stewblack Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 (edited) Anyone heard of these? Interesting looking Italia P Bass on Marketplace caught my eye, and not that expensive. Looks like it's covered in leather/vinyl. Edited November 21, 2020 by stewblack 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Italia IIRC are a JHS Brand in conjunction with Trev Wilkinson. All the designs are very "Retro", I'd say more of a nod to the oddities that came out of Italy during the 50's & 60's, but obviously (hence some of the "odd" finishes & fittings), with modern (Wilkinson) parts & manufacturing. I always fancied getting a Rimini bass, inspired by the Ric 4005 semi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 (edited) Nice, loves the Stat' jack... would go Strat' knobs How cool would that look with some individual saddles mimicking the pickups? Edited November 21, 2020 by PaulThePlug 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Agree that they have some interesting designs....been tempted but not so much that I've spent my hard earned. Be interested to hear from current/ former owners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 Anyone know what price point they sell at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Oh god, don't start showing me Italia basses. I've resisted many times but I can't always be this strong. 😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 1 hour ago, Maude said: Oh god, don't start showing me Italia basses. I've resisted many times but I can't always be this strong. 😄 Never heard of them before what do you know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRev Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 I have an Italia Rimini. Design wise there's a definite nod to the Rickenbacker 4005, no idea if it sounds like one though, I'm rubbish at comparing the tone of basses. Strung with flats, it does that plummy 60s sound (think Day Tripper), but with rounds and a pick it does a nice agressive punk noise. The weak point (for me) are the tone controls, they're kind of all or nothing with the sound only changing at full on or full off. I keep meaning to get some decent pots for it but never got around to working out what I need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Ooh, looky looky! 799 dollars... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 4 hours ago, stewblack said: Never heard of them before what do you know? Nothing really, apart from I really like the look of all the range, retro and quirky. I'm sad and buy with my eyes. 😃 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 Ooh - had a bit of GAS for one of these a few years ago - the same bass was available in an all-over MOTO finish, that & the stacked lippys got me proper hot & bothered. Not so much a fan of the S&M leather finish. I surprise myself sometimes. Italia were quite high-profile for a while a few years back, just seem to have vanished these days. Had a few basses that caught my eye as well as this one, a Rick 4005-ish semi (also available in full MOTO!) and a glittery LP-shaped thing called a Maranello, which Nicky Wire from the Manics played for a few years. Always felt they were a bit overpriced for sort of niche novelty mock-retro stuff. A bit like Eastwood without the blatant copyright theft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Horse Murphy Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 I've owned a couple, including the Rimini now owned by @TheRev. They're my favourites of the range and but I love their quirkiness. Build quality is excellent and they're easily on par with Reverends for example. Funnily enough I traded my Fender Tele for a Gibson SG but I also got this Maranello as part of the deal. It's very, erm, shiny and I don't think it's really for me, but it plays and sounds amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted November 22, 2020 Author Share Posted November 22, 2020 Love that @Old Horse Murphy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 They did a few "interesting" finishes, like I said, very inspired by the oddities that came out of Italy in the 50's & 60's. They did a pearlescent white and pearlescent blue Rimini, the metallic sparkle finish Maranello's. Those Imola's (the Ampeg-esque one above) were good looking basses, though no interesting finishes there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRev Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 The Rimimi bass I bought from Old Horse Murphy. I bought it for a project that never really got off the ground, but quite liked the bass do I held on to it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyJ Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 I have owned a Torino Bass for a while. Really cool, but heavy and the positioning of the strap buttons combined with the arched back made it want to topple forward at all times when playing it standing up. I did gig it on several occasions and loved the HUGE tone I got out of it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 I was going to get the one on eBay tonight because I have always been a sucker for the mother of Pearl thing, and was just talking about it and had a wave of sensible come over me. I have too many basses,, I still have some I need to sell. do want a semi acoustic at some point though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 Goes to look on ebay 🙈 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyP Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 (edited) I have an Italia Maranello Cavo Bass which has been featured on various post on this forum. It's short scale with a semi hollow body and fitted with LaBella flatwounds. I really like it as it is fairly light and easy to handle. Sounds good too! One slight problem with the bass is neck dive. Being a semi hollow body, the headstock acts like a pendulum and causes the neck to drop. I changed the tuning gear for Hipshot Ultralights but the neck dive is still there. I think if the front strap button was placed closer to the neck joint that may help a little. As it is, when I wear the bass, he strap leaves the button at an angle (I like the neck to be fairly upright) and even the BC strap locks are forced off. Other than that it is a cool bass. Edited November 24, 2020 by LeftyP 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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