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Anthony Jacksons new Fodera bass

#82
Dellers said:
Also, I think Foderas sound really boring in general.

I have no idea how anyone would pay that much for something like that.
Click to expand...

So you have played lots of different Foderas? Boring compared to what?

Also, to your second point... Rolls Royce, Ducati, Faberge, Romanee Conte, Patek Philippe, Canali, etc. Just because something is expensive/unjustifiable to you doesn't mean that it is to everyone else.
 
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#83
cnltb said:
One would.
Still, Thompson had to make all those non-standard parts for the instrument so I guess, saying that he didn't put any of his know how into it seems quite unfair, really.
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I have Bass Player mag of december 2008 with Anthony Jackson and there is an interview where he talk about Carl Thompson and clearly Thompson didn't want to have anything to do with it. Sure he build it but he did exacly what AJ spec were and this is it. Only the bridge and the pickup are made up for it ( since no hardware was avalaible for such a beast ) but otherwise it is made of wood and the same fretwire, same tuning peg etc.

here is a part of the interview :

What are the details of your collaoration with Carl Thompson ?
I went up to Carl's shop in winter 1974 and told him my idea. his reaction went from initial polite puzzleent, to resistance, to anger. He didn't see the purpose in the low B, he felt no one would be able to hear it, as the speakers in cars and television sets were too small. He wondered where I would find strings and at one point he suggested instead an upright bass-like extension from the e string. I told him I was certain it would work. He asked me to wait while he thought about it, and finally, he came out of his workshop and said :"I'll do it, but I really don't want to do it, so here are the conditions : I'm not going to help you, you're going to have to tell me exactly what you want done. If it doesn't work it'll be your fault, and if it does work, you take the credit; I don't want my name associated with it. And I'm going to charge you 2000$ for my time." I remember taking a gulp and thinking, What am I getting into here ? That's an awful lot when a new Fender cost 350$. He finished up with, "I think it's a dumb idea." But I was enough of a dreamer and a fool in the eyes of some to agree to his terms. My inexperience cost me; I insisted on a wide spacing at the nut and I just assumed the neck would taper out and be wider at the body. Instead Carl kept the width the same throughout, and the spacing was so tight at the brdige the instrument was barely playable. I was disappointed, but it was a great lesson.
 
#85
Kmrumedy said:
Didn't Ken Smith make the next two?
Click to expand...

According to Ken Smith:

The 2nd bass was quite a bit more complicated. Now you will hear a few things about his thinking that most people in the world don't know and never will I assume. We went together to 2 lumber places hunting for special woods to make his 2nd bass. One exotic wood place in NY had some Ebony lumber from Africa so I picked a piece to make the fingerboard. For the Body top, we drove down to south Jersey to another lumber place and found a beautiful piece of Crotch Walnut that I used for the body. While there I remember I saw a fantastic board of Tiger maple and added that to my order which I think they may have shipped to me because I wanted the wood split and was too big for the saws we had in the shop. This is AJ, the busy studio guy (I was fairly busy as well) who drove with me just for a piece of wood, twice! He said, I want this to be the only one you make like this so no one else can ever get it. So, I made that promise to him. It was quite different than anything we had made or have made to date and for a good reason. He sort of designed the body and head in suggestion at the least. The lower horn hit you leg and his legs are/were thicker than mine and the head was huge. It was a beautiful bass but expensive to make. I mentioned it would cost more than the first one but in his words he said "no problem, just throw money at it". Well, the two basses with all the work and re-builds in total ran about $11,000 between 1981 and 1985. He still wasn't happy and by that time after him visiting Fodera's own new shop where we finished off the second bass (woodworking only), they saw in my opinion a 'meal ticket' in teaming up with AJ for business.
Click to expand...

http://www.smithbassforums.com/showthread.php?t=1959
 
#86
Thanks for this post guys and the various links included.

If you've ANY question about why AJ is held in such high regard you should just go buy Hiromi Uehara's albums Voice and Move. Both piano trio albums with Anthony and Simon Phillips on drums. His playing is out of this world on both records.

Here's a taste-
 
#87
I loved reading about the bass and enjoy hearing both the player and makers perspective. It is a lot of money, yes. But in comparison to other stringed instruments (violin family), probably not all that bad. Certainly not for most players, but a piece of functional art and Anthony Jackson's vision. It sounds like the perfect collaboration.
 
