Fodera Club Part XV

[CH Design]

Originally Posted by DELACIUS

So this is like ES5 but with p pickup as I can see?

Not really. The body wood, fretboard, pickups and preamp are all different. It might feel similar, but I'd expect it to sound very different.

[roadkill2309]

Originally Posted by pierreganseman

http://www.reverbnation.com/pierregansemanbassplayer

Hi Fodera people, just sharing a first home recording I did with my Emperor neck through. First on the list send me forget me nots, you guy will recognize easely that classic piece. For purist, I know this is not a note for note exact thing, please excuse my ignorance :-p..

I am not sure how to describe the recorded tone ... one guy's smooth, will be another guy "hard"... so... I'll let you judge

feel free to comment...

cheers

That slap tone is effin' delicious. Del-icious.

Looks like I'm buying a lotto ticket tomorrow...

[Just Thumpin']

It is a custom instrument for Andy Cichon (Bass Player most recently for Billy Joel and Shania Twain). He loves bolt-ons and flat pegheads, so this was built for him with those specs.

Yes, it DOES share many of the build specs of an E5S...with some very obvious differences...

Originally Posted by DELACIUS

So this is like ES5 but with p pickup as I can see?

[Just Thumpin']

No, they are Duncans...

J

Originally Posted by Belka

Does that top one have Nordstrands?

[Joelc73]

Originally Posted by Lennard III.

have a look at this one

btw. my new one (built start in 1 month) will have the same passive layout

Why is the P pickup so gigantic?

[Plunger]

Originally Posted by phishaholik

I guess it's finally time to post some pics of my Monarch. This is definitely the absolute best bass I've ever owned. The only bass that came close was my 70's Carl Thompson that he built in his kitchen. I had to take some pics to send the guys in Brooklyn to register it and I though I would share them with y'all. The pictures aren't the best. I thought early morning light would be good for pics, but I was wrong.

For those that like to see a well used boutique bass, here you go. This is my gas killer and the one I hope to keep for my lifetime.

Wow, I dig that bass. I believe it's an original "Monarch Standard" that Fodera used to produce, ending around 2004(feel free to chime in Jason).
What are the woods? I'm guessing mahogany body with rosewood FB? I think it's the same model that Will Cady uses in the Source Audio demo videos (which is actually how I came to fall for these basses). Seems to have a different finish, and a different carve for the bolt-on neck.

[Munjibunga]

OK, I had a chance to go over to BSD and play this one today. I played it through an Epifani UL-501 into a Bergantino HD212. It's just so clean all the way across and up and down the neck. It doesn't emphasize any particular frequencies, just even tone. It'll give a nice bark when rolled back to the bridge, and a surprisingly P-ish sound on the neck pickup. With a little boost on the bass knob, it fattens thing up nicely without boom or mush. Clear highs without any annoying sizzle.

Then, later, an actual bass player played it through an Aguilar DB751 with a Bergantino NV610. The tube character of the amp was evident, but not overbearing. (Sorry Jimmy.)
It had that Fodera richness, again, all the way up and down the 'board.

The main thing is it's one of those basses that sounds great with everything set "flat" (thanks in great part to the pontif, I'm sure). I didn't have to mess with the EQ much at all, and got some great tones just by playing with the blend knob. Now if I could just learn to play bass.

[rogerwilliamsen]

Fodera Presentation custom dual pickups on this live recording. Please take the time to listen.
Roger
http://soundcloud.com/joern-skogheim...ncertain-steps

[Just Thumpin']

It's just how Duncan chose to design it for the tone we were looking for...

J

Originally Posted by Joelc73

Why is the P pickup so gigantic?

[Just Thumpin']

Mike, actually (and no disrespect to the very talented Mr. Pope), when the EQ is set flat you were basically just hearing the woods and the instrument itself. The only difference between running the instrument passive (i.e. no preamp) and with the preamp engaged but everything set flat is that we dial in a small amount of "gain" on the Pre. No doubt that Mr. Pope has allowed us to add that slight amount of gain WITHOUT it coloring the overall tone...

J

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

The main thing is it's one of those basses that sounds great with everything set "flat" (thanks in great part to the pontif, I'm sure)

[nuwavedc]

Originally Posted by Just Thumpin'

Mike, actually (and no disrespect to the very talented Mr. Pope), when the EQ is set flat you were basically just hearing the woods and the instrument itself. The only difference between running the instrument passive (i.e. no preamp) and with the preamp engaged but everything set flat is that we dial in a small amount of "gain" on the Pre. No doubt that Mr. Pope has allowed us to add that slight amount of gain WITHOUT it coloring the overall tone...

J

+1 and

When you are in passive mode you always lose a little high end due the pickup inductance (and pot resistance if the volume isn't up 100%) working into the cable capacitance.

[thepontif]

Well.....not to poop in Jason's punch bowl.......:-)

But in reality, the fact that you hear the sound of the bass so well with the preamp engaged and set flat is no small feat in preamp design. It's pretty easy to make a preamp with a nice sound....much harder to make one that doesn't have one, and is VERY quiet, and has very long battery life, and is super reliable.

Not trying to be a pain in the a$$. You ARE hearing the sound of the bass (which is undeniably superior by itself), and not the preamp. But that shouldn't be misconstrued as a natural default. Just any preamp in there would not allow that to happen.

With the preamp switched to passive mode, the preamp IS essentially out of the picture, and it's basically a J-bass electronics with a master volume.

Sorry, Jason. Don't be offended at me. I just wanted to clarify this a little. I'm certainly not trying to take away from what the basses do on their own. Heck, the past 15 years of refinement have been in the interest of letting the instruments breathe naturally. If any instrument deserves to be truly heard, it's a Fodera!

