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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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1
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599
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Sun September 14, 2008
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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$3,100.00
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10.0
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supersize
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Description:
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Old growth old cut European Alder, North Eastern Hard Ash bodies.
Plain straight grain Sugar Maple necks with your choice of Indian rosewood or maple fingerboard fretted with small or medium wire.
Neck Finish ~ satin clear
Finishes ~Transparent, Bursts, Solid Vintage and Modern Opaque Colors
optional Nitrocellulose finish available
3-ply white, black or pearloid pickguard
Hardware For basses:
Chrome plated brass or aluminum HIPSHOT bridges, chrome plated HIPSHOT custom button Ultra light tuning machines or chrome plated HIPSHOT custom button vintage style tuning machines.
Pickups & Electronics:
All basses feature and come with home loaded and wound Alleva-Coppolo single coil pickups
Active Bass Preamp Our own Alleva~Coppolo 2 band, Aguilar 3 band, or Armstrong (Starz) 2 band.
34" scale
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Author
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ad9000
Registered User
Registered: March 2004
Location: Southern Calif.
Posts: 36
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Review Date: Sun September 14, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $3,100.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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The ultimate Fender-inspired 5-string
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Cons:
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Pricey, small setup issues, don't like the headstock
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I discovered Alleva-Coppolo basses a couple of years ago and they immediately moved to the top of my wish list. The only thing keeping me from getting one was the price tag. I was fortunate to find this one used on the Talkbass classifieds and ultimately saved about 30% off the retail price, on which there are no discounts. That was enough to put it within my budget, so I jumped on it. As there is a considerable wait to order a new one (4 months when I called A/C earlier this year) I was very happy to get this one in my hands right away. I have always resisted putting out big money for a Fender-inspired bass, though I haven't hesitated to plunk down some serious dough on a couple of "boutique" basses. I guess I've just always thought of Fenders and their clones as more workmanlike instruments, but I've figured out that the refinements, quality and attention to detail from builders like Alleva-Coppolo or Sadowsky do justify the price tag, just about. (By the way, the Alleva-Coppolo vintage-spec 5-string P-Bass is amazing!)
This bass is very similar to one that I played at the NAMM show in Jan. '08, in fact the specs are almost exactly the same except for the color and bridge. This one is finished in black and has all the standard features plus the passive tone control, black block inlays and binding, gloss finish on the neck and a pearloid pickguard. Body wood is ash and the neck is maple with maple board. Frets are small vintage-style. Pickup spacing is 70's style (with the treble pickup closer to the bridge). There is some amber tint in the neck finish. The bass was produced on 12/24/07.
Here are all the things they got right with this bass: The neck profile is absolutely perfect, at least for me - on the slim side but not overly so. The pickups are excellent, and the active electronics are the best and most musical I've ever heard. While the bass sounds great in passive mode, when the active electronics are engaged the treble and bass boost only make it better, adding to the growl, presence and slice without any hint of telltale "active" tone. It doesn't get harsh or super boomy when the treble and bass are turned up toward their extreme settings. The tone control rolls off just the right amount of high end. The weight and balance are just right - I'd describe this bass as medium light - I haven't put it on a scale, but I'd guess 9 lbs and a few ounces. The low B is one of the best I've ever played on a 34" scale bass. Maybe not THE absolute best, but extremely workable. I'm still experimenting with strings, so maybe I'll find some that move the low B into the exceptional range. The poly finish is thin and doesn't seem to inhibit resonance to any noticeable degree - in fact, the finish is so thin that some of the relief of the wood grain shows through on the back of the body, but I'd rather have that than a thick, plastic-y poly finish. The tuners are smooth and precise, and the lollipop keys are a nice touch.
How does it sound? Like a Jazz Bass descended on angel's wings from on high.. okay, maybe that's stretching it a little bit, but it does sing beautifully or bark aggressively when needed. The slap sound is absolutely killer - Marcus-like, but not exactly, maybe a little drier if that makes sense. This bass also gets my fingerstyle sound across with lots of definition, to the point where things I have been trying to execute on other basses finally sound right. In short, I sound like "me", or at least closer to the way I envision how I sound. The way this bass comes across in a band setting is fantastic - present and authoritative but still very sweet-sounding. It's capable of getting close to a fatter, more '60s vintage-style sound, but maybe not ideally so. As I have other basses that do that, it's not a problem.
For comparison with other Jazz Bass-style instruments, my Lakland Darryl Jones 4-string is noticeably more aggressive sounding in the upper mids, and a little rawer overall - not as good for slapping, maybe more of a "rock" bass. My '64 Jazz is more mellow and rounder, and maybe more tonally complex as well, but it has some quirks - funky overtones, hot spots and dead spots, and it does not like to be slapped.
On the slightly negative side, I would expect a little bit better setup on an instrument in this price range. There were some serious problems with fret buzz when I got the bass, both around the 3rd-4th frets and 15th-19th frets. With a lot a tweaking of the truss rod and bridge, I was able to get it to be ok, but I still can't get the action as low as I'd like. I think some fret dressing and work on the nut by a professional will be necessary to get it exactly right. To be fair, as the bass was previously owned, this isn't necessarily how it was straight from the shop, but the problems are endemic enough that it probably wasn't totally right from the beginning.
One aesthetic issue I have with all Alleva-Coppolo basses is the headstock design. I'm sure the idea was to come up with a distinctive shape to set them apart from the legions of Fender-inspired basses, but the boat paddle look does not exactly float my boat. I'm willing to live with it since everything else about the bass is so great, but I really don't understand.
There you have it. In short, for anyone who is seeking out the ultimate refined Fender-style 5-string (if you can afford it) I think Alleva-Coppolo basses might just be the holy grail.
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