Hey guys,
 
Would you please tell me what kind of wood was the early material of Essence basses? I think it's not Mahogany
 
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pu5U--X0jCY/UNrIKUgy6SI/AAAAAAAAAe4/e8xzX5PikrU/w534-h712-no/20121226_104227.jpg
 
Thank you a lot,
 
sexy from Hungary

looks like maple to me.

If you compare it to the neck wood which is clearly Maple, you can see some difference.  It may be Alder.

You might be right, Rami.  
 
I think the difference in the look of the neck woods is a result of the flame and the cut, but the body wood may well be something other than maple.

Hey Toby,
 
Alder is slightly grainier than Maple as well as a little darker (which is hard to see with the lighting in the picture).  It's more suitable for a body wood because it's relatively light weight.
 
But who can say for sure from a picture? The best way to know for sure is to provide Alembic with the serial number and Mica can tell us.  They keep all the build records.

Hello , I own a 91 Essence . It is all Maple. I took it to the 2013 Northern California Alembic Gathering where Mica saw it and confirmed early Essence, all maple.

Mine is a 92 all Maple,the one in the pix is the same all Maple
 
(Message edited by mike13 on June 01, 2013)

That makes sense.  I've never known Alembic to use Alder except for one custom build.

Guys, thanks for your answers!  
i hope i can get this bass in the future, it's not mine, period.

The sound from my all Maple Essence is quite bright .

you mean too bright?

That's certainly all Maple. The early Essence basses were 3-piece Maple necks, Maple bodies, and Flame Maple tops. The only options were 4- or 5-string, fretless or fretted, and right or left handed.

My all maple Essence is quite bright ___,too bright is not what I wrote or meant. I really like the way it sounds. There is natural high definition.

I agree with Wolf, an all Maple Essence bass has, as he said, a natural high definition.  They have a great attack.  When mine was my main bass, I was playing it through an Eden rig, and it sounded amazing.

So, be seen until the end of the week I will have it or not. I'm so excited about that bass  
 
Thank you for the information and opinions!