Alembic "Dragon's Breath" Custom Bass Guitar

Alembic was founded in 1969 and is a manufacturer of high-end electric basses, guitars and preamps. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Shortcut: WP:NPOVD Articles that have been linked to this page are the subject of an NPOV dispute (NPOV stands for Neutral Point Of View; see below). ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (415x936, 146 KB) This is an Alembic custom bass, named Dragons Breath. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (415x936, 146 KB) This is an Alembic custom bass, named Dragons Breath. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ...

Fender's success set the scene for Music Man, G&L (both with input from Leo, himself) Lakland, Sadowsky and numerous less innovative copies. The rise of Alembic in the 70s, opened the door for high-end bass manufacturers such as Warwick, Spector, Wal, Ken Smith and Fodera – and raised expectations for top-of-the-line instruments from large manufacturers such as Yamaha and Ibanez.^{[citation needed]} Music Man is an American guitar, bass guitar and amplifier manufacturer. ... The G&L logo. ... Lakland Musical Instruments, LLC, produces bass guitars. ... A Sadowsky Vintage 5-String in 59 Burst Sadowsky Guitars Limited (Professional Guitar Services) is a Brooklyn, New York based high-end guitar, bass guitar, and preamp manufacturer. ... Warwick Streamer 5-string bass Warwick is a bass guitar company founded in Germany in 1982. ... This article refers to the Spector Company. ... Wal Mach II Fretless Bass Wal is a brand of electric bass manufactured by Electric Wood Ltd. ... Fodera is a noted american manufacturer of Electric Bass Guitars. ... Yamaha redirects here. ... Ibanez (pronounced eye-ban-ez) is a well known guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. ...

History

Ron and Susan Wickersham started Alembic in 1969. Originally it was a consulting firm that worked closely with the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and the like to help improve the quality of live sound and recordings of live concerts. Rick Turner also joined the company in that first year, becoming a shareholder in 1970. Rick and Alembic parted company in 1978, and Rick founded Renaissance Guitars. Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco, California. ... Jefferson Airplane is an American rock band from San Francisco, a pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement. ... Crosby, Stills, & Nash (sometimes known as Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young) is a pioneering folk rock/rock supergroup that formed out of the remnants of three 1960s bands the Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds, and the Hollies. ... Rick Turner was an early employee and subsequently shareholder of Alembic. ...

High impedance pickups have limited bandwidth.^{[citation needed]} Ron Wickersham and Rick Turner designed low-impedance pickups with greater bandwidth. To boost their low output, Ron designed an active onboard preamp. In 1969 Ron installed the first active electronics in instruments owned by Phil Lesh, Jack Casady, Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia. These were the first low impedance pickups with preamps to be installed on a musical instrument. (UK manufacturer Burns introduced active tone controls on its TR2 bass in the 60's, although without the low impedance pickups essential to modern active electronics.) Phillip Chapman Lesh (born March 15, 1940 in Berkeley, California) is a musician and founding member of the rock band, Grateful Dead; he played bass guitar in that group throughout their entire 30-year career. ... Jack Casady (born John William Casady, April 13, 1944 in Washington D.C), is an American musician considered one of the foremost bass guitarists of the rock music era. ... Robert Hall Weir (October 16, 1947–) is an American guitar player, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. ... Jerome John Jerry the Bulldog Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician, songwriter, and artist best known for being the lead guitarist and vocalist of the psychedelic rock band the Grateful Dead. ...

Alembic became quite busy installing these new active electronics in players' guitars and basses. It also performed many modifications on instruments, such as remanufacturing the headstocks with a 14° angle, machining solid brass parts for the bridge, tailpiece and nut, carving necks and the like. This work led eventually to manufacturing its own line of guitars and basses from start to finish. Typical headstock of an electric guitar This article is about part of a stringed instrument. ...

The instruments

In 1971 the very first Alembic bass, number 001, was made for Jack Casady, then a member of Jefferson Airplane. It was dubbed "Mission Control". This bass cost more than four thousand dollars – an unheard-of amount at the time. Key design elements from #001 are still present in Alembic’s instruments today - as well as those built by many high end bass makers that have since sprung up. Jack Casady (born John William Casady, April 13, 1944 in Washington D.C), is an American musician considered one of the foremost bass guitarists of the rock music era. ... Jefferson Airplane is an American rock band from San Francisco, a pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement. ...

Alembic's 4 string basses were usually based on a five piece multi-laminate through neck using various combinations of maple, purpleheart, walnut, cherry and ebony. This construction technique inspired the nickname "hippie sandwich" basses. By 1979 maple and purpleheart was the standard.

