Alleva Coppolo basses in the UK!...its happening!

[Prosebass]

Just to throw a spanner in the works on the wood aspect I played BigRedx's Born to Rock F4B at the Nottingham Bash yesterday.
If you did a blind test on this bass you would be blown away and have no idea that the only bit of wood on it is behind the fingerboard.
Hows it compare to a seasoned Fender ? better in my opinion and I make basses, certainly opened my eyes regarding design and sound.
At the end of the day the body has a very limited effect on the tone. What you have is a taught bit of wire vibrating over an induction coil.
A recent build of mine was a "Jazz Copy" with an inexpensive basswood poly body with an inexpensive Mighty Mite ebanol fretless neck . It was properly put together but what "made" the bass was its Q-Tuner pickup.

If electronics don't play such a big role and its "the wood" then why do so many hand-built high end basses come with complex expensive pre-amps ?

Wood give a bass feel and makes it look beautiful but the player, the construction quality, the strings and the electrics give it its sound.

The best bedstead ever......

[Kiwi]

[quote name='Prosebass' post='422566' date='Mar 1 2009, 07:22 PM']If electronics don't play such a big role and its "the wood" then why do so many hand-built high end basses come with complex expensive pre-amps ?[/quote]

Because thats what a potential market, who mostly have appearances and word of mouth from over excited new owners to judge these instruments by, expect?

[Prosebass]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='422574' date='Mar 1 2009, 07:31 PM']Because thats what a potential market, who mostly have appearances and word of mouth from over excited new owners to judge these instruments by, expect?[/quote]

Sorry I wasn't asking ,it was a rhetorical question.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='Prosebass' post='422830' date='Mar 2 2009, 12:21 AM']Sorry I wasn't asking ,it was a rhetorical question.[/quote]
Oop! My misinterpretation, sorry.

[Prosebass]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='422870' date='Mar 2 2009, 07:08 AM']Oop! My misinterpretation, sorry. [/quote]

No apology necessary, after a few posts that got out of hand yesterday I think "rhetoricical" and "irony" should be barred from the forum...

Back to the wood ..... it would be interesting to do a side by side test with identical components necks etc but different woods. I always find it strange when people give advice as to what tone a certain wood will give. Indeed woods have different tonal attributes but as with any musical instrument the tone is a sum of the parts.
Its a pity that no real scientific research has been done into this.

[risingson]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='421022' date='Feb 27 2009, 03:39 PM']Yeah but you might also want to ask WHY is Paul Turner playing one? [/quote]

I asked him.

His answer? He likes them. That was good enough for me.

[budget bassist]

I've always thought that wood isn't as important as some people make out. Yeah you can tell when you're playing the bass solo, but when it's in the mix, does it REALLY make that much difference? I've seen bands where the bassist uses an £80 encore p-bass, and had he been using an american fender, it still wouldn't have been that much different. I think electronics make a lot more difference than woods, in my experience anyway, and i've always found that cheaper basses can do the job perfectly well (my most expensive bass cost me £420 and i couldn't ask for anything better)

[CHRISDABASS]

If it helps at all my alder/rosewood NYC Sadowsky and my Ash/Maple Metro UV70 sound pretty flippin different to me! both solo and in the mix!

they have the same pickups and preamp!

i can really hear the difference that the wood is making!

the main difference seems to be the way the different woods affect the mid response! the ash/maple seems to have much more upper mids that the alder/rosewood.

[chris_b]

[quote name='budget bassist' post='424465' date='Mar 3 2009, 08:04 PM']....I've always thought that wood isn't as important as some people make out....[/quote]
This is a quote from Michael Tobias
".... consider that the electric bass is first and foremost an acoustic instrument. If you amplify a 2x4, it will sound like an amplified 2x4. That in itself may not be bad, but it may not be what you need to get the job done. What you need is an instrument that sounds good acoustically; if a bass sounds good without amplification, then it usually sounds good with amplification."

