Alembic Essence 5-String

Made in '92, it sports a nice flame maple top over small, well contoured maple wings side by side with a 7 pieces maple through-body 34" neck. Maple only but walnut - I suppose - accent under the maple top and between the dense ebany fretboard and the neck. 2 active soapbars and simple volume, balance and active filter give a sheer variety of sounds. Quality gold tuners and solid brass craft shop type bridge and hardtail.
Two rods give the neck an outstanding rigidity still preserving the organic responsiveness of woods (which sometimes graphite disturbs..)

Real Alembic solo grind -but lower output- from the bridge pick-up and plenty of full supporting tones from the neck one: so different that you find yourself uneasy at balancing them or moving from one point to the opposite of the tonal spectrum they offer. No noise at all in any case. I play most via an SWR BabyBlue and may be some effects. The 2 pick ups need completely different treatments and deliver very personal yet usable tones: try echoes and reverb on the bridge one for arpeggios and chordings or just dry for power soloing. I suppose that the all maple construction adds to clarity while missing some more depthness. I do not care as I was looking for new tonal palette against my Fender Roscoe Beck, which sure does not lack meat... In any case, the neck pu offers fatisfactory compying tones, with some powerful slapping blend I never found elsewhere and throbbing dub tone to spare.

The bass needs to be maintained: it is real wood to take care of. On the other hand it lets you tune everything up to your specs. Sure it transmits a solid feeling. What surprises me is the uneven finish of the neck: the seven pieces lack of those smart darker stripes and have not been properly levelled making you feel the gaps! Not acceptable, still something that reveals the handcrafting and adds to personality and allow high marks.
Neck and fretbord act nevertheless perfectly: not as intonated as a mass produced high end Fender but much livier.
The small body fits perfectly to me and the maple construction allows very lite weight despite of Alembic tradition.

Ten years, two owners and it still looks brand new and fully functional. I just mind about the batteries... you never say.

Tried to e-mail Alembic for more info on the instrument via the code punched on the rod plate, but no reply.

Great companion; delivers what I was looking for and it has that brass alembic on the arrow peghead I was dreaming of for years.

5-string 1992 model, standard Alembic electronics, Alembic pickups

Sounds perfect for almost every style. I'm playing it with an SWR Mo'Bass and two 4x10" / 1x15"-Stacks (in stereo), for rock, funk, ballads, jazzy stuff. Since I own this one, my (pre-Gibson-)Tobias has less work to do... and my band members are as amazed from the sound as I am!

Bought it used - set up very well! And: no flaws!

This bass is ten years old, but looks like it's brand new, though it has been played for years on and off stage. Seems to last forever... if you take (at least a little) care for it. Regularily cleaning and changing strings after 60 hours of playing is enough.

Not needed yet

I've been playing bass for 23 years now, and am a gearhead...
I just sold 5 basses of my "collection" but this one will stay! I've never been as confident with a bass as with this one. No, it's no "hurray, hurray, that's it - get to the next store and buy one"-opinion, it is the truth. But be aware: This bass will not hide any players mistakes!

The biggest part of the features rating of this bass is the wood. This is a basic model but even it has no fewer than 6 types of the finest quality wood. It features a solid 3 piece maple neck with walnut stringers in between the pieces of maple. The fingerboard is ebony and has a very fine layer of walnut between the ebony and maple neck. The body is mahogany with a beautiful quilted maple top. A layer of purple heart separates the quilted maple and mahogany. That is maple, quilted maple, purple heart, walnut, ebony and mahogany. this bass also features hand wound custom made pickups and a hand made, solid milled brass bridge. This bass has a very simple preamp. Volume, pickup fader and master active tone are the only control options. This bass does not have a lot of "features" but it definatly doesn't need them. This bass has been given all that you will need.

This is the most amazing bass I have ever heard. I have played Modulus, Warwick, Schecter, Peavey, Fender, Danelectro, Zeta and Fender basses and this is the best sounding bass. I play many different styles, bluegrass to metal, country to funk. This bass performs well in all situations. It likes it when I dig in and play hard. It likes it when I lay back and play soft. It responds to every move I make. It makes me a better player. the pickups are the best ever. The preamp is simple but it doesn't need to be more complex because it is so perfect.

This bass was made in 1998 but was never sold. I bought this bass after it had been sitting in the humid North Carolina climate for three years. When I received it the original strings were so rusted that they corroded the frets. They brass bridge was tarnished and the action and neck needed adjusting. After letting it get used to the Califonia climate for a couple of months I took it down to the factory in Santa Rosa for setup. James set it up so well it almost brought tears to my eyes. This bass fits so well and is so easy to play. The high gloss finish is flawless and brings out the wood grqain. This bass is a work of art.

This is a bass with character. This bass has a soul. Like Mica says, "Treat it like a baby." If you are cold, it is cold. If you are hot, it is hot. This bass will require work. this bass will need adjusting. The brass bridge will need polishing. This bass will get played so much that things are bound to wear out. I just can't put it down. It will be so easy to work on. It will be so easy to fix. This is not a bad rating. Even a Ferrari brakes down and wears out if it is used properly. This bass is amazing.

The Wickershams could be your neighbors. Yeah, that is if your neighbors made the finest basses in the world. Ron checked out my electronics. Mica gave me a tour. Susan was there in the office. All the family is very friendly. James set my bass up great, probably like he did when it was born. It was nice to meet he people who put the hours in that made my bass. Mica was very friendly and helpful. She is an amazing woman. I had to wait while she talked to Victor Wooten about the repairs to the bass that Stanley Clarke had given him. She treated me like I was no one less. She apologized for making me wait. I feel like I could walk in there any time and be treated like a part of the family. I have read other Alembic reviews here on Harmony Central and I am amaed at the low customer support rating they get. It is just to bad that other Alembic players are not close enough to visit the factory.

I have been playing for about 10 years. I have played many basses. In recent years I have been playing many nice basses, looking for "The One." I have found it. This bass is the best of four worlds. It is the most beautiful, best sounding, best playing, company supported bass I have ever played. I am a hopeless gearhead and it was great to see where my bass was made and the product and technics used. At first I thought the headstock was a little oversized but now I don't care. It just makes a bigger surface to attach that beautiful back and front lamination of quilted maple to. Harmony Ccentral warns against "glowing" reviews. They say "be critical." Honestly I have tried. The only critical point that I have is that I wish I had the finances to purchase anaother Alembic. I wish I could afford to make a custom order and get the exact features and woods that I would want. I don't know how diffent it would be from the bass I have now but it would be fun to ahve one custom built just for me.