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La Bella Olinto Club
- Thread starter taylor16
- Start date
Dear Olinto family, i have for trade in the Iternational classified a beautiful Fodera Emperor Classic 5 if someone intersted.
Best
Best
Reviving this thread for real 'gig' reports.
Covid hasn't been good to any gigging musician round my parts, but there's a few of my full-time brethren that have been making it work, and have been lining up regular things throughout the week. Doesn't pay much, and honestly, as a guy with a nice 'essential employee', full-time gig, I would much rather one of those 'this is all I do' guys get those gigs than me, who doesn't really need the money when you come right down to it.
The one 'gig' I've had has been every Thursday heading out to a blues jam session. Good friends, and they'll usually let me sit in for the last few tunes of the evening.
Thing is, even though I'm a die-hard 'Sadowsky nut' and have brought my main player, my PJ5, aka 'big daddy' P ...
... it's become apparent that, especially for the Freddie King/The Meters tunes I end up getting to play, that the Olinto is 'the' bass tone. It works better in the mix, it fits the style of music more, and the more and more I play it, the more and more I'm preferring the all-passive tone/feel.That and I'm getting some 'love marks' on that nitro finish:
1) The foam mute takes even more of the sustain (news to no one I hope) out of her, and puts it even more firmly in the 'Jamerson with a B' camp
2) I did end up putting my favorite set of strings ever on her ... D'Addario Chromes, which have the B to beat IMO/IME and feel pretty great everywhere else even though the LaBella Low-Tensions are a very close 2nd to me now ... and now it's just a damn wrecking ball
3) This experience of 'hey, bring that funky PBass and leave the Sadowsky at home' has been unexpected, and feels a lot like those moments I've had in studios, when the engineer nods politely at your active bass, maybe even gives you a few takes, and then says 'hey, can we try this Pbass that I keep around the studio' and it absolutely kills it on tape and has you questioning why you ever need an active bass.
I'm very close to pulling the trigger on an Olinto 4 string... And, this may not be the best place to ask, but, is there anything anyone wishes their bass had or didn't have? I'm also curious what people feel these have over Moollon, CS Fenders, Lakland, etc.?
Just a lot of scratch to pay form something I don't have the ability to try firsthand. Thanks all!
Just a lot of scratch to pay form something I don't have the ability to try firsthand. Thanks all!
Not really. I think because the necks are hand carved there can be some variation in the shape and thickness and the rolling of the fingerboard edges. I don't know the letter category names but mine is like a medium thickness vintage feeling neck with 1.75 nut. It feels great.
Also the pickup helps set it apart from some other p basses imo, it's high output but with a lot of clarity throughout the range, and a lot of treble at least on my bass. It has a really good dynamic response.
+1 to all of this, but in particular that last bit.
There's something special about this pickup/pots/etc. I've never had a PBass that had so many great sounds by varying the tone knob, and which isn't completely 'mud city' with the tone control rolled off.
Makes me want to have an ash/maple model just for the grindy/spanky side of the PBass spectrum.
Hey all, any idea as to whether these instruments can be ordered in custom scale length? I really like the idea of the Olinto 5, especially with the 10" radius, but am on a 32" scale trip these days; I enjoy what it does tonally and the playability enhancement is a bonus. Essentially I want one of my MIJ Precisions in a 5. From what I've seen of P focused builds, if anyone can knock it out of the park, these folks can.
Much obliged sir. I’ve followed your posts here for a while and know for a fact that you’ve got some nice’ns as well!
Olinto in particular has completely satisfied my ‘Vintage P with a Low B’ fantasy. Now the only thing is to have more of them.
Just picked this up in trade last week. String with LaBella rounds when I got it. Have some Deep Talkin’ flats in the way. Great sounding, playing bass. Not too hard on the eyes either....
Ratty jean jacket with sleeves rolled up to show your tats. Spiked bracelet and pint o’ whoosky in yer back pocket.
Waiting for mine..should be in the final step of building process
