Chat about Equipment Info
 #146905  by jalevinemd
 
Just received my newest Alembic custom last week. Of all the builds we've done together, this is by far my favorite. Balances perfectly and access to the upper frets is effortless. The electronics consist of a three way blade switch, individual volume and filter knobs for each pickup, individual normal/bright switches, a booster (essentially a Stratoblaster) on/off switch with variable gain knob and an on/off switch for the side LED's. Tonally, it's probably the most versatile guitar I've ever owned. Photos don't do the walnut top justice. I'll post some more pics soon.

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 #146908  by tcsned
 
Awesome! You've got quite a collection going there [insert jealous emoticon here]
 #146917  by rugger
 
Whew! Awesome!

I'll let you know when I'm passing through. haha.

john in san diego
 #146969  by jalevinemd
 
So here's the story behind the latest one. The first three I had done to commemorate the birth of each of my three children. And I told them that if they play guitar seriously, they can have theirs once they are old enough.

Now, while having guitars built to honor your children and to "pre-humously" bequeath them might sound like a wonderful thing, for me it kind of backfired. Not only did I never take them out of the house for fear of damaging them, even when I played them at home they didn't seem like they belonged to me. It always felt as though I was borrowing them and so I never bonded with either of the three. I know…pathetic (not to mention very expensive wall art!). But it didn't really matter, because I never played out of the house anyway. In fact the only time I jammed with anyone since high school was the three Alembic Gatherings that I attended over the last few years. But that all changed two years ago. Our local School of Rock organized a modified adult program and they got six of us to form our own group. So now I'm playing every week and four or five shows a year…hopefully with more to come. For the first time, I needed an Alembic of my own. One I could take wherever and whenever I wanted. And so began the journey of what's affectionately come to be known as "The Beater" because it will be mine to play the hell out of!

Here is a montage of my four Alembics showing how the fourth one came to be. Oldest to newest, they go: top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right. I borrowed four photos from Mica's archives, including one from an ad they ran in Vintage Guitar Magazine. We've designed all four body styles from the ground up. The first one gave rise to a new line for them - the Darling and Little Darling guitars. You can see fairly easily the evolution of the final guitar, which is my favorite of all. When I received the first one, I loved the style but was shocked at how small the body really was. When it came time to build the second, I asked that the overall lines remain the same but that the body be much more substantial. I thought that was going to be "the one" until I saw a bass from the mid-70's with these wonderful little curled horns. When we built the third, we incorporated those modified horns, but the overall shape of the guitar was a departure from the previous two. When it came time for the fourth, I asked Alembic to include all of my favorite features form the other three - the wonderful lines of the first ("Little Bear"), the larger body of the second ("Stubby") and the curled horns (but longer) of the third ("Chunky"). They friggin' nailed it!

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 #146976  by gmchart
 
Wow, that's a stunning collection. So...do any of the kids play? Also, good choice not inlaying 'The Beater' on your new one.
 #146977  by jalevinemd
 
My oldest daughter is 12 and plays guitar. She's already been asking about it but knows that she's quite a few years away from getting it. My 10 year old son plays bass and my almost 7 year old daughter just started drums. Not sure what I'll do with the younger two. I'm just hoping they all stick with it so we can have an in-house band. :-)
 #146978  by zambiland
 
jalevinemd wrote:My oldest daughter is 12 and plays guitar. She's already been asking about it but knows that she's quite a few years away from getting it. My 10 year old son plays bass and my almost 7 year old daughter just started drums. Not sure what I'll do with the younger two. I'm just hoping they all stick with it so we can have an in-house band. :-)

I just recorded Choros das 3 a couple of nights ago, a Brazilian traditional quartet comprised of three sisters who play flute, mandolin, and guitar, primarily, and their father, who plays pandeiro, and they are all incredible virtuosos. The crazy thing is that the eldest daughter, the flute player, was the one who discovered choro music when she was 6 and got everyone interested. After her youngest sister got into the act and they became a trio, they insisted that their dad learn pandeiro, and then they took it on the road. They are now in their late teens and early 20s and just stunning. Mike Marshall, Grisman, and other American mandolin players are just blown away by Elisa. They will be touring Oregon, California, and then Texas and points east from there. Go see them, they are amazing. No Grateful Dead connection at all, except they really get how a band is supposed to interact.

Very, very sweet people, too. It's how music and family should be!

http://www.chorodas3.com.br/#!english/cvz6

Now back to your regularly scheduled drooling over this amazing instrument!
 #146989  by HeadSpace
 
jalevinemd wrote:My oldest daughter is 12 and plays guitar. She's already been asking about it but knows that she's quite a few years away from getting it. My 10 year old son plays bass and my almost 7 year old daughter just started drums. Not sure what I'll do with the younger two. I'm just hoping they all stick with it so we can have an in-house band. :-)
Your last name isn't Partridge is it?