Seen on FB Alembic £2700

[dmccombe7]

Looks like an amazing price for one of these.

http://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/925847782316867/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks&referral_story_type=top_picks

[TheGreek]

Perth??

The cynics among us might see that as a warning sign.

[Rich]

[dmccombe7]

No different from me seeing an advert in England. I would always go try a bass before buying, especially at that kind of price.

Dave

[BigRedX]

Is this supposed to be a good price? (Facebook is done on a different device so I can't view links).

 

I've seen a Alembic in Sam Ash Music in NYC that was barely worth a couple of hundred $ due to the terrible condition it was in.

[Shaggy]

If that was Koa facings I think I’d be driving up to Perth right now ; the Distillate basses are an excellent second best to the series basses.   If it was Orkneys I might see it as a red flag, but not Perth - after way too long on this forum I’ve noticed that much of the best gear is North of the border......😉  And I bought my series 1 on here for £1500, not so very long ago.

 

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Is this supposed to be a good price? (Facebook is done on a different device so I can't view links).

 

I've seen a Alembic in Sam Ash Music in NYC that was barely worth a couple of hundred $ due to the terrible condition it was in.

 

[jazzyvee]

Nice, that looks in good nick. 

On 29/02/2024 at 13:25, dmccombe7 said:

No different from me seeing an advert in England. I would always go try a bass before buying, especially at that kind of price.

Dave

and especially for a facebook sale. I don't really know what protecting you get buying from the FB market place if it wasn't as described.

[jazzyvee]

The bass looks in really good nick. The thing i would also suggest is to make sure the electronics are original as they are extremely expensive to buy from the factory. I've seen many alembics on sale over the year with non original electronics inside. Not that alternative electronics won't sound good but it won't give you the full alembic experience.

[dmccombe7]

39 minutes ago, jazzyvee said:

Nice, that looks in good nick. 

and especially for a facebook sale. I don't really know what protecting you get buying from the FB market place if it wasn't as described.

Don't think FB take anything to do with it. That's always been my impression and why i always take additional precautions before buying. Cash is king too and a bit of research on the item and the person selling is always a good idea. Never buy without seeing or trying unless you know the person.

I quite fancied the idea of owning an Alembic but they are out of my price range even at this low price.

Dave

[OliverBlackman]

Is it a good price? I always thought that these were above an epic but not as renowned as the series or SC sigs. 

[dmccombe7]

I don't know enough about Alembics to comment but on TB a guy bought one for $700 but the elctronics had been replaced with something else and you can only get the original parts from Alembic and apparently cost a fortune. From what i've read the bass only sounds like an Alembic with the original electronics. 

The general consensus is that they are decent well built basses.

Dave

[OliverBlackman]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

 

The general consensus is that they are decent well built basses.

Dave

No doubting that! Jake Newman had one when I had lessons with him and what a loverly bass it was

[chriswareham]

Kicking myself that I passed on the chance to buy a black Alembic Spoiler about twelve years ago. Seller wanted £500 for it, and it was in very good condition. I'd been interested in one as Peter Steele of Type O Negative used one as his main recording bass (and live in pre Type O band Carnivore). I decided against it because I was lead to believe Alembics are medium scale and I prefer a standard scale length.

[Piers_Williamson]

On 05/03/2024 at 18:27, OliverBlackman said:

Is it a good price? I always thought that these were above an epic but not as renowned as the series or SC sigs. 

With the proviso about the red flags, that looks a pretty good deal.  It's got a through body neck (unlike an Epic) and a book matched headstock and body.  Like Jazzyvee I would say it looks in good nick.  It might weigh a bit though and look out for neck dive (wide strap solves that one)

[tubbybloke68]

I picked up a distillate for about the same price a year or so ago. They are great basses. I’ve had a couple of more expensive alembics in the past but i definitely prefer this. Someone go look and try it/buy it. I certainly would if it wasn’t up the other end of the country from me 🥴.

[dmccombe7]

My days of spending that kind of money on a bass to lie in the house as an ornament are long gone.

Happier buying basses i can gig with and that fit the band image.

Afraid an alembic doesn't really fit with Glam and punk band images. How shallow am i 

Dave

[Piers_Williamson]

 

 

Well it's not quite glam, but it's an Alembic

[jazzyvee]

On 05/03/2024 at 18:55, dmccombe7 said:

I don't know enough about Alembics to comment but on TB a guy bought one for $700 but the elctronics had been replaced with something else and you can only get the original parts from Alembic and apparently cost a fortune. From what i've read the bass only sounds like an Alembic with the original electronics. 

The general consensus is that they are decent well built basses.

Dave

Yep i believe you can only get the original electronics from them as long as you can provide the serial number. Though you can buy single filter activator systems.

[neilmurraybass]

I bought this bass today. Luckily I live a bit nearer Perth (area) than perhaps most of you do. Absolutely zero issues and very good condition in general - the seller just probably isn’t a much of a gearhead compared to most Basschat people (he was a bit taken aback when I explained exactly how the controls work, though he had owned it for quite few years). I used borrowed Alembics on two Whitesnake albums and a few other sessions, and owned a new 20th Anniversary model briefly before finances became tight and it had to go.

[dmccombe7]

16 minutes ago, neilmurraybass said:

I bought this bass today. Luckily I live a bit nearer Perth (area) than perhaps most of you do. Absolutely zero issues and very good condition in general - the seller just probably isn’t a much of a gearhead compared to most Basschat people (he was a bit taken aback when I explained exactly how the controls work, though he had owned it for quite few years). I used borrowed Alembics on two Whitesnake albums and a few other sessions, and owned a new 20th Anniversary model briefly before finances became tight and it had to go.

Superb stuff Neil. Good ending to this thread. Maybe you could post a NBD review on it for us all.

Dave

[martthebass]

23 hours ago, neilmurraybass said:

I bought this bass today. Luckily I live a bit nearer Perth (area) than perhaps most of you do. Absolutely zero issues and very good condition in general - the seller just probably isn’t a much of a gearhead compared to most Basschat people (he was a bit taken aback when I explained exactly how the controls work, though he had owned it for quite few years). I used borrowed Alembics on two Whitesnake albums and a few other sessions, and owned a new 20th Anniversary model briefly before finances became tight and it had to go.

Good catch, good to see it going to a home where it'll get played rather than become a wall ornament.

[TheGreek]

Sooo jealous. 

 

Enjoy