* WARNING * DO NOT buy from Alleva-Coppolo

[Frenchy-Lefty]

I've been away from bass forums for awhile and just read this horrible story. Geez!!!

Personally, If I were not left-handed I would have, as a rule, to never ever buy an instrument that I have not previously played and checked in person.

[fivebass52]

I read a good part of the talkbass thread, and was glad to see Jimmy Alleva-Coppolo decide to refund Addison's money. However, Jimmy's pot-shots at Addison is an exercise in denial, and accusing Addison of Photoshop/picture manipulation, lighting techniques, and a referral to a world-renowned bass player who plays with a pic is a classic piece of writing... in a purely delusional style. Jimmy's reply to this mess is one from a "sore loser"... he may indeed build (in most cases) high quality basses, but his people skills need to be improved considerably... here's the talkbass post from Jimmy...

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/my-hor ... st14719935

[reynoldbot]

Hey Addison I was really saddened to read that thread, I hope the refund process goes well. When I saw Jimmy's response my jaw nearly hit the floor. For him to not only deny any wrong-doing but to insinuate you doctored the photos was completely classless. My opinion of his business will forever be tarnished by this incident. Good luck with everything man, I hope you can put this whole thing past you and one day use the money you get back to get a proper bass of your dreams!

[iozz]

Wouldn't it be a good idea to create a topic and list all these "not so friendly with lefty players" builders? In my opinion, it would be a great help for future fellow lefties.

[fivebass52]

Hey Addison I was really saddened to read that thread, I hope the refund process goes well. When I saw Jimmy's response my jaw nearly hit the floor. For him to not only deny any wrong-doing but to insinuate you doctored the photos was completely classless. My opinion of his business will forever be tarnished by this incident. Good luck with everything man, I hope you can put this whole thing past you and one day use the money you get back to get a proper bass of your dreams!

Big +1.....

[slybass3000]

Addison,
I was out of town and then I read this!!! WTF!!!

I really hope things will get fixed. You don't deserve that kind of treatment buddy.

Good luck and keep the gentleman way, you are doing the right thing even if it would be soooo easy to play the same game as this ass-hole.

Sly

[screambasses]

Apparently, after 30+ years of playing the bass I guess I don't know how to according to Jimmy A-C -

I use my fingers. I'm not a real man.

I'm not sure what to think of his basses. They certainly don't look like $6,000 instruments. I'd buy an
Alembic if I was going to shell out that sort of dough for a bass - at least I know I'll get my money back
some day...

pete

[NoXX]

Addison,
I was out of town and then I read this!!! WTF!!!

I really hope things will get fixed. You don't deserve that kind of treatment buddy.

Good luck and keep the gentleman way, you are doing the right thing even if it would be soooo easy to play the same game as this ass-hole.

Sly

+1 ... I felt sick to the bottom of my stomach when I read the post. Sorry mate. I'm glad to see that there may be some light at the end of the tunnel, but geez.....I've always read the A-C adverts in the mags and thought how cool they seemed. Now I know better.

[slybass3000]

Apparently, after 30+ years of playing the bass I guess I don't know how to according to Jimmy A-C -

I use my fingers. I'm not a real man.

I'm not sure what to think of his basses. They certainly don't look like $6,000 instruments. I'd buy an
Alembic if I was going to shell out that sort of dough for a bass - at least I know I'll get my money back
some day...

pete

The thing that made me is the fact he asked a punk rocker to play it with a pick and it didn't buzzzzz !!!!

WTF

[markcv]

Wow Chris, just saw this thread. Really sorry you had to go through all this. What a serious drag.

[AustinLeftyBass]

Apparently, after 30+ years of playing the bass I guess I don't know how to according to Jimmy A-C -

I use my fingers. I'm not a real man.

I'm not sure what to think of his basses. They certainly don't look like $6,000 instruments. I'd buy an
Alembic if I was going to shell out that sort of dough for a bass - at least I know I'll get my money back
some day...

pete

The thing that made me is the fact he asked a punk rocker to play it with a pick and it didn't buzzzzz !!!!

WTF

I missed the part about the Punk, only saw mention of Pinnick.

[fat fret]

Being a lefty there's just not many basses out there to try out. What happended must be a southpaws worst nightmare

[slybass3000]

Apparently, after 30+ years of playing the bass I guess I don't know how to according to Jimmy A-C -

I use my fingers. I'm not a real man.

I'm not sure what to think of his basses. They certainly don't look like $6,000 instruments. I'd buy an
Alembic if I was going to shell out that sort of dough for a bass - at least I know I'll get my money back
some day...

pete

The thing that made me is the fact he asked a punk rocker to play it with a pick and it didn't buzzzzz !!!!

WTF

I missed the part about the Punk, only saw mention of Pinnick.

