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Epi Allen Woody Rumblekat

BayStateBass

BayStateBass

Jan 25, 2012
1,953
169
Central Massachusetts
#1
Got to try this one out on my lunch break at my local music store. It came in with an Epi order, the guys there weren't sure why they got it, so they asked me to play it/review it.

Epiphone - Allen Woody Rumblekat

First off, I love playing lower priced basses. They're always in my budget and you can have an awful lot of fun for some short money. Plus, local shops will let you spend all day playing the low buck stuff with no pressure. I'm that dingbat that would have an arsenal of Squiers, Epi's, and Jay Tursers as opposed to a couple Fenders or Gibsons. Dumb, I know, but hey, that's how I roll.

This thing is an absolute blast to play. The short scale makes it simple to move around, the neck is solid, the fretboard is smooth, and it carries a low end decent (played through a smaller Rumble amp at the store). I was very impressed in almost every fashion. Comfortable, fairly light, plays very, very easily, has a decent sound, would make a perfect bass for a converted guitarist (like me), and looks better in person than in the pictures . And a SET NECK! All for the grand total of $399 (what the store wants for it).

Anyone else try one of these? I have to say....I'm thinking about picking this one up......:)
 
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#2
I've never tried one, but I'd be curious to play one to see what it sounded like. I've talked to two people who have played one. One was a big guy who said the Epi was heavy. The other was a petite young woman who said the Epi was light. Both are excellent bassists, by the way. So, I don't know what to think. The guy kind of liked the way it sounded, but the girl didn't.
 
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#3
It seemed to have a muddier type of sound, but it could have been the Fender Rumble. I had the tone contol all the way up on the bass and I boosted the treble on the amp quite a bit, too.

Personally I liked it and could absolutely see it winding up in my living room soon.....
 
#4
I actually bought one without ever actually playing it! I read all the reviews and decided what the heck? I wanted a relatively light bass that I could perform with comfortably for a four hour gig, and I really liked the way it looked in the website photos. Well the website photos don't do it any justice! This is an absolutely gorgeous instrument! Beautiful finish,decent action (with a little tweaking to my personal preferences) and a set of flat wound LaBellas made this little jewel really shine. The pickups sound great and the hardware is heavy duty. I'm not a real big fan of gold plating, but it seems to be holding up well after a couple of months of gigging. I play this thing through an Ampeg SVT head with 2-10's and 1-15 speaker cab and the bottom is outrageous but not too muddy. I am very satisfied! And to top it off, I got a discount on it and got it for $340.
 
#6
eddymusic said:
I actually bought one without ever actually playing it! I read all the reviews and decided what the heck? I wanted a relatively light bass that I could perform with comfortably for a four hour gig, and I really liked the way it looked in the website photos. Well the website photos don't do it any justice! This is an absolutely gorgeous instrument! Beautiful finish,decent action (with a little tweaking to my personal preferences) and a set of flat wound LaBellas made this little jewel really shine. The pickups sound great and the hardware is heavy duty. I'm not a real big fan of gold plating, but it seems to be holding up well after a couple of months of gigging. I play this thing through an Ampeg SVT head with 2-10's and 1-15 speaker cab and the bottom is outrageous but not too muddy. I am very satisfied! And to top it off, I got a discount on it and got it for $340.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting review. Just based on what I've read about it through the years, I have a feeling I'd like this bass.
 
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#7
I have an Allen Woody and I like it a lot. I put Pyramid Gold flats on mine. First thing I thought was: this sounds just like The Ballard of John and Yoko, which I presume is a Hofner.

Lighter weight than any of my Fenders. Good looking, good sounding, good playing instrument. Hardware seems decent (not really a fan of gold).
 
#10
FWIW....this one was like butter compared to my Schecter. Now don't get me wrong, my Schecter is almost a part of me, but I can't give this thing enough props based on my 45 minute demo. The guys at the music store gave it a basic setup and tune, but I can really see where this thing might shine.

