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SOLD Pending - Alembic Essence 4 Fretted - aqua blue translucent £1125

lozbass

By lozbass,
in Basses For Sale

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lozbass

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[b]SOLD PENDING Price now reduced to £1125 (includes gig-bag) - shipping within the UK can be arranged for around £20[/b]

For sale, an Alembic Essence from 1993 (no trades thanks). The bass has a translucent aqua blue finish over a heavily figured flame maple top. All the hardware is heavily chrome plated (factory spec.) It's a 34" scale, very light and well balanced - the aim with the Essence is to provide all the core features of an Alembic build but without the weight. Thus, the Essence is neck-through, filter-based pre and high-end pickups with all brass hardware, In short, the bass is a fully-fledged Alembic and in the mid price range for the company's products. New price is currently $7500 with a realistic dealer price of approximately £4300 in the UK. This is without the custom options (chrome hardware and high-gloss aqua finish) sported on the sale item. The Essence is considerably more expensive than the Epic, Orion etc., (not that there's any problem with the latter - they're set neck models with more conventional electronics).

The piano clarity is all present and correct. The bass had a pro set-up around 6 weeks ago. Action is low (and eminently adjustable). The bass will come in a Fender gig bag with all the tools and most of the paperwork. The original spec sheet (wood card) is missing. I bought the bass from Germany around 4 months ago but I'm now focusing on short-scales entirely and selling-off my long-scale instruments.

I'm trying to avoid hype here, but the bass is in excellent condition for a '93 build - I doubt it's been gigged much if at all. There's some dulling of the finish on the back - shirt buttons? - and a few very minor cosmetic marks here and there (no nasty dings or crunches). There's nothing beyond normal play-wear and swirling really. The hardware looks entirely new. Electronics are in excellent order and the bass is structurally sound and fully adjustable. Action is currently low (though this is all subjective). Frets are not showing wear, however, there are a few ends that are slightly sharp and could benefit from filing (this isn't a big issue, I just want to be entirely up-front - Alembic allude to the issue of minor shrinkage of ebony boards - filing is recommended after the first year, however, I don't think this bass ever received the treatment). Playability is excellent - the bass has a taut, authoritative ring even without amplification.

I have around £1250 in the bass but will sell for a firm £1125. I bought this bass for what I consider to be a bargain price and I'm selling it for less than my outlay - genuinely a real bargain I'd hope. Collection (and trial) in central Manchester but shipping can be arranged at cost.

More images now included (please PM for anything specific). Let me know if there are any questions Edited by lozbass
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lozbass Community Regular

lozbass

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Gents, thanks for your comments (Andy, would I do that to you?)

I've managed to get off the naughty step for long enough to try to include an image in the first post - unfortunately, my efforts came to nought - I'll keep trying. Paulie - thanks - the weight is around 9lbs but I'll try to get an accurate measurement. The Essence is built to be a light bass (unlike pretty much any other Alembic!)

more soon...

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lozbass Community Regular

lozbass

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Bump and thanks to all for the information on posting images - wonderful (what a community!)

I've added one image as a taster - all I need to do is to work out how to rotate it (or ask you to rotate your head) - apologies, but you get the picture.

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lozbass

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[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1359223382' post='1951893']
Saw this bass today, it looks amazing, and plays and sounds as you expect.

The control layout makes great sense, and it's amazing the sounds you can pull from the bass.
[/quote]
Andy, thanks and great to see you - thanks too for the kind words. Certainly some amazing sounds in the hands of somebody who knows what they're doing!

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lozbass Community Regular

lozbass

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Back in the public eye! PMs now answered - 'apologies for the delay and please let me know if I've missed something. I had another play yesterday and this really is a very lovely instrument indeed. I'll try to get some more images up this week - just let me know if you need anything specific

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lozbass

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[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1360881294' post='1977979']
Swap you my fretless and a pint?
[/quote]
Andy, thanks - a good offer and I'm a thirsty man...but you've seen me trying to play fretted...the tuneless din on fretless is truly frightening

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rednose200 Apprentice

rednose200

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What a beauty. Unusual to see an Alembic with chrome hardware and oh doesn't it look so fine. I really cant believe this is still here at this price and being such an unusual Alembic at that. For heavens sake somebody buy it, its a great investment as well as being the dogs testicles in performance and sound. Jesus.

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