http://cgi.ebay.com/ALEMBIC-DISTILLATE-BASS-USA-MADE-1983-4-STRING-2-PU_W0QQitemZ150012906069QQihZ005QQcategoryZ4713QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
 
Up to $2000 already. Wow!
EffClef

A beautiful Distillate but I am suspicious of the bid.  Only 1 bidder (he bid twice) with 0 feedback.  Why would someone start at $2000?
Was there a minimum at the beginning of the auction?
I'm thinking a schill bid by a friend of the Music Go Round store in Wisconsin.

$2000 would have either been the starting bid or the reserve.  Either way, $2K for a Distillate is way outside the typical range, so it doesn't really matter who or why has bid that much.  I doubt anyone who has been familiar with this site would be thinking about outbidding them.

Uhh, the last two Distillates on eBay sold for $2350 and $2450.
 
(Message edited by longhorncat on July 25, 2006)

Really?  A year ago they were in the $1300-1500 range for the typical model.  They are pretty close to the Europa in basic specs, so it isn't out of the question that they should be in that price range.  
 
You aren't talking about anything in the Exploiter body shape, are you?  Those have always been a few hundred dollars more than the same bass in a more typical body style.
 
I have played a Distillate and they are great instruments in every way.  I just hadn't noticed that market demand had finally caught up.

I put this in the wrong thread, I'll just repeat it here:
 
Alembic basses have been bringing record highs on eBay this summer.  
I still can't believe someone got $1700 for a Persuader.  
The rest for the market is in its usual summer slump.
The Fender basses aren't coming close to what they were selling for a few months ago.  
 
Just look a few threads down from this one.  
These were just plain, but nice Distillates:  
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130002746354  
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7422675901
 
(Message edited by longhorncat on July 25, 2006)

By the way, it's probably flame koa...

I'm sticking to my schill bid theory. The two recently sold Distillates had 18 & 22 bids and each started at a few hundred dollars and worked up from there. This auction has no reserve, no other bidders, so why would the first bidder come in at the top end pricing? The bidder's ID is only a few days old too.  
Oh well, Ebay is a strange place. It's a great bass and as Longhorn said $2K is accurate for a final price, I just wonder about $2K for a starting price. Let's see what happens.

Yeah I think there has been some shady bidding going on on ebay - like the seller using a different ID to up the bids on their item. For example, I bid on something and then was outbid by quite a bit by a new person with 0 feedback. A couple days later guess what - a bid retraction. My theory - no one outbids and the seller doesn't want to screw themself. I've had successful transactions on ebay before, but it seems to be getting worse all the time. It's still ok to use, just be careful.

I agree, Bob; that's Koa for sure.
 
Valentino

What's the saying about horses for courses?
 
I think it all depends on the piece in question.
THIS is hardly a typical Distallate with that gorgeous flame Koa top, purpleheart and birdseye neck, maple pinstripe, etc.  As Distillates go, this is the nicest one I've ever seen.  If I WERE after a Distillate and had been looking at some over time as they pop up, I'd be REAL interested in THIS one.  Not nearly as 'down-market' looking as most of them.
 
Plus as any of us long-term members here can attest, when you first get into ALEMBICs, it's hard to get an informed sense of what a given model is doing in the used market, as each one can seem so different from the last one, and the prices can seem all over the place.  So I think a certain percentage go a little high, just like any used guitar:  All depends how well the buyer knows his market.
 
J o e y

Got to agree with you there, Joey.  This is definitely a premium Distillate.  
 
On one hand I am still surprised that the prices for them have jumped so significantly in the past year.  On the other hand, there's not too much difference between a Distillate and a Europa, so one would think the prices would be similar for instruments in similar condition.  Distillates were always a bargain in my book.

When I checked yesterday, there were three bids.  The first and third were by the guy with zero feedback, and the second by a guy with a lot of feedback.  Now there are no bids.  The guy with zero feedback got an administrative cancellation, and the other guy retracted his bid because seller changed the description of the item.

With two bids made by the first bidder, I'm sure the second bidder was just marking the auction knowing he was not going to be the high bidder.  When eBay cancel the first bidder, the second one bailed as well.

I would think the second bidder was trying to find out how high the first guy's second bid was so he would know what he was up against.