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Club Alleva Coppolo (Part 9)

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#301
Hey chef is it a standard Indian rosewood board and poly finish? It sure looks beautiful.....

The reason I ask is that my LG5 has a Honduran rosewood board / finished in Poly and has a little brighter inherent tone to it. My bass actually takes DR Hi Beams very nicely and I suspect that my LG experience is quite different then Ken's which is a super dark indian board finished in Nitro.

It is interesting to me how these different options effect the overall tone of these basses
 
#302
peterpalmieri said:
Hey chef is it a standard Indian rosewood board and poly finish? It sure looks beautiful.....

The reason I ask is that my LG5 has a Honduran rosewood board / finished in Poly and has a little brighter inherent tone to it. My bass actually takes DR Hi Beams very nicely and I suspect that my LG experience is quite different then Ken's which is a super dark indian board finished in Nitro.

It is interesting to me how these different options effect the overall tone of these basses
Click to expand...

+1... I remember your bass fondly when Mikebass owned it, and it did seem to have a different vibe from the very vintage sound that mine seems to have (although I only heard it with nickels, and it sounded GREAT with those strings also). That Indian RW board on mine is beautiful, but I just don't dig what I hear as a 'lifeless click' to the top end when you put a modern sounding set of strings on it. It just purrs and growls with a month old set of DR Lo Rider nickels on it though!!!!!
 
#303
KJung said:
+1... I remember your bass fondly when Mikebass owned it, and it did seem to have a different vibe from the very vintage sound that mine seems to have (although I only heard it with nickels, and it sounded GREAT with those strings also). That Indian RW board on mine is beautiful, but I just don't dig what I hear as a 'lifeless click' to the top end when you put a modern sounding set of strings on it. It just purrs and growls with a month old set of DR Lo Rider nickels on it though!!!!!
Click to expand...

I'm guessing Chef's experience will be closer to yours then mine, but I'd be interested in him dropping a set of steels on there and see what he thinks. And likely after my LM5 arrives I may spec out an LG closer to your more traditional. Darker tone profile board, nitro and even possibly the vintage bridge. I do wonder Ken how your bass may change if you had a vintage bridge...
 
#304
peterpalmieri said:
I'm guessing Chef's experience will be closer to yours then mine, but I'd be interested in him dropping a set of steels on there and see what he thinks. And likely after my LM5 arrives I may spec out an LG closer to your more traditional. Darker tone profile board, nitro and even possibly the vintage bridge. I do wonder Ken how your bass may change if you had a vintage bridge...
Click to expand...

My LG spec does kind of scream for that vintage bridge, and if I had actually spec'd that bass out (versus buying it used like I did), I would have probably included that option (more for the look than anything else). However, I'm just thrilled with the tone of my LG at the moment, and dig it for what it is. I wish you could see it in 'real life'... the pictures just don't do that bass justice. It really does kind of 'glow' under the lights, and literally everyone who has played it (and my LM also) LOVED it 100%.

On a side note, I tried DR Lo Rider steels on my RA, and really didn't dig that at all (nice in the lows, but way too much up top for that bass). So, I'm back to DR Lo Rider Nickels on that bass also, and dig the unique combination of 'mega sizzle' combined with a warm, round low end. It's an unusual tone profile, but it sounds pretty good in certain mixes. It is actually the most 'polite' sounding of my three Alleva's... by polite, I mean a more pure, crystal clear, almost modern top end, and the least 'growly' in the low end... just big, wide, pure tone. It doesn't burp, but it has a big sonic footprint that can be pretty cool.
 
#305
Neither Jimmy nor the seller could remember what the f/b material was.
It's really dark, some figuring, but hard to see, fairly tight/closed pores.
The finish is nitro.
 
#307
KJung said:
My LG spec does kind of scream for that vintage bridge, and if I had actually spec'd that bass out (versus buying it used like I did), I would have probably included that option (more for the look than anything else). However, I'm just thrilled with the tone of my LG at the moment, and dig it for what it is. I wish you could see it in 'real life'... the pictures just don't do that bass justice. It really does kind of 'glow' under the lights, and literally everyone who has played it (and my LM also) LOVED it 100%.

On a side note, I tried DR Lo Rider steels on my RA, and really didn't dig that at all (nice in the lows, but way too much up top for that bass). So, I'm back to DR Lo Rider Nickels on that bass also, and dig the unique combination of 'mega sizzle' combined with a warm, round low end. It's an unusual tone profile, but it sounds pretty good in certain mixes. It is actually the most 'polite' sounding of my three Alleva's... by polite, I mean a more pure, crystal clear, almost modern top end, and the least 'growly' in the low end... just big, wide, pure tone. It doesn't burp, but it has a big sonic footprint that can be pretty cool.
Click to expand...

I will admit I really love your LG and I can only imagine what it is like in person. I am hoping we can get that NY Metro GTG going in January which would allow me to get my hands on a more traditional LG from one of the other guys.

It would be quite an expense to sell my LG and spec out a new one with Jimmy plus the wait so I need some eveidence that it makes sense...but I've got this tone profile in my head from experience with some real old Fenders, I have a few buddies locally that are collectors and I've got this super cool Lakland JO4 that burps like nobodies business, unlike the normal JOs and way more so then my LG.

In any case my current LG5 is probably the best I can imagine if you only own one because it can lean old school with nickels and get more modern with steels. Now having a super authentic KBP5 (dalbergia) and a LM5 on the way with some even more 70s vintage features that Jimmy will be releasing at NAMM when my bass and a few others are ready. Widening the tone profile gap between these instruments is the direction I'd like to head.
 
