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Fodera Club Part II
- Thread starter Mark Wilson
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Dont take this wrong guys, at all! But I was just wondering, how do you justify this kind of cash on a bass, especially when you have more than one?
I like to think of myself as a decent bassist, but as much as I would love to own a Fodera, Fbass, etc., I just feel like Im not worthy.
Dont flame me! PLEASE! Its more of an inquisitive question.
I like to think of myself as a decent bassist, but as much as I would love to own a Fodera, Fbass, etc., I just feel like Im not worthy.
Dont flame me! PLEASE! Its more of an inquisitive question.
IMO, as one who has always enjoyed and appreciated high end basses, it purely depends on what you value and how much money you have. For some of us with good day jobs combined with spouses that work, price becomes a bit of a none issue.
It's the same discussion of having a Lexus or a Rolls Royce or a Bentley or a Lotus or whatever. The extra $100,000 would seem silly to most, but when you talk to the Rolls Royce owners (which I've never done
), my guess is, they would talk about 'old world craftsmanship' and 'attention to detail', etc. Is it a 'better' car due to the huge price based on lack of economy of scale and production inefficiency versus a Lexus. Most likely not.Of course, modern construction methods for cars and basses are, in general MUCH better regarding consistency and fit and finish (a CNC machine never has a bad day or loses focus).
However, if the 'romance' of the brand or construction method 'floats your boat', then it is worth every penny.
What I always push back on is this idea that, in this case, Fodera is 'better' than MTD, Skjold, Alleva-Coppolo, Ritter, Drozd, etc. That is simply silly talk. It is much better to think of differences at this level of instrument as 'different flavors of very good'. If, unfortunately, you tend to personally prefer the most expensive flavor tonewise and feelwise, then get out the wallet and pay up
From a pure tone perspective, most of us try to make all this fancy stuff sound like a Fender J bass anyway, so the whole thing does get a little bit embarrassing, when you really step back and look at it without the 'AAAA top' blinders on.
That being said, as I always quote George C. Scott playing Patton in the movie.....'god help me, but I love it so'
- Apr 23, 2003
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WOW. I guess I got lucky, relatively. Although my bass arrived in 06 I got 03 pricing....plus I supplied my own Top wood, which cost me $250 for 5A compression curl Koa! I ended up under $1k per string....guess thats not gonna happen again!
Aloha, Garey
Aloha, Garey
My point of view (having two, one used , one ordered) is that you only have one life, that's how I justify this kind of money on a bass.
I like to play on these basses because it really brings a great joy.
Hell, I sweared to myself not to buy another bass, and now I'm on the market for a 6 string (mtd or ken smith), and really, for me it's all about enjoying life buying stuff that makes me happy.
I don't care what people think, what counts is what I think and my pleasure.
I like to share this pleasure by letting other players try my basses (with care of course), and then, some people realize that if you play an instrument, and if your going to keep it let's say 1à years (or more), divide the price by the number of months and tell me what it makes.
and calculate what you pay for, let's say your cell phones , and compare it ten years after, for your cell phones, you paid the time to call people and the phone itself, but you have nothing else, me I'll still have my basses.
you only have one life, enjoy it, because when it's time to leave, it must be hard to tell to yourself (damn I should have done that!)
It's not about not being worthy, or even the price for that matter, as long as you have the money. It's about, does the bass play and sound the way that you want/need it to? What is the sound in your head? Does your bass achieve that? Does it make it easier or more challenging to play the way that you want to play, barring your own personal skill level? After that has been answered, who builds or can build you the bass that you desire? For a lot of people a Fender will do it because that's the sound that we're all so used to hearing. For many others there's something else. It's just a matter of finding what works for you. If it turns out to be a Fodera than that's the bass you should have....don't do it as a status symbol though...I see that all the time and that's when it bothers me.
TimothyGroovy
Commercial User
- Aug 3, 2000
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Can't agree more. Same thought.
+1 That's why I have $15,000 worth of J Bass copies in my basement
Bryan R. Tyler
TalkBass: Usurping My Practice Time Since 2002
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- May 3, 2002
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I have no issue with builders charging whatever they want for their instruments- anyone with a 2-year wait list should probably even charge more. I just asked about the detuner because I'd be really ticked if I ordered one and it was just a standard Hipshot with a $100 markup that they had no part in building.
You both have good points Im just inquisitive. I mean, Im a bassist bassist (meaning I like to sit in the back, and play bass), and I just cant justify spending 10k on a bass when Im not soloing or doing anything fancy smancy.
Again, Im just thinking. We dont have school today, and Im staring TB all day looking out the window at the rain..
Again, Im just thinking. We dont have school today, and Im staring TB all day looking out the window at the rain..
