It got me thinking about what kind of comments you all get on your instruments...

At band the other day, one of the guitar players comes up and says, "That bass is a beast! It sounds amazing! Every time I see you touch one of those knobs you have a completely different sound coming."

Of course, there are the comments about how nice it looks. I just smile and say thank you.

Other than "is that an olympic?", comments tend to be about the look ("you a grateful dead fan?" or "is that custom?"), the sound ("wow, clear and bassy, sounds amazing"), and how many knobs there are ("do you know what they all do?").


Oh, and "can i try that, i'll be careful?" (the answer is "no.")

When bass players approach me after a gig it is mainly positive enthusiastic comments because they have never heard or seen one live and love the sound. Often its about how clean and powerful it sounds especially the clarity of the low b string.  Sometimes i get a mention for my playing but the alembic usually steals the limelight. The times i have had off handed comments i usually about the price.

To my knowledge, my Alembics have only been recognized three times at gigs... twice by other bass players, who'd had one themselves. I was quite proud to hand them mine and let them reminisce. I have yet to see another Alembic in the wild within 100 miles of here, though I'm sure there must be a couple, I expect they are scarce. Thus, my little herd of dragons seems to have gained some notoriety in these parts. ("That ain't no Fender-bass there, son...") The local sound-guys and engineers recognize them as my favorite gear. They're the ones that tend to 'get it' the quickest. Often they'll ask me about them afterward.


Maybe my favorite story happened earlier this year... I was playing a gig with Harwell-Grice Band, a Strawberry Festival, lots of hometown people, party atmoshere... and there was this one guy who kept hollering at me in mid-set asking if I was playing a "real" Alembic. Trying hard not to look as annoyed as I was, I just gave him the two-thumbs-up sign and a grin. So now when the HGB guys want to mess with me, they ask if I brought the real Alembic today.   

On several occasions, I've had non-musician audience members ask me if they could take photos of my Alembics.


They may not have understood or appreciated their sonic properties, but the visual appeal was undeniable - especially with the LED's lit up.


"THAT is so amazing - I've never seen anything like it. I just had to take a picture of it, because my son, friend, husband, etc. wouldn't believe how beautiful it is - it's a work of art!"


What's really cool is when a musician (or someone who really appreciates music) compliments their sonic properties as well.


For obvious reasons, this is the instrument that has received the most attention:

I miss her!

Glad she is in good hands.

The comments I usually get are:  "That sounds great, what kind is it? Beautiful bass!  Nice wood! It's a work of art!"  And most recently from a fellow bass player, "I dig your axe, man!"   

I'm doing two festivals over the next 3 days so shall see if anyone comments.

Hey, Jazzy,

If anyone does ask about your bass, you could use your best Austrian accent to offer this explanation of your Alembic's identity:


Or, "it's an espresso machine...a water heater?"

Good luck with the gigs!

Nice, everyone   

Looks great, 5a!

Can't wait, Jazzy and have fun!

I heard that:

- "Oh, great tone, is it a Warwick clone?"

Well Just got home from the festival and by all accounts we did a scorching set. Fred Wesley and the New JB's were playing later on in the day and after they did their set I met them back stage and had a chat with Fred and his musicians. The bass player was curious about what bass I had in my gig bag so I showed him my series II Europa and suggested they guess what it is. The sax player knew right off that it was an alembic from the shape of the tailpiece. They were a bit gob smacked about how it looked and we had a discussion about how the controls work etc and obviously the cost came into it and when I told him roughly what the cost to build a new one today they were staggered but did not have any negative comments. They both seemed genuinely interested so we exchanged emails addresses so maybe  he will ask more about alembics. Unfortunately they did not get to hear my bass as they arrived at the festival after our set.

Quote from: jazzyvee on July 08, 2018, 04:40:07 PM... They were a bit gob smacked about how it looked ...

   

"Is that a Ken Smith?"

I then explain that is an Alembic and give a brief history of Ron and how the company was formed.

I played in a swing band for a number of years and (my ego) was disappointed that not one of the 20 band members ever commented or asked about it.  At least they never asked me to turn it down!

A musician friend who I don't see often enough, every time we get together to jam, we swap instruments for awhile* , he always grins and says such kind things about my Distillate.




*there is a reason I don't play guitar on the regular - but I sure do have fun, often times doing my best to emulate Nels Cline.

Here us a nice closeup of me playing my series II
Taken by good friend of mine.