Cosmo Valdemar Posted October 10, 2014 Posted October 10, 2014 Well, newish. I picked this up a couple of weeks ago on these hallowed pages courtesy of Ash but thanks to living in a small house with two kids under four I've only just manages to play it in anger today - through two amps and everything. Well, it sounds incredible. The whole thing runs in stereo - each pickup goes to a separate amp - so I've been using my Roland Bass Cube and a little borrowed Peavey Rage guitar amp. Despite the humble amplification it's giving off a massive sound, instant Entwistle. And, as far as my ears can tell, extremely close to the real thing. Seriously! Impeccable construction too and in remarkably good condition. Hopefully I'll manage to figure out what the controls do at some point, beyond an amusing wah effect. [URL=http://s903.photobucket.com/user/ben_merrick/media/20141005_1201381.jpg.html][IMG]http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/ben_merrick/20141005_1201381.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s903.photobucket.com/user/ben_merrick/media/20141005_1201291.jpg.html][IMG]http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/ben_merrick/20141005_1201291.jpg[/IMG][/URL] I'm still bouncing about the place, this thing sounds amazing! Quote
RhysP Posted October 10, 2014 Posted October 10, 2014 I remember trying these out on the Fernandes stand at the Frankfurt Trade Fair in the early/mid 80's & being totally blown away by them. Quote
Cosmo Valdemar Posted October 13, 2014 Author Posted October 13, 2014 [quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1412973811' post='2573871'] I remember trying these out on the Fernandes stand at the Frankfurt Trade Fair in the early/mid 80's & being totally blown away by them. [/quote] It does seem to be an astoundingly close replica. A couple of obvious differences I've noticed are a rosewood fretboard instead of ebony, and a standard brass nut instead of the adjustable Alembic nut. I'm amazed they got away with it! Quote
RhysP Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 (edited) [quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1413209176' post='2575826'] It does seem to be an astoundingly close replica. A couple of obvious differences I've noticed are a rosewood fretboard instead of ebony, and a standard brass nut instead of the adjustable Alembic nut. I'm amazed they got away with it! [/quote] They didn't for very long.... That year Fernandes had masses of really good copies of stuff, BC Rich guitars & basses, Musicman basses, pretty much everything Gibson, Fender & Rickenbacker make, as well as famous instruments like Jaco's Jazz Bass, Randy Rhoad's white Les Paul & loads of others & they were all superbly made. They even had a copy of Stanley Clarke's Bigsby equipped Alembic! Wish I still had a copy of the catalogue. Edited October 13, 2014 by RhysP Quote
jazzyvee Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 I knew I'd seen the catalog somewhere on line. [url="http://brochures.yokochou.com/guitar-and-amp/fernandes/1980/en_index.html"]http://brochures.yokochou.com/guitar-and-amp/fernandes/1980/en_index.html[/url] Quote
cocco Posted October 14, 2014 Posted October 14, 2014 That's some serious replication going on there. I'm just not sure about the point on the bottom of the body. Quote
Cosmo Valdemar Posted October 14, 2014 Author Posted October 14, 2014 [quote name='cocco' timestamp='1413290937' post='2576754'] That's some serious replication going on there. I'm just not sure about the point on the bottom of the body. [/quote] That's there for a reason - Alembic originally started out modifying and repairing instruments, and one of the most common 'injuries' they saw were snapped headstocks as a result of basses basses being balanced against a wall. The point design ensures the use of a proper stand. But the tone! Seriously Ash, you would love it - huge, piano-like with a load of growl and sustain. I'm going to try and figure out how to make a little recording and upload it. Quote
UglyDog Posted October 14, 2014 Posted October 14, 2014 It's a stunner. I too would love to hear some sound clips. Quote
ash Posted October 14, 2014 Posted October 14, 2014 Glad you are happy with it - it's a lovely looking and playing thing but as I said too complex for a simple soul like me Quote
cocco Posted October 14, 2014 Posted October 14, 2014 [quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1413300176' post='2576887'] That's there for a reason - Alembic originally started out modifying and repairing instruments, and one of the most common 'injuries' they saw were snapped headstocks as a result of basses basses being balanced against a wall. The point design ensures the use of a proper stand. But the tone! Seriously Ash, you would love it - huge, piano-like with a load of growl and sustain. I'm going to try and figure out how to make a little recording and upload it. [/quote] I don't doubt it for a second. I've always wanted a series 1. I've recently been sorting out my old Blazer. Got the truss rod unstuck and treated it to a new tone pot. It's all but retired my Bob Glaub and because its old an rough round the edges I'm less precious of it. Result! Quote