To me King's X is pretty grunge,punk,heavy wathever. I'm sure when Pinnick played it, it was not that clean, just saying

[AustinLeftyBass]

[/quote]
The thing that made me is the fact he asked a punk rocker to play it with a pick and it didn't buzzzzz !!!!

WTF[/quote]

I missed the part about the Punk, only saw mention of Pinnick.[/quote]

To me King's X is pretty grunge,punk,heavy wathever. I'm sure when Pinnick played it, it was not that clean, just saying [/quote]

LOL, ah misunderstood ya. I was on the bill with those guys years ago, they're a trip, I'm sure they'd find it your description of them as "punk rocker"s hilarious.

[slybass3000]

The thing that made me is the fact he asked a punk rocker to play it with a pick and it didn't buzzzzz !!!!

WTF[/quote]

I missed the part about the Punk, only saw mention of Pinnick.[/quote]

To me King's X is pretty grunge,punk,heavy wathever. I'm sure when Pinnick played it, it was not that clean, just saying [/quote]

LOL, ah misunderstood ya. I was on the bill with those guys years ago, they're a trip, I'm sure they'd find it your description of them as "punk rocker"s hilarious.[/quote]
LOL

In a good way or bad way?

[Carmine]

Probably in a bad way . Wikipedia entry is: "King's X is an American rock band that combines progressive metal, funk and soul with vocal arrangements influenced by gospel, blues, and British Invasion rock groups. King's X was ranked No. 83 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock." I'm a huge King's X fan and I'd say that's a reasonably accurate description. Heavy at times but not much punk in there anywhere.

[slybass3000]

Probably in a bad way . Wikipedia entry is: "King's X is an American rock band that combines progressive metal, funk and soul with vocal arrangements influenced by gospel, blues, and British Invasion rock groups. King's X was ranked No. 83 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock." I'm a huge King's X fan and I'd say that's a reasonably accurate description. Heavy at times but not much punk in there anywhere.

Oh Nooooooooooooo!!!


Then I'll say this :


The thing that made me is the fact he asked a rocker to play it with a pick and it didn't buzzzzz !!!!

[Carmine]

Agreed, LOL!

[AustinLeftyBass]

[Addison]

For anyone who is interested, the refund did finally post to my account over the weekend.

The process was arduous and painful and Jimmy did absolutely nothing to make it any easier, all the way up to the very end.

There were no apologies, the communication was almost nonexistent and I don't think there was a single message from either of us that didn't have some kind of barb attached to it.

It was simply horrible... all the way around... and I will do whatever it takes to never, EVER put myself in that position again.

On the upside, I can tell you all that you would be SURPRISED by both the number of individuals AND the organizations who stepped forward privately to offer their help and support in ways that STILL make me emotional... and the ONLY universal condition seemed to be that they wanted to keep the matter between us, rather than seeking attention or accolades.

As tempting as it was, I simply couldn't allow myself to cash in on a really shitty situation like this... but it was deeply appreciated.

Anyway, I learned a few lessons and I wanted to share them with you:

• DO NOT EVER BUY A "NEW" BASS WITHOUT AN APPROVAL PERIOD... especially a high dollar bass. I understand that us lefties have it tough... and custom orders usually do not have any kind of approval period. That's fine... but there is simply NO REASON for a "stock" bass to not have one. If a builder won't allow you to take a couple of days to make sure a $5K bass is right for you, then they're hiding something. Plain and simple.
• DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. This might sound insane, but there isn't any reason not to document every single part of the process when you buy a high dollar bass. Keep a journal. Pretty much every phone has a video camera on it, so use it. Take video of the box before you open it... have someone film you opening the box... keep that camera on while you take the bass out of the case and talk to the camera while you inspect it and make note of ANY issues you might discover. This might sound paranoid... MOST builders are super cool and won't even question you when you call them to talk to them about a problem... but there are SOME builders out there who are so full of themselves, that they'll actually try to blame you for the piece of shit they let out the door. If you get it all on video the second it comes out of the box, they'll never be able to pull that shit on you. And if you ever have to return a bass, document the entire packing process from beginning to end. It all helps.
• PAY WITH A CREDIT CARD OR PAYPAL. If a builder keeps hinting to you that they take and prefer cash, there might be more to it than the fact that they save 3% in transaction fees. As much as I hate credit cards, they are obligated to protect you if someone tries to screw you... it's nice to have them on your side.
• If you get a bass that has problems, GET SIGNED STATEMENTS FROM A THIRD PARTY PROFESSIONAL TO BACK UP YOUR CLAIMS. In fact, get two... or three. DO this BEFORE you send the bass back. Make sure the statements explain why the bass does not match the description and make sure it details all problems, along with what it would take to fix the problems, and how it could permanently affect the value of the instrument. Have them explain what they find in a way that YOU understand, so this can be communicated to the builder.

I think that's everything...

Thanks again to everyone who reached out to me both publicly and privately.

-Chris