Alembic or other exotic basses

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 2:37 pm

Hmmm,, good info Steve.

I didnt know that. I always thought graphite took care of that problem. I did have a Steinberger L-2 that was just as clear as a grand piano.

Looked ridiculas on my 6'4 250lb. frame though.

mgauction · Post by **mgauction** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 2:51 pm

I had an L-2 also, Scott. They do seem to hang odd on any body.

jps · Post by **jps** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 5:40 pm

What dead spots? My fretted had no dead spots at all, neither did my first fretless. The fretless I currently have has a very minor dead spot around the 11th fret position on the G string, but that is all. Overall these Zons are just fantastic. All of mine have/had passive electronics as that is how I like my basses and they were/are all five string models. The first fretless, a Sonus Special, I removed the Bart electronics from. The two Sonus 5/1 models, one fretted the other fretless were custom made for me by Joe with only a passive volume control, the Seymour Duncan humbucking pickups wired in parallel, and especially nice tops, the fretted was a nice burled California walnut (a good friend of mine has it now) and the fretless I still have is spalted maple, a favorite of Steve Cooper's, I might add!

86kubicki · Post by **86kubicki** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 1:59 am

That's what I wanted to hear Jeff! I've never tried a Zon (there are no dealers in Canada), but I'll have to see if I can find some the next time I'm in the U.S. I definitely want to try before I buy.

ken_j · Post by **ken_j** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:10 am

A friend of mine has a Zon fretless 5 string that had some dead spots on the neck. He sent it back to Zon and they took care of it.

shinynewtoy · Post by **shinynewtoy** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:52 am

Marc...

If you think you'd have use for a short-scale I'd be seriously tempted by that Stanley Clarke. I have a short-scale Rogue Beatle bass and the 30" is really fun to play. Would it ever be my main bass? Probably not, but I do plan on recording with it.

While taking a bath on resale on an instrument that expensive would suck to the highest regard, I'm pretty sure she'd sound good regardless... you might end up really liking it!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 5:10 pm

I had a couple of American J deluxes with graphite necks and they had dead spots, didn't seem any better than any other Fender necks to me. They did sound and play good though

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:16 am

2 basses you should try before buying, if possible: A Wal bass and a Spector. I have both and will never get rid of either, they are both fabulous basses.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 7:44 am

I would guess that part of the reason for the low resale value of Alembic basses is because most of them are god-awful ugly like the medieval looking monstrosity that was pictured above. Sorry Mike, haha! The Stanley Clark models are fairly good looking but they're all short scales aren't they?

mgauction · Post by **mgauction** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 3:45 pm

Fair enough, Bob! We all like something strange, right, ha-ha? The short scale models sell better for some reason. Don't have any idea why. The people that have them are really committed, though. A strong cult. You'd think they'd back up sales of their items like Ric fans here do, but they are not collectors. The newer the better, I supppose.

325_fan · Post by **325_fan** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 1:31 am

Here's my Series II. It's got the same body shape as the Stanley Clark but with the LED's for side markers and the power supply.

[img]http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f278/Valentinejayne/Alembic.jpg[/img]

Plays like a dream. These are not short scale basses eventhough they are classified as such. Technically they are medium scale.

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:00 am

That's cool Chris. I've only seen one lefty version of that bass ever, I remember it playing and sounding really good.

mgauction · Post by **mgauction** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:51 am

Nice bass, Chris.

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:36 pm

Very nice bass!

325_fan · Post by **325_fan** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 1:32 am

That one is a 32 1/2" scale. Alembic calls it a short scale. The wood is cocobolo.