Short but sweet.....
 
http://www.slapring.com/video/slapring2.mpg
 
Believe it or not, this guy traded in this beautiful Alembic Series 1 for a German Miller headless bass guitar. According to him the Miller bass's sound and character equals the Alembic.  
I don't get it....
 
Does anybody have other Alembic footage or soundclips to share?
 
Duncan

Great Alembic sample.  Forgive my ignorance (I'm not a slapper.):  What is this guy wearing on his thumb??
 
Bill

Neat!  Thanks!

Bill; I was wondering the same thing.  Here it is:
http://www.slapring.com/en/productinfo/slapring/index.php

Thanks Dave.  Now I feel very lazy.  Interesting website and the device itself is intriguing.  Besides, I like gadgets.  Maybe this is something to investigate further...

Bill; Mark King also plays with something on his thumb.  Personally, I like the feel and tone of skin on strings.

Here's as good a picture as I could find of whatever it is Mark King has on his thumb:
http://www.forevernow.com/gallery/ohnefilter/hamburg24.jpg

Here are a couple more; they seem to come in different colors:
 
http://www.forevernow.com/gallery/crystalpalace/127.jpg,http://www.forevernow.com/gallery/crystalpalace/127.jpg
http://www.forevernow.com/gallery/hammersmith90/170.jpg
 
(Message edited by davehouck on March 21, 2004)

I know for a fact that Mark King actually wraps a simple piece of Duck Tape around his thumb. This prevents him from hurting it as he hits the strings pretty hard and his slapping tempo is sometimes extremely high. In the early 80s he actually split his thumb during a concert, which made him wear the tape.

Thanks for the info.  On the DVD it does indeed look like tape.

Doesn't Mark King play ultralight strings, maybe 30-90? That must be like playing razorblades!

Yep, that's correct all of Mark's Alembics were set up with 30-90 strings. It's the main reason why we send almost every bass to the UK set up with them as well
 
 
-Susan