I heard the Metallica bassist had some Alembics made for him that were painted. I could see that the tone would be different with a paint job.

I've never met the man. His collection makes me look like a mere dabbler. I do what I can to satisfy my needs and wants. It may be much but I feel that 4 basses is a good number to tour with. So far I have 3 dark ones for the road, that leaves 1 more. Jason had quite a few Alembics. What other color would suit Metallica? I hope to use them on the Warped or Honda Civic tours this summer. REPRESENT! I still regret passing up that black series graphite 5!
Danno

Pfeh, this is nothing new to me.
 
At the Knooren guitarworkshop we had a guy coming in with a stunning Gibson Les Paul with a beautiful AAA Birdseye maple top. And what did he want us to do?
 
PAINT IT BLACK!
Because he didn't like the way the maple looked.

Maybe he didn't like the way the eyes were looking at him when he played. I had my 83' solid Koa Spoiler 4 refinished in black at Alembic. My Les Paul is already black! I see a red Paul and I want to paint it blaaaaack! apologies to the Stones.
Danno