Alembic Stanley Clarke Signature Standard Bass

The Clarke Signature Standard is at about the midpoint of Alembic's extensive line of bass guitars. It has a 30.75" scale, which makes it easy to roadrunner around on the thing like a maniac, particularly when you are used to a 34" scale bass.
The "small standard" body has a mahogany back with a maple laminate and a front plate of highly figured California walnut. The neck (which runs the length of the instrument) consists of three tightly-grained maple laminates separated with walnut "pinstripes." Fingerboard is a thick, beautiful slab of ebony with 24 medium-jumbo frets. Finish is a very thin, tough gloss coat that allows the vivid wood grains to be seen. "Gorgeous" does not even begin to describe this instrument.
The bass has two pickups (each with an internal hum-canceller, though they are not "humbucking" in the Gibson sense of the word. Controls for the active electronics are volume, pan, tone filters and two Q-filters for each pickup. The Q filters adjust the turnover frequency of the tone filters, and the system allows for amazing tonal flexibility. Turn a tone filter with the Q-filter in the down position, and there is a "wah" effect which illustrates the range of available sounds.
Tuners are gold-plated Gotohs, all other hardware (nut, bridge, tailpiece) is Alembic's proprietary brass - Rock solid all the way. Everything is adjustable and locks down when you get it set.

I play classic rock and fusiony jazz/rock. I can't imagine that there is a style of music this bass cannot accommodate. Everything from James Jamerson's "dead flatwounds on an old P-Bass" to the ultra-hi-fi Stanley Clarke/Stu Hamm sound is available with a couple flicks of the Q switches and tone filters. The instrument's basic sound is clearer and cleaner than any bass I've ever played in twenty-seven years of playing, including my Warwick Corvette Pro Line. Sustain is near-infinite and the overtone structure is better sorted-out than any other bass I've heard. Electronics are dead quiet, and the bass never has that sterile sound I've always associated with active electronics, which has caused me to avoid active instruments for years.

Came from the Guitar Center with a dead-nuts perfect neck setup. No buzzes, fabulously low action, absolutely primo. Pickups needed adjustment, but I suspect that a GC employee had been poking around with them as one mounting screw was missing.
The quality of workmanship and level of finish on this bass are beyond description save to say they are Rolls-Royce-like. The wood is stunning, perfectly bookmatched on head and body.

The bass is built like a Swiss bank vault and made of the highest quality materials. Alembic's long history of excellence certainly indicates that it will be long lived and trouble free.

One of the pickup adjustment screws was missing, so I called Alembic. Never have I received friendlier or more helpful customer service. A replacement for the missing screw arrived in Minnesota within three days.
Also, Alembic keeps a registry of the woods/components used in every instrument they have ever made. If your Alembic is ever stolen, they can provide a description of the instrument to the police and insurance companies. Nice...

i've played bass guitar for twenty-seven years; I also own a 1991 Fender '60s Reissue Jazz Bass, a '92 Warwick Corvette ProLine and an '84 Fender of Japan Jazz converted to fretless. I've owned many Jazzes, and, for 19 years, a 1972 Rickenbacker 4001. Amps is a 1970 Hiwatt DR103; looking for a new speaker cabinet - probably Mesa Boogie or SWR.
This is as close to a perfect instrument as I can imagine. Thanks to the one-day special price I finally realized my twenty-plus year dream of owning an Alembic, and it was worth the wait. If it were stolen or lost mainly I would cry, but you can bet your ass I'd buy another one. Like the Porsche ads used to say, "Nothing else even comes close." Very expensive, but you get what you pay for: Alembic is the best in the world. Period.