Bass Gear Review

Reviewer	Stephen Woo
Experience	18
Email	sobemtv@yahoo.com
Review date	August 14 2002
Manufacturer	Alembic
Model	Epic 5 (1996)
Price	1000 Used (2300 list)
Item owned for	6 months to 1 year

Bass type	5 string fretted
Neck join	Set Neck
Neck construction	5 pieces maple
Fingerboard	ebony 24 frets
Body	walnut top on mahogany body
Finish	satin polyurethane
Pickups	dual soapbar Active alembic MXY56
Hardware	Brass & Gols Plate
Electronics	9V active 4 knobs control vol, pan, bass, treble

This is a very punchy, loud bass. well balance and easy to handle. Alembic Epic is one of the most affordable Alembic, that you don't have to broke you arm or leg to buy one. So this is the one I'll carry around on gig and stage with peace of mind from scratch and dent. Neck if FLEXABLE, because it got dual truss rod to adjust, but it is also FLEXABLE to weather change. I need to adjust the bass often from time to time, from east to west. Alembic suppose is a Rolex class of craftmanship, the both edge of each fret are poorly dressed which cut my finger when slide from fret to fret, a cheaply machine made bass even better than this. I hope Alembic can re-dress my frets for free, or I'll not buy another Alembic even I got millions to spend. I got the 5 strings version Epic and I found the low B string sound doubt, and lack of energy like those higher 4 strings. I found those 35 inch scale 5 string sounds much better than this one. So I do recommend those 5 or 6 strings player get a higher tension 35 inch scale like Peavey does. I do belive one of the low B "punch factor" is made by scale, not by caftmanship, Alembic should change to 35" for all 5, 6 strings bass. For appearance, it is a great eye ball sucker, nice wood, nice shape. Honestly, I like the Epic shape much more the its ungly big bother Series 1 & 2, even the price tag so much apart. My wife know nothing about bass, and she said "WOW" to Epic, and she said "YECKY" to Series 1. Simple enough !! I own and owned 10 Basses, such as Alembic Epic 5, Aria Pro II Avante 6-string Fretless Steve Bailey model, Fender American DLX Fretless Jazz, Fender Mex Standard Jazz Fletless, Fender Mex Active DLX 5 strings, Peavey Cirrus Bubinga, Rogue LX200B, Steinberger Spirit XL headless, Yamaha BX-1 headless and a self-build home-made P bass. My top 3 basses are #1) Peavey Cirrus, #2) Alembic Epic 5, #3) Aria Pro II Avante 6-string Fretless Steve Bailey model

Construction	50%
(poor fret dressing, cutter-a-like edge, a China Squier even better than Alemb
ic, and poor neck weather poof)
Appearance	100%
(a real head turner)
Playability	90%
(very fast action, very flexable dual truss rod for the neck)
Sound	95%
(super punchy, great on slap)
Customer Service	100%
(very fast catalog request, I'll try ask them to redress my fret)
Value	75%
(well, alembic price, hard to afford, but Epic is the on of the most affordabl
e one.)
Overall	90%
(very happy to own)