| Author |
Message |
2400wattman
Junior
Username: 2400wattman
Post Number: 28
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 10:21 am: |  |
You lucky damn dog! I had been watching that bass for months! I would gladly trade you the five basses I bought this year although they would barely cover half of the cost you probably paid. Enjoy it to it's fullest extent, that is one of the most beautiful works of bass craftmanship I have seen. Let us know how she sounds. You are definitely the envy of a lot of us in this club. Take care and Happy Holidays. |
speicky
Member
Username: speicky
Post Number: 55
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 3:22 pm: | |
Hi, Adam,
full frontal assault, eh ? No, just kidding, like you, I know... Yeah, it's strange, I heard that this beauty was up for sale at G-Guitars for four years, there were many interested persons, there were few seriously stuck to her, but in the end... nobody took her.
I promise to give her a good home and have a night-out once in a while with her.
I recently got rid of some basses that lead me through the rough waters of the '80s/'90s, so there is no need nor wish to trade "five for one", sorry...
What I would think about, though, is trading the RC for #1000, but only "mit Thermometer" (the RC, of course !) LOL !
Happy holidays to all of you,
Christian (the faker) (faking has been so precious this evening, it's unbelievable what music can do...) |
keurosix
Junior
Username: keurosix
Post Number: 11
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Monday, December 19, 2005 - 4:49 pm: | |
Christian,
You will love the dragon! I made a custom leather strap with a bronze dragon attached to go with the guitar, but I don't know if it still is with the guitar. I seem to remember another function to the middle knob for the 8 string: 2 lower string pairs to bass pickup, and 2 upper string pairs to treble pickup. In stereo this is way too cool! You can add delay or flange or whatever to the upper strings, and clean signal to the lower strings for stereo separation that is out of this world! It records real well too!
I'll keep in touch.
Kris |
2400wattman
Junior
Username: 2400wattman
Post Number: 32
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Monday, December 19, 2005 - 4:58 pm: | |
OOHHH that is so f*****G cool Kris! I really wish this was mine but best of luck to Christian, he got the grand prize of the decade IMHO. This is my favorite thread to visit and I look forward to hearing all the things this bass can do! |
speicky
Member
Username: speicky
Post Number: 60
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 20, 2005 - 3:05 pm: | |
Dear friends,
I just got home with her a few minutes ago, just wanted to let you know everything is okay with both of us ! It's five minutes after midnight here in Germany, I was 540 miles on the road today to pick her up in Zurich, driving in complete darkness for seven hours on unknown highways. May have had to switch the lights ON, perhaps.. :-)
I write down the whole story in a few days or so, now I've got to reset my beer level back to normal and then go to bed quickly, cause my boss surely loves to see me tomorrow (he didn't have many chances today) LOL !
So, everything is fine, except my backbone (don't ask why !), she is in breath-takingly mint condition. While I have to drink a beer and a sleep thereafter, you may want to puzzle around why I will call her "Peggy".
Have a good night, my friends, I'll keep you posted.
Christian (the faker) |
beelee
Intermediate Member
Username: beelee
Post Number: 151
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 20, 2005 - 4:15 pm: | |
Speicky you lucky Basstard !! ( joking ;o)
what an awesome instrument !!
I've seen that around for quite sometime, long before it was at G guitars.
I like the function Kris mentioned about the 8 string being able to be split.
enjoy and good luck with it !!
best wishes,
Bruce |
bassfingers
Junior
Username: bassfingers
Post Number: 19
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 20, 2005 - 6:27 pm: | |
Hi Christian,and Congratulations!!
What a bass!.I first saw her in a Rotosound/Superwound ad in 'International Musician' magazine in 1978 or 79.The ad featured the very same John Judge mentioned by Kris.
My brothers were both big Genesis fans so I knew what a doubleneck looked like but I saw her and thought "What the hell is that?".The more I looked,the more I liked her.
How wonderful to see her again,only this time in colour and looking way more beautiful than I remember.I feel 12 years old all over again.As is often said here,play her in good health,and feel free to post an insane amount of pictures.
Best wishes
Simon. |
mpisanek
Intermediate Member
Username: mpisanek
Post Number: 123
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 21, 2005 - 1:27 am: | |
Speicky:
Its great to see such a beautiful bass get such a great home!!
I think a lot of people were scared off by the price asked by G Guitars for that instrument. Hats off to you! You were not afraid to chase it up and are now able to reap the rewards of doing so.
Best of luck with that beauty!!! |
bassfingers
Junior
Username: bassfingers
Post Number: 24
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 21, 2005 - 7:21 pm: | |
Hey Christian,
I can't believe I found this after all these years!.It gives me great pleasure to be able to show you this.
Peggy in her former life.
I tried to resize the pic but I've obviously done something wrong.Also the pic quality is bad but I thought you might like to see it anyway.