In 1976 Alembic made the world's first graphite neck basses with necks supplied by Geoff Gould, who subsequently founded Modulus Guitars. The first two were sold to John McVie (Fleetwood Mac) and Stanley Clarke. Alembic continued to build graphite neck instruments until 1985. Alembic also delivered one of the first ever 5-string basses to have a low B string that same year to Jimmy Johnson. Modulus Guitars is an American manufacturer of musical instruments, most notably bass guitars built with carbon fiber necks. ... This article is about the band. ... Jimmy Johnson is a very well respected bass player and can be heard with a wide range of artists, including Allan Holdsworth and James Taylor as well as his own work with Flim and the BBs. ...

The players

By 1973 Alembic was established as the instrument-maker of choice amongst many US west coast bands, including the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, New Riders of the Purple Sage and others.^{[citation needed]} New Riders of the Purple Sage New Riders of the Purple Sage was a 1970s country rock band from Marin County, California. ...

In 1973 Rolling Stone ran an extensive profile on Alembic and Stanley Clarke acquired his first Alembic. Alembic's fame soon spread beyond its West Coast roots. Some other early Alembic players included Lamar Williams of The Allman Brothers Band and Tom Fowler of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. This article is about the magazine. ... Stanley Clarke (born 30 June 1951) is an American musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and bass guitar as well as his numerous film and television scores. ... Lamar Williams (born January 14, 1949, in Gulfport, Mississippi, died January 21, 1983) was an American musician, most known as the bassist for The Allman Brothers Band and Sea Level. ... The Allman Brothers Band is a band from Macon, Georgia, labeled by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the principal architects of Southern rock. ... Thomas W. Fowler (commonly referred to as Tom Fowler in credits) is an American musician, born June 10, 1951 in Salt Lake City, Utah. ... Frank Vincent Zappa[1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, musician, and film director. ... The Mothers of Invention were a rock and roll band active from the 1960s to the 1990s. ...

Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) played a number of Alembics, including an eight string bass (four pairs of strings, each comprising a regular bass string and another lighter string tuned an octave higher) ordered in 1976. This instrument was subsequently sold to John Entwistle (The Who), who worked with Alembic to develop the Exploiter body shape – a cheekily named derivative of Gibson's Explorer. Entwistle ordered 15 Series II Exploiter body basses over the years in a variety of woods. Most had note names inlaid as position markers on the fingerboards and sterling silver spider web inlays on the body. ELP can also stand for Extra Long Play, a format for the VCR tape. ... John Alec Entwistle (October 9, 1944 – June 27, 2002) was an English bass guitarist, songwriter, singer, and horn player, who was best known as the bass guitarist for rock band The Who. ... The Who are an English rock band that first formed in 1964, and grew to be considered one of the greatest[1] and most influential[2] bands in the world. ...

By the late 70s John Paul Jones had also converted to Alembic (from Fender) and drove the development of the Triple Omega body shape. JPJ can be seen using both 4 and 8 string Alembics in the Knebworth concert on the Led Zep DVD. JPJ also uses his 8 string Alembic bass for recording the song Achilles Last Stand, from the 1976 Led Zeppelin album, Presence. Chuck Panozzo of Styx used Alembic bass guitars during Styx's 1979 to 1984 heyday. John Paul Jones (born John Baldwin on January 3, 1946 in Sidcup, London), is an English multi-instrumentalist musician, and was known for being the bassist and the keyboardist for rock band Led Zeppelin from its inception until the bands breakup following the death of John Bonham in 1980. ... Achilles Last Stand is a song by English rock group Led Zeppelin, featured as the opening track on their 1976 album Presence. ... Led Zeppelin were an English rock band that formed in September 1968. ... Presence is the seventh studio album by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released by Swan Song Records on March 31, 1976. ... Chuck Panozzo is a bass player. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Funk players were quick to pick up on Stanley’s percussive playing style, to which the clear, extended high end response was well suited. Legendary funk bassist Louis Johnson can be heard playing an Alembic Series 1 on classic tracks by the The Brothers Johnson. Lequient Jobe (Rose Royce), Jermaine Jackson (The Jacksons), Rodney "Skeet" Curtis (Parliament-Funkadelic) and Wyzard (Mother’s Finest) also played Series 1s. Brown Mark played an Alembic Spoiler on several hits recorded by Prince. The Brothers Johnsons bassist, Louis Johnson (born 13 April 1955, in Los Angeles) is regarded as one of the best bassists of the 20th century. ... The Brothers Johnson is a band consisting of the musicians George Johnson (Lightnin Licks) and Louis Johnson (Thunder Thumbs). After touring with various artists like Bobby Womack and Billy Preston, Quincy Jones hired them for a tour in Japan and produced their debut LP Look out for Number 1, released... Rose Royce was a soul, funk, and disco band, formed by Motown writer/producer Norman Whitfield - previously most famous for his work with the Temptations - and featuring singer Rose Norwalt performing under the name Rose Royce. ... Jermaine LaJaune Jackson (now a. ... The cover to the Jackson 5s first LP, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5, released on Motown Records in 1969. ... ... Brown Mark (also spelled Brownmark; nee: Mark Brown) is the former bassist of the Revolution, music artist Princes original touring (and later also his recording) band. ... Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ...

