| Construction | 50% | 
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| Playability | 95% |
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| Sound | 90% |
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| Value | 50% |
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| Cust. Service | 80% |
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| Overall | 90% |
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| Reviewer | Chris Goane |
| Manufacturer | Alembic |
| Model | Spoiler 5 string |
| Price | $2300.00 |
| Neck Type | 3 Piece Rock Maple. Neck-thru (32" scale). |
| Dual truss rods. Gotoh Tuners. | |
| Fingerboard | Ebony, fretted with 1/16" walnut veneer between |
| fretboard and neck. | |
| Body Type | Mahogany core/back w/bookmatched Flame Maple top |
| 1/16" Walnut veneer between top and core/back | |
| Finish | clear lacquer |
| Pickup(s) | active. 2 Alembic soap bars |
| Controls | rotary p/u switch (off-neck-both-bridge) |
| master volume, master tone. | |
| Freq boost toggle which boosts the frequency | |
| range selected by the tone pot. (rotating the | |
| tone pot with this switch on has a wah-wah effect) | |
Alembic offered to make a new one, but I accepted delivery because I couldn't wait any longer. 2) The rotary p/u switch does NOT disconnect the battery. Only removing the patchcord cuts off the battery. What good does a p/u switch do if I must leave a buzzing cable unplugged on the stage? 3) The setups performed on the bass for the first 8 months required extensive neck adjustments, until the neck finally stablized. This leads me to believe the woods weren't aged enough. 4) Although I don't know its weight, the bass is only slightly heavier than other 4 strings (maybe due to its shorter neck?). It is a little lighter than other 5 strings I have played. 5) This is NOT a slap bass. The front pickup is too close to the neck to pluck
from there. I guess you could go between the pickups, but the strings don't
give alot. Also there is no room between the strings and the body to get under the strings.
Pros: 1) Despite only 3 pieces, the neck is VERY stable (once it settled out). 2) Dual truss rods make all sorts of adjustments possible. 3) Even though they made the bass with the wrong neck, there is incredible attention to detail. It's as if they were so worried about the small stuff they neglected the big picture. Hence my low Construction rating below. 4) The bass is very easy to play. The fretboard is uniform throughout the entire 24 frets. 5) The sustain is greatly improved over my older Spoiler 4 (made with similar woods). This is mainly due to the addition of a sold brass sustain block which anchors the bridge. 6) The bass is very well balanced. It hangs where placed when using a strap. 7) Electronically, the bass sounds wonderful. It has a very full tone, although these particular electronics aren't very versatile. The bass tone stands up well on stage, but really shines in the studio. 8) The low B string is well matched to the other strings. Although in live situatuations, it can get boomie. This bass has proved to me that I don't need an extra long neck to faithfully reproduce the low B. 9) The bass makes batteries really last. I usually replace the battery twice a year. I have gotten approx. 100 3-set gigs on the same Duracell 9V alkaline in the past (without unplugging the cable)!
I would recommend this bass to a good friend. My only caution is to thoroughly
check the bass upon delivery.
| Construction | 50% |
|
| Playability | 95% |
|
| Sound | 90% |
|
| Value | 50% |
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| Cust. Service | 80% |
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| Overall | 90% |
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