Thanks. I was Alembic's clinician for 21 years of NAMM Shows until they stopped attending them. I think I went for 38 years straight, but have avoided the show for the past few years. If I could still park in one of the hotels, I would go, but the off site parking and bus ride just make it unbearable for me these days. I do miss seeing my friends and playing with great musicians there.

@@trevorlindsey580 I played with you a tiny bit at one of those 1980's NAMM shows. I'm the guy from the Alembic Facebook Group NAMM pic, but hadn't realized that was you in the photo until you pointed it out today.

I remember you and the fellow who played only on a symbol at the show. I truly enjoyed it! Oh, to be young again!

@@trevorlindsey580 Hi, Trevor. Planning on going to the show, arriving on Wednesday/tomorrow. Have a hotel very close to the convention center. Pretty sure my room comes with free parking. If you decide to come to to the show at some point and need a place to park, I can double check that it's alright withthe hotel. Won't be renting a car.

@@BrianAlexSinger Many thanks Brian, but I think I will opt out this year. Lots to deal with after the fires. Have fun down there.

Yes, I do run flats on my Series instruments as well as my vintage P Basses. They are such a joy to play....so smooth.

I am so glad to have it back. I have been gigging with it and it sounds great.

32" scale. Weighs about 10 lbs. Just a neat part of Alembic related history. Plays like a dream and sounds wonderful.

@@trevorlindsey580 Given the ergonomics, I wish my Alembic had been 32” scale. It’s certainly a beautiful, rare instrument you’ve got there. Nice to hear the neck I’d fine too, as I’d heard that’s why JPJ retired his, due to neck issues. Congrats on getting it back.

50's necks are always the least stable. Just to be clear, I have been a master luthier for 42 years, so I do not make these claims lightly. I have been a professional bassist even longer, and have owned or repaired all era Fenders for decades. You can throw any knowledge you have into the mix, but it still is not going to disprove what my years of experience have shown to be true. Slab board necks on 59-1/2 through mid 1962 are unquestionably the best necks Fender ever made. They function better, do not generally have any truss rod issues, and they sound better. Post 1962, the necks were less stable, had dead spots, the truss rods did not work well, and often the rods would distort the fingerboard. Since 2010, Fender upgraded their tooling, and started using slab boards again, and when you mix that with the quarter sawn maple of the Custom Shop instruments, you get an outstanding neck. I suggest you give a call to John Carruthers to discuss with him the construction methods. He was there, and knows why and how the necks were made. He has taught me much about the worn out tooling Fender used until just recently, and the reasons why Leo did what he did. That said, the new round laminate fingerboards from the Custom Shop are blowing my mind. None of the issues of the earlier necks. I think it is new tooling and more attention to getting it right.

@@trevorlindsey580 Then we're agreeing about '51 to mid-'59 1-pc type necks. I also agree about bonified August '59 to August '62 Fender necks with slab boards being the absolute best ever produced in Leo's shop in Fullerton. To be clear, where I said round vs. flat laminated 2-pc necks making no functional difference, I'm generally speaking about new necks, assuming equal quality of materials, tooling, and craftsmanship. (because the context I'm speaking to is a video about a new 2023 or 2024 Fender Custom P bass) On the other hand, the neck on my L-serial Jazz Bass is stable, the truss rod works fine, and it has no problematic or obvious 5th to 7th fret dead spots.

Yes, I am playing an Alembic as well as a Fodera for the melody.

@ great work!

D'Addario Prosteels.

Ken used Brubaker for a few years after the death of his in house luthier. Last year, Ken stopped using Brubaker, and is now making in house again.

Most are good but if you can find an F50..............go for it!

So does my stomach, so that makes perfect sense. LOL. Thanks Chris.

@@trevorlindsey580 You got nothin' on me, brother! 🤣

Thanks brotha. So typical of many sessions, Tommy was expecting me to play a lot of notes, and was kind of concerned when my lines were sparse, but that is what the song needed, and it certainly does not mean the groove was lost. Glad you see the value in fewer notes in this case.

@@trevorlindsey580 You bet!

Standard Alembic spacing for a 1.75" nut, and 2.25" neck at body. Usually is around 17mm.

I find that virtually any Alembic is bound to be a great bass, but the key to getting these things to sing is in the setup and strings.

The quarter sawn necks do seem a bit more responsive, but mainly more rigid. As to the round laminate fingerboard, I much prefer the slab board. I think it adds stability versus the RL. It also adds more clarity. All of my 1959 through 1961 slab board P Basses are thoroughly stable after 65 years. I was concerned when I bought this bass that it would have the issues I had experienced with my 1964 P Bass I had years ago, but to my surprise, this Custom Shop bass is excellent. As to why Leo started using the RL boards, I would expect it was to save money, but who knows?

From Richard R Smith’s ‘Fender The Sound Heard ‘round the World’: “From 1959 to 1965, all Fender guitars and basses- including the Customs- came with three distinct versions of the rosewood fingerboard. The first was flat on the bottom surface where it joined the neck base. Collectors call this style the “Slab” because of its shape and thickness; these necks usually feel wide and flat. Fender used them until about mid-1962” “In varying heat and humidity, rosewood and maple have different coefficients of expansion that plagued slab fingerboard necks. Soon Leo discovered that he could fashion the shape and thickness of the fingerboard to counteract the difference in the two woods. The second group of rosewood fingerboards, in use for about a year, had an upper and lower surface that corresponded to the curved upper surface on the maple neck base. This fingerboard, although thinner than the slab, was still relatively thick. By mid-1963 Leo determined that a thinner rosewood fingerboard worked better, so a third and final style of fingerboards used a very thin curved rosewood cap. Despite Leo’s experiments with fingerboard thicknesses, all old Fender necks had an inclination to bump up at the fret closest to the body because of the truss rod construction”.

Quarter-sawn necks look nice, but they aren't any more stable in terms of neck relief overall or side to side compared to flat-sawn maple necks, assuming good quality wood with good grain orientation without a lot of run-out either way. It's a myth. In my experience, 2-pc or capped necks are certainly more stable than 1-pc, regardless of whether the cap or fretboard is flat/slab or round laminated. The most stable necks I've had are 2-pc with rosewood fretboards, round or flat lam. It didn't matter whether the main shaft of the neck was flat-sawn, quarter-sawn, roasted, or quarter-sawn roasted.

@@carlton1390 Yes. The classic Fender bass sky-jump where the neck meets the body is a function of the fact that the truss rod can't counteract the difference in how much string tension (in terms of pounds of forces) the strings pull and bend the neck vs. where the heal section of the neck that's tightly fastened down with neck pocket in the body of the instrument. Additional carbon stiffing rods along the sides of the centerline truss rod, under the fretboard cap--a more modern construction design than classic Leo Fender era design--can help counteract the sky-jump.

@@YTPartyTonight Flat sawn neck are prone to being less rigid than quarter sawn just due to the orientation of the grain. That said, every piece of wood is unique, and there are always variations. The good thing about flat sawn necks on a Fender are you won't develop a crack at the tuner holes on the headstock. If a neck is made well, and the truss rod system is effective, it does not make for a "softer" neck if using flatsawn wood. A two piece lam neck is certainly a plus and more stable if the wood is oriented right. My Alembic basses have sometimes up to 11 lams, and those necks are very stable.

Yes, they are. I prefer the dots on the fret position like this.

You are too kind. Glad you enjoy the demos.

D'Addario Prosteel 40-100 with 125 B

Yep, I guess it was pretty close to the Bass Centre on Ventura on that corner. Fun days!