Club Alleva Coppolo (part 2)

[GRoberts]

My personal favourite of the ones I've seen is the 5 knob layout and no pickguard. For me it allows the instrument to take on it's own, more coherent appearance.

I see your point totally and was considering the No Pickguard style as well.

But I'll add this opinion; If I went for a nitro finish, my F Bass experiences tells me I would start to notice dull areas, marking, chipping and wear through the finish below the G string at the neck pocket in 2 months if not less. (among other area's) I love what Nitro brings to the table in some ways, but the lack of durability is a bit of a concern. I never did get the allure of the 'relic' look. It always looks beat up to me as opposed to cool old badges of honor. Different strokes I suppose. That said, new Nitro finishes like the 3T burst on Tommix's new Alleva just blows my mind.

 

[B3bopbass]

I'm not sure how much Jimmy's nitro differs from George's, but having owned my Limited for about 3 months now, it's holding up incredibly well. Hopefully, this nitro will continue to hold its sheen for a long time to come. I do recall the F nitro reacting a bit more "sensitively" to wear.

 

[svtb15]

+1 Ken to all above..

These really are old school vintage Fender J and P bliss. The headstock.. well some love it, some hate it. It's Jimmy's take on the 'modified' Fender look. I love it, but as has been posted many times, many don't.

I love the look of the guard with the cutout and no plate, but again, it makes sense that others would not!!

The bridge is a little bit of a disconnect (too modern for the vibe of the bass to me), and Jimmy now has a 'vintage' looking bridge for those who want to keep the bass looking more 'modified vintage'. Also, as you can see from the above pic's, some choose the BadAss bridge, which fits with the 'modified/updated' Fender sort of vibe.

These are definitely unique offerings, both in tone, look and feel, and like anything else, some will love them and some will not!

 

[fredguy]

That's what these basses do to you......

Sorry for the bad pics. I'll get some outside pics sooner or later.

Looks sweet. Didn't make my decision any easier though.

Dave

 

[svtb15]

I will try to explain from my limited point of view if i may.. I hope i do OK.
And I hope Jimmy wont cut me in half if he reads this or if i explain it wrong... ..
But I am around him, and have my ears to the proverbial ground in what he does..

The VINTAGE bridge was not easy to develop.. The "NEW" vintage style bridge is not that new at all for him .. It was in development for about 4-5 years..

And it is what he, Jason Langley and I originally wanted for the vintage style LG years ago, when i pressured him relentlessly to make me a 5 string bass.

As simple as it may look, It cost alot of $$ to get it blueprinted and and samples made and finals made and ready to use.. It Literally took a few years..Not only does he build and do repairs but there is normal life stuff too..
It could have gone faster but being an indy builder, he dose not have the luxury of unlimited cash flow for R&D... and it was $$$$$. Thousands....
And the first pieces were not the finals.. he went back a few times to get it right...And since it was his plans, every time there was a change it cost more money and time.. You can partially blame me for that..

I CAN NOT speak for Jimmy , but it was perhaps a toss up of not making a bass because he did not have the bridge that he wanted for the vibe of his LG product, or going with another type to get his niche on a design out there..
Now even the "B" style bridge is slightly different.. And even went through a few metal changes before finals..
I hope i did not stir up a hornets nest here..

At the risk of being run out of town...... I find the styling of these basses a bit confused. I'm not in any way running them down, Paul Turner sounds great on that Jamiroquai video. I keep reading about Jimmy's vintage fender fetish (eg the truss rod adjuster) but some of the bridges don't fit with that vibe, the head stock is... an acquired taste and the pick guard doesn't look right with a cutout for a non existent control plate and five knobs. My personal favourite of the ones I've seen is the 5 knob layout and no pickguard. For me it allows the instrument to take on it's own, more coherent appearance.

Don't flame me guys, I'm just expressing another opinion on the very subjective area of appearance. I'd love to play one of these things and if they sound as good as everyone says I'd own one regardless.

 

[NickyBass]

:
...So far its amazing....

Cool. Sounds like a keeper. Thanks for sharing the pics, too.

Looks sweet. Didn't make my decision any easier though.

