Club Alleva Coppolo (Part 9)

[Vic]

You guy's using nickel low riders,,What guage's do you use?Do you accept they're kinda stiff or do you get lighter gauges?


Aj

I go the standard 45-125 on mine, and I actually purchase LR's specifically because they're stiffer, so that's fine with me. On a 34" scale bass, I might even try a 130 on the low B, but the 45-125 set is a lot more convenient to buy, so I just generally stick with that on the DR LR's. If you want slinkier DR's, I suggest HiBeams (ss) or SunBeams (nickel). I generally like to avoid changing gauges.

 

[peterpalmieri]

Right now I am using Hi Beams on my LG5 which is unique in that it has a brighter Old Growth Honduran Rosewood board and is finished in poly. Once I get my LM5, which should be soon after the new year, the LM5 will wear the hi beams and my LG5 will most likely wear a set of nickels. I've got a few sets of Jimmy's nickels I will try out before looking at DRs.

If everything goes well with the new LM5 and my current LG5 doesn't get as vintage as I'd like I am most likely going to put the LG5 on the market and order a more vintage LG5 with a board closer to true brazilian rosewood, nitro finish and a bent plate bridge. I've said this before.

My current LG5 is an awesome bass and with the Honduran board it is really the best of both worlds for someone who only plans on owning one Alleva-Coppolo and wants it to cross over between the vintage tones and more modern. We'll see.....In any case I'll need to try a set of Nickel low riders before making any moves...

Pete

 

[esoxhntr]

Peter - and anyone else that is interested...

I received my bent plate bridge yesterday and installed it on my LG5 fretless. I am very pleased with the results. The bass lost none of it's "mwaah", in fact the action could be lowered a bit and I have at least the same "mwaah", maybe even a bit more. The rather sharp attack of the ebony board has been attenuated, and the instrument is now "nicely articulate" as opposed to "sharply defined". The upper mids no longer have a dipped response. The sound is definitely still punchy, and has that nice naturally burpy front pickup sound. There is still a nice response to different attacks, but the LG5 is a little less "touchy" about them. The bass is also less noisy when favouring one pickup over the other (I did not expect that). Overall, my LG5 now just sounds older, warmer, and more organic (a goofy word to use, but strangely accurate).

Peter, I think you'll find that the vintage bridge goes a long way towards where you're headed, combined with the right strings. I'd recommend Fodera Wooten nickel strings in light guage (.040 - .120), but I'm sure someone will be along in 5 minutes to slag them for being too expensive. I disagree, those strings are magic with Jimmy's basses - particularly the 5 strings models - and well worth the higher cost... IMO.

 

[Vic]

Peter - and anyone else that is interested...

I received my bent plate bridge yesterday and installed it on my LG5 fretless. I am very pleased with the results. The bass lost none of it's "mwaah", in fact the action could be lowered a bit and I have at least the same "mwaah", maybe even a bit more. The rather sharp attack of the ebony board has been attenuated, and the instrument is now "nicely articulate" as opposed to "sharply defined". The upper mids no longer have a dipped response. The sound is definitely still punchy, and has that nice naturally burpy front pickup sound. There is still a nice response to different attacks, but the LG5 is a little less "touchy" about them. The bass is also less noisy when favouring one pickup over the other (I did not expect that). Overall, my LG5 now just sounds older, warmer, and more organic (a goofy word to use, but strangely accurate).

These results don't surprise me at all. Thing is, Jimmy's bent plate is actually beefier than a truly traditional vintage "tin can" bridge, and quite a bit higher quality. Personally, even though they're higher tech than the original thing, I think they're perfect for their design goals... vintage look, but with tonal improvements based on lessons learned over the years.

I'd recommend Fodera Wooten nickel strings in light guage (.040 - .120), but I'm sure someone will be along in 5 minutes to slag them for being too expensive. I disagree, those strings are magic with Jimmy's basses - particularly the 5 strings models - and well worth the higher cost... IMO.

