I can't believe this post has gotten this far without someone firing up the 'gee, why isn't the A-string perfectl centered?' squall !  
 
LOL...
I was meditating on that...took Dave Houck's sage advice and let the itch to post be soooothed by the winds of time .
 
 
 
Elwood

Wow, never imagined that there was so much things to learn about Alembic's bridges!

Thanks for the posts, definately some good advice for those adventurous enough to strip down the bridge. I have taken a lot of photos during the strip down and re assembly, is it possible to be an Alembic geek !!! Prior to the strip down I did check the intonation and did seem pretty good, I even measured where the point of contact was on the saddles, even they were back to front, so during the rebuild of the bridge the saddles were adjusted to a pretty similar position just to reduce the amount of adjustment, no point in having them all the way screwed one way or the other, but a good point is the position of the A string, I will attach a photo of the tail piece which is not fully central, this is how it came from Alembic and the photo shows the original screw holes, I am wondering if it is crucial to relocate the bridge slightly to bring it into centre alignment, any thoughts ? if it works all be it slightly off centre then should it really be moved, sorry is this might be a geeky question ? I have checked the position of the tailpiece with it moved into a central position relative to the bridge and there is still sufficient clearance to get a ball end hex driver in place to adjust the A string saddle. Again many thanks for sharing, great advice, many thanks Andy  

Many Alembics have an off center tailpiece, it's been discussed ( a few times ) here before.
The good folks at the mothership place the tailpiece and bridge to keep the strings straight,
often this lends to havin the tailpiece nudged one way or another. So ...it's good (probably great ) where she sits.
 
Geek on ~~ that's why we're here ; )
 
elwood

who guide the strings ? the bridge only.

... and the tailpiece, and the nut, and the angle of the neck after it's been hand carved, and the dimensions of the strings and probably a multitude of other things my mind can't comprehend :-)
 
Graeme

Uh oh Alice...looks like we've slipped down the rabbit hole again...

Hey Andy,
 
If you are here in the forum you're already an Alembic geek.  Ha!  
 
Each of my five basses has slightly off-center bridge and tailpiece combinations so it is common and built that way for a reason.  Now that you've noticed it you must clear it from your mind and not let it bother you.  Best to embrace it as a handmade feature!
 
The more interesting question remains: why were your saddles backwards in the first place?  Was it just done accidentally during a cleaning?  Did somebody make it an upside-down lefty at some point?  Was it an attempt to change the string spacing?
 
You certainly could order a new set of saddles and cut your own slots if you wanted to go that far - or if the position of the A-string seems weird after reassembly.  (See the Nut files thread for some entertaining thoughts.)  Then you can join the debate about center-to-center vs edge-to-edge string spacing!  Now who's geekin' out?
 
Jimmy J

After all these years, the 'light came on':
 
The tailpiece IS lined up; the bass is off-center.  
 
That's a load off my mind.
 
J o e y

Jimmy is right, it really looks like someone tried to carve new grooves on saddles at wrong placement, nasty...