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Club Alleva Coppolo (Part 11!)

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#882
Chef said:
They shouldn't be hard to find. I can think of several other builders that use them, and McMaster-Carr stocks several varieties of these.

I saw a slick alterna-solution to this last week at the ST Louis TB GTG: that being use of magnets to secure the cover.

Nice.

No tools required, nothing to wear out.
Click to expand...

In theory. In practice it can be a little different. I have an Eshenbaugh, the magnets fall off and the thin cover warped badly. Both of those issues could've been remedied in the build of course.

I just saw pics of a Bebensee that appeared to be hinged. Interesting.
 
#883
Brad Johnson said:
It's your bass, do what makes you happy. Including choosing strings you like.
:)

If OTOH peer pressure really is an issue, check with the guys before you do anything.
:cool:
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Yeah, I know. Honestly, I didn't even know about Alleva-Coppolo basses until I started visiting this forum. It was Jimmy who made me feel weird about the bass though. I don't know if you know about the history of my instrument, but Jimmy Coppolo kept referring to it as the prototype. AFAIK, most early AC 4-stringers look the way they do because they are copies of my bass.

I'm not really so concerned about what others think as I am about what might happen to the sound of the bass if I change the pickups to some noiseless ones. Also, I thought that my bass might be of significant value because of its rare heritage, but after having it referred to as "a parts bass" I'm not so concerned about the value of it anymore.
 
#885
Vic said:
I'm gonna' respectfully disagree... but in a qualified way. In short, I think lines are ok for beginners and on lower end basses to get started with, but longer term on nicer instruments, not. And on the intonation note, you can have lines and use them, and still not have good enough intonation. You have to use your ears for that part... especially up higher on the neck where even rolling your finger a little bit in the same spot can make or break you.

All the pro fretless players I've seen either don't have them, or they have them but don't use them. I NEED to have the ability to play my instruments without looking at my hands.

IMHO, once you get truly proficient at playing fretless, the lines actually do more harm than good if you try to use them. All you should need is side dots as a "quick guide" for long jumps... and really... eventually... not even those.

I used to play a lot of fretless electric and even upright back in the 80's when jazz was a much bigger part of my life, and if I had to look at my hands much in those days, I'd have been booted from the combo and big band. And song memorization is not a 100% reliable option. You just never know when the director is gonna' toss out a chart you haven't played in a while. Not only that, but what about the darker orchestra pits? Lines don't do you any good if you can't see those... especially since your eyes are adjusted to the music stand light which only goes as far as your chart if they do it right to avoid light pollution in the show.

It's all about muscle memory and your ears. I'd get a low end fretless with lines just to get started, but I'd never spend big money on a lined fretless, because IMHO(!!) by the time you're ready to truly justify that, you shouldn't be needing the lines anymore.

Again, just MHO, and I have a pretty strong one on this topic as you can tell. :)
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More than likely you've seen both Jaco and Gary Willis.
:cool:

I'm firmly entrenched in the no lines camp, I don't need them and I think the board looks better without them. It took me a long time to get over my dislike of lines and here's how I did it: I realized that I don't spend a lot of time staring at the board when I play so what's the big deal? I bought a few used lined fretlesses (you don't get to choose how the neck comes) after that revelation and had no problem playing them. No, I didn't find them to be easier to play... I still had rely on my ear more than anything else. Most of them are gone now and my main fretli only have side position markers at 3,5,7,9,12 etc.
:cool:
 
#886
The bass is shielded inside the control cavity with shielding paint as many basses are today... It is actually under the finish itself but has a copper shield strap popping through somewhere to tie to the back cover ..

I remember that Jimmy used to love the Zon strings too.. But he is trying some Turkish string maker now for his Sig style strings and a few of you folks have them on your basses.. Vic may be one... I have a few more Demo sets coming to try out before they go into full swing..

At one time i wanted to add a J to my kbp4 bridge.. bassist30 and Jimmy basically said they would kill me dead if i did.. so i didnt...