You both have good points Im just inquisitive. I mean, Im a bassist bassist (meaning I like to sit in the back, and play bass), and I just cant justify spending 10k on a bass when Im not soloing or doing anything fancy smancy.
Again, Im just thinking. We dont have school today, and Im staring TB all day looking out the window at the rain..
I can solo and do the slap thing and double thumb and tapping and ....
I'm a bassist bassist too.
And i like to play 10 000 $ bass to play simple bass lines, it's just a pleasure for myself.
I like squier basses and fodera. so what.
whatever floats your boat.
just the fell of my instruments on my hands make me happy.
My theory is if you have an instrument that you really love, you want to play it all the time, if you play all the time you get better.
And I can testify with my experience that having an instrument that you love helps to get better at it.
You both have good points Im just inquisitive. I mean, Im a bassist bassist (meaning I like to sit in the back, and play bass), and I just cant justify spending 10k on a bass when Im not soloing or doing anything fancy smancy.
Again, Im just thinking. We dont have school today, and Im staring TB all day looking out the window at the rain..
Remember, there is a feel/playability element to all of this. Most if not all of these more expensive instruments are hand made one at a time. There's great care taken with each and every one of them (most of the time). I have to admit, there aren't that many necks that feel as comfortable as a Fodera. You can play them for hours with no fatigue. I have experienced that with other builders though.
I think that once you get past the J/P basses there are a LOT of options tonally and playability wise. If you were to play a particular bass one day that just spoke to you, and it happened to cost ten grand, than you'd work as hard as you could to get one.
You both have good points Im just inquisitive. I mean, Im a bassist bassist (meaning I like to sit in the back, and play bass), and I just cant justify spending 10k on a bass when Im not soloing or doing anything fancy smancy.
Again, Im just thinking. We dont have school today, and Im staring TB all day looking out the window at the rain..
but hey, if you are happy playing a fender or a squier great, i'm happy for you , the important is to be happy about your gear.
I totally agree, i didn't like my forst fodera(an emperor II 5 string), but the neck was smokin, and that's what made me want to get another fodera and one built for myself
After making a field trip to my luthier of choice and trying his basses, going to the music store and trying basses has lost it's appeal. They all a) sound hard b)stff and lifeless c) sound ok in one register but not in all d) have a poor b-string or all of the above. It's the same thing with beer. After going Belgian, you never go back.
I finally "got" the thing about custom basses, and I found a builder that could make my dream bass real - therefor I'm getting one!
I finally "got" the thing about custom basses, and I found a builder that could make my dream bass real - therefor I'm getting one!
IMO, as one who has always enjoyed and appreciated high end basses, it purely depends on what you value and how much money you have. For some of us with good day jobs combined with spouses that work, price becomes a bit of a none issue.
It's the same discussion of having a Lexus or a Rolls Royce or a Bentley or a Lotus or whatever. The extra $100,000 would seem silly to most, but when you talk to the Rolls Royce owners (which I've never done
Of course, modern construction methods for cars and basses are, in general MUCH better regarding consistency and fit and finish (a CNC machine never has a bad day or loses focus).
However, if the 'romance' of the brand or construction method 'floats your boat', then it is worth every penny.
What I always push back on is this idea that, in this case, Fodera is 'better' than MTD, Skjold, Alleva-Coppolo, Ritter, Drozd, etc. That is simply silly talk. It is much better to think of differences at this level of instrument as 'different flavors of very good'. If, unfortunately, you tend to personally prefer the most expensive flavor tonewise and feelwise, then get out the wallet and pay up
From a pure tone perspective, most of us try to make all this fancy stuff sound like a Fender J bass anyway, so the whole thing does get a little bit embarrassing, when you really step back and look at it without the 'AAAA top' blinders on.
That being said, as I always quote George C. Scott playing Patton in the movie.....'god help me, but I love it so'
Well the "better" depends on the car. I don't know about Rolls, but Ferrari is building with expensive materials like carbon fiber, deriving suspension components from their formula 1 cars, carbon brake disks, limited production/high demand and they are hand built so I think the "value" is there. I sure as hell can't afford one, but I don't think they're over priced.
My only gripe with someone like Fodera is that at that price, they use EMG or Bart electronics/pickups. I suppose you have the choice of the Pope pre so that's a little better, but seeing as how pickups/electronics probably play the largest roll in the sound of a solid body instrument, I think luthiers in that price range need proprietary stuff. There are dozens of much less expensive emg/bart options out there. I have 2 Alembics and they are not cheap by any stretch of the imagination but their tone is certainly unique. I suppose one could buy their guts and have someone build a quality bass around them for less, but anyway that's my argument.
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