Fodera Club Part XVI

[DirtPoorRobins]

The preamp was designed to be user friendly, just check out the pdf file on fodera.com to find out which jumpers to switch to get what you want out of the toggle switches.

[bassdoubler]

I'm sitting here with the pdf and the bass with the back panel removed. User friendly? Whew, maybe if you're some kind of electrical engineer or preamp designer, but this is far beyond me. I mean, I understand the diagrams they're showing, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to actually manipulate the little thing on the panel they're talking about. Am I missing something?

[NikTheSwede]

Finally in the Fodera family (YYS is definitely a gateway drug!! Arrgh!)

Hope the photo link thing works:

[narud]

Originally Posted by bassdoubler

ah, of course, you have the PJ setup on your YYS! I'm sure that helps a bit more. I guess I was leaning towards a P-like tone but really any Fender just has this inherent thick sound that sits really well in a mix. I miss that sound a lot but I don't miss the feel at all! I do have the newer pre but I'm not 100% sure what you mean by low mids and mid mids....I'm assuming you mean there are different freq. settings inside the Pope pre? Last time I looked in the back there it looked complicated and scary haha....is playing around in there something I can do or am I risking ruining my life?

i had a fodera emperor elite 5 i had for around 8 years and mainly sold it because i couldnt deal with the width of the neck and string spacing any more. but, the fender sound thing was another big part. the duals split to single were always close but no cigar. thin and clanky on the d and g strings especially when compared to a fender or fender style bass. then theres the temptation to set up the bass with the strings laying on the fretboard which takes you even further away from that thicker sound. no eq settings will make up for its inherent response.

towards the last year or so that i had it, i appreciated for its dual coil sound and easy of taking set up. i eventually settled on old fenders though.

[bassdoubler]

Originally Posted by narud

i had a fodera emperor elite 5 i had for around 8 years and mainly sold it because i couldnt deal with the width of the neck and string spacing any more. but, the fender sound thing was another big part. the duals split to single were always close but no cigar. thin and clanky on the d and g strings especially when compared to a fender or fender style bass. then theres the temptation to set up the bass with the strings laying on the fretboard which takes you even further away from that thicker sound. no eq settings will make up for its inherent response.

towards the last year or so that i had it, i appreciated for its dual coil sound and easy of taking set up. i eventually settled on old fenders though.

very interesting....I know exactly what you mean, too. I've got those strings literally riding the frets and it feels fantastic, but I guess a lot of tone is lost at the same time with the lack of vibrating room. The neck width and spacing of my Imp 5 feel great to me, but I just miss that classic TONE. I find the dual coil duncans are actually far quieter in both passive AND active mode than any of my other basses which makes it THAT much more difficult to find a setting that cuts through right.

Played a gig tonight with my Imperial and the guy in the headlining band after me had a '75 P-bass. I was so jealous of his tone even though I know my Imperial feels about 10000 times nicer to play. I just sold my Alleva-Coppolo LM5 to partially fund an AJ presentation shape Imperial 6....my thoughts being the bigger body may lend itself to an overall fatter tone....it would just bother me forever to know that the basses which inspire me to play the most don't do it for me sonically!

I'm gonna try and figure out this customizable preamp deal and play with some options and see what I get....

[Lennard III.]

Originally Posted by bassdoubler

I'm sitting here with the pdf and the bass with the back panel removed. User friendly? Whew, maybe if you're some kind of electrical engineer or preamp designer, but this is far beyond me. I mean, I understand the diagrams they're showing, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to actually manipulate the little thing on the panel they're talking about. Am I missing something?

that's why I have thrown out the batteries out of my 06' Emperor elite which has the 09' Pope in it (the first generation with the jumpers)

and for the Fender-ish question - my new in the making 5er will have a Bolt-On , Singlecoils in the 60ies position and is completely passive (only Vol./Tone and blend) and will have a custom spacing at the nut (more narrow) while still having the 18/19mm on the bridge - so I hope this will bring this Bass close to my favorite Jazz Bass

[carlis]

Originally Posted by nostatic

The MGS "naked"

The MGS is so tempting. I've always found that Pau Ferro fingerboard and the Box Burl top is an aesthetic combination.

