Our Products

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.

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.

It was 1973 and Stanley Clarke just got his first short scale Alembic. Your world changed the first time you listened to it, and you just couldnt get that sound out of your head. That sound was Stanleys amazing talent and tone. Part of that sonic memory was because he was playing an Alembic bass, and it may have been the first time you ever heard one.
When you pick up a Stanley Clarke Signature bass you immediately notice how easy it is to play. That's largely due to the short scale length. At 30.75 inches, the scale length is exactly what Stan plays, to the surprise of many. When the frets are closer together, your fretting hand can enjoy a less stretched position at the lower frets, which is a joy for hands large and small alike.
The Stanley Clarke Signature basses are also natural choices when you want to tune tenor or piccolo style. But don't think for a minute that this little bass can't handle standard tuning like a champ, with plenty of low-end and sustain. Ideas you may have about short scale basses through your past experience with other makers will be reset once you play an Alembic short scale.
The Standard and Deluxe versions are similar - the pickups, electronics, feel and size are in fact identical. Where they differ is in the wood choices and lamination patterns. The default neck size is our narrow taper, but you can always custom order to suit your needs. Both versions use Maple as their primary neck wood. The Deluxe model has both top and back body laminates, as well as two Purpleheart neck laminates.
Brown Basses are a nod to Stanley's second Series I bass from 1974, serial number 80 (sadly, his first one was stolen shortly after he got it). It's the bass on the cover of "If This Bass Could Only Talk" and as his original Brown Bass it continued his love affair with short scale which has endured through his forty-plus years with Alembic. There are decorative departures from other Signature models, like the slightly flattened 1974 template for the body and the placement of the pickup selector on the lower horn. Just like serial number 80, Brown Basses use Mahogany as the primary neck wood for a more rounded and warm tone. Simple three-piece body construction is elegant paired with the traditional hand-rubbed oil finish. You'll notice the electronics are different as well, with individual volume controls, a pickup selector switch, and a switchable stereomono output.
For the Retro Stanley basses, we've used the 1973 body template with the more curved horns. The oil finish adds to the old-school vibe. The Retro's neck is a classic combination of Maple, Walnut, and Birch for even tone with plenty of attack.
Alembic is the original custom shop, and these standard features are but a springboard for your own ideas. All aspects of our basses are crafted under one roof, and any feature can be custom made to your specifications.

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.

With its graceful sweeping curves, the Orion calls to be played. Answer it, and your musical life will never be the same. Youll find a comfortable friend in the Orions handcarved body with your choice of seven different woods for the top.
Active electronics bring true Alembic tone to the Orion. You wont 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

We've been making Series II basses since 1972, and we are continually improving what we believe is the finest solid body electric bass on earth. With Alembic, there is every reason to have clean, clear, and complete tone. Why would you compromise?
Series II basses are the top of the line Alembic bass. When you order a Series II, you don't have to add anything to it, as it's already appointed with all the cool features: side LED position markers, continuous wood backplates and truss rod cover, 24K gold plated hardware, inlaid logo with abalone and mother of pearl.
Remember that you can specify the neck feel and bridge spacing at no additional charge. Each instrument is individually crafted, and so something as important as your interface with the bass must be exactly as you need it.
You'll see Series II basses with short, medium, and long scale, and in a variety of body shapes and even more custom features. What they all have in common is the Series II pickups and electronics system designed by Alembic founder and Chief Engineer Ron Wickersham, who pioneered the use of active electronics in guitars in 1969. Starting with single coil pickups, the most complete and pure picture of the string movement is passed to the electronics. Between the two pickups is an external "dummy" humcanceller pickup.
Our low-pass filter is the tone control, and it's what sets us apart from other producers of active electronics. The low-pass filter is the electronic equivalent of a naturally vibrating soundboard, and hence our electronics have a natural tone with none of the harshness or sterile sound sometimes associated with active electronics.
Then there is the CVQ, the continuously variable Q control. The Q is an attribute of the low-pass filter, affecting the frequency you have the low-pass filter tuned to. You can dampen the Q to near zero by turning the control all the way down, or get extreme with a 15dB boost at the maximum, plus all the subtlety in between. The CVQ control is only available on the Series II.

Upon seeing the Classico, it is clear our intention is to bridge the gap between traditional upright bass and modern electric bass. Borrowing from the lines of traditional instruments, we are able to construct an instrument that has the familiar feel of a double bass, but the ease and convenience of an electric solidbody bass.

The Classico is a departure from both traditional acoustic instruments and other electric upright basses. In these instruments, the string vibrations cause movement of the bridge, which, in the case of the acoustic instrument, causes the top wood to move and create a louder sound than the string alone. In the case of electric uprights with piezoelectric sensors at the feet of the bridge, the movement of the bridge sensors causes the electrical signal which is the output from the instrument. In either case, the energy you put in the string when you plucked or bowed it is partially lost to the bridge as it vibrates to cause the sound you hear.

In the Classico, we kept the bridge solid and it rigidly sits on the hard maple top plates of the bass. As a result, the energy you impart to the string when you play it is reflected from the bridge and stays in the strings. Our design gives you greater sustain of the critical lower-frequency components of the note, making it easier for you to make a more expressive tone. In addition, the hard maple top reflects to higher overtones making the tone naturally bright and crisp. Both actions make the bass respond to your playing technique and give you the ability to control the expression, timbre, attack and sustain.

The woods are carefully chosen not only for their beauty, but for their stability. That large piece of maple and mahogany must be very heavy, right? Wrong! We employ a special hollow core construction to make this beast easy to capture at 24 pounds.

The neck is made from three pieces of maple. The center piece is straight grained and the outer pieces are aligned so the grains of each piece oppose each other. This ensures minimum neck movement over the life of the bass. While the shape of the peghead is purely aesthetic, the tilt is a very specific draft angle to fully isolate the strings.

The pickups are very unique. You will find them completely concealed within the maple and rosewood pickup bridge just below the fingerboard. On the underside of this bridge, four easily accessible trimpots are provided to allow you to determine the volume of each string independently.

We hand make every part possible; from the body itself to the tailpiece, we craft it in our complete wood shop.

From the machined stainless steel peg to the brass plates, we make it all in our machine shop.

From the winding of the pickups to designing and building the electronics themselves, we do it all in our electronics laboratory and assembly shop.

It becomes quite easy to see what sets our company and products apart from the masses. Our staff of musicians takes personal pride in building each instrument as if it were their own.

With its elegant and understated form, the Europa bass is the type of instrument you return to again and again, and each time you're reminded of why you love this bass so much. From the moment you wear it on strap, comfort and balance greet you. Plugging into the side mounted jack gives a satifying "kerchunk" in response. Once your amp warms up, the tone that piqued your interest in the first place comes flowing back. This bass is home.
Quick tone change switches give instant access to useful on-the-fly sounds. When you're ready to take that solo, you can simply flick the bass and treble switches to the boost position, knowing full well that when you're finished, that original sound is just a click away.
The Europa comes standard with Alembic's classic Maple and Purpleheart neck lamination pattern. This engineered beam supports even response across the Ebony fingerboard, and assures that snappy Alembic brilliance will be delivered at every note.
Like most Alembic basses, Europas are quite happy in a variety of musical settings. Turn the low-pass filters down to 300Hz for deep tones suitable for blues. Turned up to 6KHz, there's plenty of zing for slap or driving rock technique with a pick. Versatility puts the tone control in your heart and your hands.
Since each Europa bass is handcrafted right in our one-and-only shop in Santa Rosa, California, you are able to custom order any aspect of the bass. Custom fingerboard dimensions, wood choices, decorative details, or even things not yet invented are possible.