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Epi Allen Woody Rumblekat

#101
I played one of the Allen Woody basses at a music-go-round ... the smallness made it seem like a toy to me. It didn't feel right. I used to play Hofners and now they feel too small and toy like to me as well.

I am used to 33" and 34" scale 5 string basses.
 
#102
georgiagoodie said:
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That's what I'm talking about! :D

I'm essentially looking at doing the same thing. How much routing was involved?

Starting to look like we might need our own TB club. How about it? "The Epiphone Rumblekat Appreciation Society?"

:D
 
#103
Finally got the new Hipshots on. Didn't really save me much weight (8.2oz for the old set, 7.1oz for the new set), but the tuning is much smoother and more stable. One of the tuners (the low E) was slightly off-kilter from the factory, so I decided that rather than fixing it, I would angle all of the tuners downward. I've always really liked how that looked on Warwick basses, so I went for it.

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Couldn't quite get the severity of the Warwick angle without the machine housing popping out from behind the headstock, but I like how it turned out.
 
#104
Can anyone tell me how the rumblecat compares to a Hofner Violin or club in tone? I think its modelled on a Hofner Club bass but the online sound clips i've heard of it sound like it has more "honk" than a violin bass.

Love to try one but i don't see many around, but i'd be interested if i could get a vintage hollow body bass sound out of it (think Macca Hofner)
 
#105
boristhespider7 said:
Can anyone tell me how the rumblecat compares to a Hofner Violin or club in tone? I think its modelled on a Hofner Club bass but the online sound clips i've heard of it sound like it has more "honk" than a violin bass.

Love to try one but i don't see many around, but i'd be interested if i could get a vintage hollow body bass sound out of it (think Macca Hofner)
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I think it has a lot more "honk" than a violin. The violin bass I owned had a more open airy sound, not thin, but like there was a lot of air under it. The Rumblekat has a more solid gutsy, or ballsy tone to it. Think in the guitar world of say a big full bodied hollowbody like an Ibanez AF vs a 335 or even a Les Paul. Hope that gives you a little idea.

On another note, any of you have any setup numbers and measurements? Like relief, string height, and pickup height. I've not got it fully setup yet, cause when I dig in I keep hitting either frets, or PU's, and I don't want to lower the pups too much or raise the strings too high...
 
#106
RedsFan75 said:
Nice, I like the rings you have there. How's it sound with the TV Jones in it?
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Thanks.
Those are the creme "Gibson"-type pup rings that came with the pups. They DO look good on her.
I am not sure how much routing was involved. My ace guitar tech, Jason, at Too Many Guitars, in ATL (404-663-9321) does ALL my work. He ROCKS!
I have not had much of a chance to play her with the new pups in. I do know I am getting a very even sound/vol across all the strings, and more definition than the stockers. It IS very important to have the strings directly above the pole pieces on these pups, but that is easy with the Supertone bridge. The middle pup (ThunderMag) has more highs and "grit" than the neck (ThunderTron) pup. Both pups on with just a tad off the neck pup vol pot sounds best so far.....BUT both vol pots all the way up sounds cool too (mid scoop/less vol.). VERY quiet, a far as hum goes.
As far as sound clips...my computer skills do not allow that at this time....Perhaps T.V. Jones can supply that.
 
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#111
Im gonna dig it out :) Would like to put TVjones pickup in middle position but have some concerns . Want to have Thunder'mag ..but string spacing is ok only for neck version (will stay with 3point bridge) . Or maybe Thunder'blade ?
Since this bass I use mostly for hardrock what is going to give me more agressive, cuting through tone - thunder'mag neck version with lower output than bridge version or bridge version of thunder'blade which seems to be more polite on paper ? :)
 
#112
pgolowacz said:
Im gonna dig it out :) Would like to put TVjones pickup in middle position but have some concerns . Want to have Thunder'mag ..but string spacing is ok only for neck version (will stay with 3point bridge) . Or maybe Thunder'blade ?
Since this bass I use mostly for hardrock what is going to give me more agressive, cuting through tone - thunder'mag neck version with lower output than bridge version or bridge version of thunder'blade which seems to be more polite on paper ? :)
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Have you looked on YouTube to see if there are any videos? Or ask TV Jones himself!!!
 
#117
Hi folks, I've heard nothing but praises about the Epi Rumblekat so I'm thinking about getting one as a second bass. However, I'm mostly a fingerpicking player, so I'm a bit concern regarding strings spacing. I've been trying to get this info from Epiphone but I didn't find anything online. Would someone of you please share this specs? Information about strings spacing at the bridge and neck width at the last fret would me much appreciated. Also some comments about neck dive!

Many thanks in advance. Greetings from the Southern Hemisphere!
 
#118
professor keller said:
Hi folks, I've heard nothing but praises about the Epi Rumblekat so I'm thinking about getting one as a second bass. However, I'm mostly a fingerpicking player, so I'm a bit concern regarding strings spacing. I've been trying to get this info from Epiphone but I didn't find anything online. Would someone of you please share this specs? Information about strings spacing at the bridge and neck width at the last fret would me much appreciated. Also some comments about neck dive!

Many thanks in advance. Greetings from the Southern Hemisphere!
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There are some used ones up on eBay right now, so if you don't get a response here, I'm sure eBay sellers would be happy to provide the info you're looking for!
 
#119
Just measured mine. Fingerboard is 1.5" at the nut and 2.25" at the 20th (last) fret. Same dimensions as a Jazz Bass neck, though of course it's a 30" scale bass

if you've never played a Rumblekat you should know that they produce a basa-heavy tone, similar to a Gibson EB-0 (though more resonant). The base was designed by the late Allen Woody of the Allman Brothers and Government Mule. He was a pick player who favored a heavily distorted tone with the Mule, and the bass was designed with that in mind. It's a bit of a one-trick pony, so I would suggest before you pull the trigger on one that you know what it sounds like and that you like it.

Cheers!
 

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