Cosmo Valdemar Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 1 hour ago, RedVee said: Didn't John file his frets down to the board on his Spyder so that he could get super low action, or was that his Buzzard? Dear God, no. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 I'm really fond of my Series 1. Really wish it was a 5 string but the only one I'm aware of with the same spec as mine is Jimmy Haslips. His sounds phenomenal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiram.k.hackenbacker Posted December 27, 2019 Author Share Posted December 27, 2019 5 hours ago, RedVee said: Didn't John file his frets down to the board on his Spyder so that he could get super low action, or was that his Buzzard?. Anyway if you are looking to sell it any time soon let me know, though I think that would be another long shot! I have no idea, but given John’s style of playing, I’m not sure whether that’s right. My one is very low anyway. It could probably do with just a hair off the tension it has at the moment. I don’t have any plans to sell. It’s been on my bucket list for some time 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 The seller may be the son of a hiram.k.hackenbacker Jr.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 17 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said: Dear God, no. There’s a Status Buzzard II in the Gallery that used to belong to John and it’s got Maxima Golds on. I don’t know if it has been set up since he had it, but the action is about the same as mine. I believe someone on the Alembic Club (and poss here?) had one of his Buzzard 1s and said the same. I know that Rob Green said that he set John’s basses up and John took one look and said “they’ll go much lower than that!”, but every time my mate sent his old Status off to a Rob it came back with what we considered an almost unplayable high action, which we then had to drop several mm, so I don’t think that story means that much. I’ve read and watched quite a few interviews with John and I’ve never heard him say anything about filing his frets to the board. I’d be interested to know where that came from. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 (edited) 15 hours ago, Kiwi said: I'm really fond of my Series 1. Really wish it was a 5 string but the only one I'm aware of with the same spec as mine is Jimmy Haslips. His sounds phenomenal. Er, that’s Jimmy Johnson....phenomenal player. Saw him with Allan Holdsworth several years back. Edited December 27, 2019 by 4000 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 17 minutes ago, 4000 said: There’s a Status Buzzard II in the Gallery that used to belong to John and it’s got Maxima Golds on. I don’t know if it has been set up since he had it, but the action is about the same as mine. I believe someone on the Alembic Club (and poss here?) had one of his Buzzard 1s and said the same. I know that Rob Green said that he set John’s basses up and John took one look and said “they’ll go much lower than that!”, but every time my mate sent his old Status off to a Rob it came back with what we considered an almost unplayable high action, which we then had to drop several mm, so I don’t think that story means that much. I’ve read and watched quite a few interviews with John and I’ve never heard him say anything about filing his frets to the board. I’d be interested to know where that came from. John often said he liked the action so low that the strings were on the other side of the frets but I've never heard anything about fret filling. Having had the pleasure of playing the Status Buzzard belonging to @Wolverinebass , I can confirm they can handle a RIDICULOUSLY low action. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2112 Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 49 minutes ago, 4000 said: Er, that’s Jimmy Johnson....phenomenal player. Saw him with Allan Holdsworth several years back. Jimmy has my favourite Alembic tone of all time. Back in the 80's he was playing graphite-necked Alembic in Lee Ritenour's band. The tone was absolutely insane and his playing was unbelievable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Cloud Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 35 minutes ago, Chris2112 said: Jimmy has my favourite Alembic tone of all time. Back in the 80's he was playing graphite-necked Alembic in Lee Ritenour's band. The tone was absolutely insane and his playing was unbelievable. Jimmy Johnson is an absolute gent ... and his tone is the absolute best I've ever heard live from any bassist. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolverinebass Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 1 hour ago, 4000 said: There’s a Status Buzzard II in the Gallery that used to belong to John and it’s got Maxima Golds on. I don’t know if it has been set up since he had it, but the action is about the same as mine. I believe someone on the Alembic Club (and poss here?) had one of his Buzzard 1s and said the same. I know that Rob Green said that he set John’s basses up and John took one look and said “they’ll go much lower than that!”, but every time my mate sent his old Status off to a Rob it came back with what we considered an almost unplayable high action, which we then had to drop several mm, so I don’t think that story means that much. I’ve read and watched quite a few interviews with John and I’ve never heard him say anything about filing his frets to the board. I’d be interested to know where that came from. As @Cosmo Valdemarsays, an all graphite status buzzard will happily take an action down to less than 0.5mm which is almost immeasurable. If that's not low enough for people I don't know what is. It really is scary. Ironically, when I got it the action was way too high for me (especially if you do tapping), but it adjusted down easily. My alembic also takes a truly insane low action as well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzyvee Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 The new bass looks great. I look forward to your views on it after you do some gigs with it. 