LeftyBassist.com

I think the "Honda vs Ferrari" comparison is accurate in the article. Enjoy, and let the debates begin:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/featu ... d-20141001

Great article!

Thanks for posting that.

Two questions:
1. Is Alembic really in danger of going out of business? It happened to Modulus, but Alembic is perhaps a more iconic (though also more expensive) brand.
2. The point about much of pop music not having as many real guitars, basses, etc. is valid, but does it impact a company like Alembic? Aren't they selling to a very specific 'boutique' customer base?
I think it's a really interesting article.

1) I don't think they are in that much danger of going under, I think it's more like Ron is getting ready to hang it up, and I am not aware of his mentoring a successor. Mica is quite capable of running the business, but she doesn't do much of the hands-on work with the wood.
2) I think it impacts them indirectly insofar as the whole concept of guitar driven music has impacted the whole industry. Besides, like most folk know, their guitars are wonderful works of art but nobody really uses them except perhaps in the studio. Except for maybe Steve Kimmock, I'm not aware of anyone who even occasionally takes their Alembic guitar on the road. As we all know their basses are the schiznit (sp.) IMHO and have their own sound and vibe.

Well said. The only guy I know who actually plays Alembics on stage is in a Metallica tribute band and really badly wanted all the same Alembic stuff Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted used. So he plays Spoilers and had Alembic make him a custom Elan with the exact same specs as Jasons, with two J pickups and a P pickup in between, and a crazy trans black finish that is so dark it appears to be solid black on stage, and only reveals the wickedly expensive and beautifully figured maple up close - which is a shame IMHO. It's insane, that finish alone cost around 1500 dollars
He's lucky he didn't also order the Series II electronics option, as Jason had done later on. Those electronics alone cost 6000-7000 dollars if I'm not mistaken. I would never take anything that expensive on the road

Someday I'll own one - and it will get used plenty! Unfortunately, the cheapest I could get one new is just under $10k, and specced they way I truly want would be closer to $20k. I keep searching for a used one too, but so far the only lefties I've found have been 34" scale, which is just too long for me.

+1!

I suppose the question of relevance and business stability in 2014 could be applied to virtually any high end boutique maker today, though I'd like to think that an iconic company like Alembic would have an edge given their illustrious history with notable players as Jack Casady, Stanley Clarke, John Paul Jones, John Entwistle, etc. But I guess the further removed newer generations of players/consumers are from that history the less prevalent and in demand their instruments become. I have to wonder how many instruments they sell a year vs. their overhead. Not many people out there can afford (or justify) spending over $10 grand on an instrument, and they certainly don't seem to retain their market value thereafter (I picked up my Alembic Epic used a few years ago for about $900).

I'm curious to see how the newer basses hold up over time. The Epic is their "budget" model, so it's not surprising to see values drop over its lifetime, but the Series I/II seem to have climbed in value compared to ~25 years ago. Back then I passed on a $700 Alembic & bought a $400 Rick 4001 instead. The Rick was roughly 60% of the Alembic. It seems $2000-$3000 is the price range for a vintage 4001 today, but the vintage Alembics are $5000-$8000+.

Certainly if you pay $10-$20k for a new Alembic, you're going to lose money if you sell it any time in the next 20-years. I presume that's partly because of how customizable they are - if I had $10k+ to spend on an instrument I'd be super picky about the woods/hardware/features/finish, but the chances of what I'd want being exactly the same as what someone else(who happened to be shopping for a $10k+ bass) would want are very, very slim. But if I could get that $10k bass for $4k used I might be able to live with some compromises...