#88
:cool:

Amazing player and Bass. The Presentation II is a monster.
At 30K it should be. I've gassed for a Presentation I for a few years. ( They are 20k ) And have be saving. Now this.
Vinnie will you still make me a Presentation I ? :D
 
#90
Clef_de_fa said:
I have Bass Player mag of december 2008 with Anthony Jackson and there is an interview where he talk about Carl Thompson and clearly Thompson didn't want to have anything to do with it. Sure he build it but he did exacly what AJ spec were and this is it. Only the bridge and the pickup are made up for it ( since no hardware was avalaible for such a beast ) but otherwise it is made of wood and the same fretwire, same tuning peg etc.

here is a part of the interview :

What are the details of your collaoration with Carl Thompson ?
I went up to Carl's shop in winter 1974 and told him my idea. his reaction went from initial polite puzzleent, to resistance, to anger. He didn't see the purpose in the low B, he felt no one would be able to hear it, as the speakers in cars and television sets were too small. He wondered where I would find strings and at one point he suggested instead an upright bass-like extension from the e string. I told him I was certain it would work. He asked me to wait while he thought about it, and finally, he came out of his workshop and said :"I'll do it, but I really don't want to do it, so here are the conditions : I'm not going to help you, you're going to have to tell me exactly what you want done. If it doesn't work it'll be your fault, and if it does work, you take the credit; I don't want my name associated with it. And I'm going to charge you 2000$ for my time." I remember taking a gulp and thinking, What am I getting into here ? That's an awful lot when a new Fender cost 350$. He finished up with, "I think it's a dumb idea." But I was enough of a dreamer and a fool in the eyes of some to agree to his terms. My inexperience cost me; I insisted on a wide spacing at the nut and I just assumed the neck would taper out and be wider at the body. Instead Carl kept the width the same throughout, and the spacing was so tight at the brdige the instrument was barely playable. I was disappointed, but it was a great lesson.
Click to expand...

Did you also see the inteviews with Carl Thompson on the subject?
Some are on youtube. :)
 
#92
mjac28 said:
Is this one of those things like John and Paul both taking credit for the same thing?
Click to expand...

I have no idea but find the CT interviews quite interesting to just get a bigger picture of this thing-if one is interested.
To me it doesn't matter but my interest tends to get switched on when one person says " I invented"...:)
 
#94
cnltb said:
I have no idea but find the CT interviews quite interesting to just get a bigger picture of this thing-if one is interested.
To me it doesn't matter but my interest tends to get switched on when one person says " I invented"...:)
Click to expand...

I'll have to check those out thanks. I like the bass it's beautiful I could see one of the bigger studios buying one for recording with but for the other 99% of the bassists who aren't Anthony Jackson I can't see gigging with it on a regular basis.
 
#97
Baird6869 said:
So you have played lots of different Foderas? Boring compared to what?

Also, to your second point... Rolls Royce, Ducati, Faberge, Romanee Conte, Patek Philippe, Canali, etc. Just because something is expensive/unjustifiable to you doesn't mean that it is to everyone else.
Click to expand...

Played them? I haven't heard of anyone in my country who has one, and no stores sell anything in that category. I'm basing my opinion on various recordings and live videos, which is what I have to do before buying instruments. Trying isn't an option here unfortunately, but every instrument I've ever bought has sounded exactly like I expected.
They're not necessarily boring compared to anything in particular, but they just sound really anonymous to me. Then again, a lot of people do like that, which is completely fine with me. I just don't get the whole deal with paying that much for something that anonymous. The price in itself isn't an issue, if I was extremely rich and a professional I could pay that much for something special.
 
#98
Difficult to have an opinion like that based on never having played one, but to each his own I guess. Personally, every Fodera I've seen or played has been a stunningly good bass. Build quality is as high as you can get. Tonally there are so many different models that its really impossible to say they have an inherent tone to them.
 
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#100
That bass does nothing for me, visually.
It might sound great, but at $30,000, I'm gonna have to win The Powerball and buy a few vacation homes, a Ferrari, a Ducati, and a ChrisKraft before I find out ;)

I'm pretty much content with my "plain old J basses."

Pretty neat to see that level of collaboration between a builder and an artist though.
 

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