Kiwi

I've owned two alembics and played countless others including a Series II 6 string standard point. There's definitely a difference between Series basses and the rest - mainly that they're a little brighter. The necks are superb but, as others have suggested, the non series basses can be heavy. The series basses have chambered bodies to reduce the weight a little. I've found Spoilers, Elans and Persuaders to be pretty warm sounding. The one Rogue I tried was a Series II so doesn't really count. I'm not a big fan of the filters to be honest, most of the time I keep them fully open and use a separate eq to shape. [quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1396619842' post='2415756'] sorry i just don't buy it. some alembics are nearly three times the price of a Shuker, or a Sei. and Alembic don't put three times as much effort in to there making there basses than these makers. . they ride on there image, and can get away with the huge prices of there basses on that fact. its nothing to do with capturing peoples imagination. its about very cleverly forming an image, with top players, endorsees etc. and riding the wave and overcharging because the can. just like Fodera, fantastic instruments no doubt, but overpriced. yep. i think its very naive to think otherwise. [/quote] I suggest your view may carry some niavety too but there's nothing wrong with that. Just be aware that at the moment Fodera only make [b]a 10% margin[/b] on their instruments and that fact comes straight from Fodera themselves. Employing people in New York City and things like fully comp healthcare or pensions are extremely expensive. Plus Fodera chuck out a huge amount of wood purchased straight from suppliers but ultimately doesn't make it through the air drying process. I wouldn't be surprised if Alembic look after and invest in their people like Fodera do. This makes business sense - if talented employees feel protected and stay it also means companies don't have to spend 6 months to a year training their replacements to meet the same standards of perfection in craftsmanship. These instruments are subject to constant scrutiny because of their cost. Secondly, the amount of time it takes to put Alembic components together almost certainly adds to the cost. The bridge saddle and anchor for example are 250 quid each if bought separately and are hand made. That means some bloke standing at a lathe or vise and making the components out of brass blanks and steel tubing for a specific instrument. You can certainly suggest that the instruments could be made more efficiently but when you get an instrument, you know that every bit of it is hand crafted rather than just the wooden bits. Clearly, history shows there's a reliable market for these instruments. Martin and Jon's wood work is the equal of anything by Alembic and Fodera, in my opinion. Martin's necks are sublime. Jon's designs are beautiful. Neither employ a load of people, in fact Jon doesn't employ any - he says his time is spent more productively on building rather than training. Low overheads help to keep costs down. [quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1396619842' post='2415756'] i personally would feel like a bit of a wally, walking on stage with a Fodera or an Alembic.[/quote] I suggest it might depends on the music you're playing. Pub rock and Mustang Sally? I would too. But anything with soul, RnB etc. and there's no reason to be concerned. Of course, you could always not worry about the opinions of people you don't know...

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1390777886' post='2349506'] Attached is a screen shot of my Johnson... [/quote] Fnarr. Seriously though, is it possible to get the same effect but without distortion?

LOL oh yes I remember seeing that some time ago - silk purse indeed. I've worked with people who have worked for him - they said he's very astute and seems to find ways to get what he's looking for out of the artists.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1393718977' post='2383796'] Hi Mark - I too am Mark. In fact, most people on the forum are called Mark - unless they're called Dave. [size=4]And the women are generally called Debs. Welcome to the forum. [/size] [/quote] At one point I recall we did a poll and found the most common name on here was Steve. I didn't like competition though so Marks came to dominate instead. Welcome Mark. Steve

The closest string spacing I've ever encountered has been on two basses - Alembic Elan 6 and a "vintage" Steinberger XL25A 'narrow' model. The Alembic was about 16mm, the Steinberger is essentially a 4 string factory retrofitted with 5 string pickups and hardware so maybe even closer - 15.5mm...? Both are challenging to play at first but it's possible to get used to them. I still have the Steinberger but it's in storage at the moment. Schaller make a Fender retrofit bridge with variable string spacing by moving the string rollers within each saddle. Hipshot do a similar thing in a heavier bridge and Kahler make a bridge which allows significant string spacing adjustment by moving the saddles.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1395790959' post='2406488'] You sure? [/quote] Not anymore...!

