sorry it's google translation.
I didn't want the bass returned, the retailer don't asked me.

I have a gloss finish on the neck of my 76 small body, and it grips my playing hand too much...
 
Satin finish on my Toma_Hawk basses are much more comfortable, and FASTER too.
 
P, I am with you on having a satin finish... its worth the wait, if the bass was returned to Alembic to have this done...
 
Peace and Love,  
 
 
Hal-
 
(Message edited by toma_hawk01 on May 10, 2011)

Take one gloss finish neck and one piece of 0000 steel wool.  Rub wool on neck = satin finish.
 
Bill, tgo

This is a fact Bill!
 
Your suggestion will work excellently!
 
Peace and Love,
 
Hal-

Sand paper No. 600 worked great on the neck of my 1976 vintage shorty.
 
 
Peace and Love,
 
Hal-

Yeah, I was gonna say -- I thought the one difference between a satin and gloss finish was sanding.

Ok guys, thanks for the explanation.

We asked Tony to send the bass back to us so that we could make the satin neck as you ordered it. There is a little more involved than just sanding. One important thing is to not sand too much and to hit the underlying layer of finish. Then you must decide on the gloss / non-gloss boundary. We mask off the area near the body with fine-line tape and sand up to it. At the peghead end, we sand the entire Maple edge of the peghead as well - it looks best this way. If there is a bevel, we leave that glassy (as in this case).
 
We're coordinating with Tony regarding shipping the bass to you, and should have it all boxed up again tomorrow, ready to depart on Monday.

Your bass bliss is near! Enjoy!!

And a nice picture from our showroom area:
 

I have to say that what Alembic does with the satin finish on the neck is really perfect. The transition from gloss to satin is way better than just dulling the gloss with steel wool, it just looks and feels perfect.
 
Well worth it. With a beautiful instrument like this, everything should be just perfect. I'm tempted to hop in my car and drive to California just be able to check it out before it leaves the factory!

Sooooooooo nice Mica..... thanks, lot of thanks and congratulation for the work.
You can sand, sand but not too much, but quickly  
Edwin: don't touch my bass, just play it !? If you meet Stanley, he can also play with, but not too much...

Such a beautiful bass.  There is a lot to be said for understated elegance, isn't there?  Looks like a bass wearing a tuxedo.  
 
I'm happy for you Pierre-Yves.  Especially since it appears as though that tailpiece is dead center too!!

Well, I was joking. I live almost 2000 km away!

I know you was joking Edwin  I too