Author Topic: My First Alembic. Spoiler 4 (Read 472 times)

pinbacking · « **on:** April 25, 2006, 06:35:39 PM »

Well, I've been a member for about a year now, just reading and drooling and wishing I could get my hands on an Alembic, and not daring to show my face until I actually had one (yikes) . I started playing the bass because of Zach Smith (Of Pinback, Three Mile Pilot, Systems Officer etc.) because of the way he played and sounded. I found out early on that the special sound he was producing was in part because of his Alembic, and ever since then I had to have one....and from here on in as many as I can get! Until recently I've been playing on a Ibanez GSR200 (As I'm on a students salary) modded with EMG's. It sounds great and I love the bass. But man, nothing holds a candle to my new Alembic!!! Every time I open the case to play (or admire it),it takes my breath away. The way it sounds, and feels, and not to mention looks. I still can't even belive its mine

I got such a great deal on it, its mad. I'm still waiting to hear from Mica what the exact specs on it are. Thanks to the people at Alembic for making such great peices of art and I look forward to owning more in the future. (Message edited by davehouck on April 25, 2006)

David Houck · « **Reply #1 on:** April 25, 2006, 06:44:29 PM »

Wow! Cool bass!

lbpesq · « **Reply #2 on:** April 25, 2006, 07:05:07 PM »

Congrats Royce. The top is nothing short of stunning! You might want to post some more pictures in the Showcase section. I'd love to see the rest of it. Play it in good health.

Bill, the guitar one

jacko · « **Reply #3 on:** April 26, 2006, 01:28:48 AM »

Very nice Bass Royce. Like Bill said, the top is stunning.

graeme

the_8_string_king · « **Reply #4 on:** April 26, 2006, 10:29:01 AM »

Congrats, nice bocate top!

pinbacking · « **Reply #5 on:** April 27, 2006, 08:43:10 PM »

Ya, its great. I haven't seen many Spoilers though with this top wood. I have a couple questions though that might be able to get answered. The electronics package on my pickups has gold on the Alembic script and I thought that was only something on new 2005 electronics. The person I bought it from said it was from 1987 but he wasn't sure. The neck is also not normal because it has walnut pinstripes and most Spoilers I see are either 3-piece maple or 5-piece with neck lams, and I'm wondering when they started putting the pinstripes in. This bass also has LED's and I'm wondering when they started putting those in...sorry for being repetitive

keith_h · « **Reply #6 on:** April 28, 2006, 04:50:25 AM »

The serial number will tell you when the bass was made. This will take you to the serial number guide:
http://www.alembic.com/support/reference.html#sernum

The gold embossed pickups has been around longer than 2005. I have 2004 instruments that are gold embossed. It could be the electronics and/or pickups were upgraded or replaced.

Nice looking top.

Keith

adriaan · « **Reply #7 on:** April 28, 2006, 06:35:16 AM »

Very, very nice - great 'personality' in the bocate. Looks like it might be a short scale one?

For dating, check the first two digits on the serial#, but I would guess it dates after 1994, based on the walnut neck veneers. New features that you won't find on older Spoilers are the accent laminate between the body and top woods, the walnut neck veneers, the position of the neck pickup, and (quite probably) the lack of a walnut veneer between the maple neck and the ebony fretboard like it was on the older instruments.

The gold embossed logo on the pickups has been around for quite a few years already.

One thing we can't tell from the pictures is what the second toggle switch does - usually it's for switching LEDs on and off.

(Message edited by adriaan on April 28, 2006)

pinbacking · « **Reply #8 on:** April 28, 2006, 08:06:47 AM »

Ya, I put the serial number up for questioning, but the first 2 numbers are 96 so thats actually pretty cool. First switch is for active/passive, second switch is for LED's. Thanks for the great info. I really appreciate it!

adriaan · « **Reply #9 on:** April 28, 2006, 08:49:07 AM »

It's definitely not an active/passive switch - the signal from the low-impedance Alembic pickups is much too weak so the preamp is always on.

The 0/8 dB Q switch does have a big impact (the reason why I had mine replaced with a 0/3/6 dB switch, which is a lot more subtle) but actually this works mostly on the 'attack' part of the note. If you sustain a note and then flip the switch, you won't notice much of a difference in the sound.

Remember to unplug the bass when not playing. The pickup switch has a silent position, but the preamp is always on when there's a plug in the jack.

David Houck · « **Reply #10 on:** April 28, 2006, 09:46:12 PM »

As Adriaan said, it's not an active/passive switch. Go here for a description of the electronics.

pinbacking · « **Reply #11 on:** December 04, 2006, 01:12:52 AM »

Me and my bro got a myspace music site up and I finally got a song where I did a decent job of EQ'ing my bass, I only just started doing production so it took me some time but tell me what you guys think. If any of you guys are on myspace I'd love to be buddies! www.myspace.com/gatecontrolseattle

-Royce

bumhucker · « **Reply #12 on:** December 05, 2006, 11:35:18 AM »

that is one of the sweetest spoilers i have EVER seen! great score!

5stringho · « **Reply #13 on:** December 05, 2006, 07:29:19 PM »

Cool Bass!! Congrats on your new Alembic. Hope you have many good years together!! Mike

inthelows · « **Reply #14 on:** December 08, 2006, 11:08:37 AM »

Very cool bass. LEDs too.
MYPLACE song is nice. Congrats..
NLP