[funkydanbass]

Hi Jason, you might have missed this form the previous thread, but is there a reason that the 'deluxe' dovetail joint isn't listed for 6 string basses on the Fodera price list?

[thepontif]

BTW, I guess my main point is that, the difference between passive and active mode, from an electrical standpoint, is pretty large.

For one, you're running through the entire EQ and output drive circuits.
Plus, the volume control is buffered from the balancer in active mode. So in active mode, your pickups are seeing the electrical equivalent of volume/volume/tone, where in passive mode, they are seeing (electrically) vol/vol/tone/mst vol/cable/amp input. The cable and amp input being the variables in that equation. It will sound a bit different using a cheap cable plugged into an amp with a 50k impedance than it will with a really nice low capacitance cable plugged into a 1Mohm impedance.

Actively, however, most of those variables are rejected....but it still sounds like the bass.

[Ronnietex]

6th! Lol......

Got Grasshopper and David at Bass Central on the case as soon as I heard the Monarch Standards are coming out..... Lol, makes me happy.

I have regretted buying some basses but the only one I have regretted selling is a beautiful Monarch that Jason sold me from his stable. I sold it here on TB. I had money problems which I knew were going to smooth out. Looking back, I would have simply waited! Oh well.

Anyway, I have number 6 on order and Grasshopper said they expect the first run around January 15th.

So... Jason, I have managed to get another Monarch already!

Kindest regards to Jason, a true gentleman, and to all you great musicians. I am not a great one, just mediocre probably, but love great instruments, learning new techniques and songs. And of course it is always a pleasure to read the Fodera threads!

Here is the skinny on the new Monarch Standard I got ordered!!

Mon (Monarch) 4 Standard #6 Fodera Monarch Standard 4 string, #6 In Run/

Flame Maple Top/Ash Body-Bolt On/Maple Neck-Pau Ferro
Fingerboard/24 Frets/Fodera Dual coil Pick Ups/3 Band
Pope Standard Pre-Amp/34" Scale. Gold Hardware
(Black Hardware IsThe Only Option Offered-$150.00 Up
Charge) Case. Made In Brooklyn #5097 Sale Price
$4750.00
1 4,750.00 4,750.00T

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by Just Thumpin'

Mike, actually (and no disrespect to the very talented Mr. Pope), when the EQ is set flat you were basically just hearing the woods and the instrument itself. The only difference between running the instrument passive (i.e. no preamp) and with the preamp engaged but everything set flat is that we dial in a small amount of "gain" on the Pre. No doubt that Mr. Pope has allowed us to add that slight amount of gain WITHOUT it coloring the overall tone...

J

Well, then again, when I put the Pope preamp in my Sadowsky UV70, it didn't sound the same as the Sadowsky preamp when both were set "flat." The circuitry will play a big role in the sound of a bass, and every preamp has its own characteristic sound. On one preamp, you may have to adjust the EQ to get it to sound like another - some would say one preamp or another "colors" the tone. What I'm saying is that Mike's preamp doesn't color the tone, which is what I think you're saying. That's a result of his design, no?

<edit> Ooop. I didn't read Mike's intervening posts. I think we're saying pretty much the same thing. It's no accident that the preamp doesn't color the sound of the bass.

[thepontif]

I didn't mean to stir anything up. I was just being a nudge!


I don't need any credit. I know Jason loves the preamp and isn't taking anything away from it!

[basswalker2004]

Originally Posted by Ronnietex

6th! Lol......

Got Grasshopper and David at Bass Central on the case as soon as I heard the Monarch Standards are coming out..... Lol, makes me happy.

I have regretted buying some basses but the only one I have regretted selling is a beautiful Monarch that Jason sold me from his stable. I sold it here on TB. I had money problems which I knew were going to smooth out. Looking back, I would have simply waited! Oh well.

Anyway, I have number 6 on order and Grasshopper said they expect the first run around January 15th.

So... Jason, I have managed to get another Monarch already!

Kindest regards to Jason, a true gentleman, and to all you great musicians. I am not a great one, just mediocre probably, but love great instruments, learning new techniques and songs. And of course it is always a pleasure to read the Fodera threads!

Here is the skinny on the new Monarch Standard I got ordered!!

Mon (Monarch) 4 Standard #6 Fodera Monarch Standard 4 string, #6 In Run/

Flame Maple Top/Ash Body-Bolt On/Maple Neck-Pau Ferro
Fingerboard/24 Frets/Fodera Dual coil Pick Ups/3 Band
Pope Standard Pre-Amp/34" Scale. Gold Hardware
(Black Hardware IsThe Only Option Offered-$150.00 Up
Charge) Case. Made In Brooklyn #5097 Sale Price
$4750.00
1 4,750.00 4,750.00T

I can't believe I haven't even received my Bassplayer mag yet.. And there are 6 gone already.. wazzup with that.. LOL
Don't know what the mag problem is.. maybe they think New Mexico is out of the contry..
Congrats on your purchase..

[KwinS]

Originally Posted by basswalker2004

I can't believe I haven't even received my Bassplayer mag yet.. And there are 6 gone already.. wazzup with that.. LOL
Don't know what the mag problem is.. maybe they think New Mexico is out of the contry..
Congrats on your purchase..

I used to live in Santa Fe. It is kinda out of the country...
Man, I need to get back for a visit. I miss a lot of things about NM.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by thepontif

I didn't mean to stir anything up. I was just being a nudge!


I don't need any credit. I know Jason loves the preamp and isn't taking anything away from it!

Oh, don't be so modest.