[quote name='Matte_black' timestamp='1395763982' post='2405976'] 2x10" orizontalli stacked (with tweeter) 2x10" orizontally staked (with tweeter and red stripe) [/quote] Forgive me for asking...but are you typing with an [i]accent[/i]?!

The AFC do a very nice line in hi-fi valve amps. They're not chinese.

[quote name='Bassnut62' timestamp='1395610627' post='2404403'] One word........Burman! Check em out...they're big and wonderful and relatively cheap for the quality they deliver. [/quote] Burman don't do anything more powerful than 140w. I would suggest a Mesa Boogie Strategy 400 - 200w a side. But they don't come up very often.

Imagery in my head of Lemmy singing about butterflies was amusing though.

Waow...waaooowaaaooowaaaooooowwwwww...unbeLIEVEabol...[sorry]

US bassist Kai Eckhart used one of these for a long time. Congratulations on the purchase!

Welcome from another West Londoner.

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1395322014' post='2401070'] So Chris took the little boy to his special cupboard and showed the little boy his wood. [/quote]

[url="http://www.guitarelectronics.com"]www.guitarelectronics.com[/url] is your friend.

Welcome from another Londoner...there are a few of us about on here.

My parents aren't really into music, to them it's tends to be something that happens in the background. They're the same about food as well. Just happens to be something they have to eat. However, up until 1981, they were at least a little contemporary and I really enjoyed into Abba (Arrival album got worn out by me), ELO (Out of the Blue), Cliff (yes, when he was still cool) and Sky (Sky2). Tristian Fry's groove on Tristian's Magic Garden made me want to take up drums and I've had the great pleasure and privilege of spending a short time in Mr Flowers company too. Plus the Muppet Show Vol. 2 for the car which I have had completely memorised for the last 34 years. They bought their next albums 4 years later (Chris Cross - Another Page), Elaine Page (warbling about Evita) and Barbara Streisand (Guilty) and it sort of went a bit beige after that to Andre Rieu today. HOWEVER, I do have a guilty pleasure - I have copies of those early albums and sometimes I go back to them and play along. It's the aural equivalent of comfort food.

[quote name='Bassnut62' timestamp='1395231472' post='2399942'] Spookily, I have used it for guitar and it does sound great and stays clean at any volume; but it is way more volume than I will ever need on guitar, plus I have a few nice all valve vintage guitar combos that cover guitar needs for me. [/quote] OK but taking a couple of power valves out is also an option.

in contrast to the above post, I like the compression of valves a lot, it's the single point of difference for me between valve and solid state. I've tried replicating it and the closest I've come is with a trace dual band compressor but even that wasn't the whole deal. I'd say keep the Bassman 135 and use it for guitar with a 12" guitar cab. Its good enough for Ted Nugent.

I read the topic title and thought 'here we go...', so was relieved when it turned out to be positive! Ped, the modding team and I are fortunate to enjoy this level of support so thanks for the kind comments! There's plenty of room for improvement though. We're very aware that online community management has now emerged as a valid profession in its own right and in the last 12 months leaps and strides have been made in terms of defining best practice, developing ways to monitor how well a community is doing and how best to keep it an interesting and relevant place. We're on top of all that in terms of awareness and planning, and with some aspects (i.e. mods guidelines, bassbashes, process for selecting mods) we're ahead of the curve. But the issues we've had with php devs have been [i]extremely[/i] frustrating when it comes to implementation of improvements on the site. Thanks to everyone for your support and patience.

[quote name='Bassman Steve' timestamp='1394737873' post='2394675'] I use Svetlana Winged C 6550's in my Bass 400 and they're wonderful. I don't want any grit in my sound thanks and the bass 400 (which has 6 power valves) typically runs on 3 on both the master and the channel. I agree 200w is plenty but my illogical desire for idiotic headroom means about 600 available. [/quote] Mesa amps are normally biased on the cool side for durability so 6550's won't be pushed very hard. You could probably put KT88's instead. My vote goes for KT77 tubes for clean volume. Preamp valves - 5751's are my preference.

I suspect you'll be able to ask for a lot more than 60 quid with the right people. Nice find.

Wow, others will be able to confirm but that looks like a super early Trace Mark IV head. Yes UK designed and built - tank like in construction.