Club Alleva Coppolo (Part 7)

[Vic]

Played the LG last night for a blues gig. Also brought my VF with me. I have to give the VF props for sounding great, BUT, the LG definitely spoke to me more. That, and also as a nice side note, this is a venue I play pretty regularly which is HORRIBLE for electrical interference and stuff. It's an absolute acid test for shielding and whatnot. I can safely say Jimmy's elex and shielding are right up there with the best of them. The VF did ok, but definitely not as well as the LG.

 

[jonno1707]

Rats. This is one I was hoping to get someday from you at a great used price!

Just teasing of course.

That is very high praise considering the other nice basses you own and have owned. I am thrilled for you.

Thanks Tom she is really special and has totally struck a chord with me...I dont think this one is gettin away...

 

[Bass7755]

Congrats to Jonno and Basseroni...and the other new
Coppolo owners!
I have been looking for "the one" for over 15 years.
My RA-5 is what I have been looking for!!
Thank you Jimmy!!
Dan

 

[sps500]

I was pestering you guys for some pics of a natural Alleva and you post this!!!!!!

Sinfully beautiful!

[/QUOTE]

 

[jonno1707]

Thanks bro I just cant put this bass down...
Just checked again and on the bathroom scale she is exactly 10 lbs and sounds like 100...

 

[Ace Of Bass]

There was somewhere way back when I think someone mentionmed that maybe Jimmy can het heavier pieces of ash......can anybody confirm this........?

 

[Vic]

There was somewhere way back when I think someone mentionmed that maybe Jimmy can het heavier pieces of ash......can anybody confirm this........?

Yep, Jimmy could.

 

[biggreddbass]

There was somewhere way back when I think someone mentionmed that maybe Jimmy can het heavier pieces of ash......can anybody confirm this........?

Yup ... it's true.

 

[KJung]

There was somewhere way back when I think someone mentionmed that maybe Jimmy can het heavier pieces of ash......can anybody confirm this........?

Per the above posts, I guess you could talk Jimmy into making a bass significantly heavier than his preferred spec. From what I understand, it's the moderate and lightweight pieces of ash that are harder to find versus the boat anchor weight pieces.

However, just as I suggest to those considering one of those very expensive fretboard upgrades, I would think VERY carefully about this and make sure that it's exactly what you want. Expensive upgrades and heavy weight make resell very difficult.

 

[Ace Of Bass]

Per the above posts, I guess you could talk Jimmy into making a bass significantly heavier than his preferred spec. From what I understand, it's the moderate and lightweight pieces of ash that are harder to find versus the boat anchor weight pieces.

However, just as I suggest to those considering one of those very expensive fretboard upgrades, I would think VERY carefully about this and make sure that it's exactly what you want. Expensive upgrades and heavy weight make resell very difficult.

Well, I'm still kinda up in the air about it, but it would definitely have to be a heavier piece of ash.......if I would invest in another A-C, just like my LG, I would never sell it, pending some sort of financial crisis...........(knock on wood)......I'm one of those with the very expensive fingerboard upgrade and I'm loving it....it was crazy expensive, but I was saving for a Fodera before I changed directions sonically and went full-blown old school.....it gets me close enough to the sound of my uncles 's old '62 that I felt like it was worth it to me........it would be more convinient if I got to play an LM with similar weight.......alas.........

 

[narud]

Thank's keepin me in check .
-Jimmy

haha, no keeping anyone in check i probably could have bought a bass with how much ive spent on trying out different pickups lately and just never had anyone refer to wire like that, hence the confusion. ive spent way too much time talking to duncans custom shop,nordstrand and lollar the past few weeks.

i gotta hit you up soon about buying another preamp if youll still sell it for an onboard isntall. i tried out some other stuff recently and keep coming back to that ac outboard

 

[narud]

Well, I'm still kinda up in the air about it, but it would definitely have to be a heavier piece of ash.......if I would invest in another A-C, just like my LG, I would never sell it, pending some sort of financial crisis...........(knock on wood)......I'm one of those with the very expensive fingerboard upgrade and I'm loving it....it was crazy expensive, but I was saving for a Fodera before I changed directions sonically and went full-blown old school.....it gets me close enough to the sound of my uncles 's old '62 that I felt like it was worth it to me........it would be more convinient if I got to play an LM with similar weight.......alas.........

the weight was just one piece of the puzzle. that heavy trans white lm5 definitely had the slam of an old fender that none of the other lm's had but didnt have the air or crispness. before i started buying all kinds of pickups, i thought the weight would get me there by itself. it didnt.

take your old bass for example. that thing is heavy and i put all kinds of different single coils in there and it just wouldnt sound like the 78. finally i bought those 1980 jazz pickups and it got me there. i finally found that a set of duncan antiquity 2's with a specific dc rating will get the same sound as the old fender pickups and i currently have a pickup over there getting unwound slightly to lower the resistance.

 

[Hollow Man]

This is THE hottest natural bass I've ever seen! Way to go Jimmy!