How much does yours weigh? 'cause I'm thinking of ordering one...

[basswalker2004]

I use a tweezers to move the jumpers.. It's not bad once you get the hang of it.. SPend some time with the diagrams and make sure you have the instructions for you preamp year. I found the 'samples' to be most helpful for figuring out what effect each jumper change will do.
hope that helps..

Originally Posted by bassdoubler

I'm sitting here with the pdf and the bass with the back panel removed. User friendly? Whew, maybe if you're some kind of electrical engineer or preamp designer, but this is far beyond me. I mean, I understand the diagrams they're showing, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to actually manipulate the little thing on the panel they're talking about. Am I missing something?

[otto B]

Originally Posted by iwearpumas

A gateway drug leads to other drugs. A Fodera standard leads you to buy more Fodera basses.

That is the truth. I am already thinking about getting another Fodera later on.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by bassdoubler

I'm sitting here with the pdf and the bass with the back panel removed. User friendly? Whew, maybe if you're some kind of electrical engineer or preamp designer, but this is far beyond me. I mean, I understand the diagrams they're showing, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to actually manipulate the little thing on the panel they're talking about. Am I missing something?

[Baird6869]

Originally Posted by narud

but, the fender sound thing was another big part. the duals split to single were always close but no cigar.

Interestingly enough, I watched SNL last night and James Genus (SNL bassist) played a Fodera (Emperor?) and it sounded superb.

The Musical guest was Maroon 5 and Mckey Madden played a Fender P bass that sounded absolutely killer.

Different basses for sure and the P sounded great for the Maroon 5 tunes.... Likely wouldn't have sounded as good for the SNL Sound bites.

I guess this is why many of us have different basses. I can't wait until I have my E5S in January... It will likely be my main gigging bass backed up by '70s P and J basses.

[kamakiriad7]

Agreed, Genus' tone is awesome. I'm sure some of that has to do with the crazy scale length of his 36" bass, amongst other factors.

[Baird6869]

Originally Posted by kamakiriad7

Agreed, Genus' tone is awesome. I'm sure some of that has to do with the crazy scale length of his 36" bass, amongst other factors.

36"? I did not know that.

Aldo, his crazy good chops might be a factor too!

[Blue Blood]

I greatly prefer the look of the MGS without the ramp. Also. it's amazing to me but for whatever reason nothing sounds like a Fender. It doesn't matter what the bass is made from or what pickups are used and where they're located, if it doesn't say Fender on the headstock, it just doesn't sound like a Fender. For some that is a good thing but for me I prefer the Fender tone. I sold an incredible Emperor 5 that had single coils, ash body that just didn't sound as good as my Fender. Played better though.

[narud]

Originally Posted by Baird6869

Interestingly enough, I watched SNL last night and James Genus (SNL bassist) played a Fodera (Emperor?) and it sounded superb.

The Musical guest was Maroon 5 and Mckey Madden played a Fender P bass that sounded absolutely killer.

Different basses for sure and the P sounded great for the Maroon 5 tunes.... Likely wouldn't have sounded as good for the SNL Sound bites.

I guess this is why many of us have different basses. I can't wait until I have my E5S in January... It will likely be my main gigging bass backed up by '70s P and J basses.

james genus doubles so id wager he doesnt play with super low action. his bass has jazz pickups in it as well which will be somewhat thicker sounding. i havent heard him in forever, but i remember his fodera on the brecker brother live in barcelona video being pretty modern. i think that bass had bart jazz pups.

[LugzyDee]

Originally Posted by Danny R.

I ordered some Fodera Nickels yesterday, I bet they sound great!

Fine collection if I may say so and you won't be disappointed with Fodera Nickels. I have Five sets of La Bella Super Steps to get through, then it's nickels for good.