Higher cost compared to what? I did a little checking around and I'm finding 5 string sets for 30-35, which is about the same as you'd pay for DR. I know there are cheaper sets out there, but it's not like the extra amount you'd pay for Thomastiks, for example. THOSE are expensive strings!

 

[esoxhntr]

Higher cost compared to what? I did a little checking around and I'm finding 5 string sets for 30-35, which is about the same as you'd pay for DR. I know there are cheaper sets out there, but it's not like the extra amount you'd pay for Thomastiks, for example. THOSE are expensive strings

Well, I've generally found the Fodera Signature Series strings to be a little more pricey (maybe I'm buying them from the wrong place?), and I've had others on here tell me that they think that Fodera strings are overpriced, specifically compared to DR. Not exactly exhaustive research, just represents my field of experience.

Agreed, not nearly as expensive as Thomastiks, which are also well worth it for the right situation.

 

[peterpalmieri]

Peter - and anyone else that is interested...

I received my bent plate bridge yesterday and installed it on my LG5 fretless. I am very pleased with the results. The bass lost none of it's "mwaah", in fact the action could be lowered a bit and I have at least the same "mwaah", maybe even a bit more. The rather sharp attack of the ebony board has been attenuated, and the instrument is now "nicely articulate" as opposed to "sharply defined". The upper mids no longer have a dipped response. The sound is definitely still punchy, and has that nice naturally burpy front pickup sound. There is still a nice response to different attacks, but the LG5 is a little less "touchy" about them. The bass is also less noisy when favouring one pickup over the other (I did not expect that). Overall, my LG5 now just sounds older, warmer, and more organic (a goofy word to use, but strangely accurate).

Peter, I think you'll find that the vintage bridge goes a long way towards where you're headed, combined with the right strings. I'd recommend Fodera Wooten nickel strings in light guage (.040 - .120), but I'm sure someone will be along in 5 minutes to slag them for being too expensive. I disagree, those strings are magic with Jimmy's basses - particularly the 5 strings models - and well worth the higher cost... IMO.

Very cool information.......

 

[esoxhntr]

Vic - just checked out juststrings.com. Fodera strings seem to be a couple bucks more than comparative DR models. Certainly not prohibitively priced...

Peter - only my $.02, but the vintage bridge certainly does better "Jaco", though I would not call myself an expert.

 

[Vic]

Vic - just checked out juststrings.com. Fodera strings seem to be a couple bucks more than comparative DR models. Certainly not prohibitively priced...

Peter - only my $.02, but the vintage bridge certainly does better "Jaco", though I would not call myself an expert.

Yeah, exactly... not enough of a diff for someone to object for too high of a cost.

I've never tried them, myself, though I think I may now.

 

[MikeXbass]

So its finally my turn to post on here OFFICIALLY...

Im an OFFICIAL Alleva Coppolo owner..i traded my fodera 6 for this LG5 and i cant say enough how IMPRESSED i am with this bass....

Had BBMARO come out to our concert here in San Diego (who i traded basses with) and Dan Knowlton a fellow TB'er...and i must say...THESE GUYS WERE TOP NOTCH GUYS....Dan has #15 LG5, which was INCREDIBLE! got to share bass talk with these guys and fellow Bassist networking...Great Guys!

here a surprise pic during one of my many "breaks" haha..
Cant express how floored i am at how this bass performs!

Thanks
Mike X Zuniga

 

[jonno1707]

Welcome bro it only gets better...

 

[peterpalmieri]

So its finally my turn to post on here OFFICIALLY...

Im an OFFICIAL Alleva Coppolo owner..i traded my fodera 6 for this LG5 and i cant say enough how IMPRESSED i am with this bass....

Great lookin' bass good luck with it...

 

[Vic]

Welcome bro it only gets better...

+1

 

[Dan Knowlton]

So its finally my turn to post on here OFFICIALLY...

