Alembic recently shared some photos of this bass on their Facebook page and it stopped me in my tracks. I reached out to Mica at Alembic, who filled us in on the details.
This bass was a custom order that began as a Signature Deluxe with a Buckeye Burl top and back. It was ordered by a customer named Bruce, who saw the company’s first resin-infused instrument at Guitar Resurrection in Austin, Texas. From there he changed his order to include the resin-infused Buckeye.
Aside from the stunning visual effects, Bruce also worked with the company to create a new body shape. “The story of the shape was to alter the Balance K shape that Bruce really liked, but he wanted the left-hand reach and lap position to be closer to that of his Jazz bass,” Mica explains. “After we sketched the body design, we made a full-scale mock-up from scrap woods. Then we sent pictures with one of the luthiers here modeling the bass as Bruce played it for his approval. With the green light we picked out the woods and got to building. As is our tradition, we carry the “B” from Bruce in the body name, Balance B.”
Mica also shared a few photos of the building process with a great before and after of the finish being applied.
