OK everyone, here are the pictures as promised. Hope you like 'em Ezra

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  (Message edited by davehouck on April 23, 2009)

Wow, Ezra, some inlays!!  Great looking bass.  Is the neck purpleheart and maple?  It's like a living bit of history to look at - really proud and well kept.  So many vintage basses look beat up (broken omega tips, etc).  Yours looks really good.  What year is it?  
 
Welcome and congratulations on a really cool and unique instrument.  
 
Bill  

Amazing, you even have the scalloped nut - I'm not a trivia expert, but from what I recall reading (and the general looks) that would probably date it to 74 or earlier?
 
Okay, I'd say 72 but I don't remember when these things started... dela will probably give us the serial number momentarily.

Hi Bill,
Thanks for the kind words re: the bass.
Yes , the neck is purple heart with maple, although the purpleheart has lost some of its purple and faded to brownish. Top  and back are koa and the body is walnut. She is 1976 vintage, #489, short scale with a narrow neck and string spacing. She recently had a fret job and a finger board planing, with the result being that some of the inlays lost their sharp edges. I suppose at some point she'll need to be sent to the mother ship to effect some inlay repair. I was also thinking about the electronics upgrade, to bring her into the 21st century.  Anybody out there have the upgrade done, and did it make a difference? This  is a great club to be in, and thanks everyone for the warm welcome!!!   All the best.
Ezra

Brother Ezra,
 
I think with that guitar you're in heaven ...well given those neck inlays ... . Here in Flanders we have an expression when somebody plays well he plays the stars out of the sky...
thatt fits definitely ...oh ...huh ...well the starts are there already.
 
Paul the bad one

Ezra,
wow, cool bass and cool inlays.
Like it....
 
Oliver (Spyderman)

Great inlays!  Also very firmly solidified my thinking on it is best to send your baby to the mother ship first.  I need some minor work done on one of mine, and now I will just save a bit longer and forget about the thought of sending it to Boston to be worked on.
 
As far as the electronics upgrade, for $1,500, don't fix what ain't broke.  If it buzzes more than you want it to, then send it in.  
 
Again, I really like those inlays, big time, especially the little crab!

I agree with everyone else: GREAT INLAYS!
 
It's interesting to see an early Omega. The proportions seem very different from recent ones. The upper horns seem shorter, too. But with the sandwich not having a contrasting accent layer, the proportions look good this way.
 
What IS it with old Series basses and missing truss rod covers??? ;-)
 
EffClef

Lovely.  These inlays are the best.  I have seen similar inlays with palm trees and crabs and stuff.  It was called California gothic.  I like these better.  I love the dolphins kissing.  Great bass!  I personally am not a real fan of plain maple necks and I really like that purpleheart is the dominant wood.  I know it is a bit hard to tell, but is that an oil finish on that bass??  Good stuff.

 
 
(Message edited by dela217 on March 03, 2004)

Wow, great bass, love the inlays!!

What IS it with old Series basses and missing truss rod covers??? ;-)
 
EffClef,
If you'd ever pulled your fingernail off popping on one, you'd leave the truss rod cover off as well.  :-)  BTW, I just found my cover a couple of weeks ago after having not seen it for a very long time...
John

Very impressive Ezra.  I'll have to agree with the rest on the inlays.  The bass as a whole is beautiful though.  I bet it sounds every bit as good as it looks.
 
Sam

Love the inlays - more lighthearted than the current designs.
 
What IS it with old Series basses and missing truss rod covers??? ;-)  
 
Perhaps Dela will jump in here, but I remember reading somewhere that the earliest Alembics simply did not have truss rod covers. This one also looks like it has a single truss rod, not two.
 
John, if you pull your fingernail off on the truss rod cover, you mean it's not recessed into the top?
 
And to add my own What IS it with ...: what IS it with Alembics that are just slightly asymmetrical? Like the upper horn on Ezra's Series I is deeper than the lower horn. Similar thing with some early large bodies with the long horns. And like the bottom corners on the cone headstock - the narrow one on my 88 Spoiler and the 'wide' one on my 94 Epic both have different angles left and right.
 
Or is the assymmetry on purpose, like there's always a 'fault' in the patterns of an oriental carpet because perfection belongs to the supreme being alone?

Gorgeous condition you've kept the bass in. I too like the kissing dolphins and the vestigal oval at the 24th.  
 
Truss rod covers: if you look, there are no holes to hold one on, the original basses didn't have a cover. Later ones had a surface mounted one, some with beveled edges. Way back then, most players weren't slapping, but when they did, you'll notice the truss rod covers were quickly recessed,