Well I did it... I finally got myself an Alembic. I lusted after one as a teen getting into Stanley Clarke and Entwistle, but there was no way I could afford one. So, I sold my first Ric and bought an alumi-Kramer. It had the look - small, round, symmetrical-ish body, 4 knobs and 3 mini toggles. And the truth is, it had a lot of the tone too, as well as a great P tone and a good Ric/Jazz hybrid tone. Very impressive for something fully passive. So, fast-forward 32 years, and I got the bug BAD! Seeing Stanley up close a couple of months ago didn't help! For months, I've been searching the net literally every day for the right bass at the right price. Finally I posted something in the "wanted" section of the Alembic Club, and landed a really nice '86 Distillate, complete with original case and paperwork, all in spectacular condition. 20 pieces of wood! (there are 5 plies on both the front and back of the headstock) Mahogany body, walnut top, maple and purpleheart neck, and ebony board. I really like their low pass filter tone control design. I'm still getting used to it and working on setting it up the way I like. The thing is top quality throughout, as it should be - this bass new, today would list for $8800! This particular Distillate was ordered as a long scale (most were 32'') which is cool by me. It also has a longer upper horn than some earlier ones, which is good. Kind of like a Spoiler on top and a small standard on the bottom. Time will tell if it ends up being a real keeper...
