I know Jimmy. He did my fret job for a 5 string music man that I still have. Great work. He loves vintage stuff. Not that my Music Man was vintage but, It's one of the original (1st year) that the MM 5 came out. The paint was peeling off and it looked like something out of the 50's. But Jimmy loves that. A very good friend of mine called me and said if i can run down to his shop and play one of his basses against my NYC Sadowsky. Sort of A/B them and see what was the difference as we are both Sadowsky fans. My friend was having his built (Alleva-Coppolo) and it was not as of yet completed. But Jimmy had a few basses there to try. His shop is near 48th street in manhattan and i wanted to look at the many music stores there ( use to be even more but thats the business of today I guess). Got tired at looking at mostly middle of the road gear and went to Jimmy's to test his basses out. Walked in which i had not seen the inside of his shop for a few years, since he left the shop he had around the corner from Sadowsky when he himself was in Manhattan. Well making a long story even longer. I walked into his shop and noticed there wasn't high end gear laying around like he use to have like Vintage fenders, (50's and 60's) MM, Aguilar's, etc etc. Just a few amps and basses (Vintage) strings and a few of his own basses. I new right then he was serious about what he is doing. At first I was unconfortable because here i am A/B ing a Bass. But he seemed cool with it. He had an Aguilar I believe a 359. Took a Silver Bass off his wall and played it. Now my friend loves my bass and always said if i wanted to sell it he would buy it. Its a very good sounding sadowsky. Ok I started playing it and right away I noticed the warmthness of the low B. Not muddy at all. Not to say my sadowsky is muddy in fact its a great sounding B. But the Alleva-Coppolo had a great presence and warmthness as well. Very big. Than I picked up my sadowsky right away and did the same. The B on the Alleva-Coppola was more pleasing to me. Similar to a 36 inch scale sounds. I played the bass again and the tone was amazing. It had a beautiful rosewood on maple neck. The feel was also great. Similar to a Sadowsky which also has a great feel. Im not a person who knows the demensions of fenders and the c or b style necks, but they were similar in feel but The Coppolo felt slightly smoother. Again I was going back and forth constantly between the 2 basses. Tone wise the Coppolo had a little more vintage flavor to it. Although again both have a similar sound but the Coppolo had a over the top presence to it. Punchier too. Definitely will fill a room. I called my friend and said.. well it sounded better than mine. Then he was asking the thousand questions with excitement, "How does it slap" Great! "How is the feel of the neck" Great "How is the finish" Same as the old fenders... Paint will start looking vintage in a few years.... "How was the overall tone" Fat and extremely punchy.... "How does the sound compare to yours" I like the Alleva - Coppolo better. That blew him away as he loves my bass. He has it now and he is extremely happy with it. So much he has a 4 and a 5 string.
Now Im not knocking Sadowsky and i wasn't really. I love my Bass. But things change. People change. I just feel the newer Sadowsky's are not built as well as his earlier models. Only my opinion. Im not a fan of graphite rods in necks, or fixing things when they don't need to be fixed. I feel many start out looking to make a great product. Then the money comes in and you want to make more. Than you start to look for ways to make more and ways to make it easier, to make more, at a given time. Then there's models in other countries because its cheaper to make. Than there is the cheaper models. All companies do it in some way. Look at mostly all the luthiers out there. Jimmy right now is at the level where he wants to make a Great Bass. That's the beginning for all luthiers. Than you do and people want it. Now the money comes in. Now there are more wanting it and you get a few helpers. Than more want it and you start to get them made by people you don't see everyday, and to watch over the product. Than you want even more money and you make it in far away places where maybe you never visited. Jimmy will have to make his decision when he comes to it. There is no question alot of people are going to want to buy his basses. I do. Very Badly.
The money situation is stoping me right now but I will try my best. Like others will. He will sell alot. At this point he will have to make a decision. Right now his basses are the best.
Again my opinion.