Best Wishes and Frohe Weihnachten,
Simon.
 |
jlpicard
Advanced Member
Username: jlpicard
Post Number: 279
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 21, 2005 - 9:38 pm: | |
A $6,000 double neck Alembic??! Wow! Those were the days! But then, I was probably making $5.00/hr. back then. What do you think Alembic would charge for something like that now? $30-40K ? |
speicky
Member
Username: speicky
Post Number: 62
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, December 22, 2005 - 4:11 am: | |
Simon !
This is great ! Thank you very much for digging your archieves, very impressive. Perhaps I should ask Rotosound to refresh the ads, that would keep me from selling Oliver's Who tribute gig on ebay to make tons of solid gold :-)
Also interesting that Peggy was sold originally to John Judge for $6,000. I did a google investigation on John Judge, but I did not manage to find anything about him yet. Can anyone bring light into the darkness of my personal HD drive (brain) who JJ is. Interesting also that I managed to get Peggy for $5,000...
Christian (the faker) |
speicky
Member
Username: speicky
Post Number: 63
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, December 22, 2005 - 4:17 am: | |
...of course, I had to bear a few additional costs: $50 for the strap, $450 for the power supply, and $4,500 for the flight case, LOL ! Luckily, the strap did not cost $4,500 ;-)
Christian (the faker) |
palembic
Senior Member
Username: palembic
Post Number: 2191
Registered: 9-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, December 22, 2005 - 4:36 am: | |
Hoi Christian,
I remember someone did a searche already some years ago somewhere here in this playground of the lower frequencies oriented kind.
I guess when you do a search???
Remember you can always call our moder!
Paul the bad one |
effclef
Advanced Member
Username: effclef
Post Number: 363
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, December 22, 2005 - 7:16 am: | |
Christian, I almost bit the edge of my coffee cup off when I saw you paid $5000.... I think lots of other Forum folks had the same reacion!
But now I see you did pay what GG was asking. Gosh...what an instrument. If the four string neck was fretted I would have been much more tempted. But as it was, I pointed out the link at GG to many folks I know who think they have beautiful (non-Alembic) guitars and basses and the reaction was unanimous. "WOW"
I hope Peggy serves you quite well! It is a one of a kind, as most Alembics are.
EffClef |
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck
Post Number: 2867
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, December 22, 2005 - 7:24 am: | |
As Paul said, previous web searches did not turn up much. In our forum, I'm assuming you've read this recent thread. And then there's this older thread. And one from earlier this year. And there are a few more threads that mention his name; just run a club search on his name. As far as I can tell, he never played on any albums. I guess his notoriety came from owning this bass and appearing in the string ads. |
speicky
Member
Username: speicky
Post Number: 64
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, December 22, 2005 - 7:46 am: | |
Hi, Andy, hello, Dave,
I don't want to be held responsible for heart attacks of you fine club members, and I'm sure nobody really thought that Peggy would have left for just $5,000... I will post the whole "travel report" in a few days, it was really hard to get her.
Thank you for the links, Dave, I saw two out of the three earlier this year.
cheers to all of you,
Christian |
kmh364
Senior Member
Username: kmh364
Post Number: 1533
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 23, 2005 - 3:30 pm: | |
Could this be him...THE John Judge???
http://www.landscreek.com/studio/staff.htm |
kmh364
Senior Member
Username: kmh364
Post Number: 1534
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 23, 2005 - 3:50 pm: | |
Christian:
As referred to here:
http://alembic.com/club/messages/397/21993.html
What is keurosix referring to as inscribed inside the control cavity of the John Judge doubleneck? He doesn't explain and inquiring minds wanna know! LOL!
At any rate, that bass is spectacular! Good luck with it and congratulations on your acquisition.
Cheers,
Kevin |
kmh364
Senior Member
Username: kmh364
Post Number: 1535
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 23, 2005 - 4:02 pm: | |
Just for sh*ts and giggles, I emailed the "John Judge" in the link above to see for myself if it really was the mysterious double-neck bassist from Guitar Player Magazines of yore.
Let's see if he responds...
To be Continued! |
kmh364
Senior Member
Username: kmh364
Post Number: 1536
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 23, 2005 - 4:10 pm: | |
My email got bounced due to "no service available"! The plot thickens, LOL! |
keurosix
Junior
Username: keurosix
Post Number: 12
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Friday, December 23, 2005 - 7:48 pm: | |
Yup, that's him alright. Older, wiser, same guy. I would recognize him. I don't know if he used the dragon on any albums, but I recorded a 45 with "Legend" - Kevin Nugent's heavy rock band back in West Haven, CT.(Audio West?) Cutler's Record Rack of New Haven carried the record. Single was called "She's Evil" with "Plastic Eyes" on the flip. Lots of 8 string on both with really cool fretless on "Plastic Eyes". Guitar went straight into the board with no complaints. Best sound they ever heard. We played live in New Haven a few times too. Crash, burn, goodbye! Just like many other great bands! |
speicky
Member
Username: speicky
Post Number: 66
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, December 24, 2005 - 3:05 am: | |
Hi, Kevin and Kris,
that landscreek link is cool, thank you very much. Really interesting to compare the JJ of the ad to the little more recent picture on landscreek.
