Alembic Guild

[Happy Face]

Pondering selling my Alembicized JS-II. Not sure, but I'm coming to realize that I'm uninspired about playing out a lot anymore. But, well, you know...

Please let me know if any of you might be interested.

 

[walrus]

I'm not a bass player, but photos, description, price, etc. in the FS/FT section might get some interest. Good luck!

walrus

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Yeah: PICs and description/specs would be helpful. You'd probably ask more more than my budget would allow anyway, but it's hard for one to know if they'd even be interested w/o more information.

I can relate to the "I'm not sure" comment: I've had a love/hate relationship with a Reverend Dub King for years. Love how it sounds but it is nowhere near as comfortable for me to play as my SFs. And yet, I find myself myself picking it up more and more often of late after it spend long stretches languishing in its case.

Maybe we should call this "the bass fatal attraction syndrome" or something.

Miss Dub King keeps whispering "Play Misty for Me" in a sultry (approximately 225 hertz) voice....

 

[Happy Face]

Agreed. But many in the "usual crew" know the story on this one.

 

[fronobulax]

I'm not a bass player, but photos, description, price, etc. in the FS/FT section might get some interest. Good luck!

walrus

This is a fishing thread, aimed at the folks @Happy Face is reasonably certain know his bass. I don't see it as a FS thread but a "should I sell" and he is asking for advice from friends and not necessarily potential buyers.

 

[walrus]

OK. I guess I took "Please let me know if any of you might be interested" literally.

Either way, good luck!

walrus

 

[AcornHouse]

This is a fishing thread, aimed at the folks @Happy Face is reasonably certain know his bass. I don't see it as a FS thread but a "should I sell" and he is asking for advice from friends and not necessarily potential buyers.

As long as its not a Phishing thread. Those just drone on, and on, and on, and on, and on…

 

[Happy Face]

Sorry and thanks. As Frono suggests, I am musing.

Musing in the sense that if one of our small community was interested, it would motivate me to sell. Keeping it in the family, so to speak.

Otherwise, who knows?

Like many of you here we tend to ponder some of these things as we get older. As in do I really need a third Guild I've never played our with?

Thankfully when I went trough a similar thing ten years ago or so, none of you offered to take my Darkstarred JS-II off of my hands. Now I suppose I'll have to be cremated with it.

 

[mgod]

I'm interested.

 

[mellowgerman]

A very cool bass. If I wasn't so mediocre on fretless (or if it was fretted), I might be tempted! In any case, hopefully it stays in the LTG family!

EDIT: Whoops! I got this JS mixed up with hieronymous's fretless M85!

 

[lungimsam]

Need…….pics………bad……,,

 

[krysh]

I' be interested, but can't afford it.

 

[Happy Face]

Will do.

 

[Happy Face]

Respond to overwhelming popular demand, I took some pixies today.

The backstory is that after Heironymous here reported that Alembic was producing an Activator set for Guilds. I was interested because I like the Alembic sound, but I did not like the feel of their necks in my pitifully small hands. So the idea of Alembic electronics in a Guild body got me psyched.

I found a beat up JS-II at a reasonable price so that the whole project would make financial sense. Not that any of these do.

The primo luthier who did the unbelievably good repair on my M-85 installed them for me. He reported that he still had to rout out the neck pickup cavity and such.

On the plus side : tone- wise this sounds like an Alembic to my old ears. It just happens to live in a JS-II body. (Motorheads -- it's a bass version of a late 60s Oldsmobile 442.)

On the negative side: it's a "players bass". A friend who does a lot of these commented "Oh, someone definitely did a rattle can refin on it. But it's not such a bad job..."

The refin may have been done to obscure a neck repair up at the headstock. (see Guil repair photo). "Ugly, but solid" was the luthier's impression. "Almost a field repair! But it's solid so don't bother it." I trust his advice.

The laminate up the on headstock is also showing signs of age or something.

Mgod had noticed that it carries a late 90s Guild reissue bridge. It had been sitting in my parts drawers for years so I was psyched to finally use it.

Not a pristine collector's item but a fine player, IMHO.

 

[mellowgerman]

Crap! I got the Alembicized Guilds mixed up! I was thinking of Hieronymous's fretless M85.
This fretted JS-II... ahhh I have to contemplate now... just don't know how I could justify it with 2 Starfires and the Newport, all with filter electronics... hmmmm

 

[lungimsam]

Thanks for posting pics!!
Very interesting bass!
Battered but with hi end components! A nice balance.
Are the knobs made of wood? They look really nice.

 

[bassman10096]

Cool bass. In defense of the reissue bridge, I have one on my NS SF2 (it came to me w Novak DS’s and bridge mod). The bridge gains far more in intonation accuracy than it gives away in lack of vintage charm and authenticity.

 

[fronobulax]

Cool bass. In defense of the reissue bridge, I have one on my NS SF2 (it came to me w Novak DS’s and bridge mod). The bridge gains far more in intonation accuracy than it gives away in lack of vintage charm and authenticity.

The only people who have been able to justify the vintage harp bridge in terms of functionality have done so because they are swapping saddles and using different materials. Otherwise the 90's reissue bridge or a third party replacement bridge are both easier to intonate.

And the charm of this bass is there is really no reason to pretend it is vintage or try and preserve it as if it were.

 

[Happy Face]

Thanks for posting pics!!
Very interesting bass!
Battered but with hi end components! A nice balance.
Are the knobs made of wood? They look really nice.

Yes, made by a gent up in Canada. But Mr Worrywart here wished I could have bought a fourth one.

 

[Nuuska]

Quite nice indeed - if I was a bass player . . .


Funny detail - pic #5 has light reflections - so the neck look like a pencilneck geek.