The picture says it all...
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Custom-Shop-Bass-Guitar-UNIQUE-VIOLA-VIOLIN ALEMBIC_W0QQitemZ270015943223QQihZ017QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
Alembic guts~ Strange to say the least.
 
(Message edited by tbrannon on August 06, 2006)

That is pretty freaking sweet!

i emailed them
in their opinion without modifications it cant be set up with a low b string

How's this for vintage!
Petrified Siberian Wooley Mammoth Ivory nut (20,000 years old!)

Reckon what the serial number is on that one?

All I can say is-- that doesn't look like an Alembic headstock.

been exchanging email with them and they seem very friendly and responsive- even offered to build me one with a low b- but then again i have alembic here.,...

Jeff, what sort of mods are they talking about for a low B? In most cases it should not grossly change the overall tension on the neck, so I would think all that you'd need would be wider slots in the nut and bridge - not exactly what I would consider a mod, but maybe there's something else going on that I'm not thinking of.
 
Though it's not really my taste, it looks to be very nicely done from the photos - beautiful finish, very nice fingerboard, interesting style, and of course great electronics. Headstock looks a bit massive to my eye, but it does seem to balance nicely.
 
The electronics alone are worth well more than the current bid, and they seem to come in a pretty nice package.
 
And of course, you could then go around telling people you have a petrified nut (sorry, couldn't help myself).

the steinberger tuners will only accept .090 diameter

My father built several chlorine gas plants in Russia in the late '70's to early '80's when very few Americans were allowed to travel behind the Iron Curtain.  He traveled in Russia, Bulgaria and Romania many times.  The Russian Trade Embargo virtually killed his business.........but not his memory of what he learned about Russian business practices.  I wouldn't bid on this bass for all the caviar in the Caspian!  IMHO, and I know nobody asked, the odds of actually receiving this bass and not getting ripped off are about the same as OJ admitting that he killed Nicole. My prayers go out to any bidders!

BTW: there's another reason I missed in my prior post about why one shouldn't bid on this bass if you live in the United States.  I'm an attorney practicing criminal law for almost 26 years.  We have very strict Federal laws on the importation of Ivory into the United States.  Again, IMHO, any successful bidder in this country could go through absolute hell trying to get this bass into the country if the ad is correct about the ivory nut.   Just a word of warning from someone who has had to deal with antique ivory issues before!

So, Pat, is that only endangered ivory, or would something like Elk Tooth Ivory count?
 
Bradley

Pat, you're my kind of guy.
 
I'm with Bradley . . . we all see the occasional ad with 'non-endangered' ivory or some similar gobbldygook, is ANY ivory legal?
 
This really is one more EBay invitation to blow a large-calibre hole in your posterior, the slug still having considerable lbs/ft after shredding your wallet on the way in.
 
J o e y

Joey,
 
Did you use gelatin to measure the impact?
 
And an elk's teeth (the front two upper teeth) are ivory.  Elk are a renewable resource.  Not endangered.
 
Bradley

My parents bought us an old piano, and it has ivory on the keys (now in my own living room). I've played a great many pianos over the years, among which a handful of grand pianos to wax lyrical about - but plastic really is no sustitute.
 
Not that I want to encourage elephant hunters, just that they haven't come up with a good ersatz - not counting celluloid which was allegedly developed for snooker balls, when the elephant hunters couldn't keep up with the demand of the snooker craze back in the day - except the stuff would catch fire from time to time.