Recommended series: Stanley Clarke series
Born in 1969 in San Francisco, Alembic is a manufacturer of high-end electric basses, guitars and preamplifiers. Founder Ron Wickersham designed the Ampex machine in the early days, which became a recording tool for many musicians at the time. Later, he formed the brand with Grateful Dead, developing preamps and controls on electroacoustic instruments, and it was not until 1972 that designer Stanley Clarke joined in to make electric basses. Alembic electric bass is known as the "Cadillac of the bass world" due to its quaint appearance in hippie colors, delicate and meticulous workmanship, high-grade wood materials, and complex circuit design.
Different from the industrial products of the early mainstream brands Fender and Gibson, Alembic pioneered Custom customization, giving musicians more personalized collocations and choices. This tradition has been preserved to this day, and in the Excel, Orion, Rogue, Europa, Stanley Clarke, Signature and other series, we can replace the wood of the model piano and choose California walnut, tree maple, mahogany, Guyi su, etc., to customize our own model.
Stanley Clarke is Alembic's oldest series, and in the early '70s, Ron Wickersham incorporated an experimental active electronic circuit into the production of electric basses, which became an instant hit with its classic appearance and multi-range active pickup design. With a proportional length of 30.75 inches, the small mahogany body allows the player to play a lower frets with a slight movement of his fingers. Its signature model is laminated with wood for a more transparent tone, and has been favored by well-known musicians such as John Entuistle and Jimmy Johnson.
The body of the Excel series is relatively rounded, and the corners are designed to be high on one side and low on the other, and the curve between the feet is larger, which is more beautiful. An active preamplifier delivers clean, clear sound, and 2-band EQ controls treble and bass gain and attenuation. The extra-wide design pickups close to the bridge can accept more sound signals. The pickups on the neck are available in MXY, AXY or FatBoy models to keep the tone resounding.
The appearance of the Europa series is asymmetrical with hyperbolic corners, and the base is designed with large sloping rounded corners, which is very impressive. The fast pitch shift switch gives the electric bass a dynamic feel, and when the player is ready to play a solo solo, simply flick the bass or treble switch to the appropriate position. The low-pass filter has a large timbre adjustability, and when it is tuned below 300 Hz, it can obtain a dark tone suitable for blues music; When you turn it up to 6,000 Hz, you can play rock-style music.
The Rogue series has an exaggerated curve shape similar to that of the Europa, and at 35 inches compared to the typical 30, 32, and 34-inch proportional lengths, it is the longest electric bass in the series. The mahogany body of the Signature series also has an asymmetrical double notch, but the difference is that the round peach-shaped bottom center has a small inward notch, which is very delicate. In addition, the Deluxe Edition of the Signature series has been upgraded from the standard version, such as adding purple heart laminate to the neck, and the back of the body is made of watergrain maple or other top-quality woods of your choice for more stiffness and texture.
Overall, each Alembic collection will feature more than a dozen woods, finishes, colors, and electronics, and each handmade electric bass is unique, with prices ranging from $7,000 to $36,500. Customization services such as precious wood and pickups cost an average of $2,000. In addition, Alembic's electric basses are handmade and custom-made, which needs to be ordered on the official website.
