Author Topic: 1997 EPIC fretless 4 (Read 416 times)

thebass · « **on:** January 20, 2004, 01:50:15 AM »

Ups, I did it again. I couldn't resist this one. She finally founds her new home in Germany after I first spotted her in October last year on an ebay auction. At this time I was moving to a new flat and didn't had any Internet access when the auction ended, and I missed her. The story had an happy end - at least for me - when I saw brother Adam posting her in December in the swap area of this board. I didn't hesitated one second and the deal was made. It took some time to manage the cash transfer, shipping, customs, etc. until my new baby arrived at home about a week ago. She immedeately became a close friend to Mr.MK and uncle Sterling, so my family is growing again. Please say hello to her. Werner

palembic · « **Reply #1 on:** January 20, 2004, 02:26:40 AM »

Brother Werner,

Hello!
if I were you I bought some new sunglasses on E-bay too! Very shining beauty!!!!

Paul the bad one

Or no ...take care with those sunglasses ...now you're on fretless you definitely have to see where you play LOL

bracheen · « **Reply #2 on:** January 20, 2004, 05:08:28 AM »

Alright one more brother in the Epic camp!
Congratulations Werner, I know Mr MK and Uncle Sterling must be proud.

Sam

jagerphan84 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 20, 2004, 05:33:30 AM »

Werner,
I'm glad that this beautiful instrument has found a good home. I was once playing that bass in the background of a friend's phone call, and the guy on the other end asked what Jaco album we were listening to... Ha ha ha...
Good luck with her!
Adam

alembic76407 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 20, 2004, 11:40:38 AM »

Werner, my Epic looks just like yours, what is your top wood, my wood card is wrong, it shows Bocate but nobody is sure.

David T

thebass · « **Reply #5 on:** January 20, 2004, 12:19:16 PM »

Hi David,

it's a Vermillion veneer with Maple accent and a Mahogany body. The neck is Maple with an Ebony fingerboard. I am just trying to find the German name for Vermillion.

Werner

bracheen · « **Reply #6 on:** January 20, 2004, 12:23:08 PM »

Werner, how about zinnrot?

Sam

eastcoastepic · « **Reply #7 on:** January 20, 2004, 01:44:41 PM »

Wow, VERY nice....nothing finer than unobstructed ebony! I think that will be my next acquisition, later this year. I've been fretless-less long enough!
Sehr gut, Herr Werner, und gut gluck!
Chris

thebass · « **Reply #8 on:** January 20, 2004, 02:08:09 PM »

Hi Sam,

zinnoberrot is what I found in the dictionary too but this is the name of a colour (a warm red colour). It describes the colour of the wood very good but it's definetly not a wood name. Very strange. May be it does not grow in Europe and there is no german word for it ... ?

@Chris: after I let it soak with a bit of oil I wiped the fingerboard down. Now I can smell the ebony while I am playing it, I love it. I was brainless enough to sell my last fretless (a LeFay Pangton) only because I had no use for it at that time, but I will for sure not make the same mistake twice.

BTW: practicing on a fretless improves playing on a fretted too.

palembic · « **Reply #9 on:** January 21, 2004, 04:48:52 PM »

Yeah sure ...and than comes the day that you pick up your MK and says ...what are those metal stripes doing on this neck ...they're obstructing my smooth playing! LOL

Paul the bad one

oujeebass · « **Reply #10 on:** September 19, 2004, 07:22:36 AM »

That has to sound good...and play even better. I have a idea that an Epic could be the best sounding Alembic fretless due to The punchy set neck.

thebass · « **Reply #11 on:** September 20, 2004, 04:16:54 AM »

That's true. The EPIC fretless shines most when you are looking for an almost acoustic sounding fretless sound. You may laugh but I dampened the strings near the bridge with a rubber to cut down the (very long) sustain and sound more like an upright. Of course, an upright has another sound but it supports perfectly the smooth piano/guitar/drums/voice bar jazz tunes. Best strung with 100-80-60-40 flats for my playing style.

dadabass2001 · « **Reply #12 on:** September 20, 2004, 05:27:18 AM »

I agree, Werner. I have a 99 lined Epic fretless with red LED sidemarkers that can get a sound very near to upright. I had to put roundwound strings on it to get a bit more growl (I play mostly rock).

Mike

thebass · « **Reply #13 on:** September 20, 2004, 06:12:43 AM »

Hi Mike,

that's the feature I miss most on my fretless: LED side markers. But not enough to send my EPIC back and forth the Atlantic (I live in Germany) and face a painful bill. May be fluorescent paint will help but I didn't tried it yet.

BTW: I wasn't able to get a typical f..... rock sound out of my EPIC even when I tried Rotosound Swing Bass on it. That's much easier with my MK STD. May be the frets are an important factor for this as well.

dadabass2001 · « **Reply #14 on:** September 20, 2004, 01:42:18 PM »

I just did a gig on Saturday where I played my fretted Walnut Epic for the first two sets, and my fretless maple Epic for the third set. The fretless sounded much rounder than the fretted Epic. I love both tones, so I'm happy!
LEDs rule when you've got footlights shining back up into your eyes.
Mike