His full article is on [url="http://www.mtdbass.com/articles/quest_for_tone.pdf"]http://www.mtdbass.com/articles/quest_for_tone.pdf[/url]

[chris_b]

[quote name='CHRISDABASS' post='424551' date='Mar 3 2009, 09:38 PM']....If it helps at all my alder/rosewood NYC Sadowsky and my Ash/Maple Metro UV70 sound pretty flippin different to me! both solo and in the mix!
they have the same pickups and preamp! i can really hear the difference that the wood is making!....[/quote]
I've saw the same thing when I owned 2 WAL's. The electrics, pickups and hardware have remaind pretty consistant for many years. I had a bass with Olive Ash facings, which had a tighter, bright tone and one with American Walnut facings, which had a fuller, fatter tone. So I've heard the difference that wood can make to the tone of a bass.
American Walnut was Pete Steven's recommended wood for his fretless basses because he thought it gave them the best tone.

[Prosebass]

[quote name='chris_b' post='424704' date='Mar 4 2009, 01:58 AM']This is a quote from Michael Tobias
".... consider that the electric bass is first and foremost an acoustic instrument. If you amplify a 2x4, it will sound like an amplified 2x4. That in itself may not be bad, but it may not be what you need to get the job done. What you need is an instrument that sounds good acoustically; if a bass sounds good without amplification, then it usually sounds good with amplification."

His full article is on [url="http://www.mtdbass.com/articles/quest_for_tone.pdf"]http://www.mtdbass.com/articles/quest_for_tone.pdf[/url][/quote]

I think it is beyond doubt that wood type has a bearing on the tone but as to quantifying the difference between a 2 x 4 and a nice piece of say American Walnut its not that easy.
As I stated earlier BigRedX's Born to Rock "bedstead" sounds very woody ! and was a complete surprise to me.

Edited March 4, 2009 by Prosebass

[Flanker]

I wanted this bass from the first time I saw a picture of it on the Alleva stand at Namm. It's taken some time but it was worth the wait - beautiful bass.

[ezbass]

[quote name='Flanker' post='501758' date='May 30 2009, 04:43 PM']I wanted this bass from the first time I saw a picture of it on the Alleva stand at Namm. It's taken some time but it was worth the wait - beautiful bass.[/quote]

OMG that's beautiful Flanker, I am hugely jealous, how does it play and sound?

[Platypus]

[quote name='Flanker' post='501758' date='May 30 2009, 04:43 PM']I wanted this bass from the first time I saw a picture of it on the Alleva stand at Namm. It's taken some time but it was worth the wait - beautiful bass.[/quote]

I wondered if you'd gone for it yet, Steve, I had a play on this bass a couple of weeks back, at the Bass Merchant, wonderful bass. Knew it had your name on it, though

Edited May 30, 2009 by Platypus

[Flanker]

Thanks guys, I am well chuffed!

It plays very easily, it feels a lot bigger than my Skjold and the headstock means it's the only bass I've owned that can't fit on the wallstand downstairs! It is 34" scale but the 19mm string spacing feels really wide as I play the Skjold almost exclusively now.

It sounds great, exactly as you'd expect. I prefer to play with the tone off completely (at least at home) and it has a very 'alive' tone - big sound. I can't wait to play it with the band if we ever get round to practising again!

Doesn't work too well with the TechSoundsysytem cab unfortunately but sounds great with the Puma head and BagEnd115 and even better with Ashdown(sold unfortunately). The Tecamp combination is a bit too modern for it.

I'd love to hear it through a NV215 Berg cab and a fat tuby head - earth shattering I would expect.

I know these basses are expensive but I got a good deal on this bass including a trade on a bass I really liked but having played this and the Alleva Coppolo LG5 at BassMerchant I think they are worth the money if it's what you are looking for.

