Italia Mondial Classic

[Machines]

[size=3][b]Italia Mondial Classic[/b][/size]

Italia are a relatively new addition to the UK guitar market, and certainly one you can't help but notice. The radical and retro styling certainly grabs your attention. They’re reminiscent of 60’s Italian instruments and it’s no mystery where Trevor Wilkinson’s design inspirations come from.

Recent attention to the Italia brand here on Basschat has led me to try and get one for review. I approached Arbiter (UK Distributor) and they were very positive about the idea, and I had the instrument within little over a week of my enquiry, very impressive. I opted for the Mondial, this was mainly down to my current desire for a Precision style bass (big neck pickup) and sheer curiosity to what they’d be like.



I originally requested a Mondial Deluxe, but due to a stock shortage only the Classic was available, no hardship there. It arrived well packaged and it fascinated me to look at it for the first time. It really is nothing like anything I’ve seen before; it feels like a bass designed from the ground up. By that I mean it has no predesigned parts or standards like a Fender-styled bass may have. Everything on here was designed specifically for the Italia brand. This is from the tuning keys, down to the bridge and neck plate, there are a lot of little details that make it feel a truly unique instrument. The body is made in 2 pieces, but in a ‘sandwich’ much in the way an acoustic guitar is. The back is made from agathis, with the front being made from ‘Acousti-Glass’. This can be described as a vacuum moulded Perspex like plastic. It appears to be painted from the inside of the instrument. This allows a radical contoured top which would be more costly using wood.

[b]Specs:[/b]
[b]Body[/b]: Agathis
[b]Top[/b]: Acousti-Glass
[b]Neck[/b]: Hard Maple, Bolt-On
[b]Fingerboard[/b]: Rosewood
[b]Pickups[/b]: Wilkinson ABR Humbucker
[b]Controls[/b]: 1 x Vol, 1 x Piezo Vol, 1 x Tone, 2 x EQ
[b]Switching[/b]: 3-Way Toggle, 2 x Input Jacks
[b]Bridge[/b]: Wooden With Piezo Pickup
[b]Machine heads[/b]: Italia Die-Cast
[b]Pickguard[/b]: 3-Ply (W/B/W)
[b]Number of frets[/b]: 22
[b]Fingerboard Radius[/b]: 304/12"
[b]Neck profile[/b]: Italia "C"
[b]Scale length[/b]: 864MM/34"
[b]Width at nut[/b]: 42.5MM/1.680"

Ok – time for my ruthless inspection. There are a few niggles with the finish of the instrument that slightly bug me. There was a scuff on the side of the pickguard where it looks like it was caught on a belt sander, very small but I feel shouldn’t have gotten through QA considering it’s cheap to put another on. Also one of the block inlays has a slight gap on the top corner, where the hole for it was routed larger than the inlay. The gap here is probably only <0.5mm, and I only found it because I was looking for inconsistencies. One other slight thing to note is the finish on the front of the body and on the back are slightly different shades of red, with the front being a slight bit pinker - this isn’t too apparent on my photos however.

The neck is a pleasant affair, good fretwork with no sharp edges, and a Precision like shape makes it comfortable to hold. It is finished in gloss black but isn’t ‘sticky’ like some painted/glossed necks, I feel it suits the bass and a natural neck would look odd. The huge art deco block inlays are fantastic, I am a fan of the look of 70’s Jazzes so this scores points with me. The tuners are sealed units sporting a mini Italia logo, no generic tuners here. A shiny 3D die-cast logo crowns the headstock and is set off well by the black surround.



The action set was quite low and did buzz in a couple of places high on the neck, the style of bridge unfortunately does not allow adjustment of individual strings. You can raise or lower the E and G side of the bridge using a thumbscrew, however this was not possible with the strings on due to the tension exerted on the bridge. The nut was a bit chunky and a little sharp on the headstock side.



Working on to the body, one cannot miss the huge chrome humbucker at the bass of the neck. This is the same type as the Gibson EB-0 and Fender Telebass, I expect good things from it, especially being made by Wilkinson. The bridge and baseplate continue the art deco styling and are consistent with the rest of the instrument.

The Mondial has 2 instrument outputs, marked ‘Electric’ and ‘Acoustic’. I believe the idea here is that you can opt for a piezo only or humbucker only output, but could this not be achieved with one output and individual volume controls ? Well it does indeed have individual volume controls, so I am most confused by this. The most surprising fact is that it wasn’t possible to have a mix of the pickups, I could only get output from one pickup at a time, if I wanted to use the other pickup, I had to swap jack sockets. I have emailed Arbiter to see if this is a QA issue and it was wired incorrectly, or as it was designed, either way – it seems quite a design flaw to me. Arbiter replied confirming this is how the bass was designed and the purpose of this is for the ability of biamping your signal.



There is quite a difference in output from the passive humbucker to the active piezo. The EQ is a simple bass/treble, and is fairly pleasant in its execution. The treble control is the most powerful of the 2, when completely rolled off it doesn’t give a total loss of treble like you may expect, it feels more like it is on 5 than 0. The bass isn’t over the top, it gives a nice warmth to the tone without making it boomy.

