Alembic Essence 5 1991 - Natural

ABOUT THE ESSENCE BASS

Many have asked how they can get the Alembic sound without the size and weight of the classic Alembic instruments. Our answer is the Essence. The design is inspired by the lower half of the Small Standard body. We slimmed this down until it was barely big enough to hold the electronics. For the upper half, we extended the horn so the bass would balance as a long scale. For 5- and 6-string versions, the upper horn is even longer to retain the excellent balance. The Essence bass is our smallest body—a scant 12 inches across.

The heart of the Essence’s tone is the Alembic low-pass filter, the same tone control we pioneered in 1969 when Ron Wickersham first introduced active electronics to the musical world. With this one tone control, a wide range of sounds from deep to bright are available with a simple twist of one knob. Even a small amount of rotation can produce a big change in tone.

The Essence bass gives you all the essentials of Alembic: neck through-body construction, Alembic pickups and active electronics, and solid brass hardware, all are crafted in Rohnert Park, California, USA, the only place that Alembics are born.

Scale length 34 in

Neck woods 5-piece Maple with 4 Walnut pinstripes

Fingerboard Blank Ebony

Nut width 1.875 in

24th fret width 2.930 in

Peghead Orion 5 (3+2)

Truss rods dual, body adjust

Top wood Any standard or premium wood

Body wood Mahogany

Sandwich Top, accent veneer, body wood

Body depth 1.55 in

Finish Polyester gloss with satin neck

Pickups Alembic MXY56

Controls volume, pan, filter

Backplates Plastic

Bridge Solid polished brass

Tailpiece Solid brass, half moon shape

Nut Solid brass, height adjustable

Machine heads Gold Alembic‑Gotoh

Average weight about 9 pounds

Overall dimensions 12.5″ x 45.00″

Origin 100% Made in Santa Rosa, CA USA