I've owned some nice basses over the years, Overwater, Goodfellow, Wal, Rickenbacker, Fender, Gibson etc and most of
my gigging has been done, playing bass. When my last band split recently, I thought I'd probably not play bass again. But to my surprise, the old, low-end 4 (5) stringed guitar, has continued to inspire me. When composing, it's many a time, the peice starts with an interesting (to me) bass line. And even when the bass line is added to a fully constructed peice, it can often make or break the arrangement.
Anyways, finally I got to see this Epi bass, in a shop. My first thought was, that it's wine red colour looks a lot darker and nicer, than in the internet pics, I'd seen. My second, was that thankfully, it had been set up well. So, a good start.
So I got this baby home and put it through my Ampeg combo. Now, in the shop and at home, I kind of knew what to
expect, tonally. Having 2, passive, mini-humbuckers, near the neck and a semi-hollow body, I expected and got some
fairly traditional, retro, Gibsonesque tones. So if you are after the sounds of a Fender Jazz or P. bass, look elsewhere.
Having said that, this is no one trick pony. With a very simple and effective control set up, of one overall tone knob and a volume knob for each pickup, there is some nice subtleties in tone to be had from this bass. Being of simple tastes, I quickly identified the 5 most useable and easily dialled in, control combinations.
1. Both pickups on full (10). Which gives the thickest tone. Pleasing to the ear and responsive to playing techinque.
2. Neck pickup on full (10) and middle pickup on 7. Gives a more articulate tone but still full and responsive.
3. Neck pickup on 7 and middle pickup on full (10). Similar to 2. but with a little more edge.
4. Neck pickup on full (10) and middle pick up off. A nice, retro, slightly thunderous, Gibsonesque tone.
5. Neck pickup off and middle pickup on full (10). As you may have guessed, a slightly thinner tone, with some edge.
I think 2. & 3. are my most favoured tones. And I really like that each combination retains the same volume level. No drops, that you can get from 3 and 5 way, pickup switches.
Now, don't expect the massive tonal range you can get from many contemporary basses. This bass has some variety
but it always sounds a bit retro. Warm and woody. But one thing it has done for me as a bassist, is re-introduce the use of the plectrum. In my teens and early twenties, being a fan of players like Chris Squire (Yes), Martin Turner (Wishbone Ash) and Paul McCartney (??), I played with a fairly light, Dunlop Nylon plectrum. But over the last 30 years, it's been fingers only. But this bass really sounds nice with fingers and plectrum. I think it's the mini-humbuckers. Their warmth suits the extra attack from a plectrum. And if you add a little muting, it's the early 60s, all over again. Lovely. Obviously you can use your amp's EQ to boost your harmonic range. But when I gig, I don't want to be fiddling with my amp. I get one sound from my amp and just use the bass for variety.
The spec. on the Allen Woody Rumblekat bass is as follows:
The semi-hollow, chambered body (2.1 inches / 53.33 mm. thick) is made of mahogany.
The top is made of a 5-ply, laminated, flame maple.
The neck is mahogany, with a bound, rosewood, 20 fret, fingerboard.
The nut measures 1.68 inches (42.672 mm).
The fingerboard radius is 14 inches (356 mm).
The string scale is 30 inches (762 mm).
The mini-humbuckers are gold, as is the bridge.
The bridge is a typical, slightly unwieldy, Gibson design, affair.
The strings can be individually intonated.
But the whole bridge has 3 height adjusters.
Which in practice is the less appealing side of retro.
Fortunately it came set up, very well indeed.
The semi-translucent, wine red body, with it's white binding and black and white purfling, looks rather excellent.
As do the retro, opaque, amber control knobs, set on a tortoiseshell block.
The headstock is of the sloped, "Dovewing" design, with attractive binding, Epiphone in pearloid, Allen Woody's signature in gold and the large E logo, on the truss rod cover.
The tuners are Epiphone's own, with a 17:1 ratio.
The 2, NYT Bass mini-humbuckers, are a good choice, as they are nowhere near as boomy as many bass humbuckers can be.
This bass was made in Korea. As many will know, Korean made instruments have really gained in reputation over the
last decade. And if the finishing and set up of this bass are anything to go by, the rep. is well earned.
Being a fairly low priced Epiphone, I was expecting to see a lot of compromises on this bass but in most cases, there just aren't any. On the rear of the headstock it reads "Limited Edition Epiphone Custom Shop". I've no idea what that really means. But I suspect it means that really tried to get it right. And they pretty much did.
So overall then, this bass has a lovely, retro look, feel and sound. But unlike many of the originals and many of the
modern incarnations of the 60s/70s era, this bass is nice and solid. The shorter scale makes it very easy to play, as
does it's comfortable, neck profile. This Epi can handle a few different styles and even sounded quite cool, with some slap. But it's no all-rounder.
If you wanted to really go the retro route, I'd suggest putting some flatwounds on it. And that's something I may do, in the future. But I like it with the roundwounds. It can really sing at times and can also give a nice thump, to your sound. It will definitely suit the more melodically inclined bassist.
If you fancy adding a little retro glamour to your life and can appreciate the warm subtleties, of a bass like this, then the Allen Woody Rumblekat bass, could be for you. And at very little outlay.