So how do the pickups sound ? From a large humbucker seated at the base of the neck, I expect a warm and fat sound. The Mondial does not disappoint here, it has that thump when you dig in, and is nice and mellow when played softly. Making use of the very cool and definitely useful sliding rosewood thumbrest comes in handy here, allowing adjustment of tone based on playing position. Swapping jack sockets to the piezo pickup gives a very different experience. It is extremely bright and articulated, and really sounds like an acoustic bass. It is very sensitive to microphonics as you’d expect, this means you have to adopt a cleaner playing style as every little clank will be amplified through the piezo. Harmonics are super clear and sustain for an absolute age. It is possible to get a reasonably funky sound from the piezo, in sharp contrast to the humbucker. I really wish it was possible to combine the 2 as I feel it would sound superb.

[size=3][b]Soundclips[/b][/size]

[url="http://www.machinesofhate.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Mondial/Humbucker_finger.mp3"]Humbucker - Fingers[/url]

[url="http://www.machinesofhate.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Mondial/Humbucker_Picked.mp3"]Humbucker - Plectrum[/url]

[url="http://www.machinesofhate.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Mondial/Piezo_Picked.mp3"]Piezo - Plectrum[/url]



I’ve been thinking for a couple of days where the Mondial fits in, in the world of bass. It’s in your face design and wiring quirks are a little too much for me to have as a main instrument, it would be an ideal backup or bass for those softer songs. However – it could be the ideal bass for someone after that retro look and a versatile sound.

So far I have omitted the price of the Mondial, the street (and web) price seems to hover around £400. I believe this to be a fair price for the instrument, it’s not alike anything else out there and could demand a higher price based on originality alone. The Mondial Deluxe is £100 more expensive, but I think the increase in specs, being an all mahogany body, sunburst finishes and 3 band EQ is worth the extra cash. Italia’s are becoming fairly well distributed and you are likely to see them in major stores.

I don’t think the Mondial is for everyone, but for those who do dig the looks it could really be the bass for them. If anyone has any questions then fire away - I'll have the instrument until this Friday .

[b]I like:[/b]
Retro looks.
Ground up design.
Great fat sounds from the humbucker, crisp overtones from the piezo.

[b]I dislike:[/b]
Wiring, it really bugged me that I couldn’t blend the pickups.
The bridge doesn’t allow much adjustment (compared to a standard bridge).
Acousti-glass top looks as if it could crack easily rather than take a dent.

[b][size=3]Overall rating: 6.5/10[/size][/b]

Many thanks to Arbiter for sending me the instrument for review and tonyf for the superb photography.

[Musky]

Great review Matt, thanks a lot for clueing us up.

For those who didn't know, the Mondial is based pretty heavily on the old Supro/Valco/Airline designs, borrowing the shape/construction from the Res-o-glas Belmonts and under bridge transducer from the Pocket Bass. Although they never produced an instrument quite like the Mondial the heritage is pretty clear. The Italias have been around since the late nineties, but seem to have been without a UK distributer for the last few years.

One question though Matt - what's the battery access like?

[Machines]

[quote name='Musky' post='124018' date='Jan 20 2008, 06:20 PM']One question though Matt - what's the battery access like?[/quote]

No screwdriver required .

[lee4]

Thanks a bunch!Every time I look on BC I get more GAS than a baked bean taster!My wish list now includes an SX J-bass,a MarkBass combo,varius items on the Bass Porn bit plus the Italia.Oh well,looks like I'll have to sell my spare internal organs.Anyone want a lung?1 previous owner.

[theosd]

That's stoopid re. the pickups.

Looks pretty damn funky though, if only it wasn't pink.

[ped]

Great stuff Matt. I suppose you could blend the pickups using an ABY box but that is a bit annoying - probably a simple internal mod if you were good with a soldering iron. I would imagine the two pickups blended would, as you say, sound fantastic.

[Rich]

Excellent review, first class stuff. The colour is uber-yuck and the bridge is far too antiquated for my liking, but tonally it seems to be a lot more versatile than I was expecting. I would definitely want to blend the two pickups, so yes either the internal mod or an outside unit -- either the ABY box or perhaps a little 2-channel mixer?

[Marky L]

Fantastic stuff, thanks a million for that. I think I'll make an effort to drag my self in to a store and have a twiddle myself (then try out a few basses!). It's frustrating cos I want a black on black precision and I keep seeing other stuff to tempt me!!

mark.

[s_u_y_*]

Sliding thumbrest... what a nifty piece of design. I shall definately try one of these out when I see. Well written review mate!

[Machines]

I'd like to try one of the Riminis, they look more 'up my street'.

[url="http://www.arbiter.co.uk/italia/electric_bass_guitars/rimini_deluxe_bass_guitar.htm"]http://www.arbiter.co.uk/italia/electric_b...bass_guitar.htm[/url]

[Linus27]

Thanks for the review. Been getting GAS for a cream one of these today. I adore the looks, so very cool and retro looking.

[Machines]

No problem Linus27 - this review has only been here nearly 4 years .

[Billy Apple]

I saw this review come up last night, and thought It was top notch, Prompting me to scour eBay for 4 year old pink Italias!

[Linus27]

[quote name='Machines' timestamp='1321776464' post='1442843']
No problem Linus27 - this review has only been here nearly 4 years .
[/quote]

So Machines, would you use one of these basses as your main working bass or just not up to scratch?

[Machines]

I'm unsure about the strength of the acousti-glass (plastic) top, don't think they would have wanted me doing any stress tests on it in the review though. The fact the pickups couldn't be blended really bothered me, who biamps in the real world ? Not many people.

I suppose if you look at it in another way - it's a unique looking instrument that can do both an electric bass and an acoustic bass sound. What other basses in this price range have piezos ?