molan

my most used gigging bass is a Fodera '86 Monarch - I swear no-one has ever noticed it. . .

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='1337886' date='Aug 12 2011, 04:51 PM']Then he goes and flogs it - very respectful Gorgeous looking bass btw - his loss, your gain![/quote] I've spoken to Jason today & it seems that he didn't have it long at all as he'd already fallen in love with another of Jimmy's basses. I think he played or even owned nearly half of all of Jimmy's early production models, lol. I've been close to buying two others of his in the past - he really knows his AC basses so pretty much anything he's owned is guaranteed to be a 'good un'

[quote name='Gust0o' post='1337683' date='Aug 12 2011, 02:31 PM']Molan, that's absolutely stunning. As is traditional when we meet, I remain somewhere jealous of some of the gear you lay your hands on Interesting on the personal inscription. I've always wondered on the etiquette of such - do you know the story?[/quote] I've asked Jimmy for a little more background but the inscription reads: "built by Jimmy Coppolo for Jason Langley. Thanks for all the years of friendship, support and the push to get these basses up and running!" Jimmy told me Jason was his best friend and I've spoken to Jason a few times via TalkBass. Lovely guy and super friendly, being Jimmy's mate means he seems to get first shout on quite a few of Jimmy's best basses & has owned several of them. I like the fact that this particular one was made especially for him

Agreed a PX deal recently with a really guy in Israel & his side of the trade arrived today. A very special Alleva Coppolo KBP4 Custom built by Jimmy for his best friend [url="http://www.jasonlangley.com/jasonlangley.com/Welcome.html"]Jason Langley[/url] with a personal inscription on the neck, back in October '07. Not had much time to play yet but thought I'd post a few pics anyway. Difficult to really catch the sparkle properly so there's a few similar ones, with & without flash :

[quote name='Bassonata' post='1333993' date='Aug 9 2011, 07:00 PM']For those that own, or have owned them, do you feel they're a sound investment?[/quote] If by 'investment' you mean 'do they hold their value' then I'm afraid it's a resounding no I'm not really sure why but Roscoes seem to plummet in value on the used market. Doesn't mean they aren't amazing basses, just that if you're considering buying new then you really need to believe it's something you're going to hold on to for a long time.

Just got this month's newsletter from BassGear and it has details about the new premises in Berkshire: [i]"Our Big News is that we have now moved to our new premises and are in the process of getting it ready to receive visitors from 27th August. Our showroom address is Unit 2, Twyford Business Park, [b]Gas Lane[/b] (yes, really!), Twyford, Reading, Berkshire, RG10 9TU. We are a mere stone's throw from Twyford rail station, which is only 39 minutes direct from London Paddington by train. The A4/M4 and M40 are very close too, and for you high-flyers, Bass Gear is the nearest bass dedicated retailer to London Heathrow airport. Meanwhile, please note that our ecommerce site will [url="http://www.bassgear.co.uk/2011/08/important-news-bass-gear-shuts-down-temporarily/"]not be accepting purchases from now until 23rd August[/url]"[/i] Looking forward to the opening day on 27th August to see how my GAS is affecting me. . . Nice little article linked from the newsletter from Geoff Chalmers who some of you might have seen at the Yorks Bass bash with Scott Devine [url="http://www.bassgear.co.uk/2011/07/pros-tools-geoff-chalmers/"]http://www.bassgear.co.uk/2011/07/pros-tools-geoff-chalmers/[/url]

I've always like tort against sonic blue

Interesting - thanks guys. I read a review somewhere that said they genuinely do seem to Stay In Tune once fitted & stretched in etc. I'll do some digging on the range options

[quote name='Bankai' post='1334445' date='Aug 10 2011, 02:26 AM']Let me know if you fancy coming and I'll give you a private booth to have a noodle in.[/quote] Too slow - he's already got one Bought it from Phil at BassGear (who also lent me one for a few days to try out at home!). I think Phil has several in stock as well now

I wondered if anyone here had used any of the SIT string range? [url="http://sitstrings.com/strings/bass"]http://sitstrings.com/strings/bass[/url] I did a quick search but the last time this seemed to come up was back in '08 & it seemed distribution was pretty sparse.

Isn't that surf green rather than sonic blue? Looks great - I think the 5 string LG is very much Jimmy's 'sweet spot', no-one else really covers this area in the way he does Good on Phil at BassGear for getting it for you - he seems to be able to 'coax' stuff out of Jimmy that other people aren't able to do

I've also heard a lot of good things about Lava cables. Quite a few 'name' players in the States seem to use, and recommend, them.

