NBD-Epiphone Allen Woody Blue Royale Chicago Pearl content

Well, after the earlier-week snowstorm and related shipping delays, I finally took possession of my new bass, an Epiphone Allen Woody Signature Rumblekat bass in the Blue Royale Chicago Pearl color (that's a mouthful!!). I had an Allen Woody sig in the original Wine Red transparent color a few years ago and I got rid of it for some reason or other. It was a good bass, but I didn't appreciate it at the time.

Fast forward to today, and I'm definitely appreciating it now! It's a bit heavier than the last one I owned, but it's still under 7 1/2lbs. It feels more substantial and not at all "toy-like" in the way my original Rumblekat did. The binding is nice and even around the body and up the neck, the finish is smooth and consistant, and the neck has a nice chunkiness to it that feels great in short-scale. The gloss-finished neck doesn't feel grabby, either, so that's a plus. The action is nice and low, and it really feels great to play.

Now the cons: The tuners feel kind of cheap, but they are functional and hold their tuning. I always thought that the Rumblekat would look better with a set of elephant-ear style tuning pegs, so I'll probably swap them out down the road. I'm not complaining, and I realize that costs have to be saved somewhere. Also, while I was looking the bass over I saw that the 3-point bridge wasn't set correctly. The single angle-bolt that is closest to the pups was set lower than the 2 rear bolts, and this can lead to the 2 height-adjustment bolt studs to be over stressed and pull out of the body. Guess what happened? Yup, the E-side stud was pulling out of the body. No biggie, as I've had to make this repair on other Epiphone basses I've owned over the years. Now it's fixed and properly adjusted, so all is good. Some owners would return it immediately, and that's ok, but for me it wasn't a big deal, and the rest of the setup feels too good to send it back.

Pics:





I tried to highlight some of the sparkle in the finish with my phone's flash, but those pics make the color appear to be more periwinkle than royale! I also like how the Chicago Pearl binding looks more like an aged pearl than grey. It's a classy look all around, imo.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, it sounds great! Loads of low-end, with a hint of highs from the stock roundwounds. It's definitely a low-fi sound that should fit great in most any rock, blues, folk or country situation. And add in a pick, and you'll add some more high-end into the sound while still having ample lows. Roll back the tone knob, and it could probably fit right in a reggae band. Tons of tubbiness on tap.

Anyways, thanks for checking it out!