Super rare Fernandes Alembic double neck in Japan

[Kiwi]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124005952828

For any of you who didn't know, Fernandes took a couple of Alembic employees on board back in the late 70's/early 80's and they started producing very accurate replicas of Alembic Standard and Point body shapes in Series 1 configuration.  They used to be reasonably priced as well about 10 years ago but recently they've gone up in price to nearly the same level as a basic Alembic.  The pickups and wiring were also replicated even down to the stereo outputs and DI/power supply.   I never knew they had indulged in a double neck, so this is literally a unicorn bass, with a unicorn price.

Players who have been lucky enough to own one of these AND the original claim it's easy to tell the difference between the two in terms of build quality and they're probably right given the different asking prices.  Still, not even Alembic made many doublenecks for probably sensible reasons.

[Hellzero]

@zomnius had a Fernandes FAB-180 he bought in France and sold here on BassChat a few years back.

They were made between 1979 and 1981.

For those interested, there's a FAB-170 for sale here at a very very high price tag : https://reverb.com/item/19445896-fernandes-fab-170-bass-guitar-1979

Edited April 16, 2020 by Hellzero
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[Bassassin]

I'm not 100% convinced that the double neck's not a bass & a guitar that have been (very meticulously) laminated into a single instrument. Looks bang-on from the front but the positioning of the battery covers on the rear is very odd & makes no sense if the instrument had been manufactured as a twin-neck from the ground up. I'm inclined to think the centre section could have originally been the upper body wing of the guitar.

[Rich]

4 hours ago, Hellzero said:

@zomnius had a Fernandes FAB-180 he bought in France and sold here on BassChat a few years back.

They were made between 1979 and 1981.

For those interested, there's a FAB-170 for sale here at a very very high price tag : https://reverb.com/item/19445896-fernandes-fab-170-bass-guitar-1979

At that price, I think it'll be for sale for quite a while..!

 

[TheGreek]

I've been looking for one at a reasonable price (you don't see them very often - even at unreasonable prices) to see how it compares with my Kawai F1. TBH £2.5K as near as damn it stops this being attractive as an Alembic replacement.

[Hellzero]

And for the price he's asking, Mick, you can get a real Alembic, and even a Series one... The real worn ones can be quite affordable.

[TheGreek]

I'd like a SC but would need to sell most of my gear to afford one.

I could last Friday's EuroLottery win (£3.30) towards it.

[Kiwi]

1 hour ago, Hellzero said:

And for the price he's asking, Mick, you can get a real Alembic, and even a Series one... The real worn ones can be quite affordable.

Exactly, when I was looking seriously at an FAB180 about 11 years ago, I ended up getting the real thing instead...and then some.

[Bassassin]

4 hours ago, TheGreek said:

I've been looking for one at a reasonable price (you don't see them very often - even at unreasonable prices) to see how it compares with my Kawai F1. TBH £2.5K as near as damn it stops this being attractive as an Alembic replacement.

I would expect it'd be remarkably similar - Fernandes (like Ibanez) is a brand rather than a manufacturer. Kawai Gakki was apparently one of the manufacturers they contracted out to.

There - saved you two grand!

[TheGreek]

17 hours ago, Bassassin said:

There - saved you two grand!

Thanks...now what can I spend that on???

[prowla]

$6,860 is rather a lot of money for that.

[Kiwi]

On 17/04/2020 at 00:00, Rich said:

At that price, I think it'll be for sale for quite a while..!

 

Sometimes a seller will post something with an outrageous price just to get idiots like me posting about it on forums.