[quote name='pietruszka' post='1301435' date='Jul 12 2011, 07:02 PM']Im very keen to know how it compares to the AG500. Is it the same or are there noticeable difference in sound. Im tempted by one to reduce my baggage. Dan[/quote] Definitely smoother and 'warmer' than the AG500. I think the AG is a much cleaner amp (with everything set flat) than the DB750 as well so I'd think the TH is closer in some ways to the DB. Unfortunately it's a while since I've had a DB so I can't remember exactly how close they might be. The drive circuit feels 'softer' than the AG's saturation channel. Bit more expressive and sounds very nice with a P bass. I was playing my '63 through it into a pair of Bag Ends yesterday and it sounded nicer than the best sounds I've managed to coax out of either the AG or the Thunderfunk I have at the moment. I'm not sure it works as well when used with something like my Fodera. Both the AG & TF really come into their own here. Could be that the AG 7 TF are more 'immediate' sounding so maybe I need to spend some more time on this combination. Haven't gigged with the TH (I only have it 'trial') but a couple of us wound it up to some pretty serious volume yesterday through three different rigs. It goes pretty loud but does, unsurprisingly, start to break up a bit at near full whack. In most cases the cabs started to lose definition before the head though and the break up from the TH sounded quite 'musical' and not at all harsh like an older tranny amp might sound. I would say that both the AG & the TF seemed to go louder than the TH (all three rated about the same power) but I think that's because the other two were able to retain their clean volume higher up the volume scale. We were testing in a smallish room so couldn't really tell which amp/cab combination had the longest 'throw'. We did think that at one point the TH on near full whack prompted either the neighbours to bang on the wall or for something like a picture frame to be rattled loose so I guess that's some sort of recommendation It also weighs nothing and is a great little size. Would be perfect with my Bag End 1x10 for rehearsals and small gigs as I could carry the complete 'rig' plus a bass in one simple trip. . .

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='1325523' date='Aug 3 2011, 12:27 PM']I love Barts, they look different so they'll never sound right to the vintage crowd but they don't click when the string hits a pole, they're shielded and hard to break. Also the original EMG P has been amazing in my experience but is now way out of fashion.[/quote] I forgot about Barts! My old Performance P bass had a Bart replacement & it sounded great. Modern EMG's seem to be a lot brighter than the older ones. I have an '86 in a Fodera Monarch that is very sweet sounding but the one in my newer Fodera is a lot more modern and 'hi fi' sounding.

[quote name='bh2' post='1324365' date='Aug 2 2011, 03:25 PM']All these are just overpriced, over made, over engineered fender jazz copies. Buy the real thing and save yourself some pennies. Here's a nice custom shop jazzer... Guitar Village have one sans pickguard and covers for £2379 [url="http://www.guitarvillage.co.uk/productdetail.aspx?pid=10740&c=173"]http://www.guitarvillage.co.uk/productdeta...10740&c=173[/url][/quote] Isn't the Guitar Village one a re-make of a '64 Fender Jazz? If so, wouldn't that make it the epitome of an overpriced, over made, [i]under engineered[/i] Fender Jazz copy

For a vintage 'look' that has some nice wear-in marking the Duncan Antiquities are nice and not crazy money. However I have heard that the SPB vintage ones sound more like an original 60's Fender. The Duncan site is full of useful stuff including a tone comparison chart: [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/comparetones"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/comparetones[/url] Irritatingly it doesn't include the Antiquities here. I did speak to someone last year who fitted one of Jimmy Coppolo's hand made P pickups in a Fender '62 USA and he said it 'transformed' the bass. I think they are about £125 - £150 in the UK.

Thanks for all the help and pointers guys - I'm a real novice at this! I have managed to source some pics of the headstock before the recent refin - not nice at all. . .

My favourites are Celinder, Alleva Coppolo & Fodera NYC with Sadowsky & Sei following just behind. They all sound & feel quite different (certainly the ones I've played anyway). My very top-line summary would be: Celinder - just a great all round J bass, love the Greengrove pre-amps (although I'm playing my passive one more than the active at the moment). Able to nail a surprising array of sounds. Alleva Coppolo - perfect vintage vibe but with some nice more modern touches via the pre-amp. My absolute favourite onboard pre as it happens, near impossible to get a bad sound from one of Jimmy's pre's. Known mostly for replicating '60's basses but he has ranges that span '70's as well which are just as good. Fodera NYC - epitome of a 'modern' super J. Some stunning tops make them look gorgeous too. Decent onboard tonal options depending on which pre is installed and a great 'snap' & sizzle' to them. Duncan dual coils deliver a very different sound to the single coil J's and are very flexible indeed. Sadowsky - another very modern sounding bass with a unique tone from the boost only active pre. A really good one sounds great but there are some out there that can be a little 'antiseptic'. Sei - impossibly to generalise because they are all made to order and Martin will build whatever is ordered. His necks are pretty much always fabulous and a dream to play. Obviously this is a purely personal view based on basses I've actually owned (or had in my possession for a decent amount of time) and, let's face it, everyone's view is going to differ from everyone else's! Also - shameless plug but I'm probably going to sell one of my Celinders if something like that takes your fancy