Anybody know anything about Alembic?
Now you're speaking my language. I've owned six, still own two. In my opinion, they are the Stradivarious of bass guitars. As with most instruments, they aren't for everybody. If you have an opportunity to play a Signature, a Rogue, an Essence, a Europa, or a Series I or Series II, you should do so to make certain that it is something you'll like. Off hand I can't think of anywhere in Tennessee that stocks them, but I understand that Gruhn Guitars has a really nice 1977 Series I.
I'm not too familiar with Epic or Excel models. Distillate, Elan, and Spoiler models are all "discontinued", but at Alembic, they'll make you just about anything on a custom order.
The small body short scale basses (Stanley Clarke Signature, small bodied Series I / II) are notorious for having neck dive issues. I've had three small bodied Alembics. All three had some neck dive, only one was what I would call troublesome. The two I still own are both standard size (large) bodies. I'm playing one of them in the picture in my profile. As you can see, that neck ain't diving.
Here's a picture from a few years ago. I sold the small bodied bass in the middle, but I still have the other two. The 5 string is pretty much my main bass. In fact it's the one I'm playing in the avatar picture. It's a Mark King Signature with Series II electronics and a few other custom options. Both 4 strings are Series I basses.
If you hang out at the Alembic Club newsgroup, you'll see used ones pop up from time to time. There are also used basses popping up on eBay. Hang out at the Alembic Club and you'll quickly figure out which of the eBay posts are scams. There is zero tolerance for eBay scams in that group.
Feel free to pm me if you have any other questions.
Peace,
James
