This a bass on e-bay right now and I am wondering about the body shape if you have records for that. Thanks.

Mike; it appears to me from the pictures that this Essence was special ordered with a Europa body.  I think it's a great looking bass.

Dave- That's what I thought too, but if you look at the questions asked in his listing, he swears up and down it is a stock Essence. Don't want to piss him off by disagreeing with him, so I thought I'd check here.
Mike

Yes I noticed that.  I think he probably doesn't realize that an Essence model doesn't necessarily have to have an Essence body.  And you're right; there's no point in upsetting the guy.

Even without looking in the file, the bass on ebay certainly has the Europa body shape. It also has a Europa peghead shape and a bird tailpiece, all items that are not standard on an Essence.  
 
It completely understandable for folks to be confused about such matters. We have a less confusing habit these days of serializing such basses with a C code most of the time.

I talked to the Alembic people on the phone. This is a Europa body with Essence electronics & other custom features that I listed in the auction. It has an Essence certificate & an Essence serial#. So as far as I am concerned, for the listing, Essence is what it is. There have been some e-mails that were sent by others that seemed to call into question the legitimacy of this bass. Like wanting to match inside & outside serial3s. So I'm going to refer them to this discussion & upload a picture of the inside serial# for them to see. I must say, all of this certainly got me confused.

Hi Sarah; welcome to the board!  And thanks for making the effort to clear up the confusion.  I agree with you that perhaps the best description is that this is an Essence base with a Europa body.  In addition to the body upgrade, the Q switch, headstock, bird tailpiece and LED's are nice upgrades as well.  It's a beautiful bass!
 
(Message edited by davehouck on January 27, 2006)

Don't want to piss him off
 
 
OOPS! I meant to say i didn't want to anger her. Open mouth, insert foot.
Mike

Thanks. And I appreciate how helpful y'all are there at Alembic. It's fantastic all the options there are. This is a beautiful bass & it's too bad my friend has to sell it, but hopefully it will get into the hands of someone who loves it.

Thanks. And I appreciate how helpful Mica was when I called. It's fantastic all the options there are. This is a beautiful bass & it's too bad my friend has to sell it, but hopefully it will get into the hands of someone who loves it.
 
Oh, don't want to forget: A happy Mozart's 250th birthday today. I think if Mozart were born now, he'd play electrc guitar! (one of yours, of course!)

Ha! Thanks, Precarius!

Wow!  It sure is!  Thanks for mentioning it!  Well this calls for a celebration.  I'm putting Jupiter on the stereo!

Maybe the new owner is a Club member. Here's the details:
 
top: Bocate
accent: Maple pinstripe
body: Mahogany
neck: Maple with Walnut pinstripes, 34 long scale
fingerboard: Ebony with red side LEDs
body shape: Europa
peghead shape: Europa
finish: satin natural polyurethane
pickups: MXY56
electronics: volume, pan, filter Q switch
tailpiece: bird
originally made for: Guitars & More, IN
birthday: November 11, 1997
 
One registered owner, who purchased the bass in September of 1998.

Oops! Make that a 35 extra long scale.