I had an opportunity to chat with JE in '94 or '95 about why he ditched the Alembic.  He said it was all about neck stability, and he had been having problems with the necks on his Alembics.  The Warwicks were a bit more stable (probably had bigger necks, too) but ultimately he went with graphite and was totally happy with it.  He expressed regret that Alembic wasn't still making graphite-necked instruments in '85, otherwise he would have tried one...

the Buzzard came in last week, I went to hear it friday night, it has a  mean BARK, it sounded good live, I think it's 6 inches longer than my Series 1, and with my midlife spred it was not all that comfortable for me to play, but all in all a very nice bass.
 
David T