My trio of Foderas

From left to right, my trio of butterflies:

1. Fodera Emperor Deluxe, buckeye crown top, 34" scale, 5 string, mahogany/kingwood, abalone dot inlays, macc ebony pickup covers, new Pope preamp

2. Fodera Imperial Elite fretless 5, moabi top, 34" scale, 5 string, alder/kingwood, fretlines, rosewood pickup covers (I think), Pope preamp

3. Fodera Emperor Deluxe, chestnut top, 34" scale, 5 string, alder/macc ebony, abalone block inlays, Lane Poor single coils, Haz preamp

All are tuned EADGC, and all sound very distinct from one another. What do you think?

(btw, if you're interested, here's a link to my trio of Sukops... http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=527184&highlight=sukop)

Sterling_Bass said:

I was just going to ask which of those basses is your favorite. Could you describe the differences among those gorgeous Foderas?

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They really are different. I'll start off by saying that the fretless imperial just sings, and is really versatile. A fantastic fretless bass that made me recently sell my Ritter, which was to be a keeper. I'm not sure why Fodera fretlesses aren't more common, since this one kicks serious butt.

The Emperors--the buckeye crown top one is the one I've had longer, and I've been fortunate to have Mike Pope work on the instrument to make the pickup/preamp combo match the bass. Because I've played it the most, I like how this bass feels the best (but it doesn't actually feel better, just a little more worn in to me), and it has a woody, dark tone that is sort of understated. Very different than a jazz bass in tone. Right now, the preamp has a mid frequency selector set between a low- and mid- center band for the mids, and I usually use the lower setting. It has Duncan pickups, which I recently had swapped in for the Aeros (which are for sale if anybody's interested). The neck is fantastic, and I think the instrument is aesthetically beautiful. Almost plays more like a classical instrument than a funk machine; in fact, I rarely slap on it.

The chestnut top Emperor is the rarer of the two, with the extinct chestnut top and the lane poor single coils, and has a really stunning macc ebony fingerboard with abalone blocks. It's a beautiful, beautiful instrument. The tone is very much jazz-bass like in character, with a Fodera vibe injected in it. This bass is older than the other Emperor, and has a glossier neck finish than the buckeye crown. This bass is extremely good for slapping, for some reason (ebony? Lane Poors?) but also plays pretty sweet for fingerstyle.

Wadge said:

Can you explain the control layout of that preamp? The three look pretty similar.

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Yes, they all look pretty similar. The Imperial and Emperor with dual coils have exactly the same appearance on the outside, but the function is a little different. For the Imperial, the big knobs are dual stack volume/passive tone, pickup blend; the smaller knobs are high/mid/low cut and boost. The flip switches are kill/on, active/passive, and single coil/dual coil. The Emperor with Lane Poors has exactly the same config except no passive tone (Haz pre) and no dual coil/single coil mode.

The Emperor with dual coils has the upgraded pre--which looks the same on the outside, but the kill/on switch is now a mid freq selector switch (mid/low-mid freq emphasis).

Hope this helps.