Hello all, in a few days I will receive my first ever Alembic in the mail.I bought it on Ebay a few days ago for 761.00 and its a bit beat up and needing some TLC. I dropped the serial number off at the history request board so I can learn more about this bass, the seller said it was a 1983 model. The way I see it, if I want this bass back in its original shape I'll need to replace/fix a few things. Namely the control knobs,the pickup selector, take the jack plate out, steam or sand out the dings or nicks, shine up the brass, and probably refinish the body.  I attended a lutherie school after messing around with guitars and basses for years.And had practical experience working for myself and later at McPherson Guitars, so fixing up this bass will be a fun challenge. Im really happy to be an Alembic owner, I have lurked on these boards for a few years now and its nice to post and be a part of it! Heres a few pictures off of Ebay,Ill get new ones once it arrives:  

 

 

 

 

 

  (Message edited by billty on August 07, 2007)  (Message edited by davehouck on August 09, 2007)

Congrats on the Spoiler, Bill!
 
It saddens me that the previous owner(s) messed it up and didn't take good care of it.  Hopefully you'll be able to fix it up and get it closer to original condition.
 
It still looks pretty!
 
Welcome to the club!

+1
I can reccomend a solid color refinish :-)
These are great basses! My '83 Spoiler (no 2674) is my absolute favorite.  
Super player, super sound (must be the solid Koa)
Hope you get the electronics sorted out ;-)
 
Congrats!

Thanks King!
I agree,I don't understand why people jack up their instruments when they are perfectly fine.  
The road to bringing this bass back to normal will be long, but I have the time.I wish I could afford to have the folks at Alembic do it,that way its a factory repair.

Well, I got the bass this afternoon before leavng for work and pluged it in and I thought it sounded pretty cool.It played very well, probably the best feeling on a neck I have ever experienced.
So I decided that since its going to need some work I might as well get the hardware taken off and so forth.
I knew the electronics were in need of restoration and I will post picks of that. I will probably need some help in figuring out what I need to aquire electronic parts.The body had dings and nicks  and rash here there and everywhere,I expected that from the pictures.A refinish will have to happen.The part that horrified me was when I removed the square jack plate and discovered a hole my thumb could easily fit in!I can only assume that someone over zelously pluged in the bass and put too much pressure on that spot.
So the two ideas Im thinking of is:  
1.Fill the holes with koa dowel and live with the non matching grain.
2. I have some higly flamed koa from a previous guitar project,and I could make a smallpick guard to fit over the area of the control knobs and input jack.
I will post pictures and get opinions from the forum,and if anyone at Alembic has thier 2 cents to put in on how they might tackle this project I would love to hear from you! =)
 
FC:Thanks! I have thought about the soild finish,but Im a sucker for the natural look.By the way, I too am a big Burton,& Newsted fan.The solid finish will be my last resort,if I cant restore this bass to original.
I will post a ton of pictures when I get home from work.
Cheers!
Bill
 
(Message edited by billty on August 08, 2007)

Congratulations on joining the Alembic family. I kind of like the koa plate for the electronics idea.
 
Is your bass just missing the Alembic electronics? At least it looks like they left the original electronics...

Congratulations on joining the Alembic family. I kind of like the koa plate for the electronics idea.
 
Is your bass just missing the Alembic electronics? At least it looks like they left the original pickups...

Bill, welcome to the club and congrats on your eBay score.  
 
If I was in your position, I would fill in the hole as you suggested and live with the non matching grain.  I have no doubt that other opinions will be forth comming, perhaps some that you hadn't considered.
 
Good luck
 
Ellery (Lowlife)

Welcome Bill, I agree I like the natural finish too.
Shouldn't be too tough to this bass back to par.  
 
I always wonder what people are thinking when they do things like this to an instrument.
 
Olie

Maybe something along the lines of the Kit Guitar would be cool:
http://www3.alembicguitars.net/img/inst/13325_45viewL.jpg
 
Here's another vote for natural finish.

Thanks for the welcomes,and your suggestions.I always think its good to consult before getting into the job.This is such a really cool community of musicians.
I do want the bass natural,I was trying to figure out what kind of finish to apply.Does anyone know the brand of finish Alembic uses? I was thinking about nitro and then the idea of tung or danish oil finish popped in my head.The oil is pretty in the wood,but really doesn't protect the wood from dings.I thought there was a polyurethane that gave the look of oil but protected the wood better.Any thoughts? Any one else on my hole problem?
When I get the pictures up of the electronics maybe you guys can tell me more about what I'm dealing with as far as if they are original.
Cheers!
 
(Message edited by billty on August 08, 2007)

As promised heres some pictures.  

  I believe these are original pickups  

 

  I disconnected the pickups and the "les Paul" style 3 way switch.SO I have the input,volume,and something else.Anyone care to elaborate,and what am I missing?  

 

  the horror..the horror...  

 

 

 

  one of these holes was not made at the factory.  (Message edited by billty on August 08, 2007)  (Message edited by davehouck on August 09, 2007)

Several of those holes were not made at the factory. God, that poor bass.
The good news is, you're part of the way there -- my first Alembic, also a Spoiler, was done over and later resurrected so I'm confident you can do it.
Those pickups look OK, and what's left of the electronics looks like an Activator system made for a Fender P. Since that's a one-pickup bass, it won't do. The control attached to the larger circuit board is a Q control, which is something like a wah pedal...there's an FAQ on the site somewhere you should read.
You can get the bass back in playing shape by ordering a Spoiler electronics harness, which is volume and tone controls and a pickup selector plus a switch to turn the Q control on and off, or you can do what I did which is luck into a used Activator setup and hope for the best. Be advised that didn't really work, though.
I like the idea of fabricating a koa cover for the boogered electronics...if you cut it thin enough it should do OK since the bass has a flat top, and it won't be the strangest mod I've ever seen done to an Alembic. Best of luck to you.

I think I will make a Koa cover for the bass,and fill in the big hole. I made a design up and I will be in my workshop this weekend so Ill show off the results of that later on Sunday.  
Ok so I need a Spoiler electronics harness,and that should be the last of my electronic problems.

Hey, Bill, one other thing.  (Disclaimer: I'm not sure about this, so get confirmation before taking my word for it)
 
I sorta think -based on what I've seen/read here somewhere- that the hole/shaft size for the pickup selector is 1/8th of an inch, as opposed to the hole/shaft size for the volume and filter -which I think are 1/4th of an inch.
 
If this is so, then it appears the whole for the pickup selector was enlarged, and you might want to take this into account with any plans, as the standard pickup selector might not fit any longer (assuming I'm correct about this in the first place).
 
Another thought... if you're ordering replacement electronics, you might consider the Elan package -which is identical to the Spoiler package EXCEPT for/that the pickup selector is replaced by the more versatile pan/balance/blend control (which is the same size as the volumer and filter controls/shafts.
 
Good luck with your project.  Those pictures are enough to make a grown man cry.  I salute your efforts in restoring this butchered masterpiece, and look forward to seeing the results.