Classy!!

I think about changing the tuners to gold on my Distillate from time to time.
Looks great Greg!
Must gain control of the spending, must gain control of the spending, repeat!

I hear ya' Pete.   

It was just too good to pass up. FWIW, I tried pitching the ad to another Alembican first I thought might be interested... once they passed on them, well, I figured that was my cue. 

Paid $45 for the tuners, and $15 for straplocks, best $60 I've spent in a while. Worth every nickel. Besides, I can always put it right back to stock-original.

*in case I hadn't mentioned it lately, I just love this old bass, especially with these Pyramid Gold flats. Been playing on it all afternoon. 

A Long Time Ago, In A Guitar Factory Far, Far Away...

Well, it's only been 37 years to the day, (12/11/1981) according to the build sheet, but my oldest Alembic has aged quite nicely. 

I spent yesterday evening doing some regular maintenance... rubbed some lemon oil into the fingerboard, shined up the brass parts, and then on a whim, I switched back to T-I Jazz Rounds. I had them on it briefly this past Summer for a recording session, and really enjoyed the added snap, especially with a pick, but switched back to my preferred T-I Jazz Flats soon after.

Took a few new pictures for the Showcase Thread, now I'm going to spend some quality time today playing ol' 81 D 1986. 

Nice, keep taking care of that beauty. Now I have to check the build sheet for my '86 and see exactly when its b-day is!

A beautiful instrument .

Thirty-Eight years old today. 

Took some new pictures of 81D 1986 for her birthday this year...

Beautiful bass

Wow!  Congrats on keeping her so nice.  Gorgeous!

Lovely! The grain of the top wood is really cool.

A truly beautiful Distillate !

Thanks fellas.    I love them all equally... my Alembics are every one, a work of art. Doing them justice in a picture is really difficult. I'm getting better at it, learning to use the different features and functions in my camera app, but it's still so hard to get it just right. That dad-blame glare just seems an unavoidable nuisance. Having a solid color background helps a lot. 

Of course the real reward is playing them, and this little jewel is no exception. I say this with all reverence due... close your eyes and it is very hard to tell this Distillate from a Series I... it is 94.9% of the way there. In fact, if it had another volume and filter, I'm not sure if I could! It really is kinda' like half of a Series I for tone, sustain, and range. The action never moves, ever, not even seasonally... it's a rock-solid player, never disappoints. I spent some quality time with her each evening this week, Rockin' around the Christmas Tree. 

Seems you got the glamour shots down!  The last set of pics lean hard towards the Showcase spread. 


Funny that you mention the action being rock solid... my 84 is the same and that is saying a lot living in Wisconsin with the dramatic (traumatic?) seasonal weather swings.

The new pics are nice!

She was a pile of planks until 39 years ago today... and the Elves made her into something very special. I have got to make some time for 81D 1986 this evening.