4000

I’ve sung and played for most of my “career”. The last couple of bands it’s been mainly backing, but before that I did a lot of lead vocals. I first started doing both pretty much as soon as I picked up the bass so it’s always come pretty naturally to me, although occasionally you get a song that’s tougher to do. I wrote one recently; even the backing is tough, rhythmically. Practice is the thing! And confidence, which I often lack, and which is the reason I now try and avoid singing lead where possible.

I do too! Unfortunately it also shows how much I’ve spent, which is a bit eye-watering. I’m not sure it’s an exhaustive list either.

Golds guards are an early Rickenbacker thing. Could well be because of charges. As I say , give Robbie a ring.

Er, not quite sure what this means.....

Give him a ring or drop him an email.

Haven’t bought a bass off them but have bought some bits and pieces.

I plan to go on one at some point, but I don’t want a P or a J. Can’t you build something else?

If it’s just too much relief and the truss rod works ok you don’t need to heat bend the neck! Just adjust the trussrod.

Funny....that’s probably my least favourite of the above!

I didn’t try that, but my SC didn’t have strap locks, just strap buttons, and still neck-dived/fell forward.

Obviously you can compensate for that by having a longer horn, as above. I actually like having a bit more body behind the bridge because of how I rest my hand. The Rogues and Balance Ks balance fine, as do the Epics and Orions, at least as 4 strings. One of the problems with multi string Alembics is the necks can often be quite chunky, which won’t help matters.

I love the Balance K shape. IIRC it had just come out around the time I ordered my Triple O, but I was dead set on the Triple O. With hindsight I wish I’d got a Balance K as I probably could have kept it. Unfortunately the Triple O was a little too heavy standing up and was uncomfortable to play seated; a hollow BK would have solved both of these issues. FWIW the Balance K is smaller than the Standard (Mark King) shape, which is what Cosmo was referring to, it’s a bit more like an SC with an extended top horn. They do loads of other shapes too. If you haven’t been on the Alembic site yet Dave then do, there’s loads more info than we can provide in brief here. If you want a shape that balances, pick one of the ones that does. Don’t consider the fact that some designs won’t balance really well as some sort of flaw, they’re simply based on a particular aesthetic choice. FWIW I’ve played some old Wals that don’t balance well, and some Warwicks aren’t the best.

As above, balance is not just about weight, it’s as much to do with the shape and where the strap buttons are.

Balance isn’t just about weight, it’s also about the shape/dimensions of the bass and where the strap buttons are. It’s pretty basic physics. Some people want a bass to look a certain way, and if that’s how they want it to look they take the rough with the smooth. Unfortunately you can’t overcome physics! Depending to a degree on the body shape, most basses need the strap attachment of the top horn to be somewhere around the 12th fret to balance correctly. Obviously depending on certain other dimensions of the bass, and the weight of the body compared to the weight of neck/headstock, this will vary slightly, but as a general rule it’s more or less the case. The strap button on the SC is on the neck heel, which as stated above means that it doesn’t balance and also that the body tips forward somewhat. Now this won’t bother some people; it evidently never bothered Stanley Clarke too much or he’d have asked for a different shape! Other people, like me, it bothers a great deal. Of course different SCs will balance somewhat differently based on the weight of the body (dependent upon woods, electronics, whether hollow or solid etc) but they will all neck dive to some extent. One other thing about the two original Alembic shapes, bear in mind they were loosely based on the Gibson EB and Guild Starfire; they came up with those shapes a long, long time ago!

The Stanley Clarke shape typically neck dives like crazy. I had one - a fantastic bass - but sold it for that very reason. Certain shapes will always neck dive, whoever they’re made by. It’s nothing to do with quality.

I only play seated these days so it’s likely that wouldn’t work for me. It always surprises me how many instruments are a struggle to play seated.

Assuming you believe there is a difference, why would alder be any better? Plenty of cheap guitars use that too. FWIW Eddie Van Helen’s signature Peavey was basswood.

Tangerine Pearl.........mmmmmmmm.

Spinal problems - amongst other physical issues of course - are the bane of us bassists.

No, I have chronic back and neck problems and some nerve damage, particularly in my right arm. Very few basses are now comfortable for me. I actually get on best with minimal contouring; I’m fine with my Rickenbacker 4001 /4003s but had to get rid of my supposedly more comfortable 4004 because of the above issues. The more contouring, particularly in the right arm area, the worse.

The few I’ve tried I’ve really liked, but I found the body shape rather uncomfortable. Shame as I’d love an orange one; I have no real problem with the looks.

I’ve tended to find the set necks a little growlier, to my ear, although all individual basses will differ somewhat.

I haven’t been on in a long time but the Alembic Club was a great forum. Loads of information. The “Factory to Customer” build threads on the Alembic site are wonderful too. For what it’s worth the typical Alembic neck shape - although if going custom you can have anything and some models do have what they call the ‘taper’ neck profile, in addition to the necks on the cheaper models generally being a bit chunkier - is not far removed from being Rickenbackerish, I.e. it’s pretty parallel and narrow all the way along. My custom came with by far the best factory setup I’ve ever had, and noticeably better than any other boutique I’ve had. My friend who owns my Wal Custom was very impressed at the setup. Sound-wise they tend to be very pure and clean (some would maybe think too much so), but obviously you can change that with amps/pedals. Most, but not all of the models have filters, not bass/treble etc, although some do (e.g. Rogue, which also has the taper neck). The Series electronics are a step above everything else IMO, but you pay for them. I’d go to Alembic.com for more info as it’s a bit of a wormhole. Alembic will pretty much build you anything within the various shapes, and sometimes beyond those.

Shame. Great player.

If they're heavier it’s likely they may have pulled the neck forward, in which case you would need to tighten your truss rod to compensate.