RumbleKat bass

[jonnyg]

I want an Epiphone Rivoli but I can't find a used one at a price I want to pay (around £350.00/$500.00)I had considered the Jack Cassady bass but it's a too expensive for the amount of use it would get from me. I was interested in what Golem wrote about the Rumblekat bass in another thread. So, any Rumblekat users, if you've ever played or owned both the Rivoli bass and the Rumblekat how would you say they compare in tone. I'm not expecting them to feel the same, I can get used to that, but I want that boomy, bassy plummy sound that 60's bands got. What do you think?

I know a Fender bass is better thought of but I already own a Jazz and a Precision and I want a different sound. The Violin bass is a no no for me, I just don't like the shape or the ultra lightweight feel.

[Golem]

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OK, so I never had a Rivoli, but I had two JC's ....

which you seem ready to love if you can get it for

a less crazy price. So, I will say here that my Kat

displaced my JC's .... I owned all three together.

 

There will always be arguments about whether a

short scale bass can be real. The guys who play

41" scale feel that way about 35" and those who

play 35" feel that way about 30". Me ? I'm up for

a Kala U-Bass at 22" scale.

 

The overview of the RumbleKat is that it's easy

to play, easy to wear, easy to tote, looks cool,

and sounds thumpy with flats. I don't remember

how it sounds with RW's, but it musta been less

thumpy, or else I woulda just left the RW's on it

which were there when I got it.

 

Also, I don't wanna claim the Kat is too much

like a JC .... only that I prefer what the Kat is

over what the JC is. And I even have a rather

more loveable version of the JC idea .... so the

Kat is NOT a direct replacement .... just that I

happen to prefer it.

 

FWIW, YMMV, etc.

 

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P.S.

I won't recommend my "JC direct replacement"

cuz it isn't made any more, but it's a Yamaha

BEX-C4 .... just in case you might be lucky

enuf to trip over a mint used one .... My thing

with fretted hollow basses is that I don't like

them too hollow .... the body works too much

as a microphone fret-noise-wise. Minus the

frets, I love a bass as truly hollow as a cello

[loving my Takamine B-10, big time].

 

FWIW, YMMV, etc. still in effect.

 

 

 

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[jonnyg]

Thanks Golem. Probably best that I just go and try one. As you're a bit of a fretless man I wonder if you've ever come across one of these.

It's an 80's Westone Thunder 1A fretless. I don't know too much about them as I got it as a trade for a headlight off an old 60's Citroen a while back. I guess the light would be worth about £60.00 ($90.00) and the bass seemed worth at least that. It's really well built, heavy as hell (apparently all maple construction), active and uses two 9v batteries. Despite having a Precision type pickup it doesn't sound like a Precision whether active or passive but it does have a VERY big sound. I'm not really good on fretless basses but I'll probably keep it just for fun.

[Golem]

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I had an orange and black 1965 ID19.

 

The friend I sold it to was willing to buy only

if he could have it in time for Halloween !

 

 

 

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[Golem]

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OK so much for froggy cars. I forgot about your

bass ! Nope never had a Westone. Being active

and all-maple it's not surprising that it doesn't

sound like a P-bass despite having a P-PU.

 

I've got an all-maple active P-J from Guild [b902]

and it has a "sorta P" tone hiding in it somewhere

at the extreme twirls of the knobs. It's got Barts

and the P-PU is reversed left-to-right. It has the

"Fender-esque" look, it's USA-built, it's more of

a "Jazz Special" than a P-type, pencil neck, etc ...

 

So don't freak out if your Westone bass with P-PU

is not very P-type. My REAL P-bass is active and

purists might find fault there, but compared to all

my VERY non-P basses, it's definitely a P-bass to

the ear, and my edumacated guess at the recipe is:

 

Big Fat Neck

 

USA P-PU

 

Big Fat Neck

 

Stamped Bridge

 

Big Fat Neck

 

Broad, Flat Body

[ash or alder -- not maple, hog, koa, ... etc]

 

Big Fat Neck

 

 

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As indicated, I think the BFN is hugely responsible.

My P-Dlx sounds like a P-bass even with plenty of

bridge PU mixed in. I think most imports have the

highly marketable "sooper fast" skinny necks, and

you just can't build a skinny necked P-bass, not if

you judge the result by ear.

 

I also think frets blur the tonal distinctions of

differing basses. Remove the frets and the tonal

character is unveiled ... or at least less veiled.

 

 

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Warwicks have serious BFN, but I haven't tried any

with P-PU's. My own Wicks are very non-P and neck

size alone is not enuf to produce the P-bass effect.

OTOH, despite various body woods, and various PU

config's, they all share a Warwick family voice. I'm

thinking it's the ovangcal BFN, common to each of

them, that provides this overriding effect. So again

it affirms [iMHO] that a BFN is very influential to

the characteristic voice of any bass that has one.

Therefore, I suspect that skinny neck basses have

a greater tendency to be influenced by all the other

tone-character influences [body wood, bridge, etc].

 

YMMV.

 

 

 

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