I passed a Guitar Center during my travels today and played a 1976 Series I 5 string fretless.  I played it for a bit but not through an amp since I am lefty and this bass is right handed, why bother...
Very heavy but a beauty! The string spacing on old 5 strings is pretty tight but playable. The only damage was a crack or two in the back laminate were someone tightened the brass back plate too much, besides that just the normal 28 years of wear. They are asking $3500. Email me if you want further info on the stores location.

Did it have a fan peghead?

 
 
(Message edited by southpaw on December 10, 2004)

Yes it did have a fan peghead. I hope I was correct calling it a Series I it may be a Series II, please let me know how to tell a I from a II. The serial number is 76 421 and is on the very top edge of the headstock if that helps.

kungfusheriff is probably thinking about Jimmy Johnson's bass that was stolen. If that is the the one on the Stolen Alembics page, it is listed as 76 AC 418, so 76 421 is awfully close - but no cigar.

Hi there,
It is not J.Johnson's bass.
I found this bass at Bass Palace.
Then it was listed Instrument Exchange auction.
It has standard point body.

Southpaw.  There are a number of differences between the Series I and II and these differences have varied over the years.  And I can't remember when Alembic started differentiating between Series I and II.  I don't know what the differences would have been in 1976, but simply put, if it has two switches (3 position Q switches) it's a Series I, if it has pointy knobs (Continuously Variable Q knobs) instead of switches (and a master volume) it's a Series II (or at least has Series II electronics).

GC had another fretted version that was only one or two numbers from Jimmy's recently.  I think someone bought it shortly after it was described here.  The string spacing was guitar-like!

Thanks for the help Dave, it has 2 switches so I guess that makes it a Series I.  I checked the stolen Alembics page immediately, that is why I remembered the serial number, I could only imagine the pain of losing such an instrument. The 5 string spacing on this one was really narrow too, but overall a stunning bass.

No, I was thinking of the bass bsee mentioned in his post--I was born in '76 and dream of a Series fiver from that year.

Sounds just like one I played today in the GC in Arlington Heights, Illinois......

The 5 string in Illinois has very narrow spacing...someting like 2.25 at the 24th fret or just a tad wider.  

Really! That's just a whisker narrower than my PRS5...most five-string necks are too wide for me. Now, where can I get $3900? (laughing)

Well KFS, you could just hock that old graphite-neck S2 that has been collecting dust in your closet...
 
(yeah, right...)

An alembic in Illinois??? Finally, my chance to play one of the legendary Series basses!!!! Now, I gotta figure out how far Arlington Heights is from the St.Louis area...... Sorry, I get too excited about these basses.