Revelation 'Precision / Jazz' bass RPJ77
Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 2:21 pmAlan Entwhistle, as we know, produces some excellent pickups (including the Noiseless pickups for Burns). He has also designed some interesting guitars, with worthwhile variations on classic designs. I have several of his Alden range and all have been good'uns.
These days he has been designing the Revelation range. Needing a bass for a particular job, I looked at what he had on offer. My requirement was:
1. Not expensive
2. Light in weight (for a bass) to make it easier to wear for a long-ish period.
3. Strap button opposite the 12th fret (P-bass/J--bass style) because this makes the lower five frets less of a stretch and the request was "don't play high on the neck".
4. Some variation in tone available.
My choice was the RPJ77, a sort of Precision / Jazz hybrid,
At £144 it wasn't expensive for what is a very well-made instrument. Flawless sunburst finish, low action, well-dressed frets, D'Addario strings, individual saddles, two volume one tone - what's not to like? (The light-coloured curl on the upper bout in the picture is from the camera flash)
With it's Basswood body it weighs in a 8 1/2 lbs. By comparison a true Fender Precision is 9 lbs and a Burns Bison a shoulder-numbing 13 lbs.
The P-bass pickup sounds like a P-bass pickup should, but with a little extra gain. The J-bass pickup near the bridge has more bite, but interesting things happen when both are full on together. Some phase cancellation is obviously occurring because the sound has a real twang to it. Back off the J by a quarter turn and the twang disappears but the J still reinforces the P to give a more powerful sound.
As you can probably gather, satisfied customer.
These days he has been designing the Revelation range. Needing a bass for a particular job, I looked at what he had on offer. My requirement was:
1. Not expensive
2. Light in weight (for a bass) to make it easier to wear for a long-ish period.
3. Strap button opposite the 12th fret (P-bass/J--bass style) because this makes the lower five frets less of a stretch and the request was "don't play high on the neck".
4. Some variation in tone available.
My choice was the RPJ77, a sort of Precision / Jazz hybrid,
Revelation RPJ77 bass.JPG- (92.93 KiB) Downloaded 5908 times
At £144 it wasn't expensive for what is a very well-made instrument. Flawless sunburst finish, low action, well-dressed frets, D'Addario strings, individual saddles, two volume one tone - what's not to like? (The light-coloured curl on the upper bout in the picture is from the camera flash)
With it's Basswood body it weighs in a 8 1/2 lbs. By comparison a true Fender Precision is 9 lbs and a Burns Bison a shoulder-numbing 13 lbs.
The P-bass pickup sounds like a P-bass pickup should, but with a little extra gain. The J-bass pickup near the bridge has more bite, but interesting things happen when both are full on together. Some phase cancellation is obviously occurring because the sound has a real twang to it. Back off the J by a quarter turn and the twang disappears but the J still reinforces the P to give a more powerful sound.
As you can probably gather, satisfied customer.
