Carlo Robelli Club!

Hi all,

It's about time my beloved Carlo Robelli's had a club of their own.
(Mod's: I did a search and found none. If I'm mistaken, my apologies).

I don't know if this will be the smallest club on TB or not, but after reading how some others had love of the Carlo Robelli basses in an old posting that was recently resurrected, I decided it was time to have our own club.

Say it loud and say it proud!

If you would like to join, please, at the very least, share some info and input about your beloved Carlo Robelli(s). Pictures would also be great to see.

I know that they are not for everybody, so please don't make this a "bash on Carlo Robelli" thread. Thanks!


My Carlo Robelli story:

After a looooong hiatus from playing with bands, in 2005 I was asked to play bass for a friends band. At the time, all I had was an AEB, having sold off all of my other gear.

I stopped into Sam Ash to see what they had, and I saw this hanging on the wall:

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It was love at first site. It was the last one they had in the shop. It was missing one of the knobs, and, never having heard of Carlo Robelli before, seeing the low price (if I remember correctly it was $180 on sale) and finding out it was the store brand, I didn't expect much. I reluctantly asked to take it off the wall for a test drive, and I was VERY surprised at how good it felt and sounded. Without a second thought, I bought it.
It has been my main bass ever since. Well, sort of. (I'll get to that in a minute).

A few months later, I went back to Sam Ash to see what was new, and I saw this:

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It was my first time ever seeing an 8 string bass. And, loving hot rods etc. (given the flames on the other bass), I loved the heavy, metal flake on this one. I plugged it into a bass pod and must have sat there for 2 hours, getting lost in the sound. It is a heavy bass, and it took some getting used to holding it and playing double strings, but I loved it. I bought it immediately.

When I wasn't playing the 4 string CB, I was playing the 8 string.
I would use both when playing with my band and jamming with other.

They both have what seems to be, the same active electronics. They are damn good! Sound loud, crisp, punchy with a lot of variation in the tones for low, mid and high. It took me a long time of setting up my tone to get a sound I like out of a bridge only pickup.

In 2009, I decided to move to Greece (Athens). In an attempt to "lighten my load", I sold off a bunch of stuff, including my 2 CB's. Once I got here, I immediately regretted it.

After some searching on the U.S. for sale sites, I found another of the 4 string, and, here on TB, another 8 string for sale. I bought both and had them shipped out to Greece. That's how good these basses have been for me.

I've since added red, Aurora strings to the 4 string (they sound and feel GREAT) with red dice as the control knobs (actual dice from Las Vegas), and adhesive fret markers to the 8 string, keeping with the hot rod theme.

I've considered swapping out the pickups for either an EMG or a Seymour Duncan, but I don't know if it's necessary. Does anyone know anything specific about the stock pickups in these and why they went for a bridge only placement?

I now still use the 4 string as my main gigging bass, as well as the 8 string. When some people immediately just assume they are crap, I realize that they have no clue what they are talking about.

I'm not saying that there haven't been any bad Carlo Robelli's made, but what are the chances that I've had 4 (two each of the same model), that had no problems and sound great?

Just sayin'

Ok, so does this make me club member #1?
Any others want to join, or will it just be me and the tumbleweeds?

 

Wow, that sucks about the accident. But, let's hear it for the sturdiness of the Carlo Robelli!

Would you like a club number?

I've decided that I'd like to posthumously award Club Member #1 to Mr. Robelli himself.

So that would make me Club Member #2 and you Club Member #3. Let me know so that I can mail out all the new member info

 

Great!

Ok then, it's official!

Mr. Carlo Robelli: #1
Gkon: #2
Boom762: #3

Dang, I hope I don't run out of membership numbers too quickly!!

Do you think it's too soon to add my membership # as part of my signature??

Honestly speaking, I would like to hear from more folks about their good CB experiences.

Don't be shy.

 

If you go to your signature settings, it can be posted there. I was sort of kidding

As far as I know they were only sold through Sam Ash, because it was their house brand, so I don't know that you'd find too many outside of the U.S.

 

Any pics? Any comments about it?
Would you like a member number????

 

Hiya JustForSport!

I'm glad you're happy about the club! I realized that I love my Carlo Robellis. They have always done the job, feel great, sound great, in my opinion look great, so why not have a club???

I really like the look of your fretless! Do you mind sharing when you got it and for how much? Just out of curiosity.

Are those the stock pickups? Both of mine have the same, soapbar, bridge position pickups, that's why I ask.

Is it active? I'm assuming so.

The headstock on yours seems to be the same shape as my 8-string's.

I'm glad to know that there are others out there that enjoy these basses and look beyond name brands as the only alternative.

As I'm waiting back for a response from EricMordus, I'll list you
as official Carlo Robelli Club Member #4! Welcome!

 

Thanks for the info.

I was considering swapping out my pickups for something else (mine are active), because it sounded so twangy all the time, because of the location of the pickup.

I then realized that I just had to mess with it and dial in the tone I want. I also installed a slightly heavier gauge G string (it twanged the most). It now sounds full, rounded and punchy, just like I want.

Well, let's see if anyone else is gonna going the rockin' club!

 

Hi Freakman410! Welcome!!! You have joined the illustrious ranks of the few and the proud and are officially #5 in the club!
I say nay to the naysayers! (Is that a double negative?).

Congrats on the good score! I love it when a "cheap" bass ends up being worth it, after a minimum of setup and effort.

So, do you mind if I ask where you're located? How much did you pay for it? Active electronics or passive? And, the age old questions, any pics? It would be great to actually see it.

Thanks!

Kon

 

Wow, I passed near/through Carterville many moons ago, on one of my several cross-country motorcycle trips!

Thanks for the info! $149!! Can't beat that for a good playing bass! Seriously, I love hearing stuff like this.

So far, it seems that I'm the only one with active electronics (on both of my Robellis).

As far as pics go, don't quote me on this but, if you're not a supporting member, I'm not sure if you can embed them in the post. You have to click on the "advanced" button near the "submit post" button, and then click on the link to allow you to upload photos. I may be wrong, though