Hello, I just purchased this bass, was hoping to find out some history, I was told its had a refin, new fretboard w/abalone ovals and electronics upgrade, I would love to see if Alembic has record of this?
   Thank You
- Tom

Hi echo008, here are the results of a previous serial number lookup for this bass, but maybe Mica has more info now. 

http://club.alembicguitars.net/index.php?topic=22314.msg225188#msg225188

-Rob

Thanks Rob. So it was inconclusive if Alembic did the work but it sure does seem like they did. And we know that it had the electronics upgrade? I would say that alone is proof they did the work no? who else could do the upgrade...

If the electronics look like the images in Rob's link, then there is no electronics upgrade. There isn't much else I can tell you than what was in the file a few years ago, sorry.

Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to answer. Can I ask, can you tell if the ovals and the truss rods look "right" ? Sorry to bug you I'm just looking for your opinion, won't hold you to It. -T
http://club.alembicguitars.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=22314.0;attach=1969;image

I have not had any noise issues with this bass, but the image in the referenced link does reflect the current state of the electronics, so my original assumption that the bass had the electronics upgrade was incorrect. It's good to have that clarification, thanks, Mica. 

Yeah it pretty much looks right from these photos. I would say the refinish was tinted, because the polyester doesn't yellow like that. The only thing that looks a little odd is around the HX - its that just dust or something else? Is there something about the truss rods and ovals that gives you pause?

Hello
The Rods and ovals looked right to me, I just wanted to hear your opinion on it since there was not any "official" record of work being done at Alembic. I appreciate that.
The refin I don't know maybe Rob can chime in. I don't have the bass in my possession yet.
It looks very well done. Can you tell from this photo below.

I don't know for certain since I did not have the work done, but I would agree that the finish is likely tinted. When I compared this bass to my other Series Basses, everything looked equal.  It's a fantastic bass, but let me know if you have any reservations about the bass when you receive it, I want you to be as happy with it as I was.

Thank you. Appreciated. Bass is actually "out for delivery" right now.

As far as the electronics upgrade goes don't necessarily make a decision to send it back if it doesn't have one as Mica suggested. I have three Series I basses none of which have the upgrade. One is absolutely silent no matter where it's played and I have had it in studio and at many live settings. One is noisy except for a few spots in my home. The other is in between. No need to get the upgrade if the original product still functions as intended even in a new century.

Appreciate the info. Like Rob mentioned the bass has been quiet for him, hoping that's the same case over by me. Thanks!

We tint finished all the time for people that want the bass to look as close as possible to it's aged condition. The rubout looks very good, I don't see many others get that detail as good as we do.

It's actually not about the product still functioning as intended. It's because about 30% of the older models have the pickups matched well enough to have tolerable levels of noise. We traditionally didn't do any matching, because the pickups all had the same number of turns on the coils. However, because the amount of copper varies in the wire draw (the same length of wire will have a different number of copper atoms in it), that level of matching isn't always good enough in the much noisier environment of today. The upgrade goes way beyond the noise level floors and makes instruments quieter today thatn they were decades ago in the quieter environment decades ago.

Even if an instrument is quiet, I would not rely on a non-upgraded Series I or II as my sole instrument on a gig. I would take a backup in case conditions change because even the same location will change over time so a previously quiet place may require you to face a certain direction to be quiet.

Thank you Mica, I understand. You would recommend the upgrade in general for any older series instrument. Can I ask. what the cost is?  I'm not gonna be able to do anything else now but would be good for future reference in case. Right now I guess, I gotta see how the bass reacts to my environment.

Mica, in the 2016 thread Rob linked, you say the center neck lam looks like cherry to you; in the last pic in the last post in that thread, it looks to me like the center lam is actually lams - cherry with walnut on either side.  Could we get your thoughts on that, please?

Peter