Alembic Inc. Mohegan Lake

• Set neck3 maple
• Fingerboardrosewood

Many have asked how they could get the Alembic sound without the size and weight of the classic Alembic instruments. Our answer is the Essence. We took the lead for the design from right half of the Small Standard body. We slimmed this down until it was barely big enough to hold the electronics. For the left half, we extended the horn so the bass would balance as a long scale. For 5-string and 6-string versions, the upper horn is longer yet to retain the excellent balance. The Essence bass is our smallest body - a scant 12 inches across. The heart of the Essence's tone is the Alembic low-pass filter, the same tone control we pioneered in 1969 when Ron Wickersham first introduced active electronics to the musical world. With this one tone control, a wide range of sounds from deep to bright are available with a simple twist of one knob. Even a small amount of rotation can produce a big change in tone. The Essence bass gives you all the essentials of Alembic: neck through body construction, Alembic pickups and active electronics, solid brass hardware, all crafted in Santa Rosa, California, USA, the only place that Alembics are born.

Featuring the traditional construction details of the Series I and Series II basses, the Signature Deluxe is a natural platform for designing your own custom build. Most of the Signature basses you'll find in stock at our dealers are the Balance K body shape. This shape balances perfectly even in 5- and 6-string versions, extended scale lengths, and is very comfortable on or off strap. Signature electronics produce an accurate representation of the string movement, with even the most subtle fingering techniques shining through. Thoughtful phrasing is rewarded, and you'll be able to communicate your musical ideas more completely. Both the Standard and Deluxe models have the exact same pickups and electronics: volume, pan, and a separate filter and Q for each pickup. This gives you the flexibility to mix two entirely different sounds from each pickup, and create a tone that is unique. There's also a separate preamp for each pickup - so set the pickup height to where you like it for comfort or tone, and then adjust the gain with a trimpot inside the electronics cavity. Customize your sound at will! While the main body wood on both models is Mahogany, the construction differs. On the Deluxe, the body core is Mahogany, with a top and back in Quilted Maple, Coco Bolo, or any other wood of your choice. Accent laminates in contrasting woods provide a classic Alembic detail. For the Standard model, there is no back laminate. The woods you choose for the body will impact the tone, but the neck is the dominant tone-defining wood feature. The Maple of the neck sets the stage for the overall sound of the Signature bass and delivers consistent and even tone, with piano-like clarity. We add Purpleheart laminates to the Signature Deluxe neck for greater stiffness and attack. We take inspiration from custom instruments we have built, and package the most enduring features into models that reflect Alembic basses played by many highly regarded recording artists. The Stanley Clarke Deluxe was our first Signature model, followed later by the Mark King Deluxe. The Mark King Signature Deluxe is fashioned after Mark's personal Series II basses. These models feature a long or medium scale with the classic (or your own custom) fingerboard taper, front and back body laminates, and the classic Alembic Standard Point body shape.

There's something special about the Excel. Sure, the shape is bold and round, with a lovely sweeping curve between the horns, but it's more than good looks. The Excel is a workhorse, ready to drive just about any kind of music, with tones both familiar and exotic. Set neck construction offers a focused mid-range. Since the neck extends into the three-piece Ash body the Excel benefits with greater sustain unheard of in other set neck or bolt-on makes and the set neck joint allows it to retain a punchy tone. Simple, straightforward electronics are the heart of the Excel. The active preamp gives you clean, clear sound, and our 2-band bass and treble cutboost controls are so intuitive, the learning curve is just about nil. With the Alembic FatBoy pickup in the bridge position, the Excel growls. This extra wide aperture pickup gathers information from a greater length of the string, offering a more complete picture of what the string is doing. It is also loud. For the neck pickup, you can choose the MXY, AXY, or another FatBoy. Options? Yes, we wrote the book on options. Fretless is no extra charge. Left-handed never costs extra. You can make your Excel as custom as you can imagine. Quality is not subjective. Excel basses are handcarved, and glue joints are tight and clean. Each bass is carefully made by the same loving craftspeople that create every Alembic.

Perhaps a little playfully mischievous, the Rogue bass is befitting of its moniker. Sweeping and dramatic curves define the body shape, complimented by extended contours at the elbow and tummy carvings. The longest upper horn in our standard offerings, it reaches clear to the twelfth fret. There's no way you'll find the Rogue even slightly neck-heavy, even in configurations of six or more strings. And thanks to the bridge position, the reach to the first fret is closer than our traditional Standard Point body design. Great tone is what Alembic is all about, and the Rogue is no exception. Neck through construction gives a solid foundation of sustain and even response from the lower to upper registers. Standard Mahogany body is versatile, and glad to inherit the tonal characteristics of the top you pair it with. Looking for brighter tones with strong attack? Walnut will be your best choice. Rather warm it up a bit? Look no further than Curly Redwood. Our wood experts can help you select the perfect recipe for your application. For electronics, the Rogue employs volume, pan, low-pass filter, Q-switch and the ever-handy quick tone change bass cutflatboost and treble cutflatboost switches. The controls are easy to navigate on a busy stage, but versatile enough to cover a broad range of sounds. For customizing your sound, the Rogue's two preamps allow the pickups to be set for preference of playability or tone without regard to output - simply adjust the internal trimpots to balance the output of the pickups once height of the pickups is established. The spec list at the bottom of the page shows the standard configuration for 4, 5, and 6-string versions of the Rogue, but as a full-service custom shop, any scale length, fingerboard dimension, neck carving, wood selection, you-name-it is possible. The Rogue body shape is especially well-suited for extra long scale lengths and 7+ strings. Options like fretted or fretless, right or left handed and a host of standard woods are never an extra charge on any Alembic instrument.

With its graceful sweeping curves, the Orion calls to be played. Answer it, and your musical life will never be the same. You’ll find a comfortable friend in the Orion’s handcarved body with your choice of seven different woods for the top. Active electronics bring true Alembic tone to the Orion. You won’t believe how effortlessly the Orion responds to your touch, easily reproducing even the most subtle fingering techniques. A simple but effective 2-band EQ with bass and treble controls that cut and boost provide the flexibilty of tone. By cutting treble and bass, the mids are more present. The electronics cavity is shielded with a silver conductive paint that lasts and lasts without flaking or breakdown. Even though the Orion is among our more affordable offerings, it still has the same Ebony fingerboard, solid brass machined hardware, and adjustable nut found on our most expensive custom instruments. Like all Alembics, the Orion is completely hand built start to finish in our shop in Santa Rosa, California. Set neck construction gives the Orion warm, well-defined midrange response. The cross-grained Maple neck is supported by two dual truss rods that adjust at the body. The neck has a comfortable shallow “C” shape and complete access to upper frets. We rub-out our high gloss polyester finish to an impossibly smooth satin touch on the back of the neck - not a chance your fretting hand will stick. Our design goal for the Orion was to create a set-neck version of our Europa bass. While affordability is a consideration, there are no shortcuts here and the Orion is every bit as overbuilt as the rest of our basses. EXAMPLES: ORION