So, the time has come. I'm selling my 1993 Fodera Emperor 5-string. This is a very original bass. First off, it's one of two that were made using a new environmentally friendly finish Fodera was experimenting with at the time. Over the course of a few years, the finish evaporated safely into the environment, and left behind this beautiful all natural version you see here.
This bass has been played. A lot. It was my main guitar for roughly twenty years. It's been featured on over one hundred recordings, my solo albums, Metalwood records with John Scofield, and countless others. I just don't play it anymore and I'd like to see it go to a loving home with someone who appreciates its history.
And by history, I mean the bass shows it. There are spots in the finish from where my thumb has worn away grooves a few millimeters deep. The truss rod plate went missing years ago in a story that involves a stripper, a tight rope walker, and a late-night tour escapade in an Italian restaurant. It was once run over by the tour van, saved only by the toughness of my Boss Oc-2 pedal, and there are dents on the back of the body to prove it. The bridge is missing a few screws and looks like it's been left out in a winer storm, but that has somehow never seemed to matter when it comes to the sound of this bass. About ten years ago I had Fodera update the electronics with the Pope preamp and new Arrow pickups, so the electronics are recent.
This Fodera sounds like no other. It's in the history, but also in the glued-on neck Fodera was working with at the time, it sounds like a perfect combination of a bolt-on and neck through bass. There are probably a few people on Talk Bass that can attest to the bass' originality, a few who have played it when coming through New York for lessons. Feel free to post your memories, I'll try not to cry. It really is a one-of-a-kind, and I'd love for whoever buys it to send me pictures of it happy and being played in the world. It's not right for this bass to sit around, it has spent too much of it's life doing the exact opposite, so it is with a heavy heart that I send it on to the next person, the next story.
I was told by Fodera that if the bass were restored to original, it would be worth around 10k. But I'd hope that whoever buys it, would not restore it, just keep 'er going, one new scratch at a time.
Here's the specs as I remember them:
34" scale, maple glued-on neck.
Flame maple top with ash body.
Weight: Of the world, light-ish, caring and very friendly on the back.
Arrow pickups, Pope preamp.
This bass has been played. A lot. It was my main guitar for roughly twenty years. It's been featured on over one hundred recordings, my solo albums, Metalwood records with John Scofield, and countless others. I just don't play it anymore and I'd like to see it go to a loving home with someone who appreciates its history.
And by history, I mean the bass shows it. There are spots in the finish from where my thumb has worn away grooves a few millimeters deep. The truss rod plate went missing years ago in a story that involves a stripper, a tight rope walker, and a late-night tour escapade in an Italian restaurant. It was once run over by the tour van, saved only by the toughness of my Boss Oc-2 pedal, and there are dents on the back of the body to prove it. The bridge is missing a few screws and looks like it's been left out in a winer storm, but that has somehow never seemed to matter when it comes to the sound of this bass. About ten years ago I had Fodera update the electronics with the Pope preamp and new Arrow pickups, so the electronics are recent.
This Fodera sounds like no other. It's in the history, but also in the glued-on neck Fodera was working with at the time, it sounds like a perfect combination of a bolt-on and neck through bass. There are probably a few people on Talk Bass that can attest to the bass' originality, a few who have played it when coming through New York for lessons. Feel free to post your memories, I'll try not to cry. It really is a one-of-a-kind, and I'd love for whoever buys it to send me pictures of it happy and being played in the world. It's not right for this bass to sit around, it has spent too much of it's life doing the exact opposite, so it is with a heavy heart that I send it on to the next person, the next story.
I was told by Fodera that if the bass were restored to original, it would be worth around 10k. But I'd hope that whoever buys it, would not restore it, just keep 'er going, one new scratch at a time.
Here's the specs as I remember them:
34" scale, maple glued-on neck.
Flame maple top with ash body.
Weight: Of the world, light-ish, caring and very friendly on the back.
Arrow pickups, Pope preamp.