Q. Where do you get those string dampeners from and are they better than using fat hair ties?

Cheers..

[narud]

Originally Posted by bassdoubler

very interesting....I know exactly what you mean, too. I've got those strings literally riding the frets and it feels fantastic, but I guess a lot of tone is lost at the same time with the lack of vibrating room. The neck width and spacing of my Imp 5 feel great to me, but I just miss that classic TONE. I find the dual coil duncans are actually far quieter in both passive AND active mode than any of my other basses which makes it THAT much more difficult to find a setting that cuts through right.

Played a gig tonight with my Imperial and the guy in the headlining band after me had a '75 P-bass. I was so jealous of his tone even though I know my Imperial feels about 10000 times nicer to play. I just sold my Alleva-Coppolo LM5 to partially fund an AJ presentation shape Imperial 6....my thoughts being the bigger body may lend itself to an overall fatter tone....it would just bother me forever to know that the basses which inspire me to play the most don't do it for me sonically!

I'm gonna try and figure out this customizable preamp deal and play with some options and see what I get....

the thing with a bass like that is accepting that it does what it does really really well. that means sounding like a fender isnt going to happen. eq settings and bigger bodies wont do anything for neck through, soap bars, and breath on the strings action.

when i got my narrow nordstrand jazz 5, i set it up like i had my fodera set up and quickly realized unless i was willing to relegate that bass to a soloing instrument only, i was going to have to raise the action a touch. the nice thing about a fender or clone is that you can set it up pretty close to breath on the strings and still get some heft. raising the action on the fodera got it thicker but never fender thick. on my old fenders, ive had fret and board work to get them set up so theyre effortless to play.

[DirtPoorRobins]

Originally Posted by kamakiriad7

Agreed, Genus' tone is awesome. I'm sure some of that has to do with the crazy scale length of his 36" bass, amongst other factors.

Yeah, his tone is KILLER! You can always hear his bass, it cuts through like a knife, and it's definitely due to his bass having singles instead of duals, and that 36" scale makes all his notes ring super clear. Having a great sound engineer probably doesn't hurt either. If you really want a "fender" tone, fodera can get you darn close to it.

[gkbass13]

All of these Fodera and Fender comparisons relate pretty closely to my recent quest for a nice 34" scale backup 5'er to my Emperor 5. After playing a bunch of Sadowsky, Fender, Lakland and Fodera NYC's, I think I've settled on the new American Deluxe Jazz's that Fender is putting out. So I'm going more for the "why not have both?" approach, rather than choose between the two.

It'll be nice to have representations of both the boutique/modern and Fender/traditional camps, as well as Rosewood/Alder on the Emperor and maple/ash on the Fender.

[Robin Ruscio]

Originally Posted by bassdoubler

very interesting....I know exactly what you mean, too. I've got those strings literally riding the frets and it feels fantastic, but I guess a lot of tone is lost at the same time with the lack of vibrating room. The neck width and spacing of my Imp 5 feel great to me, but I just miss that classic TONE. I find the dual coil duncans are actually far quieter in both passive AND active mode than any of my other basses which makes it THAT much more difficult to find a setting that cuts through right.

Played a gig tonight with my Imperial and the guy in the headlining band after me had a '75 P-bass. I was so jealous of his tone even though I know my Imperial feels about 10000 times nicer to play. I just sold my Alleva-Coppolo LM5 to partially fund an AJ presentation shape Imperial 6....my thoughts being the bigger body may lend itself to an overall fatter tone....it would just bother me forever to know that the basses which inspire me to play the most don't do it for me sonically!

I'm gonna try and figure out this customizable preamp deal and play with some options and see what I get....

Mitch,

I'm curious what the specs are on your bass. If you want something more fender like, why not do a bolt on Fodera with traditional woods?

FWIW, both of my Fodera's do a pretty good job getting close to Fender tones, IMHO. I don't have anything really strange wood wise thought.