Oh Man! I LOVE sonic blue with matching headstock! That's awesome man! What a cooooool vibe!
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Club Alleva Coppolo (part 3)
- Thread starter john turner
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Oh Man! I LOVE sonic blue with matching headstock! That's awesome man! What a cooooool vibe!
I thought you might get it next week. When I talked to
Jimmy about working on my bass he said he would
have to have it by Wednesday this week because
he is closing up the NYC shop by the end of this week.
BTW...your bass is a beauty!!
Dan
Climb,
That is a fine looking instrument! And you're going to love the Dalberia - it's just got a unique and wonderful feel to it, hard to explain but you'll understand once you get the bass. Congrats!
That is a fine looking instrument! And you're going to love the Dalberia - it's just got a unique and wonderful feel to it, hard to explain but you'll understand once you get the bass. Congrats!
+1... all of these look great!
I really don't have any interest in playing any other bass (except my Sadowsky NYC on occasion). This feeling continues to grow over the year or so that I've had this bass. It just sounds great with every rig and in every mix I've had it in so far. Leo Fender (and Jimmy with his very nice 'upgrade/update' of that classic design) really had it figured out!
It's a strange feeling to be GAS free regarding basses. I'm not even GASsing for another Alleva, which is IMO the strongest indication of being totally, completely satisfied with an instrument!
I'm anxiously awaiting mine. That's for sure!
I see myself sharing your position. I don't see a lot of J bass gas in my future once I receive my LG5. I'd like to have an RA5 down the road but who knows if it'll happen.
Do you see an LG5 in your future, Ken?
Maybe... the one I have is just so perfect for the tone I go for. I don't think I'd ever 'order' one, but if Jimmy ramps up production at his new shop, and there's one of the website that catches my eye... well
From selling most of my other basses, I have quite a 'war chest' of cash at the moment... but no GAS... no amp GAS, no cab GAS, no GAS at all. First time in a LONG time, if ever! It's a good feeling.
It is funny how we each have our own 'tone in our head', and tend to hang with players with similar tone goals. When we all get togeter at Low Down Sound in Detroit, we typically have all these MTD's, Modulus, Fodera's, etc., etc... really, really nice basses. But virtually everyone in our group gravitates toward the Alleva's at this point (Mikebass and I have the only ones in Detroit that I know of). The Sadowsky J's are also still a hit with this group of players for a more active, modern, but 'not over the top' vibe.
There's just something about an active 5 string that sounds very much like the best passive vintage Fender we've ever heard. All that deep bass, pingy top end, 'super B string', type tone of many other boutiques is amazing, but for those of us who gig a lot in a pop/funk/jazz context, there really isn't much that can touch this sort of 'slightly goosed vintage tone' that the Alleva delivers.
I've even moved away from the 'Jazz on Steroids' thing that the Celinder does so well, althought that is very impressive also. I just have grown to prefer that real gritty 'mid growl' that the old Fender single coils (and Jimmy's custom models) give you in a mix. Playing these basses through a very even, transparent type rig is really something!!!!!
Big +1 there Ken.
My AC basses have caused me to unload some very nice instruments in the past months. Simply put, they were no longer going to be used, fine instruments thought they were. I've been able to put my hands on some lovely basses this past year (Fodera, Celinder, FBass, Vintage Fender, to name some) and none of them speak to me like my RA5, and now the KPB5. Though I can imagine that a serious recording bassist might need a palette of voices to choose from, I can't imagine a better single bass to own than an AC.
My AC basses have caused me to unload some very nice instruments in the past months. Simply put, they were no longer going to be used, fine instruments thought they were. I've been able to put my hands on some lovely basses this past year (Fodera, Celinder, FBass, Vintage Fender, to name some) and none of them speak to me like my RA5, and now the KPB5. Though I can imagine that a serious recording bassist might need a palette of voices to choose from, I can't imagine a better single bass to own than an AC.
+1
Well said Ken. My two AC's have cured my bass gas. I've got a slight case of amp gas though. I've been playing through a LMK2-UL310 rig for the last 18 months and now I've got a case of gas for a tube head to use with the KBP-5. I've got a walkabout that sounds good through an LDS 2x8 but I keep wondering how it would sound with a B-15 or an ampeg V4.
dave
Well said Ken. My two AC's have cured my bass gas. I've got a slight case of amp gas though. I've been playing through a LMK2-UL310 rig for the last 18 months and now I've got a case of gas for a tube head to use with the KBP-5. I've got a walkabout that sounds good through an LDS 2x8 but I keep wondering how it would sound with a B-15 or an ampeg V4.
dave
I've been playing my KBP4 through both a B-15n and a V4. The B-15 is my 'practice amp' and the V4 has been seeing most of my gigs.
The tone from these 2 amps is just pure bliss. I am a big fan of the SVT, but there is a nice open quality inherint in both of it's little brothers. I feel that the mids come through alot sweeter with the B-15 and V4. The SVT just pounds your chest in--which is great for alot of stuff--but, for me, the mids are king. I would love to use the B-15 for everything, but it just doesn't hold up in a loud setting. The 100 watt V-4 might not be enough for everyone, but for me, it's more than enough volume.
These basses sound very good through everything. Obviously, the vintage vibe of the Alleva J's and P's would work GREAT with the classic Ampeg all tube thing.
What is interesting, is that if you are into a slightly more modern thing (kind of like a Will Lee sort of J vibe), the Alleva pickups have such a nice growl and grind and a bit of grit to them, that a very pure, transparent amp like the Markbass stuff actually sounds quite 'modern meets vintage'. Even though the amp and cab (in my case, various version of MB heads and various versions of EpiUL and Berg cabs) are about as clean and pure as you can get, short of going right into a board, the warmth and 'character' of the A-C is so strong that it just sounds beautifully 'raw' while still tight and punchy.
I don't know if that makes sense, but I really do like the idea of the warmth and character coming from the instrument, and then relatively accurately transmitted through the rig.
Can someone remind me if Jimmy's PU's are true Single coil, or are the humcancelling?
If Single coil, how is the noise/60 cycle hum?
If Single coil, how is the noise/60 cycle hum?
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This post brings tears of joy to my ears, and I can't get motown tunes out of my head! Day-am! Soooooo sweet! Is that a reissue B15? Sure looks clean!
Having said that, I prefer my RA5 through more "modern" gear - in my case a combination of Bergantino and Genz Benz. Oddly enough, the RA5 passive really shines with the "GenzBerg" rig. The KPB5 and the Ampeg B15N are a match made in heaven, but as someone said here earlier (NickyBass I believe) just don't expect too much volume.
True, in-house wound, glorious, wonderful, vintage, growly single coils... the best I've personally heard. Again, these basses are all about 'old school'.. from the low radius necks to the 'screw driver truss rod adjustment, to the old style tuners.
The hum is the same as any other well shielded bass with single coils IMO and IME.... it's there when you solo a single pickup in a big way. That's the nature of the beast. There is plenty of tone variance in the 'magic spot' of just reducing one of the pickups a very, very slight amount to either increase 'burp' by dialing down the neck pickup, or bass/scoop by dialing down the bridge pickup. The hum is no problem at that level, and of course doesn't exist at all with both pickups dimed.
The only single coil pickup that seems to have more 'hum' than others is the Nordstrand Big Single, I assume due to all that wire.
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Dang, I would love to hear that combo in person. Are you gigging it anytime in the near future? (I'm in southern Ontario next week for a short gig/recording/visit the parents trip )
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