Mike ABSOLUTELY ripped it up last night - grooved, licks, taste...and the new bass sounded great also!

It was really nice chatting bass with fellow addicts -

There were some technical problems with the click - but Mike dealt with it and made sure the music was great. What he did not say is that he was the musical director - and he kept the band together in what could have been a disaster.

I had a GREAT time last night! And his bass looks/sounds fantastic (but I didn't have to say that about one of Jimmy's basses - they all are great!).

Dan K.

Dan K.

 

[YCBass]

Congrats MikeX, nice looking bass there! Gosh I wanted that Fodera 6 you had.

Man, my bass is still far away from completion but the anticipation builds more and more everyday. I wish I had the cash to pick one up now to tide me over, but my trusty Lull has to do til then.

 

[MikeXbass]

Thanks to all for the warm welcome..
Lookin forward to tomorrows concert in Van Nuys..

@Dan..
Man last night was by far the top on the list for issues..but thanks for the compliments..we enjoy what we do and we always try to have fun with it..but man..some stuff does get annoying especiallywhen sound checks are so grueling and we leave it perfect..but hey..That's life..haha


Thanks to Dan and Maro for coming out..
Glad we could hang even if for a bit..lookin forward to next time gentlemen..


Mike

 

[esoxhntr]

Hey Mike - welcome to the party! That bass has a beautiful classic look, congrats.

 

[MikeXbass]

Have a quick question..
My bass didn't come with setup tools..can u guys give me specific sizes of Allen wrench for bridge and I'm assuming a large flat head screwdriver (with PG off) to adjust neck..correct..?

I've got two more concerts today (sat) and I was gonna just take it in for a Quick setup
but $60 setup at California vintage guitars is CRAZY..!
Nothing huge..just string unbalance and a slight ..I mean slight bow..

Thanks for the help in advance!
Mike X

 

[west*coast*bass]

Have a quick question..
My bass didn't come with setup tools..can u guys give me specific sizes of Allen wrench for bridge and I'm assuming a large flat head screwdriver (with PG off) to adjust neck..correct..?

I've got two more concerts today (sat) and I was gonna just take it in for a Quick setup
but $60 setup at California vintage guitars is CRAZY..!
Nothing huge..just string unbalance and a slight ..I mean slight bow..

Thanks for the help in advance!
Mike X

Hey, not sure where you are today but if you are near Van Nuys (a Los Angeles suburb) you can call Eric Chaz of Eric's Guitar. He does fantastic setups and charges around $45.

He has been doing all my work for more than a decade.

Good luck!

 

[KJung]

Have a quick question..
My bass didn't come with setup tools..can u guys give me specific sizes of Allen wrench for bridge and I'm assuming a large flat head screwdriver (with PG off) to adjust neck..correct..?

I've got two more concerts today (sat) and I was gonna just take it in for a Quick setup
but $60 setup at California vintage guitars is CRAZY..!
Nothing huge..just string unbalance and a slight ..I mean slight bow..

Thanks for the help in advance!
Mike X

Bridge (assuming you have the standard bridge) is .050.

There is NO reason to take the guard off when adjusting the neck. Typically, with these basses, you are talking about, at most, an eighth of a turn either way. A large flathead screwdriver works fine... just keep it from laying on the guard so it doesn't scuff a bit at the adjustment opening.

I found a nice 'bent shank' flathead screwdriver that works great. However, most of these designs have a shank that is too long to fit into the adjustment pocket.

Enjoy!

 

[KJung]

Here's a picture of my primary gigging bass for this relatively new thread. It's a pretty standard LM, about 9 pounds or so. I've been gigging this as my primary bass for almost three years now, and it still puts a smile on my face every time I play it. The neck is rock solid (I've adjusted it once or twice at most since I purchased it), the action is very fast and clean, and the sound is a wonderful 'A-C' take on the classic 70's J bass tone (with DR Hi Beams). Sounds great active or passive to me!