Greetings folks, I finally got a resolution to my situation with the mystery bass manufacturer. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the story take a look here: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=26015 Okay, the name of the manufacturer is: Fodera I picked up my Emporer 5 today that I took to them over a year ago to have an inlay replaced. The cats there are okay, they did the work for free and I got the latest pre-amp thrown in as well for good measure. The only peeve I have other than having to wait more than a year, is that they seem to have misplaced the wood covers for my pickups, because the covers that are on my pickups now are raspberry colored. What kind of freaky stuff is that? Anyway they promised(he he, snicker) that it wouldn't take a whole year to replace them with a dark wood color i.e. like the ones that were originally on them. Go figure, overall, I'm glad to have the bass back and they did an excellent job on replacing the inlay. I'll post pictures tomorrow.
Sweet Phil, I remember that thread from way back when Glad to hear that you got your bass back.. a whole year without a Fodera? And you weren't bashing down their door? Did they ever explain why it took a whole year????? Sounds really cool looking, too bad about the pup covers, hope you get the new ones soon
I'm trying to figure out how it takes a year for a repair at one of the top names in bass builders AND you get it back without the original covers. Seems like they could have at least stained the ones you have a darker color, just for grins. That just boggles the mind. How did yours get "lost"? Did they misplace any other parts? I just don't get it. Did you ask for a replacement preamp or did they lose your original one? Anyway, glad you got it back, looks like a sweet bass. Hope I don't sound angry (it's "your" bass ), stuff like this just makes me wonder what people think sometimes.
Well you know what Brad, I was asking myself the same questions. It's like I'm living through an episode of the twilight zone. In a small place like that, how could you misplace the covers? The pre-amp is an upgrade which has a passive tone control, which I haven't checked out yet. That mod I welcome and am happy about, but my covers man, sheesh, that ain't right.
They could have at least stained the raspberry black or something. What's the ETA on replacements (and I'm not trying to be funny, I hope it's a matter of days, not months)? I understand stuff happens but rule #1 when doing a repair like this where you're going to leave something dismantled, be it a bass, a computer, an engine, whatever, is to put the parts in one place. I am truly surprised that they put you bass back together with those covers, like that (unless they told you beforehand). The high $$$ Fodera reputation is supposed to be built on stuff like this not happening. Yet it does all the time... makes you wonder if anyone really gives a ... Makes some of my fiascos, like the 3 band preamp install where two bands were wired backwards and the mids not wired at all (actual comment from the tech about the mids: "Maybe it's really subtle") seem like small potatoes. A whole year.
I guess I wouldn't consider it "resolved" until they take care of your erasers. Thanks to JT for the proper metaphore.
Phil... Man that sucks!! When I received my Emperor about 2 years ago it had kind of a scratchy volume pot. I say kind of because you could only here it when the volume was all the way up. It really was not that bad.....really. But I returned the bass after a couple of months. They replaced all the electronics... preamp and pickups and I had the bass back in two weeks. Everything works perfectly now. At no charge to me (as it should have been). I remain a happy Fodera customer. Next year I am going to have them refinish a used Fodera (a '97 Emperor with a Chestnut top) bought a few months ago. I really feel I will get the bass back in a reasonable amount of time. Anyway good luck with the pickup covers!! BTW, Its a great looking bass...but purple heart pickup covers?? It should not take them long to fix that...I hope not anyway!!!! Good luck, Dan
That is so wrong! Phil, I take it that the existence of this thread indicates that you are unhappy with the resolution of the issue? I can't imagine owning a bass that expensive, and getting that poor of customer service from the manufacturer. Heck, I can't imagine owning a bass that expensive, period! Have you spoken to Vinnie about this situation at all?
i had a feeling it was fodera. but that is odd because i sent them my emperor to get the frets leveled and walnut pickups covers installed to replace the plastic ones and they had the bass done in 3 days. odd....very odd.