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Fodera Club Part XXVII

#15,261
Gnal said:
I suppose it depends on what you mean by largest body size. I do not have experience with a Viceroy, but I do have an Emperor and Monarch. For what it’s worth they are comparable but the feel is slightly different due to the Emperor’s offset design in comparison to the Monarch’s symmetrical design. Throwing up a tape measure to my bases the lower bout, waist and body length (tip of upper horn to furthest part of lower bout) were the same on the 4 strings. There was a slight difference on the 6-strings with the emperor having 1” longer length from bottom to tip of horn.

To me, a 4-string Emperor and Monarch have a similar feel as far as how the body indexes in playing position, but the 6-string versions don’t; the monarch feels larger because of where/how upward facing portion of the waist and lower bout sit in playing position. Not a big deal it’s just a feel thing.

Not sure if that makes sense or not… I’m guessing the Viceroy splits the difference, but I have no first hand experience.

What is it that you are trying to determine?
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Thanks, much appreciated! I am just trying to determine a rough estimate of the actual size...I've tried a few monarchs, but not an emperor. They felt OK, but I really don't like the symmetrical look they have, which is why I don't like p-basses. I like jazz basses, but they're just too big, and feel completely unwieldy, which is why I've never owned a fender at all...a 4 string sadowsky feels about perfect, though, with the slightly downsized body...the emperor looks drop dead gorgeous, but if it's "fender big" I won't like it...that's all, just trying to figure out if it's worth a trip somewhere to try out...I've been thinking of ordering a 33" scale 4 string, and I asked about having a downsized emperor, and I was told that they wouldn't do that, but a viceroy might work...then I read on here that a viceroy is slightly larger than the emperor, so there's some confliction, and finding a viceroy to try would likely be difficult, as I'm sure there aren't many out there...thanks again!
 
#15,262
Who told you they wouldn't downsize an Emperor? They've done this many times, at least on 5 and 6 string basses. They're a full on custom shop and will do pretty much anything. I believe an Emperor is slightly smaller as is than a jazz bass.

neptoon said:
Thanks, much appreciated! I am just trying to determine a rough estimate of the actual size...I've tried a few monarchs, but not an emperor. They felt OK, but I really don't like the symmetrical look they have, which is why I don't like p-basses. I like jazz basses, but they're just too big, and feel completely unwieldy, which is why I've never owned a fender at all...a 4 string sadowsky feels about perfect, though, with the slightly downsized body...the emperor looks drop dead gorgeous, but if it's "fender big" I won't like it...that's all, just trying to figure out if it's worth a trip somewhere to try out...I've been thinking of ordering a 33" scale 4 string, and I asked about having a downsized emperor, and I was told that they wouldn't do that, but a viceroy might work...then I read on here that a viceroy is slightly larger than the emperor, so there's some confliction, and finding a viceroy to try would likely be difficult, as I'm sure there aren't many out there...thanks again!
Click to expand...
 
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#15,263
WorktheWood said:
Who told you they wouldn't downsize an Emperor? They've done this many times, at least on 5 and 6 string basses. They're a full on custom shop and will do pretty much anything. I believe an Emperor is slightly smaller as is than a jazz bass.
Click to expand...

the quote I requested was actually for a 5...maybe that was a bad choice of words on my part...I wasn't told that they wouldn't do it, I was told that there was no good way to simply downsize an emperor and that it would lead to a neck-heavy bass...PM for who quoted me this
 
#15,264
I had a Suhr Jazz which I believe was the same size as a Fender, I agree with you, it looked good but was too large for me too. I bought a Sadowsky J, it felt better, but when I got the Emperor that was it for me for J-Style basses. It’s perfect, at least for me.

I might have a pic… let me look
 
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#15,265
I have my very first Fodera in transit to me this week. I’ve had well over 100 basses, many of them boutique, but I have never owned a Fodera. Looking forward to seeing what it is all about. I gravitate to my P-Bass with flats these days, so I am a little unsure if the VW YYS II will be too bright to my ears. Hard to tell based on YouTube reviews, as most of them are just a few minutes of slap riffs. My other concern is I’ll love it so much it will set me on the patch of a Deluxe. LOL. Anyway, very much looking forward to Thursday!
 
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#15,270
lsu921 said:
I have my very first Fodera in transit to me this week. I’ve had well over 100 basses, many of them boutique, but I have never owned a Fodera. Looking forward to seeing what it is all about. I gravitate to my P-Bass with flats these days, so I am a little unsure if the VW YYS II will be too bright to my ears. Hard to tell based on YouTube reviews, as most of them are just a few minutes of slap riffs. My other concern is I’ll love it so much it will set me on the patch of a Deluxe. LOL. Anyway, very much looking forward to Thursday!
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Nice. I have a YY5S that I swapped out the EMG PJs for Duncan NYC dual coils and had Joey wire it for always active and a coil tap. Even as it was stock, the EQ is VERY effective. The passive tone control is extremely useful for mellowing things out.
 
#15,271
The YYSII arrived one day early, so I got to spend some time with it last night. At least when my son didn’t have it. :). I like to spend more time with an instrument before giving it a review, but what I can say now that is completely non subjective is that the fit & finish and playability are absolutely top notch. I can tell that the guys and gals building these at Fodera are perfectionists.
 
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#15,277
371E491B-2326-4512-BB2C-2E47806F4940.jpeg

Covers 95% of what I play…
 
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