Alembic Europa 5

This is a 1997 Alembic Europa 5 string bass. Made as all are in USA.
24 frets on an ebony fingerboard.
Body is solid Mahogany core with a top laminage to Zebrawood and a maple pinstripe.
String spacing is standard alembic spacing which means i don't have to make many adjustments to my right hand technique when switching from my 4 to 5 string basses.
Pickups are all Alembic handwound, hum cancelling pickups (2) with active electronics consisting of Q- switch, Low passfilter, fast change tone control switchest that are cut, neutral, boost operating on bass and treble.
volume and pickup blending pot.
Neck is fairly wide but not tiring on the hands at all.

This bass is bang on for all the music I play as a bass player from deepest Dub reggae to the cleanest, crispest marcus miller tones and everything in between. This bass is able to create easily the sounds of most of the main basses that you will find in the field from Fender, Smith, Fodera, Musicman, MTD but with much higher fidelity and clarity.

The bass is silent with no buzz, crackle or uneveness of tone. the sustain is incredible and it has an almost piano like clarity at the lower registers.

I've not used it live yet but through my Mesa boogie rig it sounds awesome.
I can only imagine the sound live through a big pa.

if you like slapping the bass is very accomodating with a useable space between the neck base and the neck pickup. I tend to slapp in this area rather than the bass of the neck as it gives a more beefy sound rather than the more percussive sound that you get slapping directly over the neck.

The neck is very fast even for a wide neck and the neck taper is not as great as many other basses so the string spacing up and down the neck is more consistent and doesn't tighten up as it does on Jazz basses and clones.
The only thing I'd change if i could afford to would be to add the sustain block under the bridge and maybe LED's on the side of the neck.

Standard of build.... Rolls Royce Bentley then some more.
action is very very low which means using little effort to fret notes and a faster access to notes.
I have not had to adjust anything at all since I got the bass apart from lowering the B string action when I changed the tuning from E - C to B -G. The bass can be adjusted in many ways if the need be but i haven't needed to go that far yet.

Build quality is just as you would expect for a high end bass, and condition is nothing short of amazing for a used instrument. No dings in the bodywork, scratches or anything like that. The previous owners must have either used it as a peice of artwork or treated it with kid gloves.

Alembic basses are renown for their durability and strenght and the solid feel of this bass gives me confidence that it will stand the test of time.
The finish is unblemished and construction is solid and nothing on it looks worn or tarnished and the sound controls are free from crackles etc.
It balances perfectly on the strap, the hardware still has all its gold plating on and the brasswork is still in good shape.

I could depend on this bass 100% i always have spare batteries in the case and a spare set of strings but not having gigged with it yet we shall have to wait till that time comes to see how it stands up.

Iv'e not had to call Alembic for any customer support regarding this bass other than calling them to register my ownership of the bass.
Apparently Alembic will not send any replacement parts for non registered basses or those without serial numbers.

I have contaced them on a number of occasions for other basses that I was considering purchasing from Ebay or the Alembic site and they were very accomodating in giving me information that would help me decide on my purchase.

I've been a sporadic bass player for about 10 years or so. This is my second Alembic and probably not my last.
The question I would have asked from the seller would be, can I have your Series II bass for the same price as this Europa?
I compared this bass only to other alembics as to compare with others would not really be a fair or sensible comparisson. If you are purchasing an Alembic, you tend to know what you want and have already negated the other manufacturers. Most other basses are really Fenderesque clones but Alembics are a sound unto themselves.
I only wish it had a sustain block and maybe side LED's.

1997 Made in USA, Santa Rosa, 5 string, 24 frets, 34 inch scale. Neck trough with maple (4) and purpleheart(3) laminates and mahogany body with maple&purpleheart laminates and bocate top. Gorgeous! Two Alembic active pickups with volume, pickup balance, low-pass filter, Q-switch and bass/treble boost/attenuate switches. Hardware is standard Alembic Europa stuff, check the Alembic web-page for details. You can adjust almost everything. Only thing to complain is that I would need an additional thumb rest between the pickups to get the optimum playing position and sound.

I play mainly funk/soul/jazz but have tried it with rock and blues, this bass does them all for me. The sound of this bass is extremely balanced and full. With several attempts of trying to get a Warwick to sound good on stage, I was thrilled to try this one! You can have loud bass and it still doesn't run over other instruments. I play this bass trough Hartke HA3500 and EBS 4x10. I especially like the attack of this bass, you can't play that fast that it would not give you every note clearly.

I bought this one used, but it had ok setup. But, I think it's basic skill for a player to know how to setup your instrument to be perfect and this bass has all the possibilities to do so. Only thing I had to do was to file the fret ends because of the humidity changes from Santa Rosa summer to winter in Finland.

I have Dunlop strap locks changed to it and they are great. I've had minor finish wear on the place where my right hand thumb rests, but thats normal. I have to adjust the neck every summer and winter because of the changes in humidity, which I've had to do to every instrument I've had in Finland. Active electronics require a backup battery on gigs.

I've asked some information about my bass and electronics and Mica and Ron Wickersham have been very friendly in replying. From how many companies do you get the answers from the designer of the instrument and founder of the company? Great family business.

I've been playing bass for about 15 years as a hobby and this is far best bass I've had. I would like to try Ken Smith basses, but I would not give this one away! Earlier I had a bubinga/wenge Warwick and altough it has the warwick growl, it sounds dead compared to Alembic. Only thing I miss in this bass are the laser leds on the fingerboard. ;) Maybe on the next Alembic...