Newest to the Alembic family of fine basses is the Excel. Set neck construction like the familiar Epic and Orion basses offers a focused midrange, and since it extends into the body, sustain unheard of in other set neck or bolt-on makes.
Simple, straightforward electronics are the heart of the Excel. With the Alembic FatBoy pickup in the bridge position, the Excel growls. This extra wide aperture pickup gathers information from a greater length of the string, offering a more complete picture of what the string is doing. It is also loud. Pair with an MXY at for the neck position, and you've a grand palette of sonic choices with a twist of the pan control.
The central piece of the three piece Ash body is where the neck joins. By going into a solid chunk of wood, the Excel benefits with greater sustain, but the set-neck joint allows it to retain a punchy tone.
New to the Excel is the Pau Ferro fingerboard. Pau Ferro is hard: in Portuguese, "pau" means wood and "ferro" means iron. It makes a great fingerboard, is less expensive than ebony (and one reason we can offer the Excel at a lower price), plus, it makes a super growly fretless tone. We use aluminum side position markers to contrast with the ruddy color of the Pau Ferro.
Quality is not subjective. Excel basses are handcarved, and glue joints are tight and clean. Each bass is carefully made by the same loving craftspeople that create every Alembic.