Your bass is yours.. You paid for it.. You can do whatever you wish with it..

You could even put your bass in a wood chipper... :D its yours... do as YOU please


guroove said:
Would a proper shielding job fix both the ground buzz, and the 60 cycle hum?
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#887
guroove said:
Yeah, I know. Honestly, I didn't even know about Alleva-Coppolo basses until I started visiting this forum. It was Jimmy who made me feel weird about the bass though. I don't know if you know about the history of my instrument, but Jimmy Coppolo kept referring to it as the prototype. AFAIK, most early AC 4-stringers look the way they do because they are copies of my bass.

I'm not really so concerned about what others think as I am about what might happen to the sound of the bass if I change the pickups to some noiseless ones. Also, I thought that my bass might be of significant value because of its rare heritage, but after having it referred to as "a parts bass" I'm not so concerned about the value of it anymore.
Click to expand...

Builders can get overly protective of prototypes (ask me how I know;)) but bottom line it's your bass. If they want to keep them as static pieces, unless you agreed to that, they shouldn't sell them to the public

The builder's personal preference on strings is just that, their personal preference. they can use those strings when they own that bass;) I know of builders who've told owners that their strings are what should be used on their basses, which if you really think about it is fairly silly. Suppose you don't like them?
:eyebrow:

As far as collectibility, here's my stance: It ain't a vintage Fender. I don't know of any newer P or J bass variants that are considered collector basses at this point. I don't know of any 10+ year old examples that are either... they're just older basses in that line. I honestly don't see that changing anytime soon.

Besides, a pickup swap is reversible as long as no routing is involved. I've come to the conclusion that if I have a bass I'm considering doing a pickup swap on, why did I buy it like it was in the first place? I've blown enough money trying to improve or "fix" instruments and seen many more blow a lot more than me to back up my decision. But it's my decision and who knows, you could end up much happier with your instrument.

If people have input on my choices, I typically thank them and someties even consider them. If they tell me what I shouldn't do, I typically think cool, that's what you can not do when you get the same bass for yourself. No offense of course.
:D
 
#888
guroove said:
It was Jimmy who made me feel weird about the bass though.
Click to expand...
This is the part that seems so wierd. I can definitely see Jimmy making recs for what to use, but he's always been very laid back about stuff... At least in my dealing wit him.

I'm not really so concerned about what others think as I am about what might happen to the sound of the bass if I change the pickups to some noiseless ones.
Click to expand...
That is a valid concern. If you swap pickups, of course it will change the sound. Just depends on yourr prefs and what you choose.

Also, I thought that my bass might be of significant value because of its rare heritage, but after having it referred to as "a parts bass" I'm not so concerned about the value of it anymore.
Click to expand...
Even if you were, doing shielding and swapping pickups wouldn't affect that anyway as long as you kept the originals.
 
#890
Just came from the shop. Played both of the shorties ... wow !!!
I really dug the contoured one (pink) as opposed to the slab body (blue).
I also played the Resurrection bass .. very cool ... super old school.
The winner was a black LM4 with bullet truss rod ... so slammin' that Jimmy is keeping it for the shop as the demo bass for LM4's.
 
#892
svtb15 said:
The bass is shielded inside the control cavity with shielding paint as many basses are today... It is actually under the finish itself but has a copper shield strap popping through somewhere to tie to the back cover ..

I remember that Jimmy used to love the Zon strings too.. But he is trying some Turkish string maker now for his Sig style strings and a few of you folks have them on your basses.. Vic may be one... I have a few more Demo sets coming to try out before they go into full swing..

At one time i wanted to add a J to my kbp4 bridge.. bassist30 and Jimmy basically said they would kill me dead if i did.. so i didnt...

Your bass is yours.. You paid for it.. You can do whatever you wish with it..

You could even put your bass in a wood chipper... :D its yours... do as YOU please
Click to expand...

Why change the sound of the best P bass I ever heard.
 
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