Early Alembic mods...

Minnesota Flats

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As many times as I've seen PICs of that bass, it still makes me cringe. Function definitely took precedence over form that time...
 

mellowgerman

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The reason for the inornate cosmetics of that bass is because the original modified Starfire was stolen and the future-Alembic team had to make that one on the fly for Jack. The original one was super pretty (see photo below). The original bass was discovered and returned to Jack last year BTW, though not in 100% original condition -- refinished and a tiny bit of the carved stuff removed.

69K3GGPCasady.jpg~original
 
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Minnesota Flats

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I know the whole story and viewed in that context, yeah: he needed a tool and needed it quickly. STILL makes me cringe...I just can't help it...it's a gut reaction. I'm not a luthier, but I have done a fair amount of wood working. Even just rounding off the corners of that opening and throwing a coat of paint over that raw galvanized sheet metal would've made it at least look slightly less crude and offensive, IMHO.
 

mellowgerman

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For sure! Interesting how the rawness of the bass kind of reflects the direction of the band around the same time... becoming louder, more raw... the flower children grew thorns... house at pooneil corners... space debris running it's course, eventually a meteor breaking up during a turbulent entry into the atmosphere!! I need to go to bed
 

fronobulax

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In addition to the urgency there is also the idea that the bass was a platform for experimentation. The ability to change things quickly and easily was a design goal. The aesthetics were not.

There are several articles floating around that look at the late 60's, early 70's as a Golden Age of innovation in electric guitar technology and in amplification. The Airplane and the Dead, to name two, poured some of their cash into R&D that made them sound better on stage, sound louder and sound like what they wanted to sound like. This bass needs to be considered as an artifact of its time. It is ugly but the things that "worked" have since been incorporated into more pleasing aesthetics. When the mods were made people were not even sure things would "work".

I'm guilty of this myself - an awful lot of us have a knee jerk reaction of "How Horrible!" when a instrument shows up that had some modification in its youth that decades later is seen to reduce the value, originality or desirability. We forget that tinkering with something that is new, in production and easily obtainable and replaceable is not a criminal offense At The Time.

To pick nits, the bass was modified by folks who went on to form Alembic but the modifications actually predate the incorporation of the company. "proto-Alembic" is a better term for those who are willing to make the distinction.
 

The Guilds of Grot

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The modifications to this Starfire II Bass look like they could have been done at the machine shop for a NASCAR race team down in Charlotte, NC.

sailingshoes

Being a NASCAR fan I find this comment to be wildly inaccurate. Not sure where you're going with that as Race Teams use the most modern machine methods available. Do you know who Carl Haas is? Guilds are manufactured with Haas CNC equipment!

How about: The modifications to this Starfire II Bass look like they could have been done by a 7th grade metal shop in Pearisburg, VA.
 

Minnesota Flats

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"How about: The modifications to this Starfire II Bass look like they could have been done by a 7th grade metal shop in Pearisburg, VA."

I can live with that characterization...



"Interesting how the rawness of the bass kind of reflects the direction of the band around the same time... becoming louder, more raw..."

Yep. "After Bathing at Baxter's" is, IMHO, the pinnacle of the Airplane's recorded output. I never seem to tire of listening to it.
 

mellowgerman

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"How about: The modifications to this Starfire II Bass look like they could have been done by a 7th grade metal shop in Pearisburg, VA."

I can live with that characterization...



"Interesting how the rawness of the bass kind of reflects the direction of the band around the same time... becoming louder, more raw..."

Yep. "After Bathing at Baxter's" is, IMHO, the pinnacle of the Airplane's recorded output. I never seem to tire of listening to it.

Yesss! Baxter's was killer, though personally Crown of Creation is my all time favorite album
 

sailingshoes72

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The reason for the inornate cosmetics of that bass is because the original modified Starfire was stolen and the future-Alembic team had to make that one on the fly for Jack. The original one was super pretty (see photo below). The original bass was discovered and returned to Jack last year BTW, though not in 100% original condition -- refinished and a tiny bit of the carved stuff removed.

69K3GGPCasady.jpg~original

I hadn't heard that story. When I saw the photo in the original post, I assumed it was a prototype for future modifications. In the B&W photo above the mods look pretty cool! :cool-new:

Bill
 

sailingshoes72

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Being a NASCAR fan I find this comment to be wildly inaccurate. Not sure where you're going with that as Race Teams use the most modern machine methods available. Do you know who Carl Haas is? Guilds are manufactured with Haas CNC equipment!

How about: The modifications to this Starfire II Bass look like they could have been done by a 7th grade metal shop in Pearisburg, VA.

One thing that always surprised me about NASCAR is how spartan the interior of the race car is... a seat, a steering wheel and a roll bar. The outside of the cars is always painted beautifully in candied colors and sponsorship logos, but the inside is pretty bare. The dashboard is a flat piece of sheet metal with gauges and switches! That is the recall I was experiencing when I saw the Jack Cassidy Starfire II Bass. It is probably more accurate to reference the early days of stock car racing (1950's & 60's), when the race team garages were more regionally owned and operated in the South and Midwest, and not the multi-car, multi-million dollar operations that exist today! But mostly my comment was intended as a wisecrack. :wink-new:

Bill
 
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adorshki

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"Interesting how the rawness of the bass kind of reflects the direction of the band around the same time... becoming louder, more raw..."

Yep. "After Bathing at Baxter's" is, IMHO, the pinnacle of the Airplane's recorded output. I never seem to tire of listening to it.

"Flats", forgive me if you're already aware of this, but Jack remembers Baxter's as being recorded with his Fender.
It's probably my favorite Airplane album too, although all the rest of the original releases keep gaining ground in the last couple of years.
Anyway, until a while after I joined here I always thought it was recorded with the Starfire just because of the way it sounds, especially "Spare Chaynge" and "Won't You Try", the sheer woodiness of the tones... (Also there's a pic of him playing it in the sheet music book for it.)
It was a pet hypothesis of mine until recently, and I'd still like to think it really did make it onto the album even if nobody remembers or can prove it, but I'm willing to admit chances of that seem to be pretty small now.
He did acquire the SF just before the sessions for Baxters were completed, and he says in an interview that he thinks he brought it to the studio during the Baxter's sessions but doesn't think anything was recorded.
It was definitely in use on Creation though, and one of my favorite live albums, Live at Fillmore East (May 1968), features a screaming solo on "You & Me & Pooneil" that shows just how far the envelope was being pushed on the Starfire at the time.

JA-LiveAtTheFillmoreEast.jpg


It also has live Baxter's material that somehow was leap-frogged when Bless its Pointed Little Head was released.

So speaking of loud & raw, I woulda killed for that stuff when I was 17, in fact I snatched it right up the first time I saw it 30 some-odd years later.
 
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mgod

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There was no woodworker involved. Not RT, not even Bear. It was sent to the electronics guy with the instruction to have it done ASAP.
 

mgod

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And by the way - I think it's beautiful.
 

planetguy

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Baxter's is the greatest rock album ever recorded, not just the greatest Airplane album.

and what a perfect beginning to the album with the way JC delays his entrance on "The Ballad of You, Me, and Pooneil"! That's gotta be one of my favorite moves of his.....witholding the bass. Yeah...make them WAIT for it!
 

mavuser

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i'm sure you have all seen this a bunch, but this is such a great clip. worth posting here. the comment that this is not even close to the entire show is classic!

 
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