Looks familiar - what do you reckon this is??

[TheGreek]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BASS-GUITAR-/111961602811?hash=item1a116e7afb:g:WYQAAOSwZ8ZXBtpR

[RhysP]

I don't know but it's got a banjo headstock.

[Hobbayne]

It looks like a Westone Thunder 1 body.

[TheGreek]

I thought it looked a bit like a Kawai Alembic copy - Nick Smith has one and I've seen a few others but I'm still not sure.

[Bassassin]

Home-made Alembic wannabe.

[TheGreek]

So the adage of "[i] fools rush in where angels fear to tread[/i]" comes to bear. I rushed in and bought the above. Looked [i]"not too bad"[/i] in the ad ([i]should have asked for more details pics really[/i]) so I BIN with the plan of passing the bass to our own Andyjr1515 to do his magic.

[b]Update:[/b] Bass arrives today...I check the bass and it's got a number of issues, both the top and bottom have tried to separate themselves from the core(indicated by the business cards and post it notes). A repair was done in the past where somebody poorly/unsuccessfully tried to re-glue the top. The laminated neck is also coming apart. Least of the damage is a missing nut. Check for yourselves in the attached pics.

[url="http://s1167.photobucket.com/user/FairfaxAikman/slideshow/Alembic"]http://s1167.photobu...ideshow/Alembic[/url]

I think this must have started life as a pretty good bass and somebody had made some "[i]improvements[/i]" to it. The quality of their work is pretty poor TBH.

Andy did a great job when he modified the neck of the bass I sent him, just ([i]really, really[/i]) hoping that he's willing and able to do the same with this. Watch the build diaries thread in the future.

Edited April 14, 2016 by TheGreek

[PlungerModerno]

Those pictures are a little painful to look at.
Gonna need a lot of glue and some prizing time! I hope the glue used reacts well to steam - that could make the preparation for regluing a LOT less labour intensive.

Could have a very nice bass at the end. Possibly even worth throwing in a set of "Alembic" style electronics (Or Hi-Fi sounding pickups and a parametric mid control at least!)

[TheGreek]

[quote name='PlungerModerno' timestamp='1460645297' post='3027557']
Those pictures are a little painful to look at.
Gonna need a lot of glue and some prizing time! I hope the glue used reacts well to steam - that could make the preparation for regluing a LOT less labour intensive.

Could have a very nice bass at the end. Possibly even worth throwing in a set of "Alembic" style electronics (Or Hi-Fi sounding pickups and a parametric mid control at least!)
[/quote]

I'm really hoping Andy is able to do it - I don't have the skills to do this. There is a local luthiers course running in Hertford which I may have to do if Andy isn't able to help me with this.

http://www.hertfordguitarstudio.co.uk/building.html

In regards to p/ups, I was looking at SimS Super quad p/ups. Expensive but lovely.

http://www.simscustom.com/pickups/4string.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3cjdNWQTNw.

I've spent the last couple of hours rubbing the gloss off the headstock - TBH I was hoping to find an Alembic logo under this but no luck there.

It looks like the fretboard may have had something added to it - not 100% that it is Ebony - I've rubbed it down thinking it's probably Rosewood underneath but it still looks black.

I bought some chemicals which apparently act on glue. Going to give it a go last thing at night and have a look in the morning.