Hello folks,
It's simply incredible, a very big collection of Alembic vintage pictures on this website of afficionados from japan:
Alembic Fan Club Japan
Please click on the left red links...
for example this beauty:
    

Wow...there's alot of beautiful instruments on that page.Thanks for the link!

Hi Pierre,
 
Thank you for introduce our club site.
But all descriptions are Japanese only.
Please ask me, if you have a question about it.
I will try to translate it.
 
Eiji

This one is strange - Alembic has never made bolt-on guotars...
http://www8.plala.or.jp/alembic/gallery_jaku-ren.html

Interesting!  Scroll all the way to the bottom of the list and click on the Distillate Neo Guitar.  It clearly show a bolt on neck!

Eiji, you are the webmaster of this site Incredible... where fond you (japanese people) all these wonderful basses?? Please speak a lot about this story... Alembic have special concept to buid basses for Asia I suppose ?
 
(Message edited by pierreyves on November 25, 2008)

Hm - here's the Google transliteration with the usual abracadabrarian results.
 
Looks like they took the neck and electronics from a neck-through Distillate built for the Japanese market (the brass plate is a dead give-away) and added a non-original body.
 
Of course there was a series of Japanese-built bolt-on Alembics, but the body style was very different - kind of violin-shaped.

adriaan, thank's for the idea!!
 
entire page

wow, i wonfer if there's any bass versions of those distillates???
 
(Message edited by keavin on November 25, 2008)

Hi,
 
I am not webmaster. (I am No.13 037)
Most of the members got his instruments in Japan, but we can get it all over the world now.  
Only a few members are here on the club, and trade or buy from the members.
 
Bolt on Distillate guitar has own history.
The owner seek his sound with oliginal Distillate from 1983.
The guitar was modified F.R. bridge, Red color etc.
Then finally he decided change the body construction.
New body is Maple top, Ash back, the neck is oliginal (add new maple veneer).
But he said The sound is incredibly SAME !.
 
Ha Ha !
 
Eiji
 
(Message edited by room037 on November 25, 2008)

Wow - there are some beautiful basses there!
 
Is the single pickup Distillate the norm?
I have never seen a Distillate without 2 PU's until now.

Could the bolt-on be one of the kit guitars that I heard Alembic offered in the late 70's?

So that's where all the graphite basses disappeared to.
About eight years ago, the graphite '83 SSB with the star fingerboard inlays popped up in a music store in the western US, in Phoenix I think. Very eye-catching instrument. It was cool to see it again. Thanks for the link.

Pierre,
Thank you for finding our Japanese Alembic Club website.
 
Paul,
1 PU Distillate is Japanese export model. Distillate basses can be found very often in Japanese market even now but a few guitars. Mine and some other 1 PU Distillates are in Showcase.
 
Wade,
The bolt on Distillate isn't kit guitar. As Eiji says, it was customed by the owner from thru neck to bolt on with new made maple top and ash back body.
 
Toshiaki as No.061-81 0190 on Japanese Alembic Club
 
(Message edited by to 81 0190 on November 25, 2008)