I received my bass last Friday (the 13th - just to show you nothing is all bad!).  It is wonderful.  My wife got home with the digicam this evening and these are the first few shots I took.  Some are a bit overexposed (making the red highlights look slightly more orange than in person), but I couldn't resist posting them.  I also included pix of my current rig, since it's all been aquired within the past 6-8 months (still a work in progress).  Well, here goes...  

 

 

 

 

 

  I'm going to work on getting better pix made over the weekend.

Very nice, Bill. Lots of luck and enjoy it in good health.  
 
That's quite an amp rig you have there as well!
 
Cheers,
 
Kevin

Alright Bill,
That ought to shake the foundations REAL GOOOD!
 
Mike

Congrats Bill..beautiful instrument..and nice ampage.
Please let us know how the new body shape feels and balances.
Gary  

Beautiful!  I love the omega and the point; great combination.
With that rig you gotta be rocking the house.
I also would like to know who the body shape feels.
 
Ellery (Lowlife)

Beautiful bass .... all the curves in the right places !!
 
Enjoy.

Beautiful bass, Bill.  Congrats and best of luck with it. The pre/amp/cabinet arrangement is way cool.  I suspect you have no issues cutting the mix with it.  I can only imagine what your big room setup must look like.  ;-)
 
-Chris

Very nice!

Truly BEAUTIFUL work of art, bassman. . . thanks for sharing it with us!
 

Awesome bass, awesome rig, congrats!

ditto!

Thanks everybody.  I'll post some better pictures that show more of the detail in the next few days.  I let these get on a little on the downsized side.
 
The bass is wonderful.  Every time I pick it up, I notice some detail I had missed - there's a lot to look at!  Still playing with the sound for hours on end.  That's going to take time, as I'm acclimating to the bass, the SF-2 and the new cabs, especially the ELF 18.  
 
The most interesting thing I've noticed is that the ELF produces so much bass that I've gradually backed off the bass setting to 2 or 3 (which is just about flat) on the preamp to give myself room to play with the bass on the SF.  Then I balance up the the conventional cabs by boosting the low frequencies at the Equalizer.
 
Needless to say - more fun than a car full of monkeys!
 
Bill

You probably pray for rainy days so that you can stay inside and jam.
 
Now that you have that bass and that rig, where can you go from there?

You can always order another Alembic, LOL!

I am thinking (longer term) about another Alembic, but something different from this one.  Definitely 5 string and probably with ebony laminates.  Maybe a maple or other lighter-colored topwood.  Simpler and less ornate/traditional-looking.  Who knows?
 
But now...I have a ton of practicing to do.  I'm looking into studying with a teacher I've heard great things about. Looking for people to jam. And I've got my brand new, beauty to take with me!