| Reviewer
| Jonathan Starr
|
| Manufacturer
| Alembic
|
| Model
| Epic 5 Wenge
|
| Price
| $1000 used
|
| |
|
| Neck Type
| Maple, 5 piece
|
| Fingerboard
| Ebony, fretted
|
| Body Type
| Honduran Mahogany with Wenge top with Maple between.
|
| Finish
| Clear, low gloss satin polyurethane.
|
| Pickup(s)
| Active Alembic Soapbars with preamp & 9v battery.
|
| Controls
| Vol, Pan, Bass, Treble
|
| |
|
I bought this bass in mint/used condition as a learner, since I
hadn't played in 25 years. This was a mistake, since the wide neck
and B string made it a harder bass to play than the G&L SB2
I replaced it with. The beautiful fretwork and wide expanse of
perfect ebony fretboard and organzo wenge and mahogany body
and clear tonalaty were what sold me on it. After a few months
of struggling with it, I decided I didn't like it and let it go.
The sound, while clear, had lots of hiss if the treble was up even
half way. Also, it sounded harsh and disturbingly jagged with
roundwounds. Finger noise is accentuated, and the piano like tone
has no ballsy growl or interesting texture. The B string has good
power, but with the big brass bridge and nut it resonates really
easily if its not kept muted every second.
I could feel the lamination joints on the back of the neck with
my thumb, which was disturbing and seemed to change a bit with
the weather. This wasn't as bad as the neck itself, which needed
adjustment of the two truss rods every time it rained a bunch or
got dry. I do live in the jungle, but the Epic was overly sensitive
and one day the strings would be sitting on the 12th fret and a
few days later the action would be a quarter inch high.
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