Michael; was that picture in your cache?  Do you have others from the listing?
 
Edit: hey, you read my mind!
 
And yes, it appears to be a Spoiler body, Maple on Mahogany, with a volume and filter but no Q switch.
 
(Message edited by davehouck on August 02, 2005)

Yes.  I have the other photos as well.  I have the ones where he shows the fractures and the dings. I just figured these are the ones folks wanted to see.

that is absolutely the bass. the one pic dela217 came up with is not the closeup which showed how badly the serial number had been obliterated. but that is absolutely the bass i've been talking about. dave, is there any chance you can match this bass up to any spoilers listed on the stolen page? that was why i started this thread. someone clearly went to great, and sadly destructive efforts to eradicate the serial number from this bass. to me, that indicates it's stolen. i'm not saying stolen by this seller but by someone, and when the seller's main point in the ad copy is disclaim virtually any knowledge of the bass, there's something wrong with the entire situation. couple that with the rapid w/drawel of the ad when i asked the seller if it was stolen, and i think it's clear that this bass has a questionable history.

Patrick; as I live clear across the country from Santa Rosa, the answer from a practical standpoint is no, I can't.
 
(Message edited by davehouck on August 02, 2005)

To put too fine a point upon it, the rounded trussrod cover suggests it's a Persuader, and it has to be vol+tone controls only.

So what is this bass? Distilate, Spoiler, Persuader , Japanese export or something else? I'm trying to gain a working knowledge of the  Alembic models and I've not seen one, in my brief history of looking, that seems to be as unclear as this one.

IIRC, regular Persuaders have the Spoiler body shape, but different pick-ups (mostly PJ config, I think).
 
The clearest identifying mark is the rounded trussrod plate - but as usual with Alembic, features will have been mixed-up on customer request.
 
Not many Alembics have just a single pick-up, except for a series of Distillates made for the Japanese market, which you can also recognize by the brass control plate.

i've got a persuader, but it's the vector body, so this looks nothing like my persuader. isn't a distillate still considered to be, basically, a spoiler w/different electronics. it looks very similar to my spoiler, but w/o the spoiler electronics package. i think it's a distillate, and i think it was stolen somewhere down the line and that's why the serial number has been obliterated which makes it impossible to get parts, service or repairs from alembic.

Distillates have a different body shape, especially the lower horn is much shorter. They had the purpleheart neck laminates, and also what is now known as Europa electronics.
 
So this is a Persuader ...

thanks for the info, adriaan. i didn't know that about the horns and purpleheart laminates. have you gone on ebay and checked out item #7339519680? it's an orion and seller says it has purpleheart laminates, but i can't see any purpleheart in this bass. can you? i found this same bass in a 2003 listing when the buyer,who purchased it new from an alembic dealer, posted the same pics that are on the ebay ad here on the forum in 2003, so if ebay seller is the same as that original buyer, he didn't keep it very long. the pics are the same, though.  also, in your opinion, which is superior in a general sense and not really concentrating on sound, but more from a materials/quality of construction/details perspective------an orion or a rogue? i'd love to know your opinion since you clearly know more about alembics than i do and i'm always wanting to know more.

The Purpleheart accent laminate on the Orion in the Ebay listing is between the Maple top and the Mahogany body.  The Europa electronics make this a very nice Orion.
 
I believe it is accurate to say that all Alembics are made to the same high standards of craftsmanship.  So, there would be no difference in quality of construction.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7342009539&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:UK:1
 
This is not an alembic bass but the alembic style is a bit obvious.. hmm bolt on neck... ha ha ha