Dave

Haha. You gotta see this bass in person. The pics don't do it justice. What are you leaning toward?

 

[NickyBass]

The VINTAGE bridge was not easy to develop.. The "NEW" vintage style bridge is not that new at all for him .. It was in development for about 4-5 years..

There are so many minute details that we take for granted and don't even think about. There are a million tiny aspects that go into developing a bass that is worthy of putting one's name on the headstock.

I appreciate the time, energy and money that alot of builders are putting into their product. There are some guys who are in the trenches themselves -- tweaking every which way to find a perfect recipie. For them R&D is about more than putting a sticker on a P-Bass and calling it a signature model.

To all those guys like Jimmy--I salute and thank you.

 

[Bernie Connors]

I will try to explain from my limited point of view if i may.. I hope i do OK.
And I hope Jimmy wont cut me in half if he reads this or if i explain it wrong... ..
But I am around him, and have my ears to the proverbial ground in what he does..

The VINTAGE bridge was not easy to develop.. The "NEW" vintage style bridge is not that new at all for him .. It was in development for about 4-5 years..

And it is what he, Jason Langley and I originally wanted for the vintage style LG years ago, when i pressured him relentlessly to make me a 5 string bass.

As simple as it may look, It cost alot of $$ to get it blueprinted and and samples made and finals made and ready to use.. It Literally took a few years..Not only does he build and do repairs but there is normal life stuff too..
It could have gone faster but being an indy builder, he dose not have the luxury of unlimited cash flow for R&D... and it was $$$$$. Thousands....
And the first pieces were not the finals.. he went back a few times to get it right...And since it was his plans, every time there was a change it cost more money and time.. You can partially blame me for that..

I CAN NOT speak for Jimmy , but it was perhaps a toss up of not making a bass because he did not have the bridge that he wanted for the vibe of his LG product, or going with another type to get his niche on a design out there..
Now even the "B" style bridge is slightly different.. And even went through a few metal changes before finals..
I hope i did not stir up a hornets nest here..

That's why I decided to go with the vintage bridge. For me, it fits everything that Jimmy's basses are about. I wasn't comfortable going with a B style. Give me the vintage bridge!

 

[GRoberts]

That's why I decided to go with the vintage bridge. For me, it fits everything that Jimmy's basses are about. I wasn't comfortable going with a B style. Give me the vintage bridge!

I only wish the vintage bridge was quick release. My comment is not intended to discount the effort, costs or vibe that Jimmy's bridge brings to the table. Perhaps it was even considered, but the design choice was to lean more purely to the vintage bent plate bridge. If so, the vibe was nailed and I totally respect that. Just voiceing that vintage vibe with modern appointments sometimes serves up a tasty compromise.

 

[NickyBass]

I only wish the vintage bridge was quick release.

I may be nit-picking, but I find that the time that I save with quick-release bridges when taking strings off, is doubled when putting strings on. I gotta hold the string when winding to make sure that it doesn't slip out of the bridge.....


...oh, man, my life is tough.

Actually, with the vintage style (non-quick) bridges, I usually just loosen the old strings, cut them near the bridge and they slide right out.

 

[GRoberts]

I may be nit-picking, but I find that the time that I save with quick-release bridges when taking strings off, is doubled when putting strings on. I gotta hold the string when winding to make sure that it doesn't slip out of the bridge.....


...oh, man, my life is tough.

Actually, with the vintage style (non-quick) bridges, I usually just loosen the old strings, cut them near the bridge and they slide right out.

Yeah, it's not really a deal breaker by any stretch. Point well taken Nicky!

 

[MikeBass]

Will the new "vintage" bridge directly fit on the LG in place of the Hipshot bridge??
without adding anymore holes that is.

 

[esoxhntr]

El Kabong,

Let me get this straight... you're not running the basses down, but you don't like the pickguard, the headstock, the bridge, and you find the design concept confusing.

Right.

Have you ever seen one in person? Have you ever played one? Have you ever talked to Jimmy about his design concepts and why AC basses are " way they are"?

My guess is that the answer to each of the above questions is no. My suggestion is that before you make any more judgments you actually see the bass up close.