#308
KJung said:
On a side note, I tried DR Lo Rider steels on my RA, and really didn't dig that at all (nice in the lows, but way too much up top for that bass). So, I'm back to DR Lo Rider Nickels on that bass also, and dig the unique combination of 'mega sizzle' combined with a warm, round low end.
Click to expand...
Ken, have you tried Sunbeams? I find those to be really well balanced and help some basses out a lot. Fodera also sells a very similar nickel RW that works just as well.
 
#309
KJung said:
+1 to the above.... organic, old school, vintage tone. Wonderful stuff. ... I didn't dig the LG's with stainless at all.... yes, more sizzly, but not in a good way to my ear. That's just not what this spec is about IMO.

...I would recommend not trying to make it what it is not though. I didn't 'fall in love' with my LG until I got those nickels on there and let them 'deaden up' a bit, which really allowed that spec to speak the way it was designed (like an old 60's era Fender J).
Click to expand...
Just to offer some counterpoint, I feel totally differently about SS strings on the LG. Mine shipped with some SS strings on it, and currently still has SS strings on it and I really like it a lot. Either DR LR's or HB's, I can't remember 'cause both last me a pretty long time and I've played the bass regularly, but sparingly over the last couple months (for various reasons not related to my love for this bass).

Don't get me wrong, I agree with KJung on the Nickels probably being more "appropriate" for the bass with it's tonal design goals, theme, and whatnot, but at least SS's work great for me. I think the key is choosing the right set to brighten it up in the best way... picking the area of the treble response you want to emphasize. That said, these are so sweet at the high end, I can't imagine anything actually sounding bad.

Regarding the wider neck feel than the Sadowsky, this is true, due to all that extra 'wood' that Jimmy has outside the B and G strings. The spacing seems identical to the Sadowsky, but there is just more 'meat' to the neck, given the additional space on the outside edges of the neck. I dig that.
Click to expand...
As an additional point, Jimmy's necks feel thinner from front-back to me, so at least the overall, let's say, "volume" of the neck profile should be fairly comparable. I have fairly small hands and while I also notice the extra width, the AC neck just feels really great to me.

IMO/YMMV/OMGWTFBBQ :)
 
#310
On the fingerboards, I'm pretty sure mine's Indian, as it's not custom, and that's his "standard", but it's also very dark, and noticeably brighter than the LG with the DN board I had for a while. I don't have a Honduran board to compare it to of course, but at least in looking at the grain density, I'm guessing mine's generally a brighter sound as well. Here's a closeup that shows the grain pretty well I think.

vics_lg5_08.jpg


That said, while I WILL be putting nickels on mine next, I have to be honest and say I like the SS's enough that it could end up being my fave on this bass. Man, I wish Jimmy could remember what kind of SS's were on it when it shipped... I think he said it could have been some Italian company, but he wasn't sure? Those were GREAT strings... definitely challenge DR's as my fave!

MAN I love this bass!! :hyper: :D
 
#312
Vic said:
Just to offer some counterpoint, I feel totally differently about SS strings on the LG. Mine shipped with some SS strings on it, and currently still has SS strings on it and I really like it a lot.
Click to expand...

I of course haven't player your LG, but I've played Ken's as well as the one Mike had (which I believe is the same LG as Peter's) and there was a very big difference between the two of those in vibe - Ken's surf green is all the way old school as far as the top end. All the growl is down low on that bass and it doesn't have the brightness that is there in the oly white/tort L that Mike had. Ken's LG sounds like a vinyl recording of an old Fender Jazz...so much so that I can definitely see what he's saying in terms of the SS strings not being the right match for that particular bass. I noticed it alot because my personal preference is to have some brightness on the top end. Mike's LG, while still having a vintage 60's jazz tone, had enough brightness in it that I can definitely see SS strings working well on it.

So I don't know where your's falls in the continuum between those two LG's, but can certainly see why SS strings would kill on yours while they wouldn't work on Ken's.
 
#313
vision said:
So I don't know where your's falls in the continuum between those two LG's, but can certainly see why SS strings would kill on yours while they wouldn't work on Ken's.
Click to expand...
Well, this could all just be personal prefs, different finger tone, amps/cabs, etc, too, but that said, was Mike's spec different from Ken's? I can't recall. What about weight? Comparable? Mine's pretty much right dead at 9 pounds.
 
#314
Vic said:
Well, this could all just be personal prefs, different finger tone, amps/cabs, etc, too, but that said, was Mike's spec different from Ken's? I can't recall. What about weight? Comparable? Mine's pretty much right dead at 9 pounds.
Click to expand...

Peter's bass is the one Mike used to own. Great, great instrument.. relatively lightweight, and the vibe is more like the Alder/morado basses I've played than the 'true rosewoods'. Nice bass, and kind of 'in between' an LM and the other LG's I've played, as Peter has mentioned... not quite as 'clicky' as the more vintage voiced LG"s with the Indian RW to my ear... a little more 'grindy' versus the more 'growly' vibe of the LG's with the stock Indian RW boards I own and have played. Something not right to my ear with the Indian RW and at least the Hi Beams... again, clicky and trebly, but not in a good way. You can, I believe, really hear the difference in the clips I put up comparing the same bass, player and rig with Hi Beams and Lo Rider Nickels.

Per the question above on the RA, the Sunbeams are way too floppy for me in both tone and feel (personal taste there)... the Lo Riders are tighter tension, almost as warm, and have a bit more 'balls' to them to my ear.
 
#320
Just ou of curiosity...what's an LM5 run ...I know it can vary but any help with starting price..I don't wanna bother Jimmy and in less than a month I can just ask him at NAMM..but I would like to get a growlier AC..my LG is great ...just interested I'm trying an LM...


For a more Marcus, 70s growly tone..do u guys recommend an LM or an RA?
Who all is gonna be at Namm..? Would love to hook up at the AC booth..

Thanks
Mike X
 
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