I took Peggy out last night, rehearsing amplified for the first time. I got her on Tuesday, and I played her at home on Wednesday and Thursday. It was not too much fun, bass was heavy, I did not get along with the 8string-neck, and I put her away just after a few minutes.
Yesterday, I took her to the Faker's rehearsal. After an hour of celebrating her arrival, lots of funny jokes and some cans of beer, we started our program, and I was just into it ! We played
The Seeker
I'm One
Thank You
Hotel Room
Start
Wild Nights
plus two Faker's numbers. Suddenly 45 minutes were gone, we had done eight numbers, I was playing fretless (last four) as well as 8string (first four), and I felt totally comfortable to continue... The side LEDs are great, they help so much. Playing the 8string is phenomenal. No hurting neck at all...
or was that due to my blood level in the alcohol ??? Anyway, this was the first of hopefully many mindblowing experiences with Peggy. I will upload some pics, as soon as I can. Just today, my wife reminds me, there may be other priorities to take care of :-)
Have a very Merry Christmas, many presents to all of you, and stay healthy.
Christian |
kmh364
Senior Member
Username: kmh364
Post Number: 1538
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, December 24, 2005 - 5:52 am: | |
Kris und Christian:
Holy Sh*t!
You mean I single-handedly solved the great John Judge mystery? I'd say someone owes me a beer or two! LOL! J/K.
I was hoping that was him...ultimately I was gonna try to get him just to write me back or ideally to participate in the thread here.
Neither one of you has spilled the beans over what is inscribed in the control cavity of "Peggy". C'mon now, what gives?
Cheers,
Kevin |
keurosix
Junior
Username: keurosix
Post Number: 13
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, December 24, 2005 - 8:37 am: | |
Kevin,
Looks like you DID solve it! Congrats!
BTW, scroll down on the thread YOU provided above. The inscription is revealed!
Kris
Happy Holidays! |
kmh364
Senior Member
Username: kmh364
Post Number: 1540
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, December 24, 2005 - 4:30 pm: | |
Thanks. Same to you and yours.
Larry Robinson? Who in the Wide World of Sports is that? |
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq
Post Number: 830
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, December 25, 2005 - 10:03 am: | |
IIRC Larry Robinson used to work for Alembic doing inlays. I believe he currently lives along California's north coast. He recently did some killer inlays on one of my guitars that has been living at my luthier's for the last 1 1/2 years. I'm hoping for completion in early '06 (fingers crossed). As I'm also hoping for completion of my custom Further around the same time, 2006 could shape up as a great year!
Bill, tgo |
speicky
Member
Username: speicky
Post Number: 69
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, December 25, 2005 - 1:52 pm: | |
Great, Bill,
another mystery discovered ! Both Kevin and you should submit your full address by email, I sure owe you a beer or two :-)
If Larry was the one who did the inlays of Peggy, he surely did a marvellous composition, a true artwork. The whole scene is just breathtaking.
I promise to upload some pics in the showcase in the very next days.
Christian |
keurosix
Junior
Username: keurosix
Post Number: 14
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, December 25, 2005 - 10:07 pm: | |
Bill,
Please post your guitar with the inlays so we can see the beautiful work Larry is doing now. The Dragon inlay on the 8 string is beyond words, and is truly a timeless work of art. I know John Judge had some ideas in the composition of the layout, including the skeletons, etc. Christian, I always played the 8 string with a pick and the fretless by finger. This took some getting used to. I actually dropped the octave strings and played the 8 as a 4 for a while too, but this requires a truss rod adjustment. Only worth doing for a serious recording project in my opinion - the 8 string sounds so powerfull! Keep an eye on the straplocks. The weight of the bass will wear them out, and they loosen up too. Did you get the dragon strap with the guitar? It really complemented it. Good luck with it, it's a fantastic guitar with real history too. Ed Roman still has it posted on his website for examples of Alembics. He's an Alembic dealer in Las Vegas, Nevada USA that previously was in Danbury Connecticut. I got my first Series 1 from him.
Later. |
jlpicard
Advanced Member
Username: jlpicard
Post Number: 282
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Monday, December 26, 2005 - 1:41 pm: | |
Larry Robinson is widely regarded as one or the best inlay artists around, even being commisioned by C.F. Martin to do the inlay on #1,000,000! In his book, "The Art of Inlay", while he was a novice builder at Alembic, he credits Rick Turner for getting him interested in inlay as a way of repairing a mistake made during the contruction of a bass. He has since blossomed into a wonderful artist! If you're interested in inlay his book gives a detailed explaination of his technique. I met him many years ago when he had left Alembic for Turner guitars,(we won't go into why)and he was doing some amazing work. Having some of his work on "Peggy" just makes your bass that much more fantastic. Here's a link to Larrys site; http://robinsoninlays.com/ Congradulations and take good care of her!
