Anybody know whatever happened to the new Alembic John was having built? Maybe I missed mention of it here. Anybody know if it got made and/or why it didn't make it into live rotation? Thought someone here might have the inside scoop.
TI4-1009 wrote: I was just wondering over the weekend why Phil never gravitated towards Alembics?
TI4-1009 wrote:Interesting, I was just wondering over the weekend why Phil never gravitated towards Alembics? They specialize in basses, grew out of the early Dead family, but Phil seemed to always use the Guild, Fenders, mainly Modulus, and the one Irwin (I'm not even going to include the black "thing"... ). Just wasn't his thing? As for JK's, don't know, but you hear alot of comments about how Alembic is really a bass-oriented company and how not that many guitarists end up with them. They always stick with their own pickups, which puts off some guitarists.Phil's main 70's basses were an old Starfire that was heavily Alembicised, and a bass that was roughly a Series I prototype (posted above). Then he got that Irwin in 1980 and must have liked it somewhat, since the Fender and G&L that followed were fairly similar, playingwise and tonewise.
TI4-1009 wrote:Interesting, I was just wondering over the weekend why Phil never gravitated towards Alembics? They specialize in basses, grew out of the early Dead family, but Phil seemed to always use the Guild, Fenders, mainly Modulus, and the one Irwin (I'm not even going to include the black "thing"... ). Just wasn't his thing? As for JK's, don't know, but you hear alot of comments about how Alembic is really a bass-oriented company and how not that many guitarists end up with them. They always stick with their own pickups, which puts off some guitarists.For some great Phil Alembic moments, see the 1974 Grateful Dead Movie. It even shows the interior and there is a great scene with interaction with the camera.