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First Edition Victor Wooten Bow Bass

#62
mjac28 said:
Can I get a free one to try out? I would have a more precise opinion if I had one in my hands just sayin.
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I'm with mjac.
Jason,
If you guys are looking for players to test this thing out I am available! As a neighbor it would be easy for me to visit the shop and I promise I'll bring it back soon! (Also I played violin as a kid and have dabbled with double bass so I can handle a bow!).

Will you be designing a bow for this instrument?

Good work by the way. Love the shape (and the ambition). The extreme body shape probably has more to do with bow access from a standing position than an attempt to just make something that looks cool or modern. As stated earlier Fodera always puts function before form. Well done (again!).
 
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#63
GRAHAM JACOBS said:
Really?

Throughout its history, Fodera has chosen to associate itself with visionaries like Victor Wooten and Anthony Jackson. This is definitely not only about Fodera, although in the process it has helped to make significant strides in developing the design of the electric bass. You can't innovate without pushing the envelope.

I personally find this instrument fascinating. It may look strange to some, but if you give it a closer look, you'll see that it's a serious, functional and beautifully crafted response to an unusual brief.
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I thought it was already established that I think it's cool. The quote you took is from me being a cheeky ass to King_biscuit for no reason, which I apologized for.
 
#64
Jothabass said:
Interesting... of course, it's something new; Different?? Sure, it's called evolution!!! In the hands of the correct master its a tool for new sounds and expressions. As it was Fender's P-bass, Jaco's fretless new sounds, Alembic's active electronics, Gould's graphite necks, Jackson's Contrabass, Zon and Manring's Hyperbass: Our instrument it's always evolving, and new designs comes to expand boundaries...
Personally, I'll love to hear and see this one in person!!! Any public presentation in NYC??
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What year did your 6 string come out?
 
#66
LVG Handcrafted said:
What year did your 6 string come out?
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I am assuming that this question about when Fodera's first sixer came out? If so, it was actually the 13th instrument that we built and was completed in December of 1983. That said, remember that Vinny was involved in building Anthony Jackson's 6-string contrabasses that he ordered from Ken Smith and those instruments predate the formation of Fodera.
 
#69
The whole idea of a horizontal stringed instrument that's played with a bow goes way, way, back. Check out Jon Wilson's GuitarViols at Togamanguitars dot com. I'm sure that Victor and Fodera got some of their inspiration from seeing and hearing Jon's customers. There's a lot of interesting playing technique that you can do on a horizontal bowed guitar.

Jon and I have been friends for years, and I've helped him with various parts and tooling for his instruments. And, yes, Jon and I have talked many times about working together on a bass version of his GuitarViol. But, we haven't gotten around to it. Some of my own model Scroll Basses have 4" radius fingerboards and mechanical-percussive pickup systems. They would be great for bowing, with a narrower, reshaped body. I have a bench-top test mule that I use for developing my pickups, and I have played around with a bow on it. Not that I'm any good with a bow......

There's a big world out there to be explored, beyond Fenders.
 
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#71
Just Thumpin' said:
I am assuming that this question about when Fodera's first sixer came out? If so, it was actually the 13th instrument that we built and was completed in December of 1983. That said, remember that Vinny was involved in building Anthony Jackson's 6-string contrabasses that he ordered from Ken Smith and those instruments predate the formation of Fodera.
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Yeah, I was just wondering. I know Carl Thompson's first six (the skinny necked fretted one that Les now own's) was 78' if I remember correctly. I was just curious of the timeframe.
 
#75
I like the effort at doing something (mostly) new... but not the execution... personal sense of taste differs.

Anyway, I owned and used to play an upright, for which there are pickups designed for. I also play in a band (as guitarist) where the bassist is playing a 5-string upright with a thin/slender, but still hollow/traditionally constructed body. He has two pickups on it, already designed for such radii.

I'm curious on two things: Why the choice to go with an electric bridge and jack up the middle saddles, rather than use existing "upright" type bridge? and, Why force P-style pickups to sort-of fit, rather than use existing upright pickups or piezo or undersaddle transducers or other options?

Cheers.
 
#76
sketch said:
I'm curious on two things: Why the choice to go with an electric bridge and jack up the middle saddles, rather than use existing "upright" type bridge? and, Why force P-style pickups to sort-of fit, rather than use existing upright pickups or piezo or undersaddle transducers or other options?
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Largely because we are coming at this instrument from more of an electric bass ethos. The style bridge that we chose allowed us to pick any radius that we wanted and merely build an Ebony bass plate for it to sit on. If we end up building more, we have the flexibility of choosing any radius that a player wants and we don't need a different bridge for each. We also do not have to tell the player that they must use a certain radius. Additionally, this bridge also has the option of adding piezo. And, finally, electric style bridges are far easier for the average player to adjust and intonate.

Now, in terms of piezo, we deliberately did not want to go that route on this first prototype. We wanted a tone that was fatter and richer (especially in the low end) and we felt that a P-PUP was the way to go for that. Based on conversations internally we will definitely tweak the PUP choices next time around -- NOT because we don't love the sound we are getting, but rather because the amount of time it took to properly modify this P-PUP for the application and build the necessary housing / surround to hold it does not make a lot of sense time-wise. So, we will be looking for a different PUP with the same tone in the neck position and likely will add piezo under the bridge saddles to provide a broader range of possible tones.

I hope that answers your questions.

Regards,

J
 
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#78
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