HowieBass Posted October 14, 2014 Posted October 14, 2014 Bit of a noob to Alembics question here, but what's the function of the black oblong located between the two pickups? I've seen this on some of Stanley Clarke's basses as well. Quote
three Posted October 15, 2014 Posted October 15, 2014 The black oblong is a coil - effectively an inactive pickup between the two low impedance pickups. It's there to eliminate hum (it works). You'll see this on most SI and SII instruments, though it can be embedde under a full-face laminate (I believe) Quote
jazzyvee Posted October 15, 2014 Posted October 15, 2014 (edited) [quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1413324983' post='2577272'] Bit of a noob to Alembics question here, but what's the function of the black oblong located between the two pickups? I've seen this on some of Stanley Clarke's basses as well. [/quote] Those are usually found on the series I and II basses. They are a hum cancelling pickup. Basically it's just a coil without a magnet. The neck and bridge pickups are single coils and this central pickup, picks up the electrical noise, hum etc. in the surrounding environment and via some internal electronics in the body of the bass, cancels them out. This enables the pickups to produce that clean single coil sound with out noise and interference. On the back of the basses there are a couple of trim pots that you use to calibrate the circuit. Edited October 15, 2014 by jazzyvee Quote
jazzyvee Posted October 15, 2014 Posted October 15, 2014 [quote name='three' timestamp='1413361075' post='2577397'] The black oblong is a coil - effectively an inactive pickup between the two low impedance pickups. It's there to eliminate hum (it works). You'll see this on most SI and SII instruments, though it can be embedde under a full-face laminate (I believe) [/quote] Yep it can be located anywhere inside the bass. On custom builds some signature basses have them in if they are constructed as "series ready" such that they can be upgraded to series I or II in the future. Others have them in for cosmetic reasons. They do work extremely well. Quote
Cosmo Valdemar Posted October 16, 2014 Author Posted October 16, 2014 Sound clips coming soon, hopefully! Quote
White Cloud Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Absolutely great basses...but from memory of my buddy's FAB bass they did not have filter based electronics. I am a little surprised you can achieve the "wah" effect. Quote
Cosmo Valdemar Posted October 17, 2014 Author Posted October 17, 2014 [quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1413540758' post='2579252'] Absolutely great basses...but from memory of my buddy's FAB bass they did not have filter based electronics. I am a little surprised you can achieve the "wah" effect. [/quote] It wahs like mad! A real squelch of a sound. It's exagerrated when you move the toggle switches. I'll try and capture it when I make a recording. Quote
White Cloud Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 In that case you have just purchased one hell of a bass....congratulations! Quote
ead Posted October 20, 2014 Posted October 20, 2014 What do all the controls do? Couldn't find anything much on t'interweb, but I may not have been searching for the right thing. Quote
jazzyvee Posted October 20, 2014 Posted October 20, 2014 I don't know if these fernandes basses actually have the hum cancelling circuits that the Alembic Series basses have built in or even if the pickups are true single coils or hum cancelling pickups. Quote
Kiwi Posted October 20, 2014 Posted October 20, 2014 Nice score, for many years I was in the market for one but ended up with the real thing. I'd love to try one at some point just to see how close they get. Quote
Cosmo Valdemar Posted October 20, 2014 Author Posted October 20, 2014 [quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1413796459' post='2581863'] Nice score, for many years I was in the market for one but ended up with the real thing. I'd love to try one at some point just to see how close they get. [/quote] You're welcome to come over and try it - if you bring the real thing along! Mind you, saying that, I would hate to try a real on side by side and discover mine isn't really all that! Quote
Kiwi Posted October 20, 2014 Posted October 20, 2014 You're living not so far from me...once my stuff arrives in the UK, lets set something up. Quote
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