In person the headstock is not a big deal, and adds important mass to the back end of the bass. As KJung says, the pickguard lessens the distance between the body of the bass and the strings - very important for many who slap. It also protects the impeccable finish of these basses. The bridges are designed to produce the best possible sound, and come in a configuration that is easy produce consistently in quantity. You might like a control plate, but I find that having controls mounted on a plate (or pickguard) a la Fender is a flimsier design than just mounting them to the body of the bass.

AC basses are incredibly well crafted and superior sounding instruments. If they are not your cup of tea, that's cool, but there are very good reasons why they are the way they are. Which of course is why a number of us "in the club" are somewhat fanatical about them. I bet playing one would change your mind completely.

 

[turnuptheBASS]

Thanks for your input, really appreciate it. Just wondering if you think there will be a big difference in tone with the vintage bridge compared to the Hipshot one? I have some time to choose which one I want on my bass, just want to make sure I choose the right one.

I will try to explain from my limited point of view if i may.. I hope i do OK.
And I hope Jimmy wont cut me in half if he reads this or if i explain it wrong... ..
But I am around him, and have my ears to the proverbial ground in what he does..

The VINTAGE bridge was not easy to develop.. The "NEW" vintage style bridge is not that new at all for him .. It was in development for about 4-5 years..

And it is what he, Jason Langley and I originally wanted for the vintage style LG years ago, when i pressured him relentlessly to make me a 5 string bass.

As simple as it may look, It cost alot of $$ to get it blueprinted and and samples made and finals made and ready to use.. It Literally took a few years..Not only does he build and do repairs but there is normal life stuff too..
It could have gone faster but being an indy builder, he dose not have the luxury of unlimited cash flow for R&D... and it was $$$$$. Thousands....
And the first pieces were not the finals.. he went back a few times to get it right...And since it was his plans, every time there was a change it cost more money and time.. You can partially blame me for that..

I CAN NOT speak for Jimmy , but it was perhaps a toss up of not making a bass because he did not have the bridge that he wanted for the vibe of his LG product, or going with another type to get his niche on a design out there..
Now even the "B" style bridge is slightly different.. And even went through a few metal changes before finals..
I hope i did not stir up a hornets nest here..

 

[svtb15]

I have not done any A/B tests with similar bass with different bridges side by side.. so to be honest it is really hard to tell... But I liked the vintage style when i tried it later on my kbp5 at namm..
It is not quik disconnect..

I guess picture the difference between a vintage style bridge vs a newer style on a new bass... In previous tests i noticed the current "B" style bridge extends the freq sectrum to hi and low over other bridges that i tried...
The punch factor is different for each bridge and body style or wood

 

[svtb15]

They have the same hole pattern.. so they are a direct replacement if you want.

Will the new "vintage" bridge directly fit on the LG in place of the Hipshot bridge??
without adding anymore holes that is.

 

[MikeBass]

They have the same hole pattern.. so they are a direct replacement if you want.

Cool.
When they become available for "aftermarket" I may pick one up.

Can't wait to see one.....

 

[svtb15]

My kbp5 will be here by Wednesday....It has a vintage bridge.. cant wait ... When i played this and the SB kbp5 at namm i was very impressed.. no hype.. personally i liked the Sunburst one even more than my Black one when played at namm... The SB had flats on it and it just slammed as far as that special P bass sound... it was the wood , the bridge, the finish , the strings all together.. each part may only have 3 percent of the overall sound.. but all together that adds up to the big picture...
just me on another latte rant..

 

[turnuptheBASS]

congrats, I am sure wed. cant get here fast enough! lookin forward to the pics!....and more pics!

My kbp5 will be here by Wednesday....It has a vintage bridge.. cant wait ... When i played this and the SB kbp5 at namm i was very impressed.. no hype.. personally i liked the Sunburst one even more than my Black one when played at namm... The SB had flats on it and it just slammed as far as that special P bass sound... it was the wood , the bridge, the finish , the strings all together.. each part may only have 3 percent of the overall sound.. but all together that adds up to the big picture...
just me on another latte rant..

 

[Bernie Connors]

All I have to say is......