Into the 80s Mark King continued the Alembic slap fusion tradition, while the heavy rock connection was continued into the 1990s by Metallica – with both Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted playing Alembics at various times. Alembic made a dozen instruments for Jason – typically stained darkly so that from a distance they look black while up close the wood grain can still be seen. Mark King (born 20 October 1958, in Cowes, Isle of Wight) is a British musician from the Isle of Wight. ... Metallica is a Grammy Award-winning American heavy metal/thrash metal band formed in 1981[1] and has become one of the most commercially successful musical acts of recent decades. ... Clifford Lee Burton (February 10, 1962 – September 27, 1986) was a bass guitarist, best known for his work with the thrash/heavy metal band Metallica from 1982-86. ... Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963, Battle Creek, Michigan) is an American bass guitarist currently a member of Voivod and Rock Star Supernova, but is best known as a former member of the band Metallica from 1986-2001. ...

In the modern indie rock scene, a notable player of Alembic basses is Armistead Burwell Smith IV of bands Three Mile Pilot and Pinback. Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ... Armistead Burwell Smith IV also known as Zach Smith was born in San Diego, California, USA <when?> and is the bass player for Three Mile Pilot and Pinback. ... Three Mile Pilot is a classic and influential indie rock band from San Diego, California. ... Pinback is an indie rock band from San Diego, California currently signed to Touch and Go Records[1] . The band was formed in 1998 by singers, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Armistead Burwell Smith IV (a. ...

No endorsements

Alembic have always followed a strict no endorsement policy. Everyone, including Stanley Clarke, has paid for their instruments. In Alembic’s view this is the best endorsement of all. In Susan Wickersham’s (co-founder and CEO) words, "the most successful artists can afford to pay for their instruments – but if we gave them endorsement deals the cost of those instruments would have to be recovered from customers who are far less able to afford it".^{[citation needed]}

Alembic did make two exceptions to this rule when they presented Stanley Clarke with a specially inlaid instrument to celebrate 30 years of working together. Alembic also approached Mark King at a gig on the Stevie Winwood tour in 1986 with an offer to build him a bass. Mark received two 34" scale Series 2 basses initially and then ordered two more in identical woods with 32" scale.^{[citation needed]}

Alembic Guitars

From the beginning Alembic had always been involved in repairing and modifying guitars and they began making guitars shortly after their first bass. These days Alembic sells nearly as many guitars as basses – with both being made by the same craftspeople in the same factory.

Many famous guitarists have bought Alembics, including Jerry Garcia, Carlos Alomar, Adrian Belew, David Gilmour, Jimmy Page, Johnny Winter, Steve Miller, Neil Young, Chet Atkins and Stanley Jordan. Jerome John Jerry the Bulldog Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician, songwriter, and artist best known for being the lead guitarist and vocalist of the psychedelic rock band the Grateful Dead. ... Carlos Alomar is a guitarist who has played with David Bowie more than anyone else including the Serious Moonlight album and tour which featured Stevie Ray Vaughan as special guest for his Dallas, Texas show. ... Adrian Belew in concert, November 2006. ... David Jon Gilmour CBE (born March 6, 1946 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire) is an English guitarist, singer, and songwriter best known as a member of the band Pink Floyd. ... James Patrick Jimmy Page, OBE (born 9 January 1944) is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. ... John Dawson Johnny Winter III (born on 23 February 1944 in Beaumont, Texas) is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. ... Steve Miller (born October 5, 1943 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American blues and rock and roll guitarist and performer. ... Neil Percival Young[1] OM (born November 12, 1945, Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and film director from Winnipeg, Manitoba. ... Chet Atkins Chester Burton Chet Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001) was an influential guitarist and record producer. ... Stanley Jordan (July 31, 1959) is an American jazz/jazz fusion guitarist, best known for his development of the touch technique for playing guitar. ...

All Alembic instruments are made in Alembic's factory in Santa Rosa, California. The Wickershams have no intention of manufacturing from any other location to facilitate the construction of budget instruments.

External links

• Alembic - Fine handcrafted basses and guitars
• The Alembic Club