Alembic Series I Short Scale

Built in 1975, one of the early ones without the brass cover on the truss rod adjustors. Two active single-coil pickups and a humbucker, short-scale, lovely laminates in the neck & body (Schedua top), short scale, volume, tone, Q switches for each pickup, remote power supply with ultra-long cable. It has a 5-pin DIN socket to cable to the power supply (which has several ways of then hooking to the amp with conventional phone plugs) and a phone jack. The latter requires a stereo plug to the amp unless you only want to hear one pickup and plan to carry extra batteries (it uses 2 9-volt batteries and I am told it is power-hungry).

I sold my Alembic Spoiler because it was a medium-scale istrument and I was used to Gibson short-scale basses and guitars (which are even shorter). The stuff I could play (mumble) years ago I couldn't execute on the medium-scale axe, but can on the short-scale one. When I first played it at a jam, three bassists came up after to ask what it was, said it sounded incredibly good. It has a range of settings I have only begun to explore, but "articulate" is the best word for it.

It has been obviously well-kept and cared-for. It needed no help from me when it came out of the case (other than tuning-up, as the seller wisely de-tuned it when packing it). It is an Alembic, for goodness sake, and one of their best models!

This thing is 32 years old. It has been played out for most of its life. It looks barely used. Built like the proverbial brick sh*thouse.

Dealt with them once before regarding the spoiler, and they were super-responsive. Spoke to the boss-lady herself.

Been playing since '67, but with a huge hiatus. Got back to playing again, with a used Alembic Spoiler (since sold to finance the Series I), and am glad I made the switch - not because the Spoiler was not a superb instrument, but because the Series I is that much better, fits my hands even better. I'd never be able to afford to replace it with a new instrument, was lucky to have found this one (they're hardly ever on the market), would have another in a heartbeat. I'm not sure it is a "fantastic value", because of what it cost used as old as it is, but it is a top-notch instrument, far better than I am as a player.

'75 Series One Short Scale 4 string. Top laminate is Koa, the middle is a maple, so light you would swear its birch. The bridge assembly has an extension that accommodates long scale strings. If you are not familiar with the electronics of series one, its two pickups, and a center humcancelling "dummy" pickup. I puchased it at the Bass Center in L.A.

I consider this bass a very fun instrument to play. I find myself getting outrageous on it, the sound of it inspires me to play Stanley riffs (always gets a laugh), but I have made it "mine". I like effects, the stereo output of this bass allows one channel for clean solid bass tone, and the other (I use the bridge pickup) for all the effects you want. I biamp the bass and occassionaly use a guitar amp for the high end. As you may have just surmised I am not currently a working bass player, I don't rely on it for money at the moment. Nevertheless, when I do use the bass for the few gigs I play it seems a shame that the unique tone gets lost in the mix since I use just a regular bass amp setup. It winds up sounding more like a P-bass, intentionally. So I don't tend not to use it unless I am free to use its capabilities. The sound is phenomenal, the '70's vintage takes me back to "when fusion was fun". Nevertheless, if I am in a situation where I "aims to please" I take my Tobias Killer-B, stand in the middle of the bass road, and most people love the sound even to the point of commenting. It's punchy, it has a great tone, it feels like work to play compared to the Series I. That said, I feel such reward playing the Alembic to me it's about having pure fun.

I found no flaws to mention, the bass is what it is, an Alembic. Over 25 years old. One of my bass teachers, a Fender Jazz player who most likely is on several albums in your collection has no regard for the "Cadillac" of basses, if only because they are so expensive and he came from a modest family. I think I pay attention to the sound, pickups and feel of the bass.

I would use it on a gig with a backup. After twenty five years I think it's stable. The hardware is fine and hasn't been refinished. What can I say, its not new, but it seems like it will maintain its condition for many more decades.

I took the Alembic tour a few years back. If anyone ever saw Willy Wonka, this was as close as I think I could get. Everything from the custom room, where I saw the double neck listed in the custom section of their site, to the upstairs lab. It was exactly how one might visualize it: Mica, the daughter of the founder, was kind enough to introduce me to her father,a gracious guy who took a few minutes to talk to me and then returned to the hands on work of the famous electronics. The desk was filled with the trappings of bass innards, there were oscilliscopes and all sorts of testing equipment, but the atmosphere was more of an artists studio than an engineers laboratory. It is clear that this man is obsessed with the sound of the bass. The rest of the crew were terrific and I can only say I enjoyed every minute.

I have been playing about 19 years. Jazz fusion roots, rock has adopted me. I play upright too. I have 3 Alembics: Series I Long Scale from early 80's. I love it. I have a Distillate from 85 in Black, I can't find a happy sound out of that, I don't know why (any suggestions appreciated)I can't get any punch out of it. I am thinking of replacing the pickpup selector with a pan switch, that would help matters considerably. I think, in fact that a pan pot for the pickups is something I would like on all the bases, I think Alembic has come to a similar conclusion. I use a Warwick Streamer PRO M or my Killer B for most gigs, but when I play for me I play the Alembics. And they sound incredible, if my band is willing to let me stretch it out.