[greyparrot]

[quote name='Platypus' post='501768' date='May 30 2009, 04:54 PM']I wondered if you'd gone for it yet, Steve, I had a play on this bass a couple of weeks back, at the Bass Merchant, wonderful bass. Knew it had your name on it, though [/quote]


I have played both the AC basses that Darren has at bass merchant, and while expensive, they really are beutiful basses, and the Green one with the go faster strip has a really powerful sound. Weather its worth £3800 is up to the buyer. I Think pound for pound my sadowsky is as good in build and in sound, but i think they also have that italion sports car thing about them, and if your willing to pay for it, you must really want it! As far as a working bass goes, id have a fender / sadowsky etc, but as far as the italion sports car thing goes, these do have it. The P bass has a really nicely figured maple neck. I would say the build and woods are a bit like the fender CS stuff. I have had a spector NS5XL redwood from special aged wood. It sounded fantastic, and so did my fender C/S but in all honesty i think the sadowsky has a better sound than both, and thats down to the pre amp not the woods !

GP.

[Marcus]

Well done Steve....... a keeper ?

ATB

Mark

[birdy]

[quote name='Marcus' post='501785' date='May 30 2009, 05:28 PM']Well done Steve....... a keeper ?

ATB

Mark[/quote]

Mark - What's a keeper? :-)

Lovely bass Steve, I am looking forward to owning this one day :-)

[Flanker]

[quote]Lovely bass Steve, I am looking forward to owning this one day :-)[/quote]

You have first dibs Steve

[SpinalTap]

Great looking AC, mr. Flanker.
The greyburst is special, and looks very nice.

[Kongo]

[quote name='chris_b' post='421135' date='Feb 27 2009, 06:14 PM']The point is vibration isn't just "vibration"! The tone of the vibration is very important, unless you play punk or metal! A solid bodied instrument is not going to resonate as a hollow bodied instrument would, but the better the resonance in the instrument the better the tone of the vibration in the string, so the pickup starts with a better tone to work with.[/quote]

I play metal but I'm all about my tone.
Bass plays a bigger part in modern metal these days y'know.

I feel wood is as important as electronics.
I have a bass that sounds really woody un-amplified and guess what...amplified it sounds...really woody!
Likewise, I have one that sounds very clean and bell like...and amplified it sounds?...Yep, clear and bell like.
All you've done is added electronic volume...Pickups also play the part but if a bass sounds woody un-amplified it will sound woody regardless.

[Kiwi]

nice purchase Steve, any sound clips in the pipeline?

[Marcus]

[quote name='birdy' post='501796' date='May 30 2009, 05:43 PM']Mark - What's a keeper? :-)

Lovely bass Steve, I am looking forward to owning this one day :-)[/quote]

I'm hoping to find out for my 40th

[Kiwi]

[quote name='Nick Brown' post='420597' date='Feb 27 2009, 07:41 AM']The Alleva I have is probably the most "alive" instrument that I've personally owned and this translates into it's plugged in
sound, so whatever Jimmy Coppolo's formula is I think it definitely works.[/quote]
Thats the key benefit from a well crafted instrument. If the woods are selected and well matched, the instrument should feel alive. No dead spots, the whole instrument is rigid and each note jumps off the fingerboard. But even the wood from the same tree can sound different depending on what part of the trunk its come from. There's no reliable way to distinguish the best wood from adequate wood apart from experience. It's the acid test of a craftsman who can pick and match the woods that give rise to this quality. There are many similarities with violins in that respect I guess.

BTW, I contacted a supplier of the ancient swamp kauri that was used in that guitar I posted earlier. They want $6500 (£2500) a cubic metre for the most dramatically grained stuff because there's only a limited supply.

[Marcus]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='502692' date='May 31 2009, 11:28 PM']Thats the key benefit from a well crafted instrument. If the woods are selected and well matched, the instrument should feel alive. No dead spots, the whole instrument is rigid and each note jumps off the fingerboard. But even the wood from the same tree can sound different depending on what part of the trunk its come from. There's no reliable way to distinguish the best wood from adequate wood apart from experience. It's the acid test of a craftsman who can pick and match the woods that give rise to this quality. There are many similarities with violins in that respect I guess.

BTW, I contacted a supplier of the ancient swamp kauri that was used in that guitar I posted earlier. They want $6500 (£2500) a cubic metre for the most dramatically grained stuff because there's only a limited supply.[/quote]

Heck..... I think i'll go into the old tree business !!