(Message edited by davehouck on December 26, 2005) |
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck
Post Number: 2899
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Monday, December 26, 2005 - 1:53 pm: | |
Cool! |
speicky
Member
Username: speicky
Post Number: 70
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, December 26, 2005 - 2:26 pm: | |
Michael,
thank you very much for the link to this spectacular website. I have no words to describe my feelings looking at all these gorgeous works of art... I was at the "Light & Sound" in Frankfurt two years ago, there were some guitars and basses on display with breathtaking inlay works. I took a look on the price tags, and thought... "oh, gosh, maybe in your next life !"
OK, Michael, I owe you a beer or two, too :-)
Christian (the faker) |
kmh364
Senior Member
Username: kmh364
Post Number: 1551
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 27, 2005 - 7:48 am: | |
Very nice link...thanks! |
kmh364
Senior Member
Username: kmh364
Post Number: 1552
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 27, 2005 - 7:54 am: | |
Christian,
Bitte Schoene.
You owe me nothing...it was a pleasure helping to find out info on that great one-of-a-kind masterpiece of Alembic history. The fact that a luthier/inlay artist of the caliber of Larry did your inlays makes it even more priceless, IMHO. Enjoy it in good health.
Cheers,
Kevin |
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq
Post Number: 841
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 27, 2005 - 12:36 pm: | |
Kris:
The guitar Larry inlaid for me is still living at the luthiers (LOL - so I don't cry!) I did find a few pics I took after the inlay was done. I'll post them tonight when I get home (the pics are on my home computer).
Michael:
Thanks for the info and link to Larry's site. When he did my guitar I had no idea who he was or the quality of his work. At the time as far as I knew he was just some guy my luthier sent the guitar to for the inlays.
Bill, tgo |
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq
Post Number: 844
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 27, 2005 - 11:10 pm: | |
Here goes:
Bill, tgo |
kmh364
Senior Member
Username: kmh364
Post Number: 1555
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 28, 2005 - 4:44 am: | |
Bill P:
That is so F'n cool! What guitar is that?
Cheers,
Kevin |
dadabass2001
Senior Member
Username: dadabass2001
Post Number: 509
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 28, 2005 - 5:18 am: | |
Bill,
Extremely cool! There's nothing like drawing attention to fretboard position at the 12th. I assume you smoke in the upper range? 
Mike |
jalevinemd
Advanced Member
Username: jalevinemd
Post Number: 284
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 28, 2005 - 6:40 am: | |
Bill,
That is unbelievable inlay work! Those gentle whisps of smoke...priceless. And yes, what guitar is that?
Jonathan |
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq
Post Number: 846
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 28, 2005 - 8:53 am: | |
The guitar is a Fernandes Masterhand. It was made around 1980 or so. At the time Fernandes was making Alembic copies - a fact that has been discussed around here on many occasions. The Masterhand was not a direct copy as far as the body shape. It is more Strat-like. The build method, however, was hippie sandwich all the way. The electronics were Fernandes' rip off of Alembic Series 1, complete with hum canceller, 5 pin jack, and external power supply. From what I've read, while the woodworking was pretty cool on these, the electronics came up short. Either way, nothing worked when I found this guitar, and the store had lost the power supply. Currently I am having Alembic electronics installed (3 pus, filter and 3 position Q - not series). It will also have an RMC bridge saddle pick up system which can provide both an acoustic sound and hook up to a Roland guitar synth. The guitar, as I originally found it, can be seen here. It's the one in the middle:
http://www.fatdawg.com/334.jpg
By the way, Jonathan, the wisps of smoke are my favorite too. They are made of silver. The fatty is also quite nice. It didn't come out too well in the photos, but it really looks like rolling paper that's been twisted up. This should be a big hit at our medical cannabis benefit gigs! (Pardon the pun, I couldn't resist).
Bill, tgo |
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck
Post Number: 2925
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Friday, December 30, 2005 - 1:39 pm: | |
That's so cool!!! |
speicky
Member
Username: speicky
Post Number: 76
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Friday, December 30, 2005 - 4:24 pm: | |
Yeah,
it's really cool also which directions some threads take (as mentioned in some others)...
But, (and it's only a small but), I do not think Bill's inlays are really cool. These maple leaf inlays are just not good, they do not look like maple leaf in nature...
But perhaps it's just I missed something down the road, or I need to have a smoke or two :-)
Speicky (the faker) (those inlays are gorgeous, of course) |
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