Chewie Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Just seen one of these for sale.............. does anybody out there have any experience with one? Really appreciate any pearls on this bass.............. Christmas regards, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Played a blue/turquoise one. Found the neck was very over to the left hand side. Was a beautiful bass though. I prefer the Orion shape to play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leschirons Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Had one for two weeks which probably says a lot. I personally found it positively underwhelming in every respect. Bought it purely because it was an Alembic, back in the days when I could. Neck too deep for my liking, bass didn't balance well, sound was very wooly and lower mid biased. Restrung it, just the same. It was heavy too. Eventually came to the conclusion that superb playability doesn't actually have a lot to do with price. Maybe it was just not a nice one, or just not for me. Got a couple of mates who swear by Alembics though so all down to personal choice. Try it out and make a judgement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Definitely one of my least favourite Alembics (although I prefer it to the Epic). Neither of them balance brilliantly and they don't really feel like 'proper' Alembic basses to me. If they didn't have the name on the headstock I'm not sure they'd fetch the kind of values they've risen up to now. Having said this, I realise I'm comparing them to other Alembic instruments costing near twice the price so the comparison is a bit unfair. Could be a good starter bass as an introduction to the brand but could leave you with major GAS for one of the more expensive ones, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliusmonk Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Agree with previous posters - nothing to write home about. Once past the Alembic mythology effect, it's pretty much just another bass. A Sire M3 is much better in my opinion, much lighter and they're like 200-250 quid new? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzyvee Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 (edited) If you wanted to drop the cash on it and try it out. Im pretty sure that if it wasn't to your liking you could sell it again for the same as you got it for. Like Molan says it is a good starter for the brand. I will add that if it's a standard one it will have the low pass filter which is really a big part of the alembic sound. Before you buy it though make sure you get some pictures from the seller of inside the control cavity, join the alembic forum at [url="http://www.alembic.com"]www.alembic.com[/url] and post the pics up there for clarification that they are genuine. Some alembics that have appeared on the used market have had electronics and/or pickups changed and if you are new to the brand you may get stung! [url="http://alembic.com/prod/essence.html"]http://alembic.com/prod/essence.html[/url] Edited December 20, 2016 by jazzyvee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visog Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 [b] Anybody played an Alembic Essence...........?[/b] Yes. Seem to recall Stuart Zender had one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobpalt Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 I had an Alembic Excel way back in the day which is one of the basses I regret selling. I have never seen another one since? It was a 'budget' starter bass with a single pickup but was way nicer than any Alembic I have played since, including the Essence, Orion and Elan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzyvee Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 Here is one for sale across the pond in Canada I just saw today. [url="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Guitare-basse-Alembic-essence-1994-used-/162315622606?hash=item25cac3d8ce:g:CT4AAOSwA3dYTER7"]http://www.ebay.com/itm/Guitare-basse-Alembic-essence-1994-used-/162315622606?hash=item25cac3d8ce:g:CT4AAOSwA3dYTER7[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicko Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 Bizarrely, I was reading an old guitarist mag the other day and there was a review of the Alembic Essence. They said it captured the, erm, essence of an alembic and were quite complimentary onn the soun and construction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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