After building custom guitars and basses for over forty years, some days you start to think you've heard just about every request. And when a repeat customer is adamant about certain ideas, we listen closely and endeavor to translate the thoughts into a tangible creation. When Pierre-Yves asked us to make something we never thought of doing, our first reaction was, "this sounds extreme," but eventually he convinced us that his unusual approach to bass was in need of symmetry that was impossible to imagine before this bass. The "Inner Reflections" method requires the bass to be as symmetrical as is possible to build. The tailpiece must be centered precisely to the neck or the resonant frequencies of the "uni-E" tuning will cancel each other out. We first consulted with a local professional to use a surveyor's transit placed exactly one chain (that's 100 links that equal 66 feet) away from the target location for the tailpiece. But the placement could only be accurate to one minute of angle. It was imperative to do even better. In order to achieve this unheard of accuracy, Ron built a Fabry-Pérot etalon to assure the absolute alignment of the tailpiece to the neck, and to verify the overall symmetry to nearly unmeasureable precision.

	The player is not bound by their "handedness" when employing the "Inner Reflections" method. Playing only left or right handed ultimately limits the creative expression available. For the technique to be seamless, the instrument needs to be able to shift chirality on the fly. We equipped the bass with a mercury switch so that only one set of controls is active at any time. The controls are rotated counter-clockwise when playing left-handed, and clockwise when playing right handed. If the bass is played with the peghead pointed precicely at the zenith, then both sets of controls are accessable. Of course the LEDs on either side of the fingerboard are also automatically switched on as the player chooses left or right handed. With so much stress on the bilateral symmetry of this bass, we surprised Pierre-Yves with a special symmetrical logo inlay. The unison E tuning allows the player to explore supersymmetry with their strings (in theory). One of the goals is to play all music simultaneously, the "music of the Universe" if you will. After enough improvisational playing, it's quite possible that a T.O.E.* will unfold. One thing is certain, we have finally succeeded in making a bass where the tone is exactly the same across the strings.

SPECIFICATIONS Series I short scale bass African Blackwood top and back Vermilion body Extra-thick body laminates 7-piece Ebony and Maple neck Series I+I electronics with superconducting pickups Uni-Tuned E-E-E-E Ebony fingerboard Abalone inlays LEDs "Deux Fois" Custom symmetrical logo inlay Etalon-centered tailpiece Chrome plated hardware

Wallpaper: 1600x1200 1280x1024 1024x768 800x600 photos of guitar by Mica Thomas, © 2012 Alembic, Inc. text by Mica Thomas and Samoht Acim, © 2012 Alembic, Inc. *T.O.E. = Theory of Everything

Custom Archive · Get a Custom Quote

The Specials · The Products · The People · The Place · The Support · Site Index