagle eyes! Indeed the trussrod coverplate is personalized, you can see Gegges there engraved. Seems to me like a name from Cologne/Germany area.

After all this serial# confusion i really thought this Bass has once been a stolen one... but it can't be as I bought it from the only german Alembic distributor. You can see some pictures at http://www.alembic.de/bass/alembic_gall.html
It's the first Series1 below S.C.Standart.

Anyway, I have given her a name (the first time i ever did this...), please welcome Frau Holle :-)
After all my girlfriend is a bit jealous... sort of.

Kai

poor_nigel · « **Reply #8 on:** September 20, 2004, 02:23:04 AM »

Wow! That seller has got some major Alembics there! Too bad prices for the new ones are not listed, and prices for the used are really high, IMO.

When Mica or Valvi run across this thread as Mods, one will look up 81 1730 and see if that is the right number or not. They already looked up 1772 and described the bass it went to and it matched that one.

Regardless of what the serial number is, you have a great bass that I know you will be happy with for years and years! Beautiful! It is a great, classic Alembic, that's a fact.

Note to Bob: My old zebrawood Tobias has wood that changes kind of like tigereye (rock) does. It is amazing when you turn it in the light. My model was supposed to come with a zebrawood/wenge/zebrawood/wenge/zebrawood body lamination, but he did not lam the back, as this particular piece of zebrawood is so beautiful, especially in the back. I do not know how he book matched it at the angle of cut he did, but it is spectacular when played with in the light. So, I am sure it has to do with the way the wood grain was cut, as flatsawn does not do this at all. But I am no expert on woods, that's for sure. Looking at his bass, Mike sure is though.

adriaan · « **Reply #9 on:** September 20, 2004, 04:59:19 AM »

Great looking bass! Koa in a bookmatch seems to mirror not only the grain, but also the darkness and the light, and that can actually flip over when you hold it at a different angle. I see it in flame koa, but also in the so-called plain variety (a.k.a. waterstain koa) so it must be inherent in the wood.

IIRC Alembic electronics have their own serial number, and so they're not the same as for the instrument itself. Of course that doesn't explain why there are different numbers on the circuit board and the filter pot ...

mica · « **Reply #10 on:** September 20, 2004, 08:13:30 AM »

Adriaan is correct: the Series I and II harnesses and preamp boards all have their own serial numbers that are distinct from each other and from the finished instruments. There are more cards than harnesses, as the cards are more likely to fail.

You can usually find a four digit date code somewhere on the electronics formatted YYWW where YY=year and WW=week.

Later I'll see if I can cross reference that card or haness serial number to an instrument serial number. It's very unlikely they card or harness number would match the bass number by the time this one was made. In fact, I'm not even sure the first one had a matching set of numbers.

valvil · « **Reply #11 on:** September 22, 2004, 03:42:15 PM »

Well, I looked up the files and no, it's not 1730 or 1772. By chance I saw that 1770 is a Koa series I long scale so that could be it.

Valentino

shellfish · « **Reply #12 on:** September 22, 2004, 06:49:50 PM »

Mille grazie, Valentino!
Again I looked onto the preamp board but there is no digit data code anyway...
But more important is, after some rehearsals and days and nights of playing this bass, - costs for strings reaching unpayable heights these days - that this is the most versatile, beautiful, best fitting and best sounding bass i've ever played. Should have known earlier, I would be a better bassist now!
Thank you all at Alembic, you are doing a really great work, or better say Art!

Kai