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedVee Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 On 27/12/2019 at 20:23, Cosmo Valdemar said: John often said he liked the action so low that the strings were on the other side of the frets but I've never heard anything about fret filling. Having had the pleasure of playing the Status Buzzard belonging to @Wolverinebass , I can confirm they can handle a RIDICULOUSLY low action. On the Alembic website it mentions that John's frets where flush with the fretboard enabling him to get his action super low. I read this about fifteen years ago but I cannot remember the source but I know it was not from the Alembic site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grenadillabama Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 (edited) On 27/12/2019 at 14:02, 4000 said: There’s a Status Buzzard II in the Gallery that used to belong to John and it’s got Maxima Golds on. I don’t know if it has been set up since he had it, but the action is about the same as mine. I believe someone on the Alembic Club (and poss here?) had one of his Buzzard 1s and said the same. I know that Rob Green said that he set John’s basses up and John took one look and said “they’ll go much lower than that!”, but every time my mate sent his old Status off to a Rob it came back with what we considered an almost unplayable high action, which we then had to drop several mm, so I don’t think that story means that much. I’ve read and watched quite a few interviews with John and I’ve never heard him say anything about filing his frets to the board. I’d be interested to know where that came from. Some fret buzz was something he could control better than most players. Notes were never choked out. Edited January 2, 2020 by grenadillabama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 17 hours ago, RedVee said: On the Alembic website it mentions that John's frets where flush with the fretboard enabling him to get his action super low. I read this about fifteen years ago but I cannot remember the source but I know it was not from the Alembic site. Really? If the frets were flush with the fretboard that would render them ineffective surely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedVee Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 9 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said: Really? If the frets were flush with the fretboard that would render them ineffective surely? Well I don't know, but go and take a look at their website and have it out with Alembic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 11 minutes ago, RedVee said: Well I don't know, but go and take a look at their website and have it out with Alembic! Have you got a link? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 Well I’ve done a search over there and I can’t find anything, so a link would be appreciated. I did however find this: https://www.sonicnuance.com/2017/10/02/rick-turner-interview-on-john-entwistles-instruments/?doing_wp_cron=1578176837.1030249595642089843750 Nice to confirm that John liked his necks dead straight, no relief. Ditto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 Also this: http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=2608.msg30435#msg30435 You’re not thinking about John’s dry comment that he liked the strings “on the other side of the frets” are you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMG456 Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 On 05/01/2020 at 00:09, 4000 said: Well I’ve done a search over there and I can’t find anything, so a link would be appreciated. I did however find this: https://www.sonicnuance.com/2017/10/02/rick-turner-interview-on-john-entwistles-instruments/?doing_wp_cron=1578176837.1030249595642089843750 Nice to confirm that John liked his necks dead straight, no relief. Ditto. That is a really interesting interview in which Rick Turner covers much more ground than just info re JE’s Alembics. Some great insight into pickups and electronics, the weird and wonderful uses ‘70s musicians had for Anvil flight cases and last but not least the revelation (for me anyway) that the bass John McVie used for the end section of The Chain was an Alembic fretless fitted with a stainless steel fingerboard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 On 02/01/2020 at 23:22, RedVee said: Well I don't know, but go and take a look at their website and have it out with Alembic! I don't want to have it out with anybody, I'm just confused by the concept of flush frets! 😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 12 hours ago, EMG456 said: That is a really interesting interview in which Rick Turner covers much more ground than just info re JE’s Alembics. Some great insight into pickups and electronics, the weird and wonderful uses ‘70s musicians had for Anvil flight cases and last but not least the revelation (for me anyway) that the bass John McVie used for the end section of The Chain was an Alembic fretless fitted with a stainless steel fingerboard! I’d read a few times that it was his graphite-necked Small Standard (Stanley shape) that he did that on, so I too was surprised to hear that. I’m not completely convinced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said: I don't want to have it out with anybody, I'm just confused by the concept of flush frets! 😆 Just doesn’t make sense....I’ve been a member over there for years and never read that (although obviously I haven’t read everything), so I’d like to see a link to it. Edited January 6, 2020 by 4000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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