I dropped a little slap on it and it didn't even budge. Very constant and very predictable. It didn't pop as well as my Schecter, but I think the action was a little off. And the intonation was awful, but it's all just setup. They were actually just tweaking it when I walked in and they said, "BayStateBass (well, actually, they said my name), we just got this in. You're the bass player, you wanna try this and tell us what you think?"

But this would be great for a good fingerstyle player, someone with small hands, someone who's used to guitar scale, or a guitar player looking to add bass to their act. Reaching 5ths is easy and requires little effort. The one thing that throws you a little is the pickup placement. They're high. If you, like most people, rest your thumb on the pup, the neck pup almost touches the fretboard, and the bridge pup is really high compared to a standard bass, so it's almost not a bridge pup, but more of a mid pup. The placement will be funny if you tend to finger toward the bridge and want a twangier sound, but it's possible.

Overall I liked it a lot. Pick players might like it even better.

Overall, I liked it and think it's a good instrument with an easy personality and a lot to like.
 
#12
I thought Woody Allen only played cello:::


tumblr_ltepsr2wK21qc9z47o1_500.jpg
 
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#13
I've had one since Christmas. Nice bass, light and my first shorty. I am a little worried about screwing up development of muscle memory switching between short and long scale.

Overall a great bass especially for the $. Got mine at Hello Music for $300 last fall.

My only (minor) gripes - stock action won't go low enough for me but I was able to fix it with Allparts saddles which are shorter. Also its a little neck heavy - not as well balanced as a Fender. Needs a suede-backed strap to keep it from falling to the floor when you let go.
 
#15
bassfootballguy said:
I had one. It sounded good, played well. But the bridge dislodged from the body repeatedly. If you get one that does not have that issue it is a really cool bass.
Click to expand...

That's a common problem with the Epi bridge on all their basses. The usual fix is to glue the post into the body (gorilla glue).

Mine has been ok so far maybe because I have it so low.

I saw an EB-3 on a retail floor with the same issue. Easy fix but shame on Gibson/Epi for not resolving this common and easy to fix issue. Why not glue it at the plant!?

There's always the hipshot supertone bridge but its expensive and still uses the same mounting posts. Less likely to pop however since you raise the action with saddles in the normal way instead of jacking up the entire bridge.
 
#16
Had 1 of these for a year now,& have read or subscribed to no less than 5 different threads on this great little bass in just the last couple months,not counting the numerous times it gets mentioned in shortscale clubs, those looking for a bass that's easy on the back, semi-hollow basses, roots rock basses etc. I LOVE mine! I actually wanted 1 for about 7 years after seeing it in a mf catalogue before I saw 1 in person. They are hard to find unless you order 1 new. I wanted it mainly because Allen Woody put his name on it, even tho he played long scale just as much as shorties. Saw him 3 times w/ the Allman bros.& he always played
 
#17
Sorry hit send instead of T-birds. He played shorties w/Govt. Mule. This bass is everything I want in a bass, except I occasionally wish the "bridge" p'up was closer to the bridge for some twang. It's been called a 1 trick pony, & I strongly disagree! Just use your hands instead of knobs& there are myriad tones within this awesome axe. Yes the bridge post on the G side came loose. Gorilla glue-problem solved. Anyone considering this bass for any reason should check it out! Beautiful piece of work inspired by a beautiful bass player! I'll retire my soapbox now. Only on TB could I express myself like this& know that someone will understand. What a brotherhood...
 
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#20
I could see this working in very nicely with the blues group I was recently recruited for. Or classic rock. Nice, mellow, full tones, not harsh. Can't see this for modern rock, metal, or alternative. Might be good for country crossover, too. Any music where you want a smooth, steady, resonant bass tone. I'm thinking this might sound even better if strung with flatwounds, although I couldn't find any problems with the OEM strings on it, really.

But in reality, in the hands of the right player, it can probably do most anything. An instrument can't replace talent.
 

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