5 Jimmy Coppolo is a combination of vintage bass collector, luthier, artisan and business- man. He combines all these talents to make spectacular basses. Jimmy’s product line is a no-compromise, best-of-the-best product hat is not hindered by production numbers or pricing guidelines. His high-end client list seems to agree. Tell me about the vintage product line. What sets it apart? So you actually custom-build your own pickups?
safer. We use our laser cutter for block or custom inlay work and more often to cut the bobbins for our homemade pickups.
What is your objective for the product line?
JIMMY COPPOLO
Alleva-Coppolo
My product line sets out to capture the feel,
tone and vibe of the old-school Pre-CBS and
some of the early to mid-seventies era Fender
basses. The product line is based around the
original old-school values, but because of the
needs and demands of today’s player there
are some modern conveniences, like a properly trued and fretted neck, tight neck pocket,
preamp option, high-quality hardware, etc. The
KBP series (vintage P-style) is available passive
only. The LG series, our ‘60s J-style is an alder/
rosewood combo bass but includes our by-passable two-band preamp. The LM maple/ash
combo and RA maple/alder combo are our ‘70s
J-style bass—just like the ‘70s Jazz Basses, the
bridge pickup location is slightly closer to the
bridge, as opposed to the more industry-stan-dard ‘60s bridge pickup location. Back in the
day, Fender didn’t offer a “usable” five-string
bass. My clients requested and pushed me to
produce a vintage-influenced five string, so the
entire bass line is offered in five strings too. The
response to the fives has been positive, and
they’re our biggest sellers. The feedback is that
our fives sound, feel and play like an old four-string… the way they would have been built
during the ‘60s.
Yes, we build and assemble our own pickups
from the ground up. My wife, Sebnem, is
our pickup tech. The pole pieces are loaded
into the fibers we cut to make the bobbin,
then sealed, wound, magnetized and potted. We currently have two auto-winders
that I personally programmed. I still have my
foot controlled wire feed winder that I use
from time to time for either prototyping or
vintage pickup rewinds.
First, as you know, I’m a huge vintage guitar
nut. At one point or another, you name the
guitar or bass… it’s either been on my repair
bench, sales showroom or part of my personal
collection. One of the biggest inspirations to
build vintage-influenced instruments is the
musicians who desire such classics but are on
a limited budget, and can’t pay the inflated
market rates. It’s not rocket science. You need
the fundamentals, of course: good wood, a
concept of building, a good ear, and it helps if
you can play. My objective is to provide players
with an instrument that has that “old” familiar
sound with that comfortable “just right” worn-in feel… with no issues and ready for any gig.
I was looking at your website before the
interview; your hardware looks custom. Is it?
Who is your target audience?
As a standard for the five-string basses, we
use the Hipshot style B Bridge. A vintage-style
stainless steel five-string bridge is available on
our higher end models. All the four strings have
a vintage-style nickel-plated stainless bridge,
just like in “the good ole days.” All the basses
come with Hipshot tuners that… after a little
NY-Italian-style persuasion have “custom” oval
keyhead shapes (just kiddin’): one vintage
sized for our four-string basses and one slightly
undersized due to spacing for our five-strings.
The majority, if not all, of my clients are working musicians—anyone from the struggling
musician working the local club scene to session musicians, Broadway musicians, all the
way up to players who are on some of the
biggest touring acts.
What’s on the horizon for Alleva-Coppolo?
We’re always listening to players… always
tinkering, always coming up with something, so who knows?
Tell me about how you got your start.
Does having the preamp detract from the
vintage vibe you seek?
When I was about 10 years old, my dad took
me to West 48th Street, NYC… Music Row.
From that moment, I knew I wanted to be
in this business, but at that time I was too
young to know in what capacity. Around
eight years later, I landed a job there at a
famous high-end shop.
Well, most players request the preamp, especially with five-string basses. A player can’t
predict when a little more boost or EQ could
be helpful. The control set up is Vol/Vol/Tone,
Treble Boost, Bass Boost, the second volume
being a push-pull preamp bypass.
Who is the Alleva in the
Alleva-Coppolo partnership?
Are your components sourced or manufactured in-house?
Just about everything is done in-house. We cut
our own bodies and necks on the shop’s old
pin router. I recently purchased a CNC machine
and will convert over soon. The CNC is more
accurate, consistent, quicker and definitely
Alleva-Coppolo is not a partnership, just my
biological makeup. My mom’s maiden name
is Alleva and my dad’s last name is obviously
Coppolo. My great, great grandmother Pina
Alleva introduced Italian cheeses to America,
and in 1891 she opened her shop—a national
landmark that is still open today in NYC’s
Little Italy. The Coppolos were an influential
New York Italian family, too. As a child, I once
noticed both names printed on my mom’s
checks and promised myself that I would use
the names together. Who could’ve guessed it
would be on electric basses and guitars?
