Product: Alembic Custom Rogue
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted
10/29/2000
at
02:55am
by
Susan Haynes
Email: susanfaery at aol<dot>com
Features
:
10
My most recent acquisition is a 2000 Alembic Rogue hand made in Santa Rosa California. It is a 5-string frettless with the infamous Series-II electronics. That is 8 controls: Master volume, neck volume, bridge volume, pickup selector, neck low pass filter, neck filter "Q", bridge low pass filter and "Q" for this as well. Outputs include a standard 1/4" mono phone jack and a 5-pin XLR connector for stereo and the external rack mounted power supply. The bass will run on 2 9-volt batteries but there is much better headroom using the external power supply.
The pickups are both single coil, but there is a special active hum canceler which activly cancels out stray electronic noise.
The neck is a 7 piece maple and putpleheart through body and is standard 34" scale length. The fretboard is ebony. The body is a "Hippie Sandwich" made up of purpleheart, maple, mahogony, maple and funally purpleheart. All 3 of the cover plates in the back have continous wood coverings.
The tuners and other hardware are the standard Alembic gold.
Sound
:
10
Because of the active low pass filters the available sound palate is imense! The bass is incredibly quiet and the action is set so well that it is a dream to play.
I am using dual Mesa/Boogie M-2000 amps with 2 4x10" cabinets each since the bass has stereo outs. Prior to the amps, I use both a Lexicon MPX-G2 and an Eventide 3500 Harmonizer for processing. Most of the processing is on the treble channel with the bass channel fairly flat.
This rig is equally at home on stage and in the studio. Of course on stage, I can put out a staggering 13000 watts.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
What can I say, Every guitar that comes out of the Alembic factory is a work of art. I have seen guitars there with minor defects (that I couldn't even see if they hadn't pointed it out to me) that were rejected. Even the electronics are run through a VERY rigorous set of tests to ensure that everything is perfect. Alembic is the greatest!
Reliability/Durability
:
10
I have been playing a less expensive Alembic for several years. Other than occasional truss rod adjustments (I live in an area where there are major swings in humidity) nothing has to be done to the instruments, aside from the occasional battery change. The finish is incredibly durable and other than some very minor dings from being on the road it really holds up well. I think that the truss rod adjustments are more neccessary because this guitar is a set-neck where my new one is through-body
Customer Support
:
10
Alembic stands behind every insturment they sell. Long after the warranty on my first Alembic was up, they were more than happy to resurface the frets and adjust the action with no questions. Repairs are extremely easy because all of the electronics are modular. Simply unplug the bad module and plug in a new one. (Not that I have ever seen one go out!) The office staff will always go out of their way to help you whether you are a current Alembic owner or just interested.
Overall Rating
:
10
If I could give both of my Alembic guitars and the company a rating of more than 10, it would have to be at least several hundred. I will never play anything other than an Alembic.