 

[NYJimmy]

Congrats to Jonno and Basseroni...and the other new
Coppolo owners!
I have been looking for "the one" for over 15 years.
My RA-5 is what I have been looking for!!
Thank you Jimmy!!
Dan

Hey Dan,
I'm glad you're diggin the bass, Enjoy! Thank you for refering to the new owners as Coppolo owners . I still can't get used to people refering to the instruments I build as Alleva's. But as I said before in one of these threads I am glad they are refering to them at all.
-Jimmy

 

[NYJimmy]

haha, no keeping anyone in check i probably could have bought a bass with how much ive spent on trying out different pickups lately and just never had anyone refer to wire like that, hence the confusion. ive spent way too much time talking to duncans custom shop,nordstrand and lollar the past few weeks.

i gotta hit you up soon about buying another preamp if youll still sell it for an onboard isntall. i tried out some other stuff recently and keep coming back to that ac outboard

Just let me know when you are ready and I'll install it (the preamp) in one of your basses for you.
-Jimmy

 

[KJung]

the weight was just one piece of the puzzle. that heavy trans white lm5 definitely had the slam of an old fender that none of the other lm's had but didnt have the air or crispness. before i started buying all kinds of pickups, i thought the weight would get me there by itself. it didnt.

take your old bass for example. that thing is heavy and i put all kinds of different single coils in there and it just wouldnt sound like the 78. finally i bought those 1980 jazz pickups and it got me there. i finally found that a set of duncan antiquity 2's with a specific dc rating will get the same sound as the old fender pickups and i currently have a pickup over there getting unwound slightly to lower the resistance.

I think you are arriving at a place finally that many of us have come to who have done lot's of custom spec boutique basses. It's such a complex interaction that makes one bass smoking and another 'OK', even though the spec seems the same, that it can be very frustrating to attribute the way a bass sounds to any one, or even multiple features (weight, pickup winding, etc.).

Spec'ing a certain pickup, a certain wood, a certain weight, etc. 'might' get you where you want to go, but more often than not, it's disappointing.

I've come to a place where I play a bass and I either dig it or I don't

That all being said, when you feel you have it all where you want it, I would LOVE to hear/play what you come up with. I'm sure it will be totally killing!

 

[narud]

I think you are arriving at a place finally that many of us have come to who have done lot's of custom spec boutique basses.

i think there's a certain degree of custom spec'ing that just happens from either curiosity, listening to other peoples theories of what things "should" sound like over internet, and just gas that can cause the disappointing result. you know theres guys that order **** just to order it rather than need and their ears arent happening enough to tell the difference anyway. if you tell me that your atelier z with 60's spacing sounds exactly like your late 70's jazz, i know that i dont have to listen to your evaluations anymore

It's such a complex interaction that makes one bass smoking and another 'OK', even though the spec seems the same, that it can be very frustrating to attribute the way a bass sounds to any one, or even multiple features (weight, pickup winding, etc.).

Spec'ing a certain pickup, a certain wood, a certain weight, etc. 'might' get you where you want to go, but more often than not, it's disappointing.

part of the issue is consistency. little things can make a big difference in tone. ive been through about 5 different sets of antiquity 2's recently. youd be hard pressed to say theres a definitive antiquity 2 sound because theyre all wound to different dc ratings. because of this, they all sounded different and made my 75 ri sound like a different bass depending on what set was in there. through two independent sets, i was able to determine that if the neck pickup was wound to around 8k and the bridge was wound to a little over mid 8k than i was going to have a set that was going to be gold for me. the only problem is some of the sets occasionally have pickups that are a lot hotter and sound different. probably one of the reasons different people will have completely different descriptions of the same model pickup. you could spec antiquity 2's in your build and not got what you expected at all. or you could spec duncans in your fodera and get aeros and always wonder why you bass doesnt sound the way you expected

I've come to a place where I play a bass and I either dig it or I don't

if everyone just played an instrument and either dug it or not, certain developments might never have happened. to me, the take it or leave it is going to cost you more money. that 75 ri i bought from ace is a sick playing bass. amazing neck profile, great fretwork, totally solid build quality and i didnt like the sound of the stock pickups at all. should i totally ignore everything that the bass has going for it because i hate the stock sound and go and spend triple on a boutique version? i spent a couple hundred bucks on pickups and have exactly what i wanted tonally. i knew that the weight would give me part of what i was looking for. i just hadnt quite understood pickups enough yet to realize what it was going to take to get it there.

the boutique stuff isnt any different imo. if a luthiers vision encompasses 90% of what im going for and the builder is willing to change the other 10% to fulfill my need, than lets do it. if theyre not willing to compromise what they do or think im full of it, thats cool too

That all being said, when you feel you have it all where you want it, I would LOVE to hear/play what you come up with. I'm sure it will be totally killing!

its funny, ive been pretty happy with a 4 string and a dtuner lately i know that ill get a 5 worked out some day, but the experimentation i did on the guts of this 75ri really helped me understand the effect different pickups and preamps have on each other.

 

[Ace Of Bass]

Now THERE is a man on a serious quest for tone........I can dig,Joe........I can dig......the '78 I came across does what I need it to do well.......do I necessarily expect an LM to sound JUST like the '78 with the low B.........?.........nope.....but, if I can play around with options to get it a bit closer, that would be cool as well......from what I've heard from the few LMs that I have personally heard and played, I wouldn't be crushed if it ended up sounding like "the typical LM"........which still sounds great to me.......

 

[narud]

believe it or not, ive actually been practicing more than soldering lateley

 

[Ace Of Bass]

When was the